The Lady in Shining Armor: Monte Carlo High

XXXV. Fact or Bluff?

"Good afternoon. Filing of candidacies for this year's Student Council posts are already open. Baka gusto mong tumakbo for President this time?" I smiled at this. May chance nga akong manalo kung botohan lang ang pag-uusapan, pero ano ba'ng alam ko sa pag-papa-takbo ng buong student body?

"I'll think about it, Miss. Thank you po." She smiled at me and I walked towards the Cafeteria.

"Vince!" Kahit malayo ang pinanggalingan ng boses, alam na alam ko na kung kanino galing iyon. Gusto ko na mag-teleport kung pwede lang. I ignored her and continued to walk, pero naririnig ko na ang tunog ng sapatos na papalapit na sa akin mula sa likuran. "Vince, wait!"

I decided to stop para matigil na siya sa kasisigaw ng pangalan ko. Nakakahiya sa ibang estudyante, baka kung ano pa isipin sa akin at sa babaeng ito.

"Bakit?"

"OMG, kanina pa kita tinatawag, hindi mo ba ako naririnig?" Hingal niyang tanong sa akin.

"Sorry, I didn't hear anything."

"Papunta ka ba sa Cafeteria? Tara, mag-miryenda tayo!" She anchored her arm on mine and pulled me towards the Cafeteria's direction. Maling mali ito. I stopped in front of the Cafeteria door and pulled her arm away from mine.

"Actually, kami ni Dawn ang mag-mi-miryenda ngayon, Khione." I pushed the door open and walked inside to look for Dawn. I scanned the entire place, but she's nowhere to be found. Asan ka na naman ba?

"Mukhang wala naman siya dito. Tayo na lang ang kumain."

"Khione--"

"She has a message for you, actually." I closed my eyes and sighed bago ko siya tingnan muli.

"Okay. Let's get our food, then."

We sat on the cornermost table in the room at agad ko siyang tinanong nang matapos ko na ang pagkain ko.

"What's her message? Asan ba siya? At bakit hindi na lang siya ang magsabi sa akin ng kung anuman ang sasabihin mo?" Her mood changed as if I opened the most boring topic there was on Earth. She drank her mango juice and faced me.

"Hindi ko sana gustong sabihin ito, kasi baka isipin mo, nanghihimasok ako or something sa relasyon niyo. Or sa 'soon-to-be' relationship niyo." She quoted her fingers in the air. "Pero dahil friend ko siya and I very much love you...for her, I had to help. At saka 'yun ang promise ko sa 'yo, 'di ba?"

"So? Ano nga yung gusto mong sabihin?"

"Did you ever wonder why until now hindi pa rin kayo? Did you ever ask her the reason?" Saan ba papunta itong usapan na 'to?

"No. Ayokong madaliin siya o pwersahin siya into something na baka hindi pa siya ready--"

"Wrong answer."

"What?"

"You still lack something, dear." She anwered in her sweet, flirty tone. Don't get me wrong, hindi lang siya sa akin ganito makipag-usap. A friend from class 4-2, Fred, once told me na ganito din siya kausapin ni Khione. He's a member of the Varsity team, by the way. Sabi ko sa kanya, baka trip siya nitong babaeng ito. He just laughed at sinabing classmate lang ang tingin niya sa kanya. Maganda nga siya, pero there's something different with her personality that we couldn't point out.

"I lack what?"

"This." She pointed at my temple. Wait. Is she telling me na wala akong utak?

"Hey. She will not say that--"

"Of course she wouldn't! Dawn's the nicest person I've known! Pero to make the long story short, yun na yun! We've been talking this past week and I was able to ask her about you and your status to her. She told me nice things about you, I was actually surprised at some of the things that she said."