"Bakit ka ba nandito?" I asked him again. Bakit ba biglang nawala si Eunice? I looked around pero 'di ko na siya nakita. Oh well. Siguro may nakita siyang kaibigan na kakausapin. She literally has so many friends.
"Hinahanap kita. Pupunta nga sana ako sa library 'e."
"Why nga?"
Napakibit siya ng balikat. "Tara, kain tayo."
"Huh? I'm with a friend 'e." I answered, craning my neck and moving sideways in case Eunice was behind Santiago.
"Bring her." simple niyang sabi, as if it was no problem. Ngumiwi ako. I still couldn't find her. Just then, my phone lit up, may dumating na message.
Hi, sorry, my groupmate found me and dragged me sa library. Sorry talaga huhu bawi ako next time!
"She cancelled." I announced. I brought my phone closer to him para makita niya na hindi ako gumagawa ng storya. He nodded and pressed the button of his car keys. Tumunog ang sasakyan niya. Rich kid pala 'to, hala. Maybe he'll bring me to a fancy restaurant. Gusto ko ng steak.
"Tara." sabi niya, he went to the passenger's side and opened the door for me. Hindi na ako umangal. I was starving.
After closing the door, he went inside na din. He started the engine and turned on the speaker. I looked around discreetly, ang linis. Umalis na siya sa parking at nagsimulang magdrive. The aircon was unusually cold for me, lalo na at t-shirt at checkered mini-skirt lang ang suot ko. Santiago's hand reached for something in the backseat. Nu'ng bumalik na ito, may hawak na siyang hoodie. Iba nanaman ang hoodie. Kulay navy green naman ngayon.
"Nilalamig ka?"
"Okay lang ako."
"Sure ka?" his eyes didn't leave the road. Nilagay lamang niya ang hoodie niya sa lap ko. "Yes." I answered.
God, sana masarap ang ililibre niyang food.
"Okay, moving on to #1 in our playlist today. Many of you requested for this to be player and guess what, it's finally going to be played! Ang bilis sumikat ng bandang ito 'no, DJ Cha?"
"Oo, tama ka diyan, partner. They deserve it. Their songs are like food for the soul. Chill lang. Sobrang dinadama ko 'e. Whenever I listen to their songs, I feel like I am heartbroken over a relationship I didn't even have! Or kaya kung hindi heartbroken, I feel like I'm inlove. Deeply inlove. Hahahaha, okay, give it up for the rising indie folk band, Munimuni and Clara Benin! With their song, Solomon."
"Noong ika'y dumaan..."
I looked at the boy to my left. He was lightly tapping his fingers sa steering wheel as he mouthed the lyrics. 'O irog, dinig mo ba ang pagtibok ng iyong puso? As they sang those lyrics, sobrang lakas ng pagtibok ng puso ko. Nagpapalpitate ba ako? Maybe it was because of the coffee I drank earlier. Oo, baka sa coffee.
Or baka naman dahil sa lalaking katabi ko ngayon.
I didn't know what brought these emotions. Bigla bigla nalang talaga dumadating ito. Minsan, inis na inis ako kay Santi, minsan naman, ewan, kinikilig? Maybe because of his looks. Ugh, bakit ba kasi kailangan na chinito siya?
chapter 25
Magsimula sa umpisa
