Golden Glimpse of Yesterday

08

Kabanata 8

I didn't even get to process anything after what had happened. Naalala ko lang na nakatayo lang ako sa staircase at nakatulala hanggang sa nakita ako ni Gabbi at tinawag niya ako. Tapos naman na ang klase kaya pinauwi na rin kami. I went to our classroom and expected that he'd be there, but surprisingly though, he wasn't there. Lumingon-lingon pa ako sa classroom pero wala talaga siya. Hinanap ko rin sila Dean pero wala rin naman sila. Maybe he got weirded out by what I said earlier. Bakit ko ba kasi nasabi yon? 

What's even weirder is that sinagot naman niya ako. Or maybe he meant something else? Ang assuming ko naman pala kung ganun.

"Elle, nasan nga pala si Khyle?' Gabbi asked me.

"Huh? I thought you saw him come here,"

"What? kakarating ko lang din when i saw you at the staircase."

Tumango lang ako sa kaniya at kinuha ang bag ko.

"Wait. Pano mo nalaman na magkasama kami?" 

"Obvious naman na sasamahan ka nun," she shrugged .

I can never understand the world. How come lahat sila alam na alam ang isang tao, When ironically the person itself can't even figure himself out. I just shook my head.

Umuwi na rin kami ni Gabbi and as usual, tinext ko na si Kuya Manong na  doon ako sa main gate magpapakuha sa kaniya. I said goodbye to Gabbi as we parted ways. Naghintay lang ako sa gilid ng gate ni kuya manong. Habang naghihintay ako, may nakita akong mga bata na nagtitinda ng sampaguita. Naawa ako kasi nakapaa lang sila habang nilalako ang paninda nila. When they went near me, I was hesitant to approach to them. My anxiety was starting to act up again. Huminga ako ng malalim at lumapit sa kanila pero naunahan ako sa babaeng nasa tabi ko. 

"How much for the flower?" She bent down to reach their height. 

Nanatili lang akong nakatingin sa kaniya. She looked familiar. Even though I didn't get to have a proper look at her face. 

"Bente po dalawa," 

"What! That's so cheap," she got something from her bag and handed them a five hundred peso bill. Namilog ang mata ko. Ang laki naman ng binigay niya.

"Here, i'll take them all."

Natuwa naman ang mga bata nang kunin niya lahat ng sampaguita. 

"Salamat po ma'am! salamat po talaga!" the kids exclaimed, nginitian niya lang ang mga iyon. 

Nang umalis na ang mga bata, lumingon siya sa akin. I was shocked  to see her here. It was that girl, Celesti. Inabutan niya ako ng sampaguita. 

"Gusto mo?" alok niya sa akin.

I felt shy with her lalong-lao na dahil ang ganda niya. It was as if I was starstruck with her. Hindi pa rin ako sa sumasagot sa alok niya dahil nahihiya ako. I was only going to buy the flowers to help the kids but now that she bought all of it, the flower wasn't really necessary for me anymore. 

"Hey, i'll just give you some okay?" 

Kinuha niya ang kamay ko at nilagay ang sampaguita doon. I couldn't utter a  single word at her. Tinitigan ko lang siya.

"Thanks... for this.." mahina kong sabi.

"Sure," Tipid niyang sabi.

Sakto din naman na dumating na si Kuya Manong kaya nginitian ko lang ng tipid si Celesti at pumasok na sa sasakyan, she also repaid me with a nod at pumasok na rin sa sasakyan niya na bagong dating. Their car looked really expensive though.