She Crossed That Bridge

08

CHAPTER EIGHT

Fort Grande Bridge

"LOOKS like you've got yourselves a chaperone." Helix chuckled.

Hindi raw makapupunta si Ger kaya si Helix ang pinapunta niya. Nakaiinis talaga. Bakit ba kasi inimbita pa ni Nico si Gerald? Iyan tuloy, we ended up having Helix around us here.

Ilang araw ko nang iniiwasan si Helix simula no'ng malaman ko 'yong tungkol sa kanila ni Pauline. Naiinis lang ako kasi walang kaalam-alam si Dest na niloloko na lang siya ng kapatid niya pati ng girlfriend niya.

Anyway, my brother's okay with me going out with Nico because he knew we're just friends, but he still didn't trust him that much, so everytime we hang out, he always tagged along.

"Sorry, Shin. I can't say no to Ger," Nico apologized to me as we made our way to the movie theater.

Wala naman akong choice. Nandito na 'to, eh. Saka epal lang talaga 'yong kuya ko, at hindi naman kasalanan ni Nico kung ipinanganak na epal si Gerald.

"It's alright," sambit ko saka ako ngumiti.

The movie we wanted to see was sold out, so Nico bought us tickets to our second choice, which turned out to be better than our first choice.

After watching a movie with them, we headed out into the mall to grab some dinner. Gano'n kasi 'yong sinehan dito sa De Grande Town, nakahiwalay sa mismong mall. Pero halos magkalapit lang naman at kaya namang lakarin ng ilang minuto.

I was almost at the front line when Nico suddenly showed up beside me.

Bakas sa mukha na may gusto siyang sabihin pero napakagat lang siya sa labi niya habang napakakamot sa ulo.

"Don't get mad, okay?" he said. I gave him a confused look.

"My sister called, and I need to pick her up at a party. She got drunk too early." He groaned in frustration.

Well, gano'n naman lagi 'yong kapatid niya. Panira sa lahat ng lakad namin ni Nico. Sanay na rin ako.

"Sure. You better go pick her up," kalmado kong sabi.

He gently kissed me on my cheek. "See you at school," he said before leaving.

Once I finally coaxed a couple of Cokes out of the machine, I got nachos and hotdog.

I made my way back to our table and there I saw Hel na titig na titig sa phone niya.

Panigurado kausap niya na naman si Pauline. Ano kayang mararamdaman ni Dest kapag nalaman niya 'yong namamagitan sa kapatid niya at sa girlfriend niya? Siyempre masasaktan 'yon. Kahit naman napakasama ng ugali ni Dest ay tao lang din naman 'yon, may nararamdaman. Marunong masaktan.

"Hey, Nico left. He had to pick up his sister," I informed him.

Nag-angat siya ng tingin sa 'kin. "Yeah, he already told me."

Eh 'di okay. Ah, ewan! Natutuwa ako dahil kasama ko siya ngayon dito, pero naiinis din ako tuwing naiisip ko si Pauline.

"Have some chips," alok ko. My voice was calm hostile.

"Thanks," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "Next time, it's going to be my treat," he added up politely.

A smile escaped my lips when he said that. It meant I was going to spend time with him again like this next time.