"Is she going to be fine, Nurse Lyn?"
I heard some voices inside the room. My eyes slowly shifted along with the light. I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision. My head ached that's why I held it for support.
"There. She's awake. Iwanan ko na muna kayo," bigkas ng isang boses ng isang babae. Unti-unti ng nagliliwanag ang lahat. I was lying on a white bed that's why I stood my upper body. Someone sat near me and he was staring right infront my eyes.
"Okay ka na ba?" tanong niya. I turned my head to the side to look for my eye glasses. It was placed on the table that's why I took and wore it.
"Gian," I said as I recognized him now. His face turned from worried to relaxed state.
"Thank God, you're awake. You passed out for an hour now. I was worried that something happened to your head." Nanlaki ang mga mata ko sa sinabi niya.
"What!? An hour? I have a class in Math—" He held my arm that's why I stopped talking. He smiled a little at me.
"Don't worry. I asked your friends about your schedule and talked to your professor. She signed your excuse slip. You can rest here or go home. Akala ko matagal bago ka pa magising. I thought you fractured your skull," mahabang bigkas niya. Nakatingin lang ako nang diretso sa mga mata niya. When he stopped talking, I turned my gaze on the side. "Um, yeah. That's it. Don't worry about your classes now. You were dismissed because they know you can self study. I know that too."
"What do you mean? How did you know?" tanong ko sa kaniya.
"Well, I saw some of your pictures on your instagram account and came across with this picture of you with so many medals hung in your neck," he said, scratching the back of his head and chuckled afterwards. Tinaasan ko siya ng kilay dahil do'n.
"Were you stalking me?" He stood with widened eyes, ready to deny my accusation but then he let out a sigh meaning he's not denying.
"Kind of... And you haven't responded to my follow back request."
"It's okay. I don't use social media that often. I only do text messages or if I find something interesting to post, I'll upload it. I randomly upload my instagram-able photos too." I explained to him. He just listened and nodded. When I realized I was being talkative, I didn't talk anymore.
"Um, anyways, are you going home? Or you'll attend your last subject in the morning classes?" After he asked that, I stood up and gathered my things. I brought them with me.
"The latter," I casually said and started walking towards the doorway. "Aren't you?" I asked him.
"Um— of course. I will," he said and joined me as I walked.
"We're not classmates in our next respective subjects." I said to him.
"Oh yeah, I'm parting ways. Are you sure you're alright already?" tanong niya. I can see he's really concerned about me. I nodded at him.
"Go to your classes now. Thank you for bringing me to the clinic. Hindi naman ako mabigat 'di ba?" I asked him, remembering he carried me before I passed out. He chuckled a little before answering.
"No," he said with a teasing smile plastered on his face.
"Don't even try teasing me. Sige na, I'll go ahead," sabi ko sa kaniya. Tinanguan lang niya ako atsaka na kami nagpatuloy sa paglalakad.
"See you whenever and wherever," he said and patted my head. He waved his head and ran towards the opposite direction. Why is he even patting my head? I felt I was blushing but I just ignored it and ran towards my Math class too.
The last subject slipped away that fast kaya naman dumiretso na ako sa cafeteria dahil lunch time na. Hindi ko rin kaklase sina Faye at Mimi kanina kaya hinahanap ko sila ngayon at baka nandito na sila sa cafeteria. Hindi ko sila mahagilap kaya mag-isa na naman akong pumila sa counter.
Nang makuha ang order ay naghanap na ako ng table na pwedeng upuan. That's when I saw Migo, the transferee, eating alone on his table. I was thinking if I should join him but when someone he probably knew sat infront his chair, I just turned my back and looked for an unoccupied table.
Umupo ako sa parte ng cafeteria na malapit sa glass wall. Nakikita ko ang soccer field, at as usual, napupuno iyon tuwing lunch time. Since I cannot wait anymore for my friends because I was hungry, I ate my food.
"Miss, can I join you?" Someone asked. I don't want to be rude that's why I let them as I ate my food. Tinaas ko ang aking ulo para makita ang mukha ng nakiupo sa table ko. "Wow, it's you pala." I said as I wiped my mouth using the napkin.
"How's Math?" tanong niya. Kumain na ulit ako habang nagkukwento.
"Okay lang. Hindi naman ako na-late. Ikaw ba?"
"Me too," he answered as he was chewing his food. He looked cute while doing so because his lips were pouting. My saliva almost dripped but I refrained myself from doing so and continued eating my food. We didn't talk that much about something else except for academics. Malapit ko ng maubos ang pagkain ko kaya tumingin ulit ako sa paligid kung mahahagilap ba ng mata ko ang dalawang kaibigan ko. But they were nowhere to be found kaya I tried texting them.
To: Group Chat (with Mimi, Faye & Yza)
Where r u guys?
Minutes had passed at hindi pa rin sila nagrereply. Natapos na naming pareho ni Gian ang mga kinakain namin. He started piling up our plates sa mga tray para mailagay sa sink area.
"They didn't answer?" tanong niya sa akin. Umiling lang ako sa kaniya atsaka ulit pinasok ang phone sa loob ng bag ko.
"Hayaan mo na. Makikita ko rin mga 'yon sa next class or hinde," bulong ko sa huling word habang nag-aayos ng upo. Inayos ko ang nalalaglag na buhok sa harapan ko atsaka iyon tinuck sa tenga.
"By the way," he started kaya napatingin ako sa direksyon niya. "I was scrolling your IG feed and saw this post which actually reminds me of someone. Is your first name, 'Hermione' by any chance?"
Napatigil ako sa ginagawa ko nang marinig ko ang tanong niya. I hesitated if I should answer him or not. I was about to open my mouth when someone arrived and called my name.
"Bea, you heard already?" tanong ng isang babae. Nang lumingon ako, nakilala ko kung sino ang mga dumating.
"What is it that I should hear, Mimi?" I asked them. They joined us seat in the table. Napakunot ang noo ko habang nakatingin sa mga mukha nila.
"The last two subjects on the afternoon are cancelled. Last class na lang natin 'yung 1 PM to 2 PM," Faye answered instead of Mimi. Tumango lang si Mimi matapos sabihin iyon ni Faye.
"Oh..." I said not knowing what to say. They actually saved me from answering Gian's question.
"And yeah, It's already 12:53 PM. You guys don't wanna be late in class, do you?" Faye said while her arms are crossed. I stood up and clung my bag on my shoulder.
"Sorry, Gian. We need to go. I'll see you around," I said to him. He just smiled and nodded. "And this—"
"Don't worry about them. I'll put them on the sink. Go," he replied, his face looked a little bothered. Is it because I am inconveniencing him or because I didn't answer his question?
"Okay, thank you. We'll go ahead," I once again said my goodbye call and he nodded. I stuck myself with Faye and Mimi and we immediately exited the cafeteria. They were pressing their questioning looks at me because of that.
"Are you guys dating already? Kayo ha, may sarili na kayong mundo. You would eat together na," Faye said and waved her hand at me like she's saying "I'm mad at you, you should've told us!", her action as a reply.
"No! He just randomly saw me and joined me. I was looking for you two pero hindi ko kayo mahagilap. Saan ba kayo galing? Don't tell me nanood na naman kayo ng sports practice or something just to get someone's number?" I said to them.
"No, girl! We actually saw you two, kaya nag-order kami ng food at kumain nalang sa field to watch the soccer boys play!" Mimi replied this time. Napakunot ako ng noo sa sinabi niya.
"But you still watched! And why would you two leave us alone? As if we're in a relationship or something to give us privacy," I replied back.
"Doon na rin 'yon papunta, no! Well, anyways we should hurry. We have two minutes or we'll be late." Matapos sabihin ni Faye iyon, lakad-takbo na ang ginawa namin. We arrived there already past 1 PM pero wala pa ang professor namin. That made me feel relieved.
Mabilis lang natapos ang last class namin in the afternoon. I am so happy that we'll be dismissed early today but right before our professor dismissed us, he said that we cannot go home yet and we still have to wait until 4PM, I frowned at myself.
And we ended up staying in the library. Faye and Mimi tagged along with me, but Faye's reason made me laugh. She said she'll secretly charge her phone while pretending she's reading a book. Mimi and I went there to read tho.
"Ang boring naman magbasa! Ano bang pwedeng gawin maliban sa titigan ang mga picture na nandito," she said, pointing at the book like it's the book's fault that she's bored.
"Shh! Lower your voice. Pagalitan ka pa ni Sir Niv or ng librarian," Mimi warned her. She just made a peace sign and continued flipping the pages of the book she chose.
Faye ended up sleeping under the shelf and we secretly took a picture of her so we can make fun of her. It is already 3:48 PM and we just noticed now because me and Mimi were so into the books we were reading. Twelve more minutes and we can finally go home. I already texted my driver to fetch me.
We woke her up as we were picking up the books we read and putting them on the shelf. She was surprised that she fell asleep but she's happy that we can finally go home.
When we went out of the library, we saw a large group of students who were looking for something. Since Mimi and Faye have the gossiper nature in them, they went near them to see. I didn't follow them, tho. I texted them I'll wait for them infront the university's gate. I was busy putting my phone inside my bag when I bumped into someone.
"Oh! You're still here?" tanong niya. Napaayos ako ng tayo and fixed my glasses because it fell a little under my nosebridge.
"Um, it's you. Well, yeah. We can't go out of the university until 4 PM but we we're dismissed early," I explained to him. He let out a soft oh as a response. "So, you're—" he was cut off when someone suddenly grabbed me by my arm.
"You need to come with me," the guy said. He was holding my arm tight that's why I can't help but to be dragged by him.
"Bea!" I heard Gian's scream but his image was immediately covered by a pack of hungry wolves chasing this man infront of me.