Into the Spotlight

Chapter 10

"So..? How are you two?" he asked after a moment of silence.

I smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "Good, like the good old days. Masaya kaming nagke-kwentuhan, dumating ka lang talaga. Paepal." pang-aasar ko.

"Good for you. Buti at nagkaintindihan na kayo." he nodded while typing something on his phone. "And I'll take your last sentence as a joke."

"It is not."

He darted a sideward glance at me. "Take your words back."

"Hell, no." I stuck out my tongue.

"Ploy! You—"

He stopped talking and grabbed my phone from me.

"Hey, give me back my phone you son of a—" nanggalaiti kong sigaw na naputol na naman dahil tinakpan niya ang bibig ko gamit ang isang kamay. "Ew, tanggalin mo nga kamay mo, unsanitary!"

"This is clean, for your information."

I made face. "Ows? Duda ako."

"You won't be getting this, then."

Itinaas niya na ang kamay niya habang nakatayo upang hindi ko maabot ang cellphone ko. Hayop talaga 'to. Pinapahirap talaga ang buhay ko.

After a few punches, he finally gave up my phone and slumped himself on my bed while laughing hardly.

"Salamat sa pagbigay ng phone, ha?" I said sarcastically. I don't know if he noticed, nakatutok lang kasi siya sa phone niya. Ingudngod ko kaya ang mukha niya sa screen niya? Kidding.

He just nodded kaya naman napairap ako. Then napaikot ang paningin ko sa silid. I realized that Ryan was not yet here.

Ano 'yon, siya na ang naitimpla ng kape? The thought made me want to punch myself, kadiri. I can't imagine a Ryan-flavored coffee. What a dumbass.

"Hey, where's Ryan?" I asked the guy with me but got no response. I sighed and got off my bed. "Okay, bahala ka riyan. Samahan ko lang magtimpla ng kape si Ryan."

"He finally took his eyes off his phone nang sinabi kong lalabas ako. "Sama ako."

"Duwag, ampota." I muttered.

He grimaced. "Says the one who freaks out when watching zombie movies."

"Woah, woah. Hang in there! Zombies are different from ghosts! Mas posibleng magkaroon ng multo rito kaysa zombie!" I shot back. "And excuse me, I was the one scaring people as a ghost! You were afraid of me when I played as a nurse, right?" I smirked.

"You screamed at yourself kaya ako nataranta." he defended. "So much for being too brave."

I rolled my eyes. "'Di ko alam na ganun kinalabasan noon, okay? And the sound effects! Malay ko bang lalagyan nila ng ganoon? My make-up is freaky!"

"You took a selfie, Ploy. You posted it in your private Instagram account." bumuntong-hininga siya na parang give up na siya sa ginagawa kong pagdefend sa sarili ko. "I was there during your shoot in Bangkok. Nagpa-picture ka pa nga."

I stomped my feet.

"Now you're acting like a 5-year-old kid."

I heaved a sigh of surrender and shot him a glare. "Oo na, leche! Sumama ka na! Sasama na nga lang manunumbat pa, ampota."

"Watch your mouth."

Hindi ko na lang siya pinansin at nagpatuloy sa paglalakad pababa sa may hagdan. We were halfway through the stairs when Shin halted.