GAME OF CHARADES

I locked the door and turned my phone off. Ilang beses pa akong tinawagan ni Red sa cellphone matapos
ang halos isang oras niyang pagkatok sa pinto. It was Elle who made him stop from banging my door
down, and buti na lang talaga at nakinig siya.

I bursted out. Fortunately, hindi iyon tuluyan nangyari sa harapan mismo ni Red. At least, at some point,
there was a wall dividing us kasi kung hindi ay baka mas makalat pang emosyon ang nangyari. Hindi ko
maisip kung bakit ang makita silang ganoon ni Reka ay may kung anong dulot sa sistema ko.

Maybe… maybe because finally everything is slowly getting clearer… and clearer… and clearer. And
regardless how much effort I excert, parang mas mahirap lang lalo ang nangyayari sa sitwasyon.

Hindi na bale at ayos lang. At least, no matter how strong this feeling this feeling is, I value our
friendship over anything else.

Pinindot ko ang down button sa gilid ng elevator. A few second have passed, finally, the lift came
through. Iyon nga lang at mabilis pa sa alas-cinco ang pagtalikod at paglakad ko palayo sa elevator
matapos bumukas niyon.

“Valkyrae!” Red called my name.

Hindi ko pinansin iyon at dahdan-dahan dahan akong naglakad palayo. I then saw Elle at the end of the
hallway, glancing at my back, trying to get a sight of whoever’s calling my name. Dahil sa ilang araw na
pagiwas ko kay Red ay napapansin niya na, huminga ako nang malalim.

“Val!” Red called my name again.

This time napansin ko na ang katawan niyang nakasiwang sa pintuan nito habang ang kamay ay
pinipigilan ang pagsara. He was staring, as though waiting for me to ride the elevator with him… so I did.

“I know you need the elevator. Use it”

“12th floor, please” ani ko na lang dahil malapit siya sa pindutan.

Redford sighed. Lumayo na lang ako ng konti lalo at mas tumahimik para hindi niya na ako kausapin pa.

The sound of elevator whirs enveloped the lift. Hinayaan kong abalahin na lamang ang sarili sa
panunuod ng swelas na pinaguumpos sa dulo ng sapatos. The lift was still several floors far from the 12 th
when I heard Red mumble something.

“Have you… have you had enough space yet?”

“Huh?”

“The last time we talked… you said you needed space so…” he exhaled sharply “ I was wondering if you
had enough space you needed. Have you?”

Napakagat na lamang ako sa pangibabang labi matapos maalalang muli ang nangyari noong gabing iyon.
I didn’t answer him and just let the silence enveloped us hanggang sa makababa ako sa hindi tamang
palapag.
It was one of the several stunts I pulled just to avoid Red. Although there were times where we needed
to sit on the same table with him, pinipilit kong makipagpalit ng upuan kila Maree, huwag lang kaming
magkalapit ni Red muli.

Unfortunately, itong huli na lang yata ang hindi ako nagtagumpay dahil nasa iisang pwesto kami ng mesa
nakaupo para sa naturang laban namin.

“You know what, Valkyrae, If only I had known that Archer and you are just colleagues, iisipin ko
talagang magboyfriend kayo” biglang sabi ni Maree, ilang minuto bago kami sumalang.

“At bakit mo naman nasabi ‘yan, Maree?” sarkastikong tanong naman ni Elle na abala sa pagaayos ng
saya na suot namin.

Napakunot ang noo ko nang marinig ang paguusap nilang iyon tungkol sa amin ni Archer. It was purely
nonsense dahil alam kong walang ibang ibig sabihin ang ginawa ni Archer para sa akin at sa competition
naming na ito.

They’ve been bickering over the Goodluck photo that Archer has posted on his story for me. Larawan ko
iyon na kinunan niya pala habang kumakain ako ng pancake na ibinigay niya sa akin noong misa.

“Huy, Elle! May spark kaya sa kanilang dalawa, di mo ba pansin?”

“Ang alin ba kasi? Anong spark spark?”

Napailing na lang ako at natawa, lalo na nang magumpisa silang guluhin ang iba pa naming kagrupo. But
unfortunately, everything went down when we all heard a sudden furious lob in one of the seats.

Padarag na inatras ni Red ang upuan niya bago maglakad papalyo sa amin.

I glanced at Elle & Maree who’s unaware of what just happened. Nagkibit balikat na lang ako sa kanila
nang iginiya ni Maree sa akin ang dinaanan ni Red papalabas.

“Red!” I called him whilst running pero hindi siya lumingon.

Buti na lamang at nang makaabot sa kabilang dulo ng pasilyo ay tumigil siya. “5 minutes na lang tayo na
ang sasalang”

“Is Archer and you together already?”

“What?!” halos sumabog ang dibdib ko sa gulat ng tugon niya “No! Bakit mo naman naisip yan?”

“Was he the reason why you’re avoiding me, Val?”

“That not because of that okay!”

“Then what?!” He scoffed. Tinitigan niya ako nang diretso sa mata, hinihintay akong ituloy iyong sinabi.
Pero… hindi ko magawa.

Hindi ko maamin. Although, there was a small part of me that wants to scream the thoughts against his
face, in hopes of making all this done, pero nagsalita na siya.
“You know what, Val, I get it” huminga siya nang malalim at tinitigan ako sa mata “I get that sometimes
people drift apart okay? But I don’t want that to happen to us so please… tell me at least what I did
wrong”

Yumuko ako at kinagat na lamang ang pang-ibabang labi upang hindi niya marinig ang hikbing
nagkukumawala.

Red exhaled sharply. He stared at me for several seconds before leaving me alone in the noiseless aisle
of that place. Inalo ko ang sarili mula sa pagiyak at pilit inaalala ang huling salitang sinabi niya bago ako
tuluyang talikuran at iwanan.

“It’s like I’m playing charades with you. And no matter what I do, you ain’t giving me no clue to solve
whatever’s in your head. I am your bestfriend, Val. So, if ever I did you wrong or something, fvcking call
me out. Hindi yung ganitong, nangangapa ako sa kung anong dapat kong gawin makausap ka lang”