The skies grew dark and the rain began to drizzle. Yet the melodies inside the hall is louder than the sound of its pouring. The choir members sang in harmony on their practice. Their hearts are blossoming dedication and passion. Except for Keanne who is feeling totally uneasy. His heart isn't flourishing for that burning passion at all. Instead, his heart is pounding for something else. And it is the desire to have an answer on the question that keeps on bugging him these past few days.
He's getting impatient and wanted to talk to Maigne her ex-lover, immediately. He can't wait for the practice to end.
Keanne checked the music sheet he didn't given any attention lately. Napansin niyang manual ang pagka-areglo nito. "Re-arranged huh," namamanghang komento niya. He hummed the notes. "Da da da… Wait, parang off key yata to ah."
Itinaas niya ang kamay upang kunin ang atensyon ni Maigne na kasalukuyang tinuturuan ang mga alto.
"Hey May ---"Maigned immediately heard Keanne calling her the way she doesn't want to be called so she quickly glared at his direction to cut him.
"YES?! WHAT IS IT MR. KEANNE COLLINS?!"
"Ah eh May---"
"Everyone, please call me Maigne po. Don't call me by my nickname or call me by silly endearments, please. I'll regard you the same," pagputol ni Maigne kay Keanne.
Tumango naman ang choir members bilang pagsang-ayon sa kaniya.
She walked towards Keanne's direction.
"What is it you're saying Keanne?" tanong niya.
Keanne was suddenly got tensed.
"Uhhm, mayroon kang nakaligtaang part sa kanta. Did you re-arranged this song yourself?" tanong niya.
"Oh, I'm glad you noticed! Yeah, I did re-arranged these parts manually. Well I think there are some parts that I should improve?" sagot naman ni Maigne.
Tumayo si Keanne at mas lumapit kay Maigne.
"Well, although I agree that some parts are better the way you arranged it but aren't we're going against the composer's rights especially that we're going to perform it in a public stage?" tanong niya kay Maigne.
Maigned stepped closer to him making their faces so close already.
"We? Tsk! Don't think high of yourself yet. You're just an under observation member," sagot ni Maigne.
Napaatras si Keanne sa isinagot sa kaniya.
Ramdam ng iba pang members ang namumong tensyon sa dalawa.
"I'm sorry. But seriously, naglaan ng oras ang composer para gawin tong kanta at areglohin sa Soprano, Tenor, Alto, Bass. And if you'll change it without his consent, isn't it a form of crime?" patuloy na argumento ni Keanne.
"Concerned huh?" sagot ni Maigne. "Well, if that's the case, ask him yourself! I have his phone number."
Keanne and the other members got awestruck.
"Wow! May contact number siya ng composer? Iba talaga si Maigne," namamanghang sabi ng mga members.
Sa isip ni Keanne, "Tsk! She's clearly mocking me."
Inilabas ni Maigne ang kaniyang cellphone.
"Wait po ate Maigne, may nalaglag ka po," sabi ni Hadassah sabay pulot ng nahulog na wallet ni Maigne.
"Ang ganda naman po ng key chain niyo. Husky di ba po ito? Kulay blue ang mata niya oh! San nyo po nabili?" tanong ni Hadassah.
Agad na dinukot pabalik ni Maigne ang wallet at naiilang na sumagot. "Ye..yes. Uhm, it's actually a gift from somebody."
Keanne smirked. He remembered so well that key chain. Inorder niya pa yun online at ipina-customize.
"Whoa! A gift? So who's that lucky somebody po?" malapad ang mga ngiting tinanong ni Hadassah si Maigne.
Agad siyang hinila paatras ni Melody isa rin sa mga members ng choir at pinagsabihan. "Shut up Hadassah. It's none of your business."
Keanne can't stop smiling.
Maigne just rolled her eyes.
"How come you have his phone number po?" tanong ni Melody upang maiba ang usapan.
Maigne confidently answered the question. "Well, he by chance was the head judge during the Regional Senior High School choir competition I attended last year. Despite being only a runner up, he personally met us and asked who re-arranged the song. He said he was impressed. So yeah, he then gave me the permission to rearrange any of his songs that I want."
"If he's really amazed, how come you didn't win?" tanong ni Kyle sa kaniya.
Natameme si Maigne sa tanong na iyon ni Kyle.
Kyle can be straight forward sometimes.
Keanne sighed.
He stepped closer to the group and answered Kyle's question for Maigne.
"It's because it's a competition. The composer might like the rearrangement of the song but there are at least 5 judges during that competition. The other judges might've preferred if the song wasn't altered and just stick to how it was written. As a judge, he cannot let his own emotion take over during a professional contest like that."
He looked at Maigne and saw a relief on her face.
"Yes you're right. So basically, he won't mind if I rearrange some parts the way I wanted it to be," dagdag naman ni Maigne.
Aktong lalakad na sana si Maigne papalayo nang may pahabol pa si Keanne.
"But that's not the only issue here."
Nilingon siya ni Maigne. "Oh, so you still have other things in store eh?" tanong niya.
Keanne smirked.
"Let me guess Maigne, you rearranged this song just last night right?" he asked.
"How can you say so?" Maigned replied.
Lumapit si Keanne sa kaniya. "Simple, as brilliant as you are, it's not likely you if you release unpolished product. But measure 26, you made an off key note for the altos," Keanne explained.
"Huh?" Maigne checked the song and realized her fault. "Crap, sorry hindi ko na-notice."
Keanne looked at her in the eyes. "You're really good at perfecting things Maigne. But then sometimes, during that process, you tend not to notice that you are missing something. You perfected something but DITCHED something important at the same time," seryosong komento ni Keanne.
Maigned looked at him the same way.
The other members feel the awkwardness between the two.
"Enough of this nonsense!" Maigned finally said and walked away.
Soon after, the practice was over.
Umuulan ng malakas kaya hindi pa nakaka-uwi ang karamihan sa choir members. Habang hinihintay na tumila ang ulan, tumambay muna sila sa harap ng College of Arts and Sciences building kung saan nandoon din ang AV Hall.
Keanne saw Maigne standing just a few meters from him and Kyle.
"This is it. Now's the right time," he said to himself.
Lumapit siya kay Maigne. "Uhm, hey?" bati niya.
Nilingon siya ni Maigne and she smiled.
Keanne felt a relief.
"Hey, I'm sorry kanina," pahayag niya.
"Nah, it's fine! You've grown so much already Keanne," sagot naman ni Maigne.
"Well. Some things taught me to be matured," dagdag pa niya.
Maigned looked up to him. Alam niya kung ano ang itinutukoy ni Keanne.
"Uhhhm, May--- Maigne, how's your life going on right now?" tanong ni Keanne.
Hindi kumibo si Maigne. Nakatingin pa rin siya kay Keanne.
"Hey talk to me---"
Biglang tumakbo papalayo si Maigne kahit umuulan pa rin nang malakas.
Agad siyang sinundan ni Keanne. "Hey wait---"
"Ano ba?" Tumigil sa pagtakbo si Maigne.
"Why do you have to run like that? Can't you just talk to me?" tanong sa kaniya ni Keanne na ngayo'y basang basa na rin sa ulan.
"What? Tell me, what do you want to talk about?!" sigaw ni Maigne.
"I just wanted to ask you," sabi ni Keanne sabay hawak sa magkabilang braso ni Maigne. Mahinahon siyang nagpatuloy., pinilit na itago ang mga luhang namumuo sa mga mata. "May, why did you do it? Why did you leave me?"
Maigne just look at him without uttering any word.
Kumalas siya mula sa pagkakahawak ni Keanne at dali daling tumakbo papalayo.
Sa pagkakataong iyon, hindi na siya sinundan pa ni Keanne.
Naiwang nakatayo si Keanne sa lugar at hindi makapaniwala sa sarili.
He's crying, so hard.
He didn't mind it. For once, he just wants to cry like that. He just want to express the pain he's been carrying for a long time already. For once, he just wants to be a little fragile.
Suddenly, the rain pouring hard on him stopped. He smelled a familiar scent.
"Baka magkasakit ka niyan."
Nilingon ni Keanne ang nagsalita.
She saw Valerie smiling, sharing her umbrella to him.
**********
Kinabukasan,
Naisipan ni Keanne na bumisita sa opisina ni Eric.
"Hey boy, I heard you made a scene two days ago with Maigne? Hahahaha," kantsaw sa kaniya ng guro habang papasok siya sa opisina.
Umupo si Keanne.
"How did it go?" tanong ng guro.
Keanne sighed before answering. "Well, she just ignored me. I still didn't get any answer."
"Haha! I see. She's really a tough one huh?" pahayag ng guro.
"What do you mean?" tanong ni Keanne.
"Well my sister is really that unpredictable. But to be honest I'm still surprised about the sudden breakup. But hey, this thing is much worse that what I expected it to be," sagot naman ni Eric.
"Oh please, huwag mo nang pagdiinan pa," tumatawang sabi ni Keanne.
"Hahaha! Sorry kaibigan, I just couldn't help but be amused about how silly I am when I had a relationship at your age. Watching you now, it's kinda silly but nostalgic. It's so great to be young," pahayag ng guro.
"Yeah. But we cannot change what had happened. Sana may totoong time machine eh no?" sagot ni Keanne.
Biglang naging seryoso ang mukha ni Eric. "Yeah. If only it existed, I could've saved her."
Nagulat si Keanne sa naging reaksyon ng guro. "What do you mean?" tanong niya.
"Nah. Wala yun," seryosong sagot naman ni Eric.
Keanne knew Eric doesn't want to talk about it so hess immediately diverted the topic.
"By the way, have you heard about the news? The bombing case in Panadtalan, Maramag?"
Biglang bumukas ang pinto ng opisina at pumasok ang gurong si Mr. Reynald Cole at dire-diretsong naglakad papunta sa kaniyang mesa.
Sumagot si Eric sa tanong ni Keanne. "Oh that. Yes, I saw the headline four days ago. I believe that bus bombing incident didn't leave any casualties."
"Yes. I'm surprised as well," sagot naman ni Keanne.
Nagpatuloy siya sa pagkuwento. "It seems that along the way, nagka-problema ang makina ng sasakyan. Sabi ng ibang pasahero, malas daw sila nang magkaproblema ang sinasakyan, ngunit sinuwerte rin naman dahil saka lang pumutok ang bomba nang wala ng pasahero sa loob."
"Now that's odd," komento ng guro.
"I know right. Gusto ko nga na pumunta doon but unfortunately, it's outside my tito's jurisdicaton," sagot ni Keanne.
"I see. What else do you got?" tanong ng guro.
Biglang ginanahan si Keanne. Ito ang isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit magkaibigan ang dalawa. Pareho sila ng interes.
"Well, according to my sources, the bomb used was a plastic time bomb that's why that lucky scenario happened. It was even wrapped with massive amount of nails to serve as shrapnel. It seems that the bomber isn't nearby to monitor the bus and just relied on the time itself. So if the bomber had any human target that time, he failed big time. Quite pitiful," eksplinasyon ni Keanne.
"I guess the bus was the air conditioned one right? Have they interviewed the person's involved?" tanong ni Eric.
"Well, people aren't really paying much attention to the passengers that's why wala ni-isa sa kanila ang nakatanda sa mukha ng suspect. I mean, who would've thought this would happen?!" pahayag ni Keanne.
"Yes," ang tanging naging sagot ng guro.
Tumayo si Keanne. "I'll ask my uncle for more details later on."
Tinapik naman siyang guro sa balikat. "Well don't stress yourself so much. We have the police to solve it. You're still a student, remember?"
"Yeah. Thanks for your time kaibigan. I gotta go home na," paalam ni Keanne at lumabas na ng opisina.
**********
Nang malapit nang makarating si Keanne sa kanilang university gate, nakita niya si Valerie na nakatayo malapit dito at parang may hinihintay.
Nakita siya ni Velerie at dali-daling pumunta sa kaniyang direksyon. "Uhhm, Keanne I'm sorry for what happened last time at the hallway," sabi ni Valerie.
"Oh that. Hehe that's fine Val. Wag mo na isipin yun," sagot naman ni Keanne.
Nagsimula silang maglakad.
"I didn't even consider the fact that there might be a huge reason why you had forgotten such an important thing. I checked your classroom kahapon at wala ka doon, umabsent ka ba?"
Napakamot ng ulo si Keanne. "Ah eh, oo. Nagkalagnat kasi ako," sagot niya.
Tumango na lamang si Valerie. "I see. That rainy night. Well, I decided to visit Lola Theresa kahapon and nalaman ko doon ang lahat ng nangyari sa buhay mo habang wala ako. I'm really sorry for what happened at the hallway. I made you look like the bad guy there. I never knew you had amnesia and I immediately rant. I'm reall---"
"Ssshh. It's fine," Keanne said while patting her head. "I'm not really mad at all."
Nakita ni Keanne ang isang non air-conditioned bus na dumating. "My ride's already here. Let's talk again sometime okay, stop crying already."
"I'm not," sagot naman ni Valerie.
"Just kidding. Hahaha. Gotta go!" paalam ni Keanne.
Habang naglalakad papalayo biglang may naalala si Keanne. "By the way Val, thanks for that night. You look like a mushroom holding an umbrella. Hahaha!" sigaw niya.
Valerie laughed and gave Keanne a wave.
It took a while before the bus took off. It was a bit far from where Valerie is standing but she can see the bus slowly departs from the place. She followed the bus as if sending Keanne off.
"Keep safe Keanne," she said to herself.
Then… in just a few seconds of its departure…
"BOOM!"
Isang napakalakas na pagsabog ang nanggaling sa bus.
Hindi maka-imik si Valerie.
She could hear the people screaming.
"What happened?!"
"IT'S THE BUS!"
"AN EXPLOSION CAME FROM THE BUS!"
[End of Chapter 7]