The General's Only Daughter

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When I arrived at Damian’s place, the door is open and I heard voices inside kaya wala sa sariling pumasok ako sa loob. And there, I saw Damian on the floor with Elton, Lawrence and Bryce are trying to calm Sage. Winter is on the couch na parang balisa. Si Winter ang unang nakapansin sa presenya ko.

“Oh my God, Cali! There you are! We are so worried at you.” Tinignan ko siya na may halong pagtataka. At bakit naman sila mag aalala sa akin?

“Ha? Bakit?” I asked. I saw Sage shifted his gaze on me, and he sighed in relief.

“Sage said Damian called you so he followed you here, and you never went out. We thought, Damian did something bad to you.” Sinulyapan ko ulit si Damian na ngayon ay nasa couch na nakaupo at nadagdagan ng pasa ang mga sugat niya.

“I never went out again because I live in the same building. I’m sorry for worrying you all. You guys should apologized to Damian, he did nothing wrong this time.” Seryoso kong sabi. “Nanghingi lang siya ng tulong sa akin to treat his wound. After treating his wound, I went home” Pagpapaliwanag ko.

They apologized to Damian, except Sage. Bakit ba ng laki ng galit ng dalawang ‘to sa isa’t-isa. And this time, it was Elton who treated Damian’s wounds, poor Damian.

“Kumain na ba kayo?” I asked, it’s already 8 o ‘clock in the evening. Sabay-sabay naman silang umiling.

“Uhm, I can’t invite you over to my house since we don’t have a dinner, ready. Order nalang tayo.” I didn’t wait for their response. Umorder na ako gamit ang phone ko. I ordered fried chicken and beef steak then rice good for 7 persons. Then, I added some drinks too.

When the food came in, they started eating and none of them talk that much. Good thing that Damian’s condo is spacious enough for all of us.

“You sure, you won’t eat or have any drinks?” Elton asked, once again. Umiling ako and thanked him for asking me.

“She can’t eat food that aren’t home cooked.” Winter said as she sipped her lemonade juice.

“I’ll cook something for her then.” Elton innocently said. Napailing nalang ako.

“Thank you, kuya. Pero I really can’t eat any food na hindi po luto sa bahay namin. My mother was poison and died in just a couple of minutes. So my father didn’t let me eat any food po na hindi niluto ng family namin or someone who has been cooking for me since I was young.” Pagpapaliwanag ko.

“Oh, sorry to hear that. My bad.” He apologized.

“No, it’s okay.” I smiled. I wasn’t that hurt since I don’t have a memory of my mother, but my brother is sensitive about it up until now.

“Thank you for the food, Cali.” Saad ni Bryce, tinanguan ko lang siya, Damian and Sage were incredibly silent, as if they don’t exist.

Paminsan minsan lang din ako magsalita because I feel uncomfortable, as I am already in my bed clothes. Mabuti nalang talaga at may soot pa akong bra, kasi tinatanggal ko talaga ang bra ko pag matutulog na ako.

Pagkatapos nilang kumain, I offered to send them off, hanggang ground floor but they insist na huwag na because it’s too late na rin. I didn’t argue dahil totoo naman. When I went home, nanang is still waiting for me at the living room. I said my good night to her then went to my room. Tsaka ko lang natignan ng mabuti ang phone ko. I have so much notification online and missed calls, I remember putting my phone on silent earlier, kaya siguro lalo silang nag-alala nang hindi ako sumasagot sa tawag ni Winter. And I have a missed calls from Sage, Lawrence, and Bryce from messenger.

Ang bilis dumaan ng weekend at Monday nanaman. This is not a typical Monday at all, as I think it’s gonna be beyond the typical Monday na maraming ipapasa na kung anu-ano. Today kasi, we need to finish hour portfolio project, hindi magtuturo ang Prof namin dahil pababayaan niya kami tapusin ang portfolio sa time niya, which is very good kasi, we do not need to spend extra of our time to finish the project ‘di ba? Then after that, we have a class meeting kasi we need to decide who’s gonna be the representative of our class for the upcoming Ms and Mr SU. Ang plano kasi ng department namin ay kukuha ng isang representative kada section sa bawat course which are the Bachelor of Science and Information Technology, Bachelor of Science in Information System, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Accounting Information Systems and other computer related courses. Maglalaban – laban muna inside sa department naming tapos ang mananalo ayon ang magiging representative ng department namin for Ms and Mr SU. Pag tapos na naming pag-usapan kung sino ang magiging representative ng section namin, pag uusapan naman namin kung anong booth ang itatayo ng section namin for the foundation day tapos uumpisahan na agad ang plano, like role designation ng bawat isa. Argh, what a long day!

“Good morning, Cali!” Chas greeted me as soon as I entered the classroom.

“Ang energetic mo today ah.” Puna ko, well she need it.

“Syempre, alangan naman na kay aga-aga pa, pagod na ‘di ba?” Inilipag ko muna ang bag ko, bago ko siya tapunan ng tingin.

“Sabagay.” Tipid kong sagot.

“Good morning guys!” Winter greeted us, I smiled at her at bumati rin ako pabalik. Wala pa sila Sage, Bryce, and Lawrence dahil lagi talaga silang pumapasok ng 10 minutes before class starts. Ako naman, I am always 15 minutes before class starts. Si Chas naman ay mas maaga palagi dahil lagi siyang pumupunta muna ng library, si Winter naman, depende sa trip niya pero hindi siya syempre pumapasok ng late. Pinaka late niya ata ay 5 minutes before class starts.

Mabuti nalang talaga at first subject namin ang major subject namin, madami pa akong energy at fresh pa ang utak ko. Our professor came in and ang ginawa niya ay pinagtabi-tabi niya ang magpapartner, nasa computer lab kami ngayon. Winter and I are working on our own portfolio quietly, paminsan-minsan naman ay nagtatanungan kami about sa code and design, like just asking for an opinion ganon. Hindi naman kami pinagbabawalan mag daldalan ng Prof namin basta huwag lang ‘yong maingay talaga and hindi about sa portfolio ang pinag-uusapan.

“Hey.” Tawag sa akin ni Sage. Muntik ko nang makalimutan na katabi ko nga pala ito. Each row kasi dito sa computer lab ay may apat na nakaupo. So, sa row namin si winter ang katabi ng pader, then me, Sage is next to me then next to him is Bryce, his partner. Si Lawrence at Chas naman ay nasa unahan na row namin.

“Hmm?” Tinignan ko naman siya.

“Which one do you think is better?” He asked, showing me the chocolate brown and the caramel brown. I scanned his whole design and told him, the caramel brown.

“Thanks” pasasalamat niya. I just nod at him.

May pagkakataon rin na nagtatanong sa akin si Winter at nag tatanong rin ako sa kanya. After 2 and half hours Winter and I were both done. I saved my portfolio at pagkatapos ay pinasa ko na.

“Jusko, feeling ko natuyo utak ko!” reklamo ni Chas. Paano kase nag draft lang siya ng gagawin niya at hindi pa sinimulan so she started from the scratch, mas inuna kasi manood ng k-drama, partida scholar pa ‘yan ah.

“You nailed it naman e.” I commented, I wasn’t lying, she really nailed it.

“Wow naman, umi-English na madalas ang aming Cali.” I just rolled my eye. We are now heading back to the classroom kasi may meeting nga. We had a quick 15 minutes break lang kasi.

“I think Calista would be better” Gino suggested, bigla naman akong nabingi. What the heck? What Am I supposed to do there and I am not even confident enough to do the Ms and Mr SU.

“I honestly and respectfully refuse. Please find someone else suitable.” Angal ko, pageant is not my thing honestly.

“Why not? You’re pretty and brainy rin. Sayang naman?” one of my classmate said.

“I- I’ve never done it before at hindi ako kumportable gawin, please iba nalang.” Paninindigan ko.

“Yeah, Cali is kind of uhm a shy person. So I think I’ll do it.” Napalingon ako kay Winter, siya kasi talaga ang first choice ng section namin kaso ayaw niya, lahat na ata ng girls sa classroom ay naisuggest na kaso mga ayaw naman. Kakaunti pa naman girls sa amin.

Everyone agreed. I heave a sigh and mouthed thank you to Winter, I know she doesn’t want to do it, but still she accepted it. Ang napag-usapan naman namin na booth ay photo booth nalang, ayaw na namin pahirapan ang mga sarili namin. Sa props ako naka-assign and tomorrow we will submit a draft of our plan. Kinuha ko naman ang phone ko at nilista sa notes ko dahil baka makalimutan ko.

“Argh what a long day!” Reklamo ni Winter, pauwi na kami ngayon at sabay kaming tatlo nila Chas palabas ng university.

“I know right, nakakapagod! Monday palang.” Dagdag ni Chas. Nanahimik lang ako dahil totoo naman.

Humiwalay na sa amin si Winter pagdating ng parking lot dahil nandon na ang driver niya. Nauna naman nakasakay si Chas, habang ako nandito pa sa waiting shed, pinag-iisipan ko kung uuwi na ba ako or mag mo-mall muna. Maaga pa kasi, wala naman akong gagawin rin sa bahay. In the end, naisipan ko umuwi muna sa bahay para kunin ang iPad ko tapos mag-i- Starbucks nalang ako at don ko gagawin ang plan na isa-sumbit ko tomorrow for our photo booth props and decoration.

Pagdating ko sa bahay, nagpa-alam ako kay nanang na baba ako, babalik ako before dinner. I just wore a denim shorts, oversized minimalist peach t-shirt then black converse na shoes. I made sure na nasa loob ng tote bag ko ‘yong iPad ko and phone tsaka isang notebook. I ordered one Chocolate Croissant and Iced coffee with milk. I grab my iPad and apple pencil then open my GoodNotes and created a new notebook, then I started taking notes of what’s on my mind. Balak ko kasi, sa labas ng booth mayro’ng one big frame na sample picture. And since, we got some big shots on our section, which are Sage, Lawrence, Bryce and Winter. Sila ang naisip ko na i-model doon, besides they are very good looking. Tapos sa loob naman ay balak ko may nakalagay rin na class picture ng section namin then random pictures ng mga kaklase ko na isasabit sa wall. Tapos magkakaroon ng three sections ang photo booth, one for a group photo na pwede isang buong section, one for couples, and the last one naman ay for best of friends, it could be a group or by pair only. After being satisfied with my plan, I smiled and looked at the food that I ordered, what a waste dahil hindi ko rin naman makakain at maiinom ‘to.

Napatingin ako sa labas, ang ganda ng sunset kaya napangiti ako. Nasa second floor kasi itong starbucks and kitang kita ‘yong sunset sa pwesto ko. Napatingin rin ako sa paligid ko and to my surprise, I saw Sage with a girl, mukhang kaka order lang nila at naghahanap ng mauupuan. Sumakto naman na sa tapat ko, may bakante kaya doon sila umupo. Hindi ata ako napansin ni Sage kaya inalis ko nalang ang tingin ko sa kanila. I took a photo of the sunset and posted it to my story on IG. Nag-iisip pa ako ng pwedeng idagdag sa plan for photo booth kaso wala na akong maidadagdag pa kaya iniligpit ko nalang ang iPad at apple pencil ko. Tumunog naman ang phone ko kaya tinignan ko ‘yon, it was a notification from IG.

“Wala manlang caption? Very tita ha.” It was a response sa IG story ko, from Chas. Bahagya naman akong natawa kaya ni-haha react ko ‘yong reply niya sa story ko. After 5 minutes I got a notification from her again.

She tagged me in a story, naka scressnshot ‘yong reply niya sa story ko tapos may caption na ‘Put your finger down if you have a friend na anti-social in person and social media, hays pasalamat ka talaga @itsmeCali maganda ka!’ what the heck?