Chapter 17:

"That girl is insane. Bakit bigla ka naman kasing ginanon, Ivy?" her friend asked in disbelief.

Ivy took a shaky breath, wiping her tear-streaked cheeks. Her breathing was still uneven, but she was calming down.

"H-hindi ko alam, Zel. She just suddenly attacks me," she said before clearing her throat.

Her eyes were swollen and red, and her makeup was completely ruined. She was sitting on my study chair, hunched over, while Zel stood next to her, rubbing her back.

Nagkatinginan naman kami ng kaibigan niya at pilit akong ngumiti, biglang na akward-an sa nangyayari ngayon. "Hindi ko naman alam na ganoon pala ang ugali ng kaibigan mo, Azalea"

I pressed my lips together, not sure how to respond. I wasn’t expecting her to blame me. I cleared my throat and shook my head.

"No. Actually...they are good friends. Nagkataon lang talaga na..." then I stopped, not able to complete my statement because I actually did not know what to say about my girlfriends.

She scoffed. "Good friends?! Really? Bigla nalang nang aaway ng walang dahilan?"

Ivy reached for her arm, trying to calm her down. "Z-Zel, stop it, please."

Zel groaned as she rolled her eyes. "Pero totoo ba kasi talaga 'yon? You, sleeping with a professor?"

I stood by my bed, watching them quietly. Ivy stiffened, then let out a long sigh.

"No. I didn’t," she said, her voice firm.

"Oh? Hindi naman pala totoo e! Bakit hindi mo—"

"They wouldn’t believe me anyway, Zel!" Ivy snapped.

Zel scoffed. "Then let them keep dragging your name through the mud? What if they don’t stop? What if this gets worse?"

She had a point. Ivy could’ve ended this if she just spoke up. But for some reason, she wasn’t doing it.

Ivy groaned. "I don’t care. Let them think whatever they want,”

Ako ang nahihirapan sa sitwasyon niya. If I were her, I would immediately put a stop to this. I wouldn't like to be called such a degrading word.

I cleared my throat, making them both look at me. "You two should stay here for now. I’ll check what’s going on downstairs,”

Zel nodded, while Ivy just stared at the crumpled tissue in her hands. Bago bumaba ay kinausap ko ang kasambahay na kanina pa pala sa labas ng kwarto.

"Ate, daluhan mo muna sila if they need something. I'll check lang what's happening downstairs," I said.

"Sige po, Ma'am" she said with a nod.

When I got back to the dining hall, my eyes immediately searched for Macy. Thankfully, my guests still seemed to be enjoying the party, which was a relief.

For a second, I really thought they’d all leave because of that mess…

Then I spotted Gaia in the middle of the crowd, casually blending in while chatting and laughing with a familiar chinito guy.

"Oh my gosh, Gracia" I began.

I sighed before shifting my attention to the side, where Macy and Gracia were seated in a quieter area. Macy sat with her arms crossed, looking around the room, while Gracia sipped her champagne like nothing happened.

She noticed me approaching and wiped her lower lip with a napkin before crossing her legs and smirking at me.

"What's with that frustrated tone, Azalea?" she teased.

I almost groaned at her playful question. "Did you really have to cause a scene at my party?"

She chuckled. "Hindi magiging masaya ang party kung walang interesting na mangyayari,”

"Seriously, Gracia? Humiliating someone counts as 'interesting' to you?" I shot back, crossing my arms.

She rolled her eyes. "Please, that wasn’t even that bad. She fought back, didn’t she?"

"That’s not the point. Did she really deserve to be treated like that? Couldn’t you have just confronted her properly?"

Gracia scoffed, looking at me like I was crazy. "Huh? What do you mean, Azalea? May ganoon ba?" she let out an exaggerated sigh, acting like I was the unreasonable one.

I just shook my head. Walang patutunguhan 'tong usapan namin.

Since the party had already been delayed enough, I signaled the staff to start serving the food. I grabbed a champagne flute and a fork, tapping them together to get everyone's attention.

Once the room quieted down, I smiled. "First, I just want to thank you all for coming. I really appreciate it. And second, I want to apologize for what happened earlier”

I took a deep breath before continuing. "Just to clear things up—there is no truth to the rumors about Ivy. She did not sleep with her professor or do anything inappropriate. So please, let’s not spread false rumors or gossip about this anymore”

May mga iilang tumango habang nagsasalita ako at ang ilan naman ay talagang nakatingin lang saakin. After a moment, I signaled for them to take their seats as the food was served.

They gave me a round of applause, making me smile again. Pagkababa ko ng mga hawak ay lumingon ako kila Macy at halos mapatalon ako sa gulat sa biglaang pagsulpot ni Gracia.

"What the hell did you just say?" she hissed.

I blinked. "W-what do you mean?"

She stepped closer, making me instinctively take a step back. "You just told everyone that I’m pugnacious, Azalea!"

I let out a nervous chuckle. Gracia’s chest was rising and falling quickly, and her ears were red—she was obviously pissed.

"Oh my gosh, no. I was just trying to clear things up, Gracia," I said.

I heard Macy groan. "Stop that crap, Gracia. You are indeed pugnacious,"

Gracia turned to her with a sharp glare. "Excuse me?" she scoffed.

Macy, unfazed, took a sip of her champagne. "Just stop it already. Or do you want everyone to see exactly what kind of person you are?" she said with a smirk.

Gracia stared at her, speechless for a moment. Then, shaking it off, she turned toward the crowd.

"Gaia, we’re leaving," she said, raising her voice.

Gaia, who was still chatting with the chinito guy, groaned. She whispered something to him before making her way over.

"You took all the fun, Gra—"

"Shut up. We're leaving," Gracia snapped.

Gaia chuckled awkwardly. "Woah, woah. What happened?"

Both of them left the hall. Some people called after them, but they didn’t bother responding. Sumunod naman ako agad nang medyo nakalayo na sila.

Nang tuluyan na silang nakalabas ay narinig kong nag aaway na sila.

"You know what? This is all your fault, Gaia," Gracia said angrily.

"Huh?! Ikaw 'tong biglang umaway sa malanding 'yon e!”

"Because you said that my ex-suitor left me because of her! You f*****g triggered me,"

"Oh. At kasalanan ko ba na na-trigger ka?" Gaia shot back.

"And now Azalea made us look bad. She just said that in front of everyone without thinking about how it would affect us!"

My eyes widened when I heard my name.

Gaia let out a sigh. "We have to think of a solution then,"

They both went quiet for a moment before Gracia spoke up. "You need to find that Girl B and confirm if Ivy—that little slut—is really sleeping with her professor,”

"But...I don’t even know her. Sa ibang university ata siya pumapasok,"

"Girl, finding people is your thing," Gracia reminded her.

"Yeah, you're right" Gaia agreed.

Then, as if they had just come up with the perfect plan, they both laughed.

I heard a car door open and close, followed by the sound of an engine starting. Their conversation played over and over in my head as I went back inside.

"Azalea, ano? Naka alis na?" Macy asked.

I nodded absentmindedly.

Looking around, I saw my guests now eating and chatting like nothing happened. The room was filled with the usual party noise.

"Are you...okay?" Macy asked, her voice laced with concern.

I pressed my lips together and nodded. "I'm fine, thanks"

Isa't kalahating oras pa ang nakalipas hanggang grupo grupo na silang nagpapaalam saakin na aalis na. I thanked them, apologized again, and watched as they disappeared from sight.

"Azalea, I should get going too," Macy said, standing up from the seat beside me.

Siya na lang ang natira kong bisita at binalikan namin ang mga nangyari kanina habang parehas na nagpapalipas ng oras. Before I could respond, one of the house staff walked in.

"Ma'am...Ma'am...uuwi na raw po ang bisita n'yo na nasa kwarto n'yo po,"

My eyes widened. I almost forgot Ivy and her friend were still there! With everything going on, I hadn’t checked on them at all.

"Ako na po maghahatid sa kanila sa labas," I said quickly.

Just as I stepped out of the dining hall and was about to go upstairs, I looked up and saw them already coming down.

"Sorry, nakatulog ako sa sobrang pagod" Ivy said, running her fingers through her hair.

I shook my head. "That’s okay. I hope it helped a little."

Zel followed behind Ivy, arms crossed and face unreadable. When our eyes met, we both exchanged forced smiles.

Hanggang sa tuluyan na silang nakalabas. Ivy’s friend had brought a car, so they left right away. After that, I went back inside.Tumulong ako sa pagligpit ng mga plato at utensils habang ang iba ay tinatanggal na ang decorations para maitabi na sa basement.

–

Now, I was sitting alone, eating leftover cake, and trying to figure out how to stop Gracia and Gaia from making things worse for Ivy.

I sighed heavily, lost in thought, until I finished my slice. Then, the door opened, and Yus stepped inside.

His eyes scanned the room as he walked toward me. "Looks like I missed all the fun," he chuckled.

"My head hurts," I complained.

"Why? Something happened again?" he asked, taking a seat beside me.

I nodded, rubbing my forehead as the throbbing pain got worse. I grabbed a glass of water and took a sip before looking back at him.

"The cousins did something embarrassing earlier, you know"

He chuckled. "Mahaba haba na pala ang ikukwento mo. We're not yet done with what happened to your blockmate's cousin's party, remember?"

I groaned. "I'm starting to hate that word,"

"People have been so unpredictable lately," I muttered, gearing up to continue our last conversation.

He nodded. Now that I got his full attention, I started saying more. "Yesterday, Kaleb almost hurt me because of how angry he was with Mary suddenly breaking up with him at the party. Then...today. Gracia publicly embarrasses both herself and Ivy,"

I didn’t go into every detail—the headache was already bad enough. Instead, I just gave him the main points.

His brows furrowed. "Wait… what exactly happened between you and Kaleb?"

I let out another long sigh. "I told you, he was pissed about Mary breaking up with him. It bruised his ego, so he took it out on me."

"Bakit kailangan kang hawakan at saktan? Did you do something to them?"

My eyes widened in disbelief as I almost choked with my own saliva. His last sentence made me look like I always do something wrong.

I stared at him, almost choking on my own breath. "What the hell, Yus? I did nothing! He just couldn’t handle his bruised ego, and I happened to be there.”

"Patingin nga ako kung saan ka niya hinawakan,"

I held out both my wrists. "He squeezed them like he was tying me down with ropes. It actually hurt,”

Yus scowled as he gently ran his fingers over my wrists. "That bastard…" he muttered.