Head Over Heels For Ezzio (Villaverde Series #1)

Chapter 6

Paris

I had made up my mind, alright. The night he told me to prove it, I'd made up my mind. Kaya naman the following day, I was determined to start being 'head over heels' for him.

"What's with the lunchbox?" Venny asked as she moved around the kitchen. This time, she had her baby blue PJ's on. Kakagising niya lang. Palibhasa, mamaya pa ang klase niya. Oh, the perks of being a first year.

"And you cooked.." she wrinkled her nose, trying to smell and figure out the dish. And she did figure it out. "Sinigang? Is that sinigang?"

I looked down at the food I was packing and shrugged. "I just thought I'd try something new."

Ewan ko pero parang ayaw kong sabihin kay Venny na para kay Ezzio talaga 'to. 'Yon nga lang, Venny's one of the few people that sees right through me. So I had a feeling she might find out sooner or later.

"Weird," she said as I watched her spread some nutella on a piece of bread. "I mean, lunchboxes aren't your thing. Tapos nagluto ka pa talaga ng sinigang, which is hindi mo naman fave-"

Bahagya akong kinabahan nang tumigil siya sa ginagawa. Her eyes widened as she lifted her gaze to look at me.

'Yan na nga ba'ng sinasabi ko...

"Aha!" she exclaimed. I winced. I think she caught me. "That's not really for you, is it?"

Mas lalo lang akong napangiwi sa tanong niya. Well! So much for keeping this a secret!

Before she could say anything, I hastily finished packing and grabbed my bag. Nagmadali akong umalis doon samantalang rinig na rinig ko naman ang mga pinagsasabi ni Venny.

"It's for Z! I knew it!" she said over and over again.

On my way to the door, I bumped into my younger brother, Mexico. We call him Mico.

"What's with ate Ven?" he asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes. For a split second, I couldn't help but marvel on the thought that Mico was still on the 10th Grade of high school and yet he was already taller than me.

"She's probably gone crazy," I answered and tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek. "Alis na 'ko."

I left the house that way, with Venny saying, 'It's for Z!' nonstop, and Mico trying to prepare his breakfast while ignoring her loud sister.

Inilagay ko muna sa locker ang lunchbox bago dumiretso sa klase. Throughout the morning, I felt unusually optimistic. At napakagaan pa ng mood ko. Ni hindi ko gaanong napansin ang mga nakakasuklab na tingin ng iilang estudyante sa tuwing dumadaan ako sa hallway. And to be honest, I was quite confident that I'd pull off my plan. I was confident that everything would run smoothly...

Until lunchtime came.

Kakakuha ko lang ng lunchbox sa locker at handang-handa na akong ibigay 'yon kay Ezzio. I was about to start walking when I realized one thing.

I didn't know where to find him.

Wow. Natanong ko siya kung ano ang paborito niyang ulam pero hindi ko siya natanong kung saan ko siya makikita during lunchtime?

Napapikit ako ng mariin.

Stupid.

Pero malay ko ba? Hindi naman ako isa sa mga fans niya na alam na alam lahat ng bagay tungkol sa kanya, lahat ng nakalagay sa schedule niya, at lahat ng destinasyon na pinupuntahan niya araw-araw!

'But still, you could've asked him, right?', a voice inside me pointed out. At mas lalo lang akong nainis.

I took a deep breath and checked my wristwatch. It was bad enough that our sched got shortened because LMU's Founding Anniversary was approaching. Shortened lahat ng klase pati ang lunchtime. It was to give the students time to prepare with their different clubs and organizations after class. So, at the moment, I only had 45 minutes left until lunch's over.