Cost of Taste | ✓

Kabanata 30

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"Stop drinking beyond your control, Ate." Sita ni Etienne habang umiiling.

Nasa Les Gens kami ngayon, it was my day off. Pero nandito pa rin ako sa trabaho. Sari-saring kulay ng ilaw ang tanging nakikita ko dahil sa dami ng aking nainom. Everything else is already blurred.

"I'm eighteen! And you're just Etienne." I giggled at my own joke.

"Kaya ka iniiwan e." He fired back.

Agad na nawala ang ngiti ko sa labi. Nakakainis talaga 'tong lokohin kasi mas nakakaloko siya!

Nilayo niya sa akin 'yung ilang baso. "Hindi alak ang sagot sa problema. People often took alcohol and think their problems would miraculously vanished."

Nilagok ko pa ang isang shot na nasa harap ko. The bittersweet taste registered to my throat, agad akong ngumiwi dahil nabigla 'yata ang panlasa ko.

"Arri!" A familliar voice called me. Nilingon ko ito at nakitang si Gio pala. He was waving at me while walking towards our direction.

"You're here?" tanong ko kay Gio, who had his sight on Etienne. His eyes turned to slits.

"Underage ka pa, ah!" Gio blurted out which made Etienne frown in response.

"Hindi po ako umiinom," Etienne answered monotonously. "Kapag ba talaga eighteen na, lasingero at lasingera?"

My half opened eyes glance at Etienne. That isn't the case, it might be true that some actually gets excited to reach their legal age to finally experience beverages like this, pero sa una lang naman ito. Hindi naman pangmatagalan na solusyon ang alak.

"Lasing ka?" Halakhak ni Gio. "Bakit? Hala! Heartbroken? Same!"

Nag-apiran pa kaming dalawa. I also chuckled at him. The song Roxanne was playing in the background.

"She's not Roxanne but she's never gonna love me." Gio muttered as he let out a long sigh.

"Ang dadrama niyo talaga," humalukipkip si Etienne.

"Mahal ko pa rin siya e." Humihikbi ako habang nakasandal ang ulo ko sa isang bote na hawak ko.

"Ako rin," Gio chuckled. "Pero di tayo mahal e, okay na siguro na minsan sa buhay natin nagawa natin silang mahalin."

Sabay na napatingin kami ni Gio kay Etienne, who only raise an eyebrow while mouthing 'what'.

Etienne shrugged. "Sorry, wala akong entry. Hindi naman ako sawi."

Sabay naming binatukan si Etienne. Ang insensitive kasi kahit kailan. Hindi man lang inisip na nagd-drama kaming dalawa ni Gio rito.

I decided to go to the dance floor. Gusto ko sumayaw! Gusto ko maging masaya! Gusto ko lang naman maging masaya...

"Arri! Saan ka pupunta?" Gio seeked for me amidst the crowd. Tumawa lang ako habang naghahanap ng maiinom pa.

"Hey! Arrisea 'di ba?" a figure asked me. Agad akong tumango, medyo nahihilo na. Ang kanyang pigura ay hindi pamilyar sa akin.

"Have this! Free drink!"

My dumb brain accepted the drink. Free drink daw e! Libre naman kaya bakit ko tatanggihan?

I drink it, buttoms up. Lalong naging spiral ang paningin ko. I heard a girl giggling. That voice sounded so familiar, it's almost scary.

"Sweet dreams, unpure slut."

The night was wild for me. A little too wild that I let myself act without inhibitions. I tried to forget him just for a night. Lahat ay ginawa ko para lang makalimot. All I remembered was I was with someone who was holding me tightly as I kissed him wildly. He responded by slipping his tongue inside my mouth and it was really ticklish. His fingers graze through my body and...

Then I woke up.

Masakit ang ulo ko at pinilig ito upang tignan kung inuwi ba ako nila Etienne o Gio. The whole room was unfamilliar. It was minimalistic though with the motif of dark colors.

I was wearing an oversized pajama. Tumayo ako pero agad na natumba dahil ang sakit ng bandang hita ko. I was swearing because it really hurts. Napaupo tuloy ako sa sahig.

Nabangga ba ako kagabi?

I saw my phone on the sidetable near the lamp. Kinuha ko ito at agad na tinext si Etienne.

Arrisea:

Apartment mo ba ito o condo? Or kay Gio? Gising na ako, dalhan niyo ako ng makakain! Thank you!

Etienne:

Bakit ngayon ka lang nag-reply?

Kagabi ka pa namin hinahanap.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Tiningnan ko ang inbox ko at nakitang tadtad ito ng messages galing kay Etienne at Gio.

Arrisea:

Di kayo nakakatuwa, gutom na ako.

Agad na nag-ring ang phone ko at sinagot ko ito. It was Gio and he sounded panicking.

"Nasaan ka?!"

"Uh, di ko rin alam?" I answered while roaming around the room. Nice! Ang ganda naman ng mga palamuti niya rito.

Bumuntong hininga siya sa kabilang linya. "Can you see any landmarks? Susunduin ka namin. Are you okay? Do you feel...anything lost?"

"Mga damit ko. Pero okay lang mura lang naman 'yon," sagot ko habang hinihilot ang aking sentido, naramdaman ko ang pagkalam ng sikmura ko. Gutom na talaga ako.

Nakarinig ako ng mura kay Gio. "Arrisea, seryoso kasi ako."

"Seryoso rin naman ako! Damit lang 'yon."

"May masakit ba sa'yo?" Gio's voice was laced with concern.

"Oy, di niyo naman ako pinigilan kagabi. Ilang beses ba akong nabangga?"

"What do you mean?"

"Masakit 'yung bandang hita ko."

Narinig ko ang mga OA nilang reaksyon, particularly Gio. Tawa lang ang naririnig ko galing kay Etienne.

"Ako nga," Etienne was on the line now. "Pasikot-sikot pa kasi kayo. Ate Arri, did you had sex with someone?"

My jaw fell. Nag tiim bagang ako bago tuluyang naisip kung ano ang sinabi niya.

Ano?

What the hell?!

"No!" Agad na sagot ko. "I mean, wala akong matandaan!"

"Oh sige, salamat. Mag-panic ka na ulit Kuya Gio, wala raw siyang matandaan." Etienne snorted.

Nagising bigla ang diwa ko dahil sa sinabi ni Etienne. Is that possible? I made love with someone who's probably not Adren?!

Napasabunot ako sa sarili ko habang nakaupo. I'm so doomed! I shouldn't have done anything while drunk.

I was biting my fingernails when I heard the door opening. Napatingin ako sa taong pumasok. It was a guy who was wearing a white polo and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbow. He looks at me and his lips parted.

"Good morning." Lumapit siya sa akin pero lumayo ako kaya natigilan siya. He stopped from his tracks and sighed. Agad siyang lumayo at may pinuntahan.

Hindi ako makapaniwala. Unti-unting nagsilaglagan ang mga butil ng luha sa aking pinsgi. All hopes vanished for me.

Hanimal.

It really wasn't Adren.

❛ ━━━━━━･❪☽༓☾❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜