Chapter 44: 44
“So? Are you gonna answer my question or not?” she asked.
“No.” I said.
“No what?!” she exclaimed.
“I’ve only sent emails to Raphael, Earnest, Roi, Darelle, Kenneth and Kris from our batch.” I said flatly.
“…” she just looked at me with a sour expression.
“I’m sorry. You told me to be honest. So, I did.” I maintained my calm expression.
“That’s very cold.” she said as she hugs her knees.
“Being honest?” I asked.
“Yeah, it hurts.” she said while looking at the ground.
“I’m sorry.” I did the same.
“Well, you could’ve laid it out softly.” she said.
“To be fair though, I told everyone when I found out about this at first.” I looked at her again.
“Everyone? This? What do you mean?” she asked with a furrowed brow.
“The world, this virus.” I said.
“What?” she got confused.
“A few years ago, when it was just me and Oscar, our plan was just to hole up in the bas.e.m.e.nt and wait 10 or more years until everything is over. If we have everything in this place now, we could survive for much longer if it’s just us two. I disagreed with that thought so I convinced him that doing that is pointless, humanity will be over if it’s just the two of us left standing. After a while, he got to thinking and he agreed with me so we expanded this compound, we built a few more houses and we made the bas.e.m.e.nt bigger. After that, I tried posting everywhere and I even tried to contact various organizations about my findings.” I explained.
“What happened then?” she asked.
“What do you think? Would you even come with me three years ago if I told you that zombies are coming and I need you and your sister in my house?” I said.
“…” she was silent.
“I’d like you to answer me honestly too.” I said straightforwardly.
She was taken aback, but she answered honestly after a long sigh.
“No.” she said.
“And that is a normal and honest response, thank you. I’d say that to me too. It’s like the story of the boy who cried wolf but they didn’t believe him the first time he warned them. It hurts when you’re trying to tell something with all your heart and no one listens.” I said earnestly.
“…” she was silent.
“But still, thank you.” I said to her.
“For what?” she asked.
“At the airport, you believed me then. I think that’s what’s important.” I explained.
“I’m the one who should be thanking you at the airport, if it weren’t for you, my sister and I would be gone now.” she said.
“…” I just smiled.
We just stayed in silence for a while and then she spoke.
“I should also be saying sorry.” she said.
“For what?” I asked.
“Asking a very stupid question.” she explained.
“What question?” I asked with a straight face and eyebrows raised.
“Earlier, I asked you if you thou-” she tried to speak.
“Can’t remember that.” I cut her off.
“What?” she got confused again.
“Can’t remember what you said earlier.” I tried to pretend not to know.
“When I asked you if you thought of m-” she tried to explain.
“Nope! Still can’t remember.” I cut her off again waiting till she ‘gets’ it.
“…” she was silent for a while and looking at me in confusion.
I gave a grin and then she realized what I’m doing. She closed her eyes and when she opened it, it’s already starting to water. She’s about to start crying but I ruffled her hair wildly. Her hair now got tangled up and she glared at me. She removed the tie on her hair and it flowed once again on her shoulders. She’s smiling now though her eyes are still watery. I wiped the tears off her eyes with my jacket and I leaned myself to the wall. I patted the space next to me and she moved close while she placed her head on my shoulder. We just sat there in silence for a while.
“For the record though, I never said I didn’t think of you. I just didn’t send you an email because we haven’t had contact in years. I planned on stopping by your place even though I didn’t know if that’s still your address or you’d be there. I owed you a lot you know, I won’t trust in an email if you could reach this place. I also pondered that if you would be with your dad, everything will be fine.” I said as I looked at her.
“…” she was silent as she gives me a pensive look.
“Hey, why did we stop contacting each other after we graduated then? You remember right?” she asked as she tried to remember.
“Oh, I was busy moving my things to go to college since it’s far and I need to prepare everything. I figured that you would be busy as well though we sometimes kept in touch through social media.” I said.
“Right, it was a very busy time after graduating. However, I can’t remember why we stopped contacting each other.” she said.
“We still used to send a few short messages back then but I stopped when I saw a picture of you with someone else. I had to give some space, right?” I said as she looked down.
She finally remembered what happened back then. She met someone where she studies at while I focused on other things. Inevitably, time set us apart and that’s why we haven’t had contact in years. It’s not a unique story, it’s just one of the things that happens to people. We’re not even a couple back then, just bestfriends that met by chance.
“Lucky for me we met at the airport. We know that this thing is coming, we just don’t know the exact moment.” I said.
“And if I didn’t greet you, you would’ve left me there!” she exclaimed though she has a more lighthearted expression than earlier.
“Hahaha! Right, but it was before we saw the news with your pilot. I was really surprised that you recognized me, I was very different now from back then.” I explained.
“True, I feel bad for saying this, but if our pilot didn’t get attacked, we won’t be here now. Well, I will always remember those eyes of yours, or is it the way you look at people?” she said.
“What? My eyes? The way I look at people?” I asked.
“Hmm, well your eyes can’t grow muscle, don’t they? Just kidding, they look deep and sharp. And the way you look at people is different. When you looked at me at the airport, I felt like you analyzed everything that you see about me. It’s the same sensation back then when I introduced myself to you at the classroom back then.” she said.
“Hmm, it’s the first time someone said that to me. That sounds about right, I do that a lot to be honest.” I said.
She adjusts her position and now she’s laying her head in my lap while I play with her hair. I’m trying to braid the other side of her hair while she cracks her fingers.
“You know, there was two times I was wrong about you.” I said.
“Hmm?” she said.
“First time was when we were in school, I thought you were gonna be the same as everybody else.” I said.
“You’re welcome. What’s the second one then?” she asks.
“I never thought that you were gonna be this strong.” I said as she paused.
“No, you’re right about thinking that. But thank you for saying that I’m strong, that coming from you means a lot more than you think. I wouldn’t know what to do if it happened at the airport and you’re not there.” She said.
“I think you’ll manage though.” I said.
“Stop lying, I know when you do.” She said immediately.
“Okay, you got me there hahaha… How’d you know though? However, if you have your gun there, you’d have a chance.” I explained.
“Not gonna tell you why I know. If I have my gun there, I won’t need you there! I’d clear it all by myself and build my own empire!” she exclaimed sarcastically.
“Done!” I exclaimed.
“Huh?” she said.
I opened the camera on my phone and I showed her what I did with her hair. The left side of her hair now is braided up to the back while rest stayed the same. She smiled happily as she angles the camera to see every corner of her new look.
“Sky! This is cool! It looks really wicked!” she exclaimed as she sat up. She leans very close to me and she took a photo of us. I quickly covered her eyes when the photo was about to be taken much to her surprise. She glared at me and then we took several photos after. We stared at it for a while then she sat on top of my lap facing me.