Reclaiming the Stars (Agustin Series #1)

Kabanata 8

"Everything," hindi na ako nakaangal nang bigla n'ya akong hilahin. Dinala n'ya ako sa di gaanong kalaking kwarto. Scratch that! A whole room for a closet!

"Sa'yo lahat 'to?" unconvinced that only one person owns this number of clothing.

"Yap. Kuhanin mo nalang kapag may nagustuhan ka," she said like it wasn't a big deal. What amazed me the most is how organized the color of the clothes are. There are divisions for every colors, it's insane!

At dahil sa kanya na naman nanggaling, kinuha ko lahat ng nakitang maganda. She even handed me a bag to place all the stuffs I'm getting for free.

"Sure ka bang wala kang binabalak na masama? Baka mamaya pagbayarin mo'ko ha," I said warningly. She laughed at my remark.

"This is only a preview of the clothes I own," pagkasabi n'ya noon ay mas lalo akong ginanahang kumuha ng mga damit. It's not everyday that you could get free clothes.

She suddenly squealed which made me face her. "This is it! Ito na talaga!" waving bikinis in front of me.

"You're not letting me wear that!" lumayo kaagad ako sa kanya. Nakikita ko lamang ang mga kaklase ko dati na nagdadamit ng ganoon but I never imagined myself wearing tiny piece of fabric.

"You should say goodbye to your clothes then," kinuha n'ya ang bag na pinuno ko ny damit. She's very manipulative, bagay sila ni Lorenzo.

Kinuha ko ang unang bikini na iniabot n'ya sa akin. It's a yellow one-piece striped bikini. Paglabas ko ng fitting room, yes, she has a fitting room. Lorenzo's spoiling her girlfriend too much.

Tumalon-talon s'ya pero agad ding umiling. "It covers so much skin."

Nakailang sukat pa ako until she decided to let me wear a red crisscross two-piece bikini, perfectly hugging my skin.

"Wow. You're prettier than me!" lumabas na rin si Melissa. She's wearing a black one with thin straps and the neckline cuts deep revealing her chest. "But I'm sexier than you."

I agreed with her. "I feel naked," I complained and covered myself with a towel.

"You're really beautiful! Show it to the world!" she gave me buckets of praises, increasing the self-esteem I never knew existed in the first place.

Maybe she's not so bad after all.

"Let's do photoshoots!" nilabas n'ya ang camera n'ya at kinuhanan ako ng maraming pictures. "Give me more, girl!"

We exchanged places and now, I'm the one taking shots for her. One thing is crystal clear, she's way too photogenic. Hinangaan ko ang paraan ng pagdadala n'ya sa sarili n'ya. She knows her angles and camera works. No wonder why she's a model.

Lumabas na kami papuntang pool. Mag-iihaw nalang daw kami ng para sa lunch. 

"Isidro!" pagtawag ni Melissa kay Sid na kalaro na ang dalawang bata sa pool. Nasa may hagdan lamang sila.

Napasipol naman si Sid nang lumapit sa amin. "Ang ganda n'yo naman mga sisters!" inipit ni Sid ang boses n'ya. Melissa told him to take shots of us.

Tawang tawa naman kami ni Melissa dahil sineryoso talaga ni Sid ang pag-picture. He's the one directing our poses. Pinapunta pa n'ya kami sa sun lounger pati sa mga bulaklak at doon pina-pose.

Nag-angat naman ako ng tingin nang mapansin na parang may nakamasid sa'kin. I was right. Lorenzo's dark eyes darted towards me. Nakatayo s'ya sa may veranda na mukhang galing sa kwarto ni Lolo Joaquin.

Bumalik na ako malapit sa pool. Si Manang ang nag-iihaw ng mga kakainin namin. Naliligo na si Melissa at niyaya kaagad ako.

Sumugbo na rin ako. The water's a bit cold but it's bearable. Tuwang-tuwa sina Kael at Yñigo at isama na rin ang leader nilang si Sid. Umahon si Melissa dahil ipo-post n'ya raw ang pictures naming dalawa. I couldn't relate that much since I doesn't own any social medias.

I don't even have a phone. Hindi naman kasi ganoong kailangan kaya humihiram nalang ako kay Papa kapag may school projects. We have to set our priorities right and our number on is to get Kael a treatment for his poor heart. Namana kasi n'ya kay Mama ang pagiging sakitin.

Naiwan kaming apat sa pool. Umupo ako sa may hagdan sa tabi nila. "Naks. Serious." Pag-uumpisa ni Sid. I ignored his existence. Maya-maya pa'y bigla na lang may sumirit sa mukha ko.

I saw Sid holding a water gun, pointing at my direction. Inagaw ko naman kay Yñigo ang water gun n'ya at pinuno ng tubig.

"Lumapit ka dito, Isidro," pagbabanta ko sa kanya. Lumangoy s'ya papalayo dala pa rin ang water gun. Pag-lapit ko sa kanya ay pinasiritan n'ya ulit ko.

"Humanda ka sa'king kumag ka!" he went out of the pool so I followed him. Binaril ko s'ya nang binaril pero hindi ko matamaan. Sobrang likot kasi. Inikot n'ya ang gilid ng pool at hinabol ko naman s'ya.

"Bilis, Kuya Sid!" tiningnan ko ng masama ang dalawang alaga ko.

"Gusto n'yong ihawin ko ang sisiw n'yo?" pananakot ko sa kanila.

"Go Ate Priya! Go! Go! Go!" sigaw nilang dalawa.

"Mang-aagaw ng audience," si Sid na nakanguso akong tiningnan. I grabbed the chance to fire him exactly on his face.

Bigla s'yang tumigil at napaubo. Sinuntok-suntok n'ya ang gilid ng ulo n'ya. Pinasukan yata ng tubig ang ilong! I went to him and left my water gun on the floor.

"Okay ka lang, Sid?" he kept coughing until his face turned red. "Hindi ko sinasadya. Sorry." I said, panicking. Hinagod-hagod ko ang likod n'ya.

"Aaaaaah!" he yelled out of the blue. Napatakbo ako nang makitang nakatutok na sa akin ang water gun n'ya.

"Gago!" I shrieked when I felt his pace fastened. Mas binilisan ko ang pagtakbo pero naabutan pa rin ako ni Sid.

Then he did the most ruthless thing a not normal guy would do. He pushed me in the pool! Napairit ako pero bago pa man mahulog ay may humawak sa kamay ko.

But since I'm already falling, he had no choice but to fall with me.

Naramdaman ko ang marahas kong pagpatak sa tubig. The next thing I felt is the tight grasp on my waist.

I wiped my face using my hand and as I opened my eyes, I saw the man I've been thinking about lately. My heart beat doubled then tripled until I could feel it escaping my chest.

Damn, I fell. Way too hard.