APPLE IS ONE weird woman.
She claims to hate my guts whenever I'm not around, but then she speaks to me so civilly when it's just the two of us.
I shook my head and placed one earbud on my ear as I quickened my pace towards the meeting room. I didn't want to be late on my first meeting with the club coordinator.
The biology club was fairly new. It was established two years ago by another biology student, but after that, it wasn't maintained as it should be, so no new members joined the club. I mean, they probably think it's just another club for the nerds.
Which it is. But it's not a bad thing.
When I arrived, a few students were already settled. Some of them knew each other, so it was also a reunion of sorts.
I recognized Elijah, from the Psychology department. She was one of the first people outside of Bio that I became friends with after attending a seminar which she organized at that time.
I gave her a smile which she returned with a polite one and a wave.
Not wanting to be a bother, I decided to sit on the other side, where most chairs were vacant. It's not that I don't want to socialize, it's just that I hate small talk.
The club coordinator was still nowhere to be found, so I assumed she was late. And so was Apple.
I lifted my hand and glanced at my wristwatch. It was already a quarter past 4PM and we haven't even started yet.
And still no text from Apple.
When the club coordinator entered the room a few minutes after, I leaned my head down to send a quick text to the fruit, hoping that she'll see it immediately.
Coordinator is here. Saan ka na?
Despite her hostility towards me, I don't want her to miss whatever announcement the coordinator had to make that warranted a meeting.
Unless she wanted to, then be my guest.
"Hello, everyone, I'm Miss Lila. I know short notice na itong meeting, I apologize for that. This won't take long, but I need to discuss it as soon as possible." The club coordinator started.
When I received no reply from Apple, I raised my hand to catch her attention.
She stopped speaking and glanced towards me. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we are still missing one person. From the Debate Team. She said she'll be here but I haven't received a reply."
My instincts told me that she's a prompt person and wouldn't arrive 30 minutes late to a meeting for her team.
"Ah, is that Apple Andres? Kilala ko siya because she was my student in her freshman year. Alam mo ba kung nasaan siya? Maybe you can call her and tell her magsa-start na tayo."
I nodded and excused myself to call her. I placed my phone on my ear and waited for her to pick up. But after about 10 rings, my call remained unanswered.
If she went home, she would've told me. Or not. Who am I in her life anyway?
Against my better judgment, I pocketed my phone and headed towards the main school ground.
Science departments were adjacent to Arts and Lit, so I had to cross the huge field to get to the other side where the Business and other departments were located.
By the time I arrived, I was already out of breath. Shitty respiratory.
This is the reason why I was never allowed to join sports, not that I was interested in it anyway. Rafa and Jass were the ones with the athletic mindset and physique for it.
Though my asthma has never been a major problem for me, it's still an annoying thing to have, especially when I was a kid.
My eyes roamed the buildings and sidewalks to find Apple. Whenever I'd drive by here on my way home, I would always see her outside the building waiting for her teammates.
Now, that spot was empty.
I sighed and decided to head back to the meeting. Maybe she had an emergency to deal with, or maybe she went home.
Whatever it is, I'm sure it's valid enough to skip the meeting. Maybe I'll just take notes for her during the meeting later.
As I rushed back to the meeting, doubling my steps in the process, not minding that I was already huffing, a car passed by the sidewalk. And Apple was inside it, with an unfamiliar guy on the driver's seat.
When she saw me, her face morphed into surprise and panic. She rapped the glass window on her side, but as I cannot hear her, I relied purely on my gut feeling that she was in danger.
I immediately jumped off the sidewalk and towards the road to grab the handle of the car. It wasn't speeding so I had the opportunity to hold on to it, but I was still dragged by it before it abruptly stopped.
"What the fuck?" The driver barked the moment he got out of the car.
He was wearing an all-white ensemble and a badge that had the logo of the uni so it was safe to say that he was Apple's boyfriend who's studying nursing.
I ignored him and grasped the handle on the passenger's door, forcing it to open.
"Hoy, sino ka?" I heard him say.
I teared off my gaze from Apple who was still inside the car and looked at him. "Open the door."
"Who the fuck do you think you are? Hindi kita kilala so why would I open it? My girlfriend's inside."
Apple managed to unlock the door and I pulled it open so harshly that it almost hit the pavement.
"Tanginang gago, saan mo ko dadalhin?" Apple yelled as soon as she was out of the vehicle.
I made an attempt to pull her behind me, but I forgot about her temper and the need to be confrontational, so I let her stand on her own, but kept a short distance in case of violence.
I mean, I'm not much of anything to be good in a fight, but I can take him down if I have to. Probably.
"I told you, mag-usap tayo. Hindi mo nga ako binigyan ng chance makausap ka nang maayos. Honestly, Apple, what do you want from me?"
Apple's shoulders shook with anger. "Sagutin mo lang 'yong tanong ko! Mahirap ba? I want your honesty."
Her boyfriend scoffed and placed a hand on his hip and approached us. "And I told you, pag-usapan natin bago ka makipaghiwalay. You ambushed me with your questions, for God's sake."
"And kaya mong sagutin 'yon lahat kung hindi ka nagsisinungaling. Hindi ako pinanganak kahapon," she said with a harsh breath. "I know what you've been doing, and I don't want to be your toy anymore."
Apple pushed her way past me and headed towards the building where the meeting was being held, leaving her boyfriend behind.
I jogged after her after a few seconds of making sure that he won't follow us into the building or I'll really call the security on him.
Going again with my gut, I followed her until she went inside the woman's comfort room.
"Apple?" I asked.
"Saglit lang."
I leaned on the wall outside and waited for her to come out whenever she was ready to face me. I can only imagine that she feels embarrassed that I was the one to see her in that state.
But I'm glad that I did before anything happened.
When she went out, she seemed surprised to see me still there waiting for her. Which really seemed a bit off, considering that we weren't friends. I think.
"Andito ka pa?"
"I wanted to check on you," I admitted. Then retracted by saying, "We still have a meeting to attend to."
Coward, that's what you are, I thought.
She gave me a small smile, which she rarely gave anyone, or at least I assumed so. "Jumebs muna ako."
I nodded and led the way. I knew she was lying because her eyes were red, so I knew for a fact that she was crying.
"Ang tanga talaga." She suddenly spoke beside me while we walked.
"Who?"
She pointed at herself. "Ako, sino pa ba? Tanginang katangahan. Bakit ba ako sumama pa sa kanya?"
I glanced at her. Her long, black and wavy hair was covering half of her face. Something that I was not used to in all the times that I've seen her. She always wore it like a crown.
But today it seemed that it was nothing more than a nuisance.
Before I could say anything, she stopped walking to face me. "Thank you. Sa kanina. And sorry din, kasi nadamay ka pa."
For the first time today, I actually had a reason to smile.
"So you don't hate me anymore?"
Her brows scrunched in annoyance. "Asa ka. Hindi pa rin ako papayag sa T-TH sched."
I wanted to laugh but it may rile her up even more. That's enough for today at least.
"You know, you may be able to press charges for what he did, Apple. It's not right for him to take you somewhere without your consent."
"No," she shook her head. "I did agree to come with him. I agreed to talk to him. . . well, until he decided he wanted to take me to his house."
That's messed up in all sorts of ways. I'm not a pro at relationships, but that didn't seem like respecting one's boundaries.
"Tanga, e. Mahal ko." She sighed.
And then she walked ahead of me to attend the meeting like nothing happened, unfazed that she was just in the brink of danger earlier.
That or she was just good at pretending that she wasn't hurt.
Well, on that we're the same.
➳ ➳ ➳
After the meeting ended and the other participants began gathering their things, Apple and I were left dumbfounded at what Ms. Lila said just a few minutes ago.
"The two of you should mark this club day as an important one because aside from promoting your own club, you'd have to encourage new students to sign up. If not, either or both of your clubs will be shut down if you don't reach the quota of members."
Shut down? That's. . . extreme.
And I think Apple and I finally agree on one thing: we need to work our asses off for this.
"It's on, Dela Cuesta."
"What? I haven't even said anything."
The corner of her lips tugged upward in a smirk. "Whoever can garner the most members gets to stay up and running. And kasama na doon ang right sa room. I don't know about you, but I want that."
"Or we could both lose our clubs." I stretched my legs from underneath the table.
"Or, we get to have the whole room to ourselves." She winked at me.
That almost made my heart stop.
I schooled my expression into a nonchalant one and started to pack my bag.
"Weird pero gusto mo bang kumain?" Apple asked, as she stood near the door.
My hand froze in the middle of putting my notebook inside my bag. For the second time, she caught me off-guard by saying something I never would've expected from her.
"Nagke-crave lang ako sa chicken nuggets. Pero okay lang naman kung uuwi ka na. I'm a big girl."
And risk that shit of a boyfriend potentially following her? Nope.
"Sure. I'm hungry, too. Too much information in one day." I jested and strapped my bag on my back, closing the belt on my chest.
"Really?"
I nodded and frowned at the surprised expression on her face. Did she expect that I would turn her down? If it was anyone else, I probably would have.
But I think I owe her. I owe her an explanation for suddenly cutting communication. And I can't give that just yet, unless I want to complicate things.
So I opted for the next best thing and let her drag me to a popular fast food restaurant to eat chicken nuggets and caramel sundae.
Apple sat across from me as she opened the box of nuggets. "Alam mo bang kaya kong kumain ng 100 pieces nito? Nasubukan ko na before. Pero hindi katulad nung mga vloggers."
"Really? What for?" I asked, eager to know what she did.
"Challenge namin nung Pasko. May 2k na prize, eh. So, siyempre competitive ako, so inubos ko 100 pieces. Ayun, muntik na akong ma-ospital kinabukasan. Ang sakit ng tiyan ko."
I chuckled at her antics and started to peel off the small serving of rice.
"Salamat pala ulit kanina." Apple said without looking at me.
"Has that happened before? I mean, him being. . ."
"An asshole? You can say it." She smiled.
"Yeah, that. I mean, I don't know him personally to have an opinion, but he didn't seem like a nice guy."
"Mabait naman 'yon. Nagkataon lang siguro na. . ." she paused. "Bakit ko ba dine-depensahan 'yon? Yeah, he rarely had time for me these past few months, and kapag magkasama namin kami, ang hirap niya abutin."
I kept quiet because I didn't want Apple to know what my thoughts were.
That asshole was wasting his chance by being a crappy boyfriend. If he wanted a toy, he should've dated a plushie.
My eyes went to Apple, who was now dipping a piece of nugget on the sauce. She seemed happy eating here, like I didn't even exist. Just her and her chicken nuggets.
"But are you okay now?"
She looked up from her plate while I kept my eyes trained on her.
Her hair was now tied up in a messy ponytail and cleared her face from the strands, but her eyes were still the same ones that I found attractive that night at the party.
"Sa totoo lang? Hindi. But I'm trying to be fine. Hindi naman sa kanya umiikot ang mundo ko."
I averted my gaze from her and directed it on my food, partly because I wanted to eat, but mostly because I didn't want her to become my world.
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