Box.
I laughed. I just didn't get what he was saying. How would he actually know? Did he come from the past? No- did he come from the future?
I clapped my hands in the air.
"Come on." I said. "Don't be such a joker." I told him.
His eyes still went sincere. Kinakabahan ako sa pinapakita niya ngayon. He's not the usual Brett. I don't even know what's happening to him. All those tears in his eyes... I- I don't get it all.
I don't believe him. I just really don't believe what he said.
"Catty... listen carefully." He went to the ground and held my hands.
Napakunit yung noo ko. "Brett I don't know what this is all about-"
"Brett!" Our heads suddenly turned to a familiar female voice. It was Denisse with her eyebrows furrowed, with Kayden behind her holding a big box. It looked like some sort of packaging from who knows where. Ngayon lang ako nakakita ng ganon na package.
It wasn't from the stores here. It wasn't even from the stores abroad when we visited Canada.
"Denisse... I'm sorry. She deserves to-" nagulat ako nang bigla siyang sinampal.
I stood up and covered Brett in front of her. "Denisse!" my voice suddenly raised. "What the hell are you doing?!" This was the first time they fought like something like this. This was also the first time I saw her hurting her own brother.
She sighed and held her hair. She combed it to the back with tears in her eyes. Her face was red and she was biting her lip.
My eyes averted to Kayden. Shock was written all over his face. Mas lalo napakunit yung noo ko. I don't know what's happening!
No one is telling me!
Kayden suddenly placed the box down and held her shoulders. Bigla akong nainggit. Why isn't he talking to me now? Bakit hindi niya ako nilalapitan. I saw his hands squeezing her shoulder at hinarap pa niya ito sa kanya.
"Wait.. what is happening?" Lumayo ako sa kanilang tatlo.
"Brett, answer me." Lumingon ako sa kanya. "No- okay Denisse, tell me." She just froze. Her mouth was opened and I guess that she ran out of words.
I breathed sharply, humarap ako kay Kayden. "What? Tell me."
Umiling siya kaya napairap ako. The three of them looked together and nodded. They seem to have this sort of telecommunication shits in their heads. They were speaking without me knowing.
"You want to know?" I nodded at Denisse. I felt the coldness in her voice.
"Den-" Sinubukan siyang pigilan ni Kayden but she, for the first time she became persistent.
"You really want to know the truth?" Her head was bent to the side. "Because I'm tired of hiding this shit." Nagulat ako sa bigla niyang pagmura.
The next thing I knew is that were were walking towards a car. Hindi ko alam kung sino yung may-ari nito and as much as I know, Denisse doesn't even know how to drive one, but look at her now, she's a real pro.
"At kailan mo pa natutunan magmaneho?" I asked her. Nakita kong napatawa yung dalawang lalaki.
Napapikit si Denisse. "You'll freaking know later." nawala yung ngiti nilang dalawa. Kayden bumped her shoulder. "The hell? I'm driving!"
"So?"
"Don't fucking talk to me Kade. You're such a pain in the ass lalo na nung bumata ka." Napakunot yung noo ko.
I was confused by how Denisse talked.
"Don't mind them." Brett mumbled.
I bit my lip. Sumandal nalang ako sa headrest.
The drive was long and it was rather so unfamiliar. The sky was already painted orange and the bright lights of passing cars were visible. After a few moments, Denisse parked the car in front of a deck and turned off the engine. They started to take their seatbelts off when I questioned them.
"It is here?"
"Yep." Denisse answered while Kayden and Brett nodded.
I took my seatbelt off too and got out of the car. The air was refreshing. Kahit gabi na ay halata parin yung liwanag na nanggagaling sa langit. And it was real cold, parang ako nasa freezer sa mga oras na 'to.
"Cold?" I felt Kayden's presence beside me.
I shyly nodded. May naramdaman akong mabigat sa mga balikat ko and saw Brett not wearing his jacket. Nagulat ako sa ginawa niya at nainis. This was the time for Kayden to give me something but he destroyed the moment. Pati ba naman 'to ipagkakait niya pa. Ang galing lang.
"Pasok na tayo sa loob?" Kayden offered in which I nodded gidly.
The deck looked abandoned. The furnitures were covered in white sheets and it somehow smelt old. Marupok narin yung mga kahoy dahil tuwing umaapak ka sa sahig ay tumutunog ito. But despite the atmosphere, it was still cold. Hindi mo na kailangan ng proper conditioning.
"So... Let's sit." Brett said, habang pinapagpag yung carpet. It was all dusty but it was enough for sitting because of how chilly it was.
"Asan si Denisse?" Tanong ko.
"May kinukuha. Saglit lang 'yun." Sagot ni Kayden. Nagpigil ako ng ngiti. Ang gwapo niya talaga.
"Hoy. Wala tayo dito para maglandi." Inirapan ko si Brett dahil sa sinabi niya.
He was being unreasonable.
I heavily sighed. Nanggigigil na rin kasi ako sa kanya.
After a few minutes, Denisse came in holding a box. Once she went down the stairs, she began pushing it towards us. Parang ang daming laman nun.
And surprisingly, Kayden helped her. Hindi ko alam kung paano sila naging ganito ka-close. Kanina pa kaya sila ganyan.
"Caterina Emanuelle Saluadez." She shrugged. "Or Catty."
She gave me a faint smile. "We weren't planning to tell you this, but because of the situation, we weren't able to save your parents. I mean, sinubukan namin, but the time-"
"It suddenly changed." Putol ni Brett. "When you got home after school, they died 20 minutes ago. It actually wasn't supposed to be like tha-"
"Anong pinagsasabi ninyo?" I cut Brett's sentence.
"Please listen first." Sabi ni Denisse. She gestured Brett to continue. I scoffed and just crossed my arms at him.
"They were supposed to die three minutes before you got home." Pinakita niya ang dalawang index finger niya. "The time boundary was different. Masyado ata sila atat na umuwi agad so they left early." Bigla siyang umiling. "We thought we could save them dahil sa pagkabisado ng kung anong oras at araw nangyayari ang mga pinagsisisihan mo."
"Wala akong pinagsisihan." I said. "All of what I'm having now is what I wanted." Inirapan ko sya. "At paano mo masasabing namatay magulang ko? You don't have any proof."
Napapikit siya.
"Here." Denise gave me a bunch of pictures that were tied by a rubber band.
"Ano yan?" I asked.
"Tignan mo."
I started to look at the photos one by one. They weren't familiar. May mga pictures pa kasama yung Tita ko sa Canda in which I have never been before. There were even pictures of me wearing something that looked decent for clubbing. I've never even done these things before.
"May kakambal ba ako?" I questioned while taking a close look at all of the pictures.
"Wala." This time, Kayden finally spoke. "That's you." he added.
"Ano? Wala naman akong matandaang ginawa ko 'to. Maybe this was just my dopleganger." I muttered.
Bigla akong binigyan ni Denisse ng isang picture ng bisikleta. "And this... was the last picture..." She pressed her lips together.
Muntikan pa akong natawa sa dinugtong niya.
"Before you died."
YOU ARE READING
Endless You
General Fiction[Youth#1] When you feel love for the first time, you'll never know what to do. There wasn't the word 'right' neither the word 'wrong'. You would just scream between pillows and cry on someone's shoulder because you felt it. For the very first time...
