Chapter 9:

"And that concludes our presentation," Amara said.

Our blockmates clapped their hands as our professor walked to the front. We stepped to the side, waiting for his feedback.

"Si Ms. Senia, grabe ang ngiti oh" our professor said, looking at me.

Nagtawanan sila habang ako naman ay nagtaka dahil sa sinabi niya. I pressed my lips together, raising my brows. “What?”

"Bakit ka kasi nakangiti?" Markus let out a chuckle who was standing besides me.

I nudged him lightly. "What's wrong with that? We're presenting our business plan e. Of course, we need to smile to convince our listeners,"

"Anong kinalaman nang pag ngiti sa pagkumbinsi sa kanila?" he asked.

I gave him a side-eye. "You will not know because you don't know anything about body language,"

Habang nagbubulungan kami ay nagbibigay na ng feedback ang professor namin. To avoid any distractions from Markus, I focused on listening.

"Kaso kaya kaya siya bago mag finals?" our professor asked, looking at us.

Amara nodded. "Yes po,"

Oh, he was talking about whether we could start producing the self-charging batteries. We had dropped the phone idea after Amara’s parents' tech team said it would take too much time and testing.

We sat down, earning another round of applause. As another group presented, Macy and I exchanged smiles.

–

"You did great!" I said, impressed by how well she carried herself during her part.

"And so are you. Look, my hands are still cold" she let out a chuckle as she placed her hands in mine.

Her hands were freezing and slightly shaking. "Oh wow," I said, gripping them to warm her up.

Natapos na ang klase kaya ngayon ay pupunta na kami sa cafeteria. We quickly spotted Gracia and the others. The waved us over before motioning us to sit with them.

Agad namang hinanap ng mata ko kung nasaan si Yus dahil palaging maaga ang dismissal ng klase nila.

When my phone beeped, I took it out of my pocket before sitting down on the vacant chair. I'd received a message from Yus. Speaking of the devil.

From: Yus

Don't wait for me at the cafeteria. Nasa LRC ako at may group discussion. Eat properly with your girl friends.

Okay?

To: Yus

Alright. Anyway, sabay tayo umuwi later kaya wait for me.

From: Yus

Yes, madam.

"You girls, you will not believe what I've just heard" Gaia said, laced with intriguing tone, arousing our interest.

I put down my phone on the table, giving her my full attention.

"What? What is it?" Gracia.

"Spill," Macy said .

Both of them leaned forward to the table, eyes directly focused on Gaia, really interested in her story. I leaned back comfortably in my chair, eyes still looking at her.

"What's the tea?" I asked.

Gaia cleared her throat. Kami ay tutok na tutok pa rin sa kung ano man ang sasabihin niya.

"Kasi noong nakaraan...galing akong gym. Then I saw Ivy...'yung transferee sa department natin noong 2nd semester last year...kilala mo 'yon, Gracia” then she glanced at Gracia.

Gracia nodded, still focused on her gossip.

"Oh, tapos?" I asked.

"Ang bagal naman," Macy chuckled.

Gaia rolled her eyes. "Tapos may kasama kasi siya. I don't know the girl actually, so let's just call her Girl B,"

"This Girl B...oh my god," she let out a chuckle. "She f*****g asked Ivy if ginagawa niya pa rin 'yon with their professor," then looked around to see if someone overheard us.

"What?!" we exclaimed in unison.

With lips parted, I was processing what she said. Did I hear her correctly? Ivy was....doing 'that' with a professor? That Ivy who was included in the consistent Dean's Lister?!

"Yah...kahit hindi clear ang sinabi...we all know ano ibig niyang sabihin,"

"What the heck?" Macy's eyes widened when she glanced at me.

Gracia burst out laughing. "Ngayon alam na natin ang tactic niya why she is able to maintain her reputation as a consistent DL,"

"Like, seriously? I cannot believe her," I said, still stunned.

"Let's post this on our freedom wall page," Gracia giggled, then took out her phone in her skirt's pocket.

My brows furrowed with that statement as I looked at her. "Oh, no...please don't do that,"

She raised a brow. "Why not? Ayaw mo ba malaman ng lahat kung paano siya laging kasama sa first honors?" then scoffed.

"Maybe we are just concluding things. Hindi pa naman clear e. So, why bother posting it online?" I asked.

"Oh my gosh, you're really too soft, Azalea" Gaia let out a sigh as she shook her head.

"Huh?" I asked, brows still furrowed. Ngayon naman ay hindi ako makapaniwala sa inaakto at sinasabi nila.

Gusto ba nila masira ang image ni Ivy dahil doon?

I mean, her tactic was bad, but...do they really have to publicly humiliate her?

"Anong we are concluding things? Klaro naman kung anong gustong sabihin ni Girl B kay Ivy ah?" Gracia's tone was laced with irritation and disbelief.

Macy let out a chuckle. "Can you girls stop? Nasa cafeteria tayo at maraming makakarinig," as she looked around cautiously.

"Hmp. I thought you two think that my idea was fun," then Gracia stood up before she turned to look at Gaia. "Let's go, Gaia. We should go back to our room,"

Macy scoffed as both of them stood up and walked away.

"Don't post the tea, okay?" Pahabol ko pa sa kanila bago tuluyang nakalabas ng cafeteria.

The silence between us after the two girls left was deafening. When I glanced at her, she smiled apologetically. "Ako ang nahihiya sa ginagawa nila,"

I shook my head. "Nah, I know that she wouldn't seriously do that,"

"Let's hope so," Macy said.

Nanatili pa kami ng ilang minuto sa cafeteria at pinag usapan ang tungkol sa klase hanggang sa nagpaalam na si Macy na mauuna sa silid habang ako naman ay nakipag usap pa sa isang kakilala na mas matanda saakin ng isang taon.

Until the bell rang–indicating that all students who were still here should go back to their respective rooms.

"It was really nice talking to you, but we need to go" she let out a chuckle as we both stood up.

"Likewise. We should hang out more often," I suggested happily.

"Then set a date already," she let out a chuckle. "I'm a graduating student, kaya hindi na tayo makakapag hang out nyan,"

Nagulat pa ako sa sinabi niya bago natawa. "Well, are you free next week? I will host an open party at my house,"

"Oh, yeah.." she nodded. "The party of the month that all the students were talking about. I thought Gracia and her cousin Gaia were the ones who were hosting it,"

"You should come," I convinced her excitedly. The more visitors I have, the merrier.

"Yeah, sure. As long as there's wine and foods, then I'll be there" she joked, making both of us laugh.

Her right palm was on my lower back as we walked towards the elevator. At nang nasa elevator kami ay nagtanong pa siya ng ibang details na sinagot ko naman.

Nauna siyang lumabas saakin kaya kumaway kami sa isa't isa. Then I waited for the elevator door to close until it stopped to the right floor.

I was about to tell Macy that I invited her girl crush right after entering our room, but I could not find her.

"Where's Macy?" I asked one of my blockmates.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Hindi pa umaakyat,"

I glanced around. Most of our classmates were already inside. Our professor wasn’t here yet, so I stepped out to look for her. A student mentioned seeing her in the Annex building.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Siya ata 'yung nakita ko na papasok doon. She bumped into me kasi...nagmamadali e,"

I nodded. "Okay, thank you"

Lumabas ako ng main building at pumunta sa Annex building. Inisa isa ko pa ang bawat floor. Pwede ko namang sa kanya na sabihin ito pero kasi ang sunod na propesor namin ay strikto. I don't want to get punished just because of that reason!

By the time I reached the last one, I was out of breath. It was quiet. Too quiet.

Ni isang anino sa mga silid ay wala akong makita.

My brows furrowed when I heard a noise. It was a mix of humming and panting.

Cautious to not make any noise, I almost tip-toed as I walked towards that sound. I was about to turn right where the stairs at when I saw two familiar figures.

My eyes widened, and my jaw almost dropped.

I quickly hid behind the concrete wall with my heart pounding. What the hell? In the hallway pa talaga?

I peeked again and saw how Markus's tongue entered Macy's mouth as they kissed with so much passion. Every kiss made a noise.

Markus's hands were on her waist while Macy's were placed on his shoulders. Worried that somebody might see them other than me, I looked up to see if there were any CCTV cameras.

They usually put active CCTV cameras in every hallway, so if there was a CCTV camera here, then they would surely be punished for that misconduct.

Habang tumatagal ay palala nang palala ang naririnig ko. At hindi na ako nagtangka pa na panoorin kung ano man ang ginagawa nila ngayon. I covered my ears so that I could not hear Macy's moans. There was a clapping sound too that I hear and Markus was grunting in pleasure.

Oh my God?! Are they really doing that in public?

"f**k, Markus..." Macy cursed breathily.

"Hmm? What?" Markus responded with a question.

My face scrunched involuntarily as my right hand covered my mouth to stop myself from making noise.

Naglakad na ako pabalik sa elevator bago kinuha ang cellphone sa bulsa at tinawagan si Macy para tumigil na sila habang wala pang nakakahuli.

But she didn't answer.

Palabas na ako ng Annex at napalingon ako sa mga estudyanteng nakasalubong ko na papasok. I let out a gasp as I called her again with shaky hands.

What if may makakita na sa kanila this time?!

"Please answer your freaking phone, Macy..." I said frustratedly as I entered the main building again.

"Damn that Markus...ni hindi man lang naisipang dalhin ka sa maayos na lugar...at what the hell? Kelan pa kayo?" I kept on murmuring to myself.

Goodness, looking for her is a bad move!

I was not innocent of those stuffs but gosh, they should have at least wait for our classes to be dismissed. Pwedeng dumiretso sila agad sa condo nila hindi 'yung sa hindi na sila nakapagpigil at kahit saan nalang ay puwede!

The sounds they made kept on playing in my mind, making me shake my head and almost vomit out of disgust again.

"A-azalea?" she said.

I let out a sigh of relief. They’re done na siguro?

"H-hey. Nasaan ka? Our professor is here na," I lied.

Naglalakad palang ako sa pasilyo papunta sa silid namin. Gusto ko lang talaga na magtigil na sila sa ginagawa.

"Really? W-wait. Papunta na ako," she then chuckled nervously before I ended the call.

I let out a heavy sigh before opening the door to our classroom. My eyes widened when I saw our professor already standing in front, pausing mid-sentence as our eyes met.

At halos kalahati na ng blockmates namin ay nandito na rin.

Forcing a smike, I quickly walked to my seat. Nagpatuloy siya sa kaniyang tinuturo at ako naman ay pabulong na nagtanong sa katabi kung nag attendance na siya.

"Hindi pa. Hinihintay niya tayong makumpleto," he whispered back.

I nodded. "Great." I adjusted my posture and crossed my legs.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, interrupting our professor. Macy walked in, her expression unreadable, as if nothing unusual had happened earlier.

It was clear she had taken the time to fix herself before coming here, probably to avoid raising suspicions.

Two minutes later, Markus entered. He was just as composed, heading straight to his seat in our row.

I cleared my throat, masking my chuckle. These two are really good at acting!

Pagkatapos ng klase ay hinatak ko agad siya palabas ng silid pagkasakbit niya palang ng totebag niya sa balikat.

"You, freaking...girl" I whispered firmly.

"What?" Macy let out a chuckle, but her eyebrows are slightly furrowed.

Pinandilatan ko siya ng mata. "Don't 'what?' me, Macy. I saw what happened,"

Her eyes widened before she let out a nervous laugh, attempting to pull her arm free from my grip.

"Y-you saw what?" she stammered, panic evident in her eyes.

"Akala ko ba you broke up with Dexter because hindi naman totoo na may something sainyo ni Markus?" I asked.

"Hey, chill..." she let out an awkward chuckle.

Her cheeks flushed, and she kept nibbling on her lower lip.

"So, you lied to Dexter about it? Oh my gosh," I throw my head back in disbelief and disappointment.

"No! It was true na walang nagaganap saamin ni Markus that time," she said,

emphasizing the last two words.

"Pero ano na ngayon? What happened?" I asked frustratedly.

She let out a heavy sigh. Patuloy kami sa paglalakad at hindi na masyadong pinansin kung may makarinig man saamin.

"I happened to like him, okay? You can't blame me. Siya ang nandyan para saakin when I needed comfort,"

My lips parted. "Edi matagal na palang merong kayo?"

It's been weeks since she and Dexter broke up. Does that mean that… from day one of her heartbreak, Markus was already there for her?