Chapter 6 First Date

Stella's POV

"Are you st*pid? Hindi ko gagawin iyan. Count me out."

He was about to leave but I pulled his arm back and glared at him.

"Kahit ngayon lang ay magpakalalaki ka, Sevi. You can do it. I'll put you on my shoulder and I'll push you up."

"How about you? How are you going to get up there?"

"Concern ka na sa akin?" tukso ko sa kaniya at sinundot ang tagiliran niya.

"Anong pinagsasabi mo? Hawak mo kaya ang gamit ko. Baka itakbo mo pa at angkinin."

Nakakawalang gana talagang kausap minsan si Sevi. Kinikilig na ako tapos sinisira niya talaga yung moment.

Inirapan ko na lang siya at pumuwesto na.

"Bilisan mo na. Put your weight on me."

"Are you sure about this?" He said hesitantly. He looked at me and glanced at the high wall again.

"Wala ka bang tiwala sa akin?"

"Wala."

"Bahala ka na nga. Ikaw na nga itong tinutulongan—"

Napagdesisyonan ko nalang na umalis na. Naiinis na ako sa kaniya. Ang arte niya. Mabuti nalang at mahaba ang pasensiya ko kasi kung hindi baka kanina pa nakahandusay si Sevi sa lupa dahil sa suntok ko.

"Fine! Gagawin ko na."

Nakahinga ako nang maluwag. That's good. I've composed myself and supported Sevi to climb the wall.

"Wow! Ang galing. I did it!"

He's smiling and he's very happy with what he's done. He looks like a child when he acts up and raises his two hands.

"Lalo kang gumaguwapo kapag ngumingiti ka."

Mabilis na nawala ang ngiti niya at binaba niya ang dalawang kamay niya.

"Ibigay mo sa akin yung gamit. Akin na!"

Ngumiti ako. I carefully threw his bag and my bag at him.

"Ikaw naman."

As usual I jumped far first and then jumped high. I stomped one foot on the wall and firmly hold on top of it. I pushed myself upwards and quickly jumped out.

Sevi borely looked at me.

"I'm not surprised yet. You knocked down three men so I know you can handle that high wall." He said and handed me my bag.

Hindi ko pa nga nahawakan ang bag ko ay binitawan niya na ito kaya nataranta akong saluhin ito.

"Hindi mo na ako kailangang samahan pa."

"But don't you want us to date, Sevi? Let's take the opportunity and—"

"Just do that to others. Here's your cap."

Binigay niya sakin ang cap ko at mabilis siyang pumara ng taxi. Tuluyan na itong pumaharurot paalis.

"Ano ba iyan? Hindi man lang nagthank you sa akin. Napakasungit." bulong ko sa sarili ko.

I'm here outside the university. I'll just go to the mall and entertain myself first.

"Pabili po ng isang popcorn—"

"Dalawa. Dalawang popcorn."

Napalingon ako sa nagsalita. Si Sevi. Agad na gumuhit ang matamis na ngiti sa labi ko.

"Akala ko umuwi ka na talaga." sabi ko.

Isinubo niya sakin ang isang dukot-kamay na popcorn sa bibig ko. Nginuya ko na lang ito at kinuha ang popcorn ko. Nauna ng maglakad si Sevi kaya agad ko siyang hinabol at tumabing naglakad sa gilid niya.

"What are you doing?"

"Aren't we going on a date?"

"Anong date ang pinagsasabi mo? St*pid, I just want to thank you for helping me earlier."

"Gusto ko eh. Magdedate pa rin tayo. Let's go."

"Hoy!"

Hinigit ko siya. I went to the ticket booth and bought two tickets. We will watch comedy. Suddenly Sevi pulled me closer to him.

"Anong ginagawa mo? Why did you buy two tickets? I'm not going with you."

"Tumahimik ka nga. Don't refuse because it's only once. Ako ang bahala sa iyo." sabi ko at ngumiti sa kaniya.

"Ang cute ninyong dalawa. Bagay na bagay kayo." komento ng cashier at tila kinikilig sa aming dalawa.

"Hindi niya ako boyfriend—"

"Thank you po, ate. We're really good and our future children will definitely be beautiful and handsome." sambit ko. I looked at Sevi's face and he looked at me in disgust.

The cashier laughed at what I said. I immediately pulled Sevi so we could enter the cinema.

After we watched the movie I tried to pull Sevi back into the arcade. He was annoyed with me because he said I wasted money on such trivial things. That's why he paid for the tokens we will use. Akala ko maglalabas siya ng atm. Buti nalang may extrang cash naman palang siyang dala.

"This is not my thing, Stella. Can I just go home now? It's up to you to use up those tokens. I'll just go home—"

"Hey! Hindi puwede. Date natin ito." Ikinawit ko ang kamay sa braso niya at isinandal ang ulo ko sa balikat niya.

"What the f*ck? This is not a date—

"Huwag ka ngang magmura. Naririnig ka ng mga bata."

Sabay naming nilingon ang mga batang nakatingin sa kanya. Tinaasan lang ito ng kilay ni Sevi.

"Huwag kang ganyan Sevi. Kaya takot ang mga taong lumapit sayo kasi tinatarayan mo agad."

"I don't care!"

"Galit agad? Ito naman. Let's play to relieve that stress in your body."

Annoyed, he just followed what I said and started playing. You know the game where you hit someone and a ball falls from the machine? Rotate it until it falls into the hole with the number of how many tickets you can get. In that game he was super hooked.

"I really don't like that game! The ball only falls in small amounts. Napakadaya!"

I laughed because he was so pissed off at that game. There is also a hole there with the letters 'JACKPOT'. That means a lot of tickets will be thrown out by the machine when the ball falls there.

"Wait a minute. Your patience is short. You need patience for games, Sevi. Hindi lahat ng attempts ay sapul agad." I stood behind him and held his hand on the button he would press to drop the ball.

"What are you doing? Lumayo ka nga sa akin, Stella—" napalingon siya sa gilid niya.

"Shh! Ang ingay mo. Eyes in front, Sebastian Fuentes." sagot ko.

He wanted to protest but I restrained his hand from holding the button.

"It's embarrassing, Stella. Let's stop this. People are looking at us." bulong niya.

"Let them be. Again, eyes in front."

He had no choice so he just followed what I said.

"Katulad ko ay mahaba ang pasensya ko sayo, Sevi. You've rejected me a lot of times pero hindi kita susukuan. Just like how patient we are to get the right timing for this ball. I am willing to wait to reach my goal..."

We also hit the ball at the same time. It’s spinning. He's anticipating where the ball should fall. Pero kampante akong mahuhulog ito sa jackpot.

At katulad ng inaasahan ko, nahulog ito sa jackpot!

"And that's you. That's your worth for me, Sevi..." tukoy ko sa jackpot.

"We did it, Stella! Ang galing!"

He turned to me and I was surprised when he suddenly hugged me. He was jumping for joy so I jumped too. I hugged him back. I don’t care about the people watching us right now. If they think we're crazy we don't care either.

Sevi stopped and so did I. Agad siyang umalis sa pagkakayakap sakin.

"A-ang galing mo." awkward niyang sabi.

"Ang galing natin." saad ko ng nakangiti at tinaas ang kamay ko para makipag-apir sa kanya.

I thought he would ignore it but then again when Sevi Fuentes moves, things happen unexpectedly. Nakipaghighfive siya sakin. Before quickly turning away from me and looking at the tickets coming out of the machine.

Ibinigay namin sa cashier ang lahat ng tickets na naipon namin.

"Ikaw na pumili ng price." sabi ni Sevi.

"Pero tickets natin itong dalawa."

"Stella, just pick one."

Isang pusa na stuff toy ang napili ko. Kasalukuyan kaming kumakain ngayon ng ice cream. Nakaupo kami sa isang bench.

"Anong gusto mong ipangalan natin sa kanya?"

He gave me a look.

"Bakit ganiyan ka kung makatingin? Gusto ko pareho natin siyang papangalanan kasi time at effort kaya ang puhunan natin para makuha lang ito."

"That thing can be bought anywhere, Stella."

"It's different from all the stuff toys in the world, okay?"

"D*mn, Stella. Just call him whatever you want."

He ignored me and just continued eating ice cream.

"Alam ko na! His name is Stevi. Ito ay combination ng names nating dalawa. Stella plus Sevi is equal to Stevi."

"Whatever—"

"Sh*t! I still have to go to the men's store!" He looked at his watch and stood up immediately.

"I'll go with you."

"No! Ako nalang mag-isa. It's up to you where you want to go–"

"Sasama ako for preference!"

"I don't need your opinion, Stella. I'm leaving. Goodbye!"

"But—"

Nauna na siyang maglakad kaya hindi na lang ako sumunod pa. Ngunit may biglang pumasok na ideya sa isip ko.

Humanda ka, Sevi!