I thought she was making fun of me. She was obviously making fun of me. What exactly did she mean by are you ready to fall in love with me? Is that even something that you ask a stranger on your first meeting?
“Excuse me?” I asked. I wanted to verify kung yun ba talaga ang tinanong nya. Baka kasi sa sobrang nerbiyos ko ay kung anu-ano na lang ang narinig ko.
"Yes?" She arched her brow. "What?"
"What did you say earlier?" I asked and she shrugged. "And how old are you anyway?"
“I'm fourteen." She said ignoring my first question. Fourteen?! Fourteen lang to?!
"You're just fourteen?"
"Oo. Bakit? Oh well, you aren’t bad-looking.” She added. “Pahiram nga ng telepono.” She demanded and I handed my phone to her without question.
There was something commanding about her—sya yung tipo ng babaeng gagawin mo kung ano ang sasabihin nya. I was surprised when she aimed my phone’s camera at her face, flashed a smile and took a picture. “Anong name ko dito?” She demanded.
“Ha?”
“Did you create a contact for me?” She questioned.
“No.” I stammered. “Why would I—“
“Ang hina mo.” She said typing something on my phone. “Ayan, nasa contacts mo na ang number ko and I even took a contacts photo of myself for you. Ang cute ko lang di ba?”
“Ha?”
“You aren’t so loquacious, are you?” She grinned. “And here I was thinking that I have finally meet a guy who knows how to use words very well.”
“Ha?” I asked again.
Yung buong vocabulary ko yata was reduced to that two-letter word, Ha. I was still confused kung mai-impress ba ako sa kanya o maiinis. It didn’t help that she was cute. And I was shy as hell. Pero ayoko talaga sa mga babaeng forward. Ayoko sa mga babaeng nagpapakita ng motibo at ayoko sa mga babaeng cheap. She was cute but she was just too brazen for my liking.
“Alam mo bang pangatlong ha mo na yan for the past minute?” She queried. She looked happy that I was flustered.
“Ganyan ka ba talaga? Kahit sinong lalaki nilalapitan mo?” I couldn’t help but ask. She blinked at me as if my words took her by surpise. I saw a flash of anger in her brown eyes but she recovered quickly.
“Hindi." She smiled. "Maswerte ka lang talaga.” She replied with a flip of her hair.
“Thank you, Sapphire kasi sa lahat ng tao sa mundo ay ako ang napili mong asarin. But I have things to do at home. Maraming salamat sa time. Bye.”
“If you think you’re special because I agreed to meet with you, think again. There’s nothing special about you.” She uttered rising from her chair. “Umupo ka kasi mauuna akong aalis.” She said and I wordlessly sat down. “Hindi ka gwapo, but you’re interesting in a weird, geeky kind of way.” She added before she left.
My jaw dropped at her words. Anong problema ng babaeng yun? I asked myself in disbelief. Ilang oras pa lang kaming nagkakilala pero ilang insulto na ang narinig ko sa kanya. But I wasn’t exactly a gentleman too. Siguro naramdaman nya yung animosity ko sa kanya kahit wala naman akong sinabi and she decided to return the favor. Napabilib tuloy ako. I loved girls who can read between the lines and who knows how to dice you with words. Pag yung babae kasi magaling magsalita, alam mo kaagad na may laman ang utak.
I took my phone out of my pocket and called her number. I wanted to apologize to her. Unang-una, it wasn’t as if she forced me into meeting her—I was curious about her too. As I expected, hindi nya sinagot ang tawag ko.
