Arctic Heart [#Wattys2018 Winner]

Chapter 23

Chapter 23
Robot

"You'll love my friends in New York. Masaya silang kasama!" sabi ko kay Jace at hindi mawala sa akin ang pagiging maligalig dahil sa pagdating ng aking mga kaibigan.

I already told him that my friends are gonna fly from New York to see me here in Manila, but he didn't seem excited for me though. His stoic expression remained as it was, the moment I told him that I have an upcoming trip in the next few days.

"Hindi ka ba masaya para sa akin?" Humalukipkip ako at saka umayos ng upo. "Namiss ko ang mga kaibigan ko at binalik ko pa ngang pumunta ng New York kahit isang linggo para sa kanila. It's a good thing that they are the ones who's flying here."

He heaved and sighed. "I'm happy that you're gonna meet your friends again..."

"Why don't you seem like it?" I crossed my arms at him.

"When you say friends... is it just gonna be all girls or what?" he asked me, very curious of what gender my circle of friends composed of.

My lips protruded as I kept quiet because I think I finally knew what he was jerking about. He didn't want me to meet my guy friends in New York again.

I didn't know if I was just assuming or he was some kind of jealous. Pigil na pigil tuloy akong ngumiti dahil baka mas lalo siyang magsungit dahil natutuwa pa ako sa kanyang pinapakitang reaksyon kaysa panatagin ang kanyang loob.

"Hmm... Dalawa ang kaibigan kong babae at tatlo ang lalaki," sabi ko sa kanya.

His jaw clenched, and I saw how he tightened his grip on the steering wheel because his knuckles got conspicuous. The speed of the car also slightly accelerated that I sat properly on the shotgun seat. He noticed my movement, and the car slowed down.

"In total, your circle of friends consists of three girls and three boys," he said. "Every time you're going out with them, it's just like a triple date."

Nilingon ko naman siya at nakumpirma ko na ang aking hinala kung bakit siya nagsusungit. Paano niya ba kasi naisip ang ideyang 'yan? Triple date? Ni hindi nga 'yan pumapasok sa isip naming magkakaibigan.

In our circle, there's only one couple―Monique and Wendell. Both Easton and Sadie have a relationship with someone outside our group... and well, I also belong to the both of them now. And Austin's still single. We were both single before that's why we hanged out a lot.

Madalas ay nagkakasabay-sabay ang date nang mga relasyon sa grupo naming kaya naiiwan kaming dalawa ni Austin. Though I wasn't complaining about it because he was a good companion, but I knew he had feelings for me that was why I wanted to somehow keep a distance from him.

"Hindi kami gano'n..." sabi ko kay Jace. "Kapag umaalis kaming lahat ay kaming mga babae ang laging magkakasama. My closest friend in our circle is Monique. She's a girl."

"That doesn't change the fact that you have guy friends you're hanging out with," he argued.

Humalukipkip naman ako at saka nagtaas ng kilay sa kanya. "Ikaw nga ay lagi mong kasama si Isha noong nasa New York pa ako at hanggang sa bumalik ako. Marami akong ibang kaibigan na pwedeng makasama. Ikaw naman ay laging siya lang."

Hindi ko naiwasang isiwalat ang kinikimkim kong damdamin. Pasalamat nga siya na hindi ko siya pinapalayo kay Isha dahil alam kong may pinagsamahan sila at may trabaho silang kailangang tapusin na magkasama. And besides, after all those assurance he gave me, I was able to give him my full trust that he won't break my heart.

"Why are you suddenly picking on me when we're talking about you?" he asked me with his defensive tone.

"Because they just fall on the same matter," I said and averted my gaze away from him.