"Go JKV!"
"I love you Kent!"
"Beat em Kenty!"
"Kent, you're the hottest!"
"F*ck me Kent!"
Were some of the cheers I heard from the crowd as I approached near the field. I knew that Kent was really a hearthrob, pero nung narinig ko yung mga cheer ng mga babae sa kanya, napaisip na lang ako kung normal pa 'yun. Lalo na yung mga naririg kong hindi maganda. May mga babae ba talagang sisigaw ng mga ganung klaseng bagay?
Wednesday ngayon and the classes were cut short dahil opening ng Inter Collegiate Soccer tournament. Three-peat na kasi ang university namin kaya todo support ang buong administration kapag may laban. Since ito ang opening, they decided na bigyan ng chance ang mga students na suportahan ang pambato namin-- which is their team.
And as to why I'm here...
FLASHBACK VER. 1
"Come on, Cara. Manunuod ka lang ng game namin. What's so hard about that?" Asked Kenneth sitting at the driver's seat in his R8. He asked to bring me home after the Pep Rally.
"Gaya nga ng sinabi ko, hindi ako mahilig manuod ng sports. Wala nga akong alam about sa soccer e."
Nagulat na lang ako nang bigla siyang prumeno. Sa bilis ng takbo ng sasakyan, kung hindi ako naka-seatbelt, siguro tumilapon nako sa labas. OA pero totoo.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" I asked the moment na naka-get over ako sa muntikang buwis buhay.
My eyes met his. And for a moment there, I felt a sudden lightning inside me. Para akong nakuryente.
"You're going. Whether you want to, or not." He said with authority in his voice. His eyes, piercing through me as if trying to manipulate the stimuli in my body to deliver the message to my brain and just obey what he says.
FLASHBACK VER. 2
"Please please please pretty please?" Kent said. Making pa-cute at me habang nakaluhod at nakapatong ang kanyang ulo sa tuhod ko. This guy sure is weird.
"H-hindi nga ko mahilig sa soccer games." I honestly told him. Trying to remove his face on my knees.
"I promise hindi kita hahalayin ng isang araw kapag pumunta ka. Manuod ka lang please."
When he said that, napaisip ako bigla. Maybe I could make an exception...
"Pero kapag hindi ka nanuod, rerapin kita." Nawala yung puppy eyes niya at napalitan ng nang-aakit na mga mata. Binaon niya lalo ang baba niya sa tuhod ko, at kinagat ako.
"You're going. You don't have any choice." He said and stood up and left.
BACK TO REALITY
Yes. No one can intimidate me like those two.
Meron bang kasong pwedeng ikaso sa dalawang yun for black-mailing me?
*sigh*
As if I had a chance against them.
"Cars!" Napatingin ako sa kaliwa at nakita ko si Janus na papalapit sa'kin. He's wearing casual clothes. And I might say, he looks hot in those! God, can someone really look this hot? I mean... is he even human?!
I asked him the first thing that popped in my head. "Hindi ka maglalaro?"
He smiled at me brilliantly and gave me a warm hug as a greeting.
"Weird. I can feel Kent and Kenneth stabbing me from afar." Umarte pa siya na parang masakit yung parteng puso niya. "Anyway, I'm not playing today."
"Why not?" I asked as we both started to walk.
"Naglalaro lang ako kung kelan ko gusto." He said honestly while leading me to a free seat.
"Pwede yun?"
"Pwede yun kapag anak ka ng may-ari ng university niyo." He was grinning. No hint of boasting.
Really. What's up with their group of friends? They're like... The F4 or something. Ugh.
I gave no reply.
"I'm not playing today dahil naatasan ako ng dalawa kong kaibigan na siguraduhin na panunuorin sila ng isang binibining nagngangalang Cara Gomez."
I gave him the please-stop-it-i-had-enough look. At ngumiti lang siya.
Kanina pa nagsimula ang laro. Nasa kalagitnaan na ng laban at nangunguna ang team nila Kent. Mga ilang minuto ring hindi nagsalita si Janus, kaya naman when he broke the silence between us, I was quite surprised.
"What's holding you back, Cara?"
I looked at him confused.
"What's holding you back from letting Kent or Kenneth inside your heart?"
Medyo nagulat ako sa tanong niya. Ni minsan hindi ko naisip na pinipigilan ko pala ang sarili ko. Although I have all the reasons not to open up to them, I just couldn't find the right words to answer Ja. So I just stayed quiet.
"Alam mo, si Kent. Nasaktan na yan. Kaya don't think na he's just after sex. Or just getting you devirginized. Kasi nangyare na dati yung ganyan sa kanya. A girl, from nowhere, came into his life and changed him forever."
Ito ata yung sinasabi nila Anna sa akin nuon. And why am I hearing this?
"Sa sobrang sakit na naramdaman noon ni Kent, binaling niya lahat ng sama ng loob niya sa pag-inom at pag-babar. Malalaman na lang namin na may kasama siyang babae at alam-mo-na-yun ang nangyari. He was broken hearted, kaya hindi ko rin siya masisisi kung bakit naging sex addict yun e."
Pakiramdam ko kailangan ko lang makinig, and so I did.
"It's like a defense mechanism you know? When someone hurts you so bad, you want to change something in you that would make the person who hurt you want you back. Before Shaina came, he wasn't that induldged with sex. Babaero siya, playboy, oo. Pero never siyang gumalaw ng babae."
He means malaki ang respeto ni Kent sa mga babae? WOW. THAT'S NEW. Hindi kapani-paniwala yun. I rolled my eyes in my mind at the thought. But I kept on listening.
"Shaina is 5 years older than him. I won't go into too much detail pero she was literally a bitch."
Napatingin ako kay Janus at naging malamig yung mga mata niya.
"To be honest, I really hate that bitch." He continued. "Buti na lang at wala na siya sa buhay ni Kent."
Another couple of minutes full of silence. Ngayon, I wasn't just hearing, I was listening. With my heart.
"He was the sole reason of Kent's pain during that time. Alam niya na mahal na mahal siya ni Kent. And she took his love for granted. You know why?"
I shook my head.
"Because she hated Kent."
I was shocked. Kent loved this Shaina so much... so why did Shaina hate him so much?
"Si Shaina ang nakauna kay Kent. And after that, nabaliw na si Kent sa kanya. When she left him, it was like a part of him was ripped off from his body. Ayoko na ngang alalahanin yung Kent na yun dati kasi hindi mo talaga maiimagine. It went on for several weeks. And after that, nagsimula na siyang mambabae. Shaina never showed up again after their one night stand. And Kent never moved on..." He paused for a while and continued. "Until now."
Pareho naming binalik ang atensyon sa ngayong nagiging mas thrilling na laro base sa mga reaksyon ng mga manunuod.
After a while, I spoke.
"Janus..." I started. Lumingon siya sa akin, a faint smile on his face.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Dahil gusto kong malaman mo na hindi masamang tao si Kent."
With that, the game ended with a 2-0 score. In favor, of course, of our team.
"Sayang at si Kent lang ang naikwento ko sa'yo. Next time let me tell you something about Kenneth naman, para fair."
Magsisimula na dapat siyang maglakad nang hawakan ko ang kamay niya. Napalingon siya sakin, his gesture asking me why.
"You're such a nice friend." I told him sincerely.
"Because I owe those two my life." He simply said at inalalayan ako sa pagtayo.
***
"I knew you'd come and watch me play!" Kent said while hugging me. He was bathing in sweat! Pero Goddamn it, he still looks handsome as ever!
"Nice game, pre! Although wala naman masyadong thrill." Janus said as he fist bumped with Kent.
I can't see Kenneth anywhere, nasaan kaya siya?
"Si Kenneth ba hinahanap mo?" Nabigla ako sa tanong ni Kent. Hindi ako sumagot sa kanya. "Ang sakit naman. Ako ang nandito pero siya ang hinahanap mo." He looked serious. Wala yung playful aura niya nung sinabi niya yun. Naguilty naman tuloy ako.
Kumuha ako ng panyo mula sa bag ko at lumapit ako kay Kent. Without thinking twice, pinunasan ko ang pawisan niyang mukha nang dahan dahan.
"You did a good job today, congratulations." I gave him the most genuine smile I could ever show. And for the first time in this hell ride with him, I saw his gentle side. His not-cocky, not-seductive, gentle and sweet side.
I could see Janus smile sheepishly in the corner of my eyes.
He held the hand I reached para punasan ang pawis niya at inilapit sa pisngi niya.
"Your touch just feels so... right." There were no hint of seduction in his voice. Neither mockery or tease. It was... sincere. And it made it... weird.
After he said that, I regret doing the next thing I did.
Because when I looked in his eyes, it swallowed my whole being inside. As if taking all of me in.
And the next thing I felt was the abnormal beating of my heart.
***
A/N: Oh noes. Paano na si Kenneth, dearest Cara? Lol. Sorry for the delay. Anyway, 20 Votes for the next update!
See the gorg lady in the multimedia section, well that's Cara Gomez a.k.a Lilly Collins! Now you guys know why Kent and Kenneth are so into her.