"Finally Ece! Come on my chika ako!" Lian shouted as I entered our classroom. Greg and Rian instantly formed our chair into a circle when they saw me and signed me to set there.
Napairap ako.
Ang aga-aga.
"So, here are some information about your crush," Lian started as soon as we seated.
"Crush?" i confusedly asked because she's eyeing me, so it means she's referring to me. I got muddled, I have no crush. So what the hell is she talking about?
"The guy yesterday duh!" she reminded while rolling her eyes.
The guy yesterday–The hell! Hindi ko crush 'yun ah!
"He's not my crush! In fact I have no crush and you all know the reason right?"
"Come on Ece! Having a crush or boyfriend won't harm you," Rian said.
"At hindi mo sya pinilosopo, natapos nyo 'yung oras kahapon without you doing something. So it means you enjoyed it right?"
I stared Lian unbelievably. Seriously? Lahat nalang may meaning sa kanya? Babaeng 'to!
"Correct. And I won't believe if you said your not attracted to him, just on his looks. Ece, I know, he got you," Greg added.
"My gosh! Ba't ba problemado kayo na wala akong boyfriend?!" i exclaimed at them.
"Don't change the topic. Just admit that you're attracted to him," Greg said.
"What!?" kontra ko.
"You're attracted right?" ulit niya.
"I'm not!" I denied but eventually sighed.
Their stares are killing me.
"Fine...He's really attractive, i can't deny that pero mawawala ri–"
"That's it!" putol ni Lian sa sinasabi ko.
"So let me continue my chika about your crush," she added gigling.
Napahilot ako sa sentido dahil dun, wala talaga akong kawala sa mga 'to. I'm attracted alright. But that doesn't mean that he's my crush already! I mean, we can be attracted without making it our crush. It's just a simple attraction, no romantic or such feelings involved!
I sighed.
Kahit anong sabihin ko hindi na talaga 'yan makababago sa mga iniisip nila, walang mangyayari kahit ilang beses ko pang igiit 'yun. Ang hirap naman nito!
"So from the data I've collected, his name is Maddox Reineir Volteros, a freshman College Student, the only son of Renollon and Miraih Volteros, 19 years of age, he's taking up BS in Marine Transportation, he loves French kiss, for the record he do licking and finge–"
"Too much information," i stopped Lian from mentioning those kinds of things. I don't know where did she got those infos, those should be in private.
"What!? Hindi pa ako tapos!" she said pouting.
"Tama na, tsaka he's really not my crush. So can you all stop this nonsense?" I glared back at them when they give me a deadly glares.
"Zalia," Greg said in a warning tone.
"Whatever, hindi ko sya crush," i said and pulled my chair back to its proper position. They did the same.
"He is," Rian said. I just rolled my eyes at her.
"He's not," pakipagtalo ko.
"He is," madiing saad niya.
"Whatever!"
"See? You're just denial!!" she seriously stated.
I was taken aback.
She's right.
I'm denial. I deny things that I know would harm me. Is it bad? I'm just protecting myself from hurting. Hindi naman masama 'yun diba?
I sighed shrugging off my thoughts. Why I'm thinking this way? I don't even know if Maddox likes me, to the point that he'll pursue me. And if he really like me, I know it will fade eventually.
Boys nowadays don't take girls seriously, kung meron man nasa imahinasyon nalang natin 'yun. Boys who would care, respect and love girls dearly are all and purely fictional.
I pouted at my thoughts. Bakit ba namin ginagawang bigdeal 'to? Nagtatalo kami kung may crush ba ako sa kanya.
Seryoso? Wala na ba kaming ibang mapagtatalunan?
I mentally laughed and just sit properly when our professor arrived.
***
"Holy!!" Lian screamed while we're heading to the cafeteria to eat lunch.
It's lunch time already, and it seems that Lian's not yet done with her 'chikas'.
"H'wag tayo sa Cafeteria!" she demanded while still looking at her phone.
My eyebrow raised.
What's this again?
"Sa court nalang," Greg suggested but I disagreed, it's so crowded there.
"Sa field," i said.
They all nodded.
So we headed there except Rian who'll gonna be ordering our food. That's our routine.
We all sat down when we finally found a perfect place to stay. Mabilis akong napapikit nang tumama ang hangin sa aking mukha, this is the reason why I wanted to be here...fresh air. I keep on closing my eyes while listening to Greg's demands to Lian about her chika, pero hindi sinasabi ni Lian kasi hihintayin pa namin si Rian kaya tumahimik nalang si Greg, walang magawa.
Minutes later, Rian arrived with our foods. She put it on our table and excitedly took her seat.
"Dali na!" Greg demanded Lian.
"So, here's the tea! Habang naghahanap ako ng mga informations about Zalia's crush. Guess what!?" she shrieked.
I rolled my eyes.
Not again.
"What!?" Greg and Rian asked.
"I found out that Maddox have a long-time crush on Ece!!" she stated while tapping the table.
Napakunot ang noo ko. Ano na namang nakalap ng babaeng 'to?
Namilog naman ang mga mata nina Greg at Rian dahil sa sinabi niya.
"Check his Twitter dali!" utos ni Lian. Kaya nagkukumahog namang kumuha sa kani-kanilang cellphone ang dalawa. I got curious too so I also took out my phone and clicked the Twitter icon.
"Search niyo Reineir Volteros. Big letter R and V, no space," she instructed.
We followed it.
I clicked his account and checked his profile picture.
He's lazily seating on a chair while his hair is being blown, it's a stolen shot.
I pouted.
He's really attractive even in pictures.
He don't have any header. So I proceeded to his bio.
It says 'Soon to be a ZEAfarer'
Napataas ang kilay ko.
Weird.
"Zeafarer," Lian stated making the 'z' recognizable then smirked.
"So?" i asked confusedly.
"Duh!! It's you initials!" she said rolling her eyes.
I was in awe when I realized what she's talking about.
Zalia Ece Alcarde so ZEA, seriously!? Anong trip nito sa buhay?
Greg and Rian screamed when they got it. Halos patayin pa nila ako sa kilig na nararamdaman.
"Grabe ka! Haba ng buhok mo sa kili-kili!!" sabi ni Greg habang todo sangga ako sa mga hampas at kurot nila ni Rian.
Napapangiwi pa ako dahil ang bibigat ng kamay nila.
"Wait, it's not yet done!" Lian stopped them from torturing me.
Thank Goodness.
I inhaled deeply and fixed my hair.
"Look at his photos!" she instructed again.
I shrugged and followed what she said. I scrolled down on his tweets.
He merely tweet, some are just retweets or tags. So i keep on scrolling on his feed, looking for that interesting photo, Lian is talking about.
My eyes widened in fraction when I saw his tweet that consists with my photo! Ilang minuto akong napatitig run, habang hindi gumagalaw.
Why. The. Hell. Does. My. Photo. Reaches. Here?
It's a stolen shot. I'm laughing with someone. I can merely recognize whose with me because it's fully blurred. My body was blurred barely so I can still recognize that it's me.
I stared so long at the picture.
I loved the way he captured it that made me remember the young me. I'm also into capturing things way back then.
That's why this photo got me.
It's perfect.
I continued scrolling until I reached another photo of me, in the cafeteria. Like the first one it was also blurred. It's just that the person I'm with was unrecognizable unlike me. When I got satisfied looking at it. I resumed scrolling again finding another photo of mine. I noticed that he got a pattern on tweeting my pictures, he tweeted my stolen photos every month.
The third photo was me going out the gate, while the fourth was me going inside the campus. I totally have 13 photos that he tweeted. I don't know why I don't feel creepy towards those photos, when it's like his stalking me!
Maybe... because I love the way he captured it? I love the quality of photos? I don't know. It somehow stirred my love for photography even when I don't have any knowledge on it.
"Shocks! Ang kapal ng bruha may secret photographer," Rian exclaimed while saving my photos. I pressed my lips together to suppress my smile. I don't want them to think I liked it.
"Ang ganda ng pagkakuha ah!" Greg added while still staring at the first photo Maddox tweeted.
Later on, his mouth widened like he realized something.
"Bruha, ako ba 'to!?" he drastically said while pointing on his cellphone's screen. Sabay-sabay kaming sumulyap doon at madiing tinitigan ang litrato.
Bahagya akong natawa dahil tama si Greg, siya nga 'yun!
"Grabe! Tinabunan beauty ko!" he frustratedly said.
We all laugh at his frustration. Ang sama naman ng taong 'yun, sobrang binlur ang mukha ni Greg!
"Pero 'tong bruhang 'to! Long time crush pala ni Maddox! Sana all!" Rian said and slapped me. I glared at her. Kailangan talagang sapakin? Kanina pa 'to!
"I'm so proud of you girl! Nabihag mo si Maddox! Walanghiya ka!" sabi ni Greg.
I just grinned at them.
"Ako pa?" mayabang kong sabi dahilan kung bakit nakatanggap na naman ako ng kurot galing kay Lian.
"Pasalamat ka sa'kin! Pinaghirapan ko 'yan," she said glaring at me.
I rolled my eyes.
"Grabe, kaya pala minsan napansin kong sumusulyap 'yan kay Zalia tuwing nasa canteen tayo!" Greg stated.
Lian and Rian joined him on stating the things they noticed about Maddox having a crush on me.
I pouted.
What's really big on that?
I mean, we all have the right to be attracted to someone right? Liking someone isn't bad unless you know your limits especially if that someone has a boyfriend/girlfriend already or he/she doesn't want to be in a relationship. They're making it a big deal like it would last forever. Like duh! Nothing will last forever in these days.
Maddox's feelings for me will eventually fade. Tsaka kung talagang gusto nya ako, bat hindi sya nagpaparamdam diba? 'Nong blind date ko nga lang sya nikilala eh, tapos ngayon nalaman kong may crush siya sa'kin dahil kay Lian.
In fact there's a big change that we're just insinuating things, it's not impossible that we're just giving meaning on those. Like what if the ZEA stands for another name? It's not like I'm only the one who have ZEA initials. And about the pictures, what if I just caught his interest on making me the subject to his photography? It could be that.
I smiled bitterly at that thought.
Don't even know where the 'bitterly' came from.