Chapter 10

I was still trying to calm down when my phone suddenly rang. Maging sina Alice ay napatigil sa pagtawa nila. Pagtingin ko, number niya ang naka-display.
 
Ugh, why did he return my call?! Pwede bang huwag na lang sagutin?
 
“Hoy, sagutin mo ‘yan, ikaw unang tumawag,” angil ni Jess.

“Technically, it’s you,” I grumbled.
 
Huminga ako nang malalim at hinanda ang sarili ko. Right. Ako ang may kailangan ngayon. Come on, Steff. Lower your pride for a few seconds. Kaya mo ‘to.
 
My hands trembled as I answered the call. “H-hello?”

“Aha, so ikaw nga talaga ‘yan, Tiffany.”
 
Kahit hindi ko nakikita ang mukha niya ay na-i-imagine ko na agad ang nakakainis at mayabang niyang ngiti. Nagsimulang mag-init ang ulo ko nang maisip ‘yon.
 
“Ano—”

“Kumusta? Are you recovering well?”
 
Hindi agad ako nakapagsalita. My brain fizzed for a second. I was expecting him to be all high and mighty after what he did, so I had a hard time processing his words.
 
“Hello? Binabaan na naman ba ako . . . hindi naman. Hello?”

“Is this Darryl Garcia?” tanong ko.

He was silent for three seconds. “Huh?”

“Baka kasi wrong number lang.”

“Ha-ha,” he laughed mockingly. “You know I can be civil, too, if needed.”
 
Napasinghap ako nang marinig ko ‘yon at muling napatingin sa screen. Was this really the Darryl Garcia I know?
 
Bakit? Anong sabi? mouthed Jess, but I ignored them and placed the phone on my ear again.
 
“Please stop,” sabi ko. “That’s creepy.”

He laughed again, but this time, it sounded genuine. “Mukhang okay ka na nga. So, bakit ka napatawag? Miss mo na ako, bebe girl?”

Kinilabutan ang buong katawan ko nang marinig ko ‘yon. I grimaced in disgust. “Eww. Kadiri ka.”
 
Isang malakas na pagtawa ang narinig ko sa kabilang linya habang pinanlakihan naman ako ng mga mata ng tatlo. Crap. May kailangan nga pala ako sa kanya. I had to be nice.
 
I cleared my throat. “Uhh, a-anyway, I have a favor to ask.”

“Hm?” he intoned.

“May I know your parents’ contact number?” tanong ko. “I want to thank them for saving our lives.”

“Okay, I’ll tell them to go there tomorrow.”

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko nang marinig ko ‘yon. “Huh?! No, wait—! That’s not what I—!”

“Anything else?”
 
I was still panicking over what he just said pero naalala ko rin bigla ang isa ko pang kailangan sa kanya.
 
“Uhm . . . n-notes . . .” I murmured.

“Huh? Hindi kita marinig.”

“Notes,” I repeated, this time clearer. “If pwedeng pakopya ng notes sa Psych 1.”

“Oohh.” Napakunot ang noo ko dahil halatang nagyayabang ang tono niya. “Sige, pero sabihin mo muna please.”
 
Ugh, he was clearly enjoying this. I’d rather borrow someone else’s notes than beg for his!
 
“Ah, okay, sige bye sa iba na lang pala ako manghihiram—”

“Pero sige, dahil mabait ako, papahiramin kita.”
 
I rolled my eyes after hearing that self-praise. Mabait? At siya? In one sentence?
 
“Got to go, see you tomorrow!”
 
Hindi na ako nakapagreklamo dahil bigla niyang in-end ang tawag. Agad namang nagtanong ang tatlo pero hindi ko na in-entertain dahil alam kong pang-aasar lang ang aabutin ko sa kanila.
 
But wait . . . did he just said see you tomorrow?
 
***
 
I couldn’t believe I had to meet his parents on a Sunday morning.
 
Imagine my panic nang sabihin ng nurse na may bisita raw ako. I thought it was just the usual annoying visitors, pero sila pala. Kakagising ko lang at ang gulo pa ng buhok ko kaya hiyang-hiya ako nang makita nila ako.
 
“I’m glad you’re recovering well now, hija,” Mrs. Garcia warmly said.

“I owe it to you po,” I replied. “Thank you for saving our lives.”
 
Lalo pa akong nahiya dahil sila pa talaga ang pumunta rito instead of the other way around. Balak ko sanang tawagan na lang sila and hopefully, mapuntahan sila kapag cleared na akong lumabas sa hospital, but this guy made his parents come here instead.
 
He waved at me as he made himself comfortable at the couch. Bakit ba siya sumama?
 
“Sorry po sa abala,” mahina kong sabi. “I was planning na ako na ang pumunta sa inyo to express my gratitude personally—”

“Oh, no need, hija,” Mr. Garcia interjected. “Just get better. That’s enough for us.”
 
Muntik na akong maluha nang marinig ko ‘yon. How come these angels gave birth to a demon personified?
 
After that ay nagpaalam na sila at napataas ang kilay ko nang nagpaiwan siya. Buti na lang talaga at wala rito sina Dad at Venice pati na rin ang friends ko. They would surely have a lot of questions.
 
“Here are your notes,” sabay abot niya sa paperbag na hawak niya.
 
Muli na naman akong kinilabutan. Pakiramdam ko laging may mali kapag civil at mabait siya sa akin.
 
“I think you’re staring for too long,” he said with a smug on his face.

“Glaring,” I corrected.
 
Inabot ko naman ang paperbag na hawak niya at mahinang nag-thank you kahit labag sa loob ko. I was about to reach for my new binder pero nagulat ako nang siya na ang nag-abot.
 
“Can you drop the act already? Kinikilabutan ako sa ‘yo.”

He snickered in return. “What act? Mabait naman talaga ako.”
 
I grimaced at him and ignored his blathers. Nagsimula na lang akong kopyahin ang notes niya dahil hindi raw siya aalis hangga’t hindi niya nakukuha ang mga ‘yon. And although I hate to admit it, maayos ang organization ng mga ito. Nakakainis kasi mas maganda rin ang sulat niya kaysa sa akin.
 
Fortunately, bukod sa ilang annoying remarks habang nagno-notes ako ay tahimik lang siyang nags-scroll sa phone niya. Around 3 PM ay natapos kong kopyahin ang mga na-miss kong lectures at sobrang ngawit na ng kamay ko.
 
“Bye, bebe girl,” pang-asar niya bago lumabas sa kwarto ko at sinimangutan ko na lang siya.
 
I was pretty tensed while being alone with that guy, but his unusual leniency confused and scared me a little.
 
The day went okay, but I guess I should have known his intention. Monday afternoon, bumisita sina Alice at ipinakita nila ang trending articles sa portal.
 
“Oh my god, may pagdalaw palang naganap kahapon?!” Jess beamed.
 
One of the articles featured a photo of me in my hospital gown, writing notes on the bed table. Hindi naman kita ang buong mukha ko pero dahil pinost ng lalaking ‘yon sa facebook without any caption ay ang daming stories ang nabuo.
 
I was so pissed when the narrative completely changed. Ang sweet daw ni Darryl kasi kahit nakipag-break na ako ay niligtas at dinadalaw niya pa rin daw ako. That he truly loved me daw. Gross. What kind of cheesy plot was that?
 
Ang dami pang articles tungkol sa amin pero ayaw ko nang basahin dahil for sure ay puro nonsense lang ang mga ‘yon. And for sure, he was enjoying the current situation.
 
Agad kong tinawagan si Ven dahil tapos naman na ang class niya at papunta na ‘yon for sure dito. “Ven, favor. Give me everything that you find about Darryl, especially his unseen photos,” sabi ko at napatingin ang tatlo sa akin.

“Hoy, anong binabalak mo?” tanong ni Alice.

“Uh oh. That’s her I’ll-get-back-at-you-face.”
​
“May request din ako sa inyo bukas.”
 
Halos maningkit ang mga mata nila sa sinabi ko pero buo na ang desisyon ko. It was hard to be the mature one if the foe was someone like him. Fine, I’d be petty, too, and I would see this through.
 
The only way to make him stop was serving him with a better antic. The first one to back down would be the loser, and that would definitely not be me.

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