Matt held my hand and squeezed it as if that gesture would calm me down but it didn't.
"I see." She nodded with a smile still plastered on her face. "You don't have to be mad at me. I'm not a boyfriend stealer."
My eyebrow raised because of what she said.
"Anyway, I just came here to say goodbye to Matt because my brother is already outside." Her gaze went to Matt. "It's nice seeing you again, Matt. Sana ma-contact ko rin si Julian. See you in April for the campaign."
She walked to where tito and tita were and bade them goodbye. Matt's parents seemed to be fond of her. Great! Just great!
Matt wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. "Galit ka na naman. Selos ka ba?"
I squinted my eyes at him because I was still pissed at that girl. She said she wasn't a boyfriend stealer but some girls would say that and would still steal someone else's boyfriend. "Hell no, I'm not the jealous type and I know that I'm way better than that girl."
"Bakit ka galit?" he asked. "Mainit ulo? Napipikon?"
"She just pisses me off." I would throw my bags first before admitting that I'm jealous.
"Wala naman 'yon, sumabay lang talaga sa amin," Matt explained but I was still mad about it. "Anong gusto mong gawin ko para hindi ka magalit?"
I shook my head because I was just mad and I didn't really know what I wanted him to do. "I hate that girl. I just got over the fact that you often hang out with your friends and it was already fine with me that they're always around."
"Talaga? Okay ka na sa kanila?" he asked me with an amused expression on his face.
I nodded. "I can't do anything about it because you like them. Then, Stella came into the picture and I don't really like her, until now, because she's too close to you and she's one of those people." I sighed. "But since she's a classmate of yours and you still chose me even though she's there, things are easier for me to accept."
"At lagi ko namang sinasabi na ikaw lang, diba?"
"Yeah... but now, there's another new girl that I have to watch out for." I sighed. "I know that I'm way ahead of all of them in terms of a lot of things and I do trust you but I don't trust them."
"Kahit naman wala kang tiwala sa kanila, wala naman silang magagawa. Tsaka ikaw ang pinili ko noon at kahit sino pa ang dumating ikaw pa rin ang pipiliin ko." He smiled and cupped my face. "Stop worrying that someone might steal me away from you because I wouldn't let that happen."
I rolled my eyes and hugged him back. Those girls should really back off.
"Happy New Year, Matty!" I greeted Matt through the phone when I heard the fireworks. "We're going to have a great year, I just know it."
He chuckled. "Mukhang great nga 'yong year... Malapit na 'yong Moving Up Ceremony ko."
"I can't wait." I grinned. I can finally tell people that Matty's my boyfriend. I don't have to worry about the other girls and I don't have to think about the fragile deal that we have.
"Saan mo nga pala balak mag-senior high?" Matteo asked me. "'Yong mga iba kong kaklase nag-aayos na ng papers para sa mga schools sa senior high, eh."
I shrugged as if he was just in front of me. "I think I'll stay homeschooled until the end of senior high. Mom wants me to focus on the Montagne Empire while I study so that's the plan for the next two years. How about you? Are you transferring to another school?"
"Hindi rin naman... Mas maganda 'yong record ng school namin pagdating sa senior high kaysa sa ibang school kaya magse-stay ako. Tsaka nakakatamad mag-ayos ng mga papeles, hindi ko nga inayos 'yong sa Ateneo SHS at UST SHS noong mga nakaraang buwan."
"Great! So I don't have to worry about other people?" I asked him because that's always my problem when it came to him meeting new people.
I always feel like most of them like Matty and my reasons are valid because Matt is a really handsome guy and he now looks like a man unlike when we were younger. If Matt was the friendly type, girls will line up just to be with him.
"Kahit naman lumipat ako ng school hindi mo naman kailangan mag-worry," Matt said and laughed. "Dapat sa FIST ka na lang mag-enroll para magkasama tayo ngayong senior high."
I rolled my eyes. "As if mom would let me. Let's just enter the same university in college."
"Sige para kahit magkaiba tayo ng pipiliin na program magkikita pa rin tayo."
"Yes! Mom said she'll let me attend whatever school I want so just tell me what school you'll choose."
"Depende kasi kung saan ako makakalaro ng Football at kung saang entrance exam ako papasa. Sabay na lang tayo mag-ayos ng papers."
"Okay! But please, I don't want to attend UP, okay?"
There was a long pause before he started talking. "Tignan natin... Gusto ko rin kasi sa UP dahil maganda 'yong football program nila roon tsaka doon nag-aral sila mommy at daddy. Mag-try na lang din tayo sa lahat tapos isipin na lang natin kapag nakapasa na tayo."
I pouted. I didn't want to attend UP... Mom also doesn't want me to study there because of that school's image. "Okay."
A few days later, Matt' started going to school again and he wasn't as busy as last month but he was always studying with his friends because apparently, their subjects are becoming more difficult to handle so they have to teach each other the concepts.
Gosh! If only mom would let me attend FIST for SHS everything would have been easier for me and Matt.
"Sama ka?" Matt asked me when he visited me after his last day for this week. "Magre-review ako kasama nila Axel sa AV Garden."
I shook my head and smiled at him. "I'm not in the mood to go out and I have to practice for my April Recital. I'll be busy in the coming months because of dad's campaign so I have to study the piano pieces that I'll perform."
"Sigurado ka? Para hindi ka mag-overthink," Matt asked with worry.
My heart softened at what he said because the jealousy that I'm feeling even though I would never admit that to him has always been a pest even to me but Matt is really understanding about it. "Yes, I'm not going to overthink about your other friends unless Stella's there."
"Wala naman si Stella, may ibang circle naman 'yon. Sila Julian tsaka 'yong iba pa naming kaibigan 'yong kasama. Okay ka naman na sa kanila, diba?"
I forced myself to nod my head and smile. I'm fine with them but I want to hang out with Matty today.
He chuckled and held my cheek to straighten my lips. "Naka-fake smile ka. Gusto mo ba hindi na lang ako pumunta?"
I pouted and shook my head. "You should go. You have to study for your exams."
"Sigurado ka ba?" he asked and ruffled my hair. "Pwede namang hindi na lang ako pumunta at dito na lang ako mag-aral kasama mo."
"No... You should go. I'll just distract you from reviewing and I really don't want to do that." I pouted. "We'll just hang out after your exams."
"Sige, bawi ako after ng exams ko," he said and hugged me.
"Okay! Do well on your exams so mom wouldn't comment on anything," I said and chuckled because mom had been asking about our school records ever since Matt told them that he likes me.
He smiled. "I'll do my best."
I smiled and waved my hand at him as he walked out of the gate. I went inside my room I did my night routine before lying in bed. I scrolled through Instagram because I had nothing better to do.
As I was scrolling through Instagram, a photo posted by Hailey caught my attention. It was a photo of her and Hunter in Hunter's school with a caption, "Photo dump from our LA trip." I didn't know that they went abroad. There were a lot of likes and comments and most of the comments are just girls admiring Hunter.
That's probably the reason why her post had a lot of likes.
I rolled my eyes and continued scrolling. Another post caught my attention and it was Blair's post. It was posted a few seconds ago and it was a photo of their friend group.
I can't help myself but smile when I saw Matt's straight face in the photo. He was sitting between Julian and Axel which was a good thing because I would probably be pissed again if I saw him sitting beside Ella.
I sighed and exited my Instagram Application. I rested on my bed and just stared at the ceiling. I can't wait for college to come sooner.
"How's your first day of exams?" I asked Matt when he arrived at my house. He arrived earlier than usual because their class schedule was different when they have their exams.
He hugged me tightly and rested his forehead on my shoulder. "Nakakapagod 'yong exams tapos puyat pa kami. Tapos next week may training na agad at may practice pa ng Hip hop para sa PE namin."
"Rest," I told him and pulled his hand. "Come on, let's go to your house."
He pulled back. "Mamaya na, dito na muna tayo. Kapag umuwi tayo hindi rin naman tayo makakapasok sa kwarto ko kaya hindi rin ako makakapagpahinga."
"Let's just stay in your living room, you can rest there." I pulled his hand again. "Come on, please. It's better for you to rest there because I know you wouldn't rest in my room."
He sighed and just let me pull him to his house. I intertwined our hands as we walked, his hand was soft and it felt good holding his hand this way.
Carmela waved at me when we arrived at their house. "Hi, ate Callie! Are you and kuya together na?"
Matt frowned at Carmela who just gave us a cheeky smile before going back to what she was doing earlier.
"Oh? Kakaalis lang ni Matt tapos nandito na kayo," tita said and put the telephone she was holding on their wooden side table.
"He's tired daw po sa exams niya, tita, so I told him to get some rest. It's better if he rests here so he can just sleep later when I leave."
Tita nodded and smiled at us. "Sige, magpapaluto na lang ako ng meryenda niyo. Doon na lang kayo sa snug room para makapag-aircon kayo."
I smiled widely. "Thanks, tita."
Tita just smiled at us before going to their dirty kitchen. Matt and I entered their snug room and he immediately opened the air conditioner. Gosh! It was really hot outside!
"Anong gusto mong gawin?" he asked me while putting their cushions on the carpeted floor.
"You should rest... Or we can watch a movie until you fall asleep?" I asked and chuckled. "I'll pick a boring movie for you."
He sat on one of the cushions and rested his back on the sofa. "Dito ka," he said and patted the area beside him.
I obliged and he rested his head on my shoulder when I sat beside him. I opened the TV and started scrolling through the movies on Netflix but I couldn't find anything boring that we have already watched.
I sighed and turned the TV off. "I don't know which movie to pick."
Matt didn't say anything so I looked at him and his eyes were already closed. He really was tired.
I just let him lean on me but he was getting heavier and heavier with every passing minute so I had to slightly wake him up for him to move to a different position.
"Matty, rest your head on my lap na lang," I whispered.
He followed me while his eyes were still closed. He moved quickly and rested his head on my lap. He fell asleep immediately after that.
I was able to stare at his face as I ran my fingers through his hair. I wonder how he keeps his hair soft despite being under the sun and running around the field all the time.
When the door opened, I pretended that I was busy looking at the books on their coffee table.
"Nakatulog agad si Matt?" tita asked. She was carrying a tray of food.
I just nodded and smiled. It would have been embarrassing if she caught me staring at Matt's face.
"'Yang bata talaga na 'yan. Ginawa ka pang unan." She chuckled and placed the tray on the coffee table. "Okay ka lang ba diyan?"
"Yes po, tita. Okay lang naman po."
Tita just nodded and walked toward the door. "Kung may kailangan kayo sabihan niyo na lang ako," she said before walking out.
I just examined the books that were on the coffee table, I'll just read a book to stop myself from staring at Matty's face. There were five books there and only one of the books was familiar to me. To Kill a Mockingbird, The Prince, The Communist Manifesto, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and The Rescue were the titles of the books that were there.
I'm not planning on reading anything written by either Paulo Freire or Karl Marx because those are the books that Grandpa doesn't want Hunter to read so I removed the books from the stack. I wasn't familiar with The Prince and To Kill a Mockingbird so I removed them from the stack and I was left with The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks.
This will do... I arranged the other books in a neat stack, why are tita's books like these?
Well, at least she didn't have those overpriced local books that have shitty plots, they're cheap but they're still not worth the price.
I bought one of those and it ended up in a trash bag because of how annoying it was, from the character designs to the conflict that didn't make any sense. It also had a lot of inconsistencies.
Everything about that book was cheap... The physical aspect was cheap, the content was cheap, the characters were cheap, and the plot was also cheap. Gosh! Good thing it ended up in the trash. The satisfaction of throwing that in the trash bin.
I leaned on the sofa and started reading the book that I chose. I'm a fan of Nicholas Sparks so it wasn't really hard for me to be hooked immediately.
"Cat, anong oras na?"
My imagination of the scene that I'm currently reading disappeared because of Matt. I pouted and put the book I was reading at the top of the stack.
"Oh, bakit?" Matt asked as he sat up.
"I was in the scene," I said and pouted before looking at my wristwatch. It was already 5 PM! I was reading for five hours.
"Sorry." He chuckled. "Anong oras na?"
"It's already 5! I forgot to wake you up." I sighed. I should have set an alarm at 3 PM because he was planning on reviewing at 3 but it's already 5.
He leaned on the sofa beside me. "Mamayang gabi na lang ako magre-review."
"Tapos you'll sleep late again?" I asked and glared at him.
"Babawi na lang ako after ng exams. May isa akong subject bukas na terror 'yong teacher kaya kailangan ko mag-aral." He sighed and rested his head on the couch.
"Stop pushing yourself too hard, Matty, you might get sick because of that," I said and caressed his face. I have never seen him so tired before.
"Ayaw ko lang na may masabi 'yong mga parents natin, ayaw kong masisi kung anong meron tayo kung bakit bumaba 'yong grades ko." He sighed. "Minsan nakaka-pressure pero alam ko naman na worth it pa rin."
"High grades are really worth it, Matty," I said and chuckled.
He nodded. "Worth it ka rin."
I wrinkled my nose and pinched his nose because I didn't know how to express the kilig that I was feeling after he said those words.
They say that after Christmas, January, February, and March are the quickest months and they were right because in just a blink of an eye it was already Matt's moving up ceremony. I wasn't actually planning to go but tita Shirley insisted that I should watch Matt's moving up ceremony.
I didn't have the heart to say no so now, I'm sitting at the back of the auditorium of Matt's school where the audience was seated.
I was getting bored as I watched the program until Matt's name was called and he was awarded several medals because he was an honor student, high honor, to be specific, and his other awards in sports, science, and research.
All of Matt's other friends also had a lot of awards and they are all honor students. So it was really true that their group was the best of the best.
After the ceremony, Matt ran to me and hugged me. "Makakausap mo na ulit ako nang hindi natin iniisip 'yong mga gagawin ko.
I smiled and hugged him tightly. I was about to say something but Julian called him.
"Callie, pahiram muna si Matt, ha? Saglit lang 'to," Julian said and smiled at me. "Magpapa-picture lang kaming magkakaibigan."
I just smiled and nodded. "Bring him back immediately though."
I'll just let him be with his friends for now because I knew what we will be after this.