Beyond the Boundary | ?

19 | Maximum of Five

EVERYONE WAS listening to Mr. Aldemor discussing about the machineries used in the past and all the whatnot. Hindi naman talaga ako nakikinig sa kaniya, but I'm really preoccupied right now.

I bit my lower lip while slowly tapping my pen's tip on the desk. I was in deep thought that I didn't realize I was already pouting.

Seems like fate's on my side. Everything that's happening to me right now, I felt like it wanted me to really pursue my plan of going out of the boundary and find out the truth. From the door down to the boat we found at my late father's laboratory.

And speaking of the boat, wala pa kaming nasabihan ni Caesonia about do'n. We didn't have the time to do so. Pagkatapos kasi naming mahanap ang inflatable boat na 'yon, sa takot namin ay kaagad namin 'yong binalik sa box at saka kami lumabas ng lab. Sakto ring kakauwi lang ni Mama no'ng pagkalabas namin at nawala na rin sa isip namin ang tungkol sa inflatable boat dahil na-busy kami sa pakikipagkwentuhan kay Mama bago umuwi si Caesonia.

Pasimple akong napabaling ng tingin sa direksyon ni Caesonia na nakatitig lang sa harap at nakikinig sa discussion. She's acting normal. I mean, she's acting normally compared to me who's fidgeting here because of what we found out. Well, sa aming dalawa, ako naman itong kating-kati malaman ang nasa labas ng boundary.

Binaling ko ang paningin sa labas ng bintana bago napabuga ng hangin. I rested the right side of my face on top of my hand, while my elbow was placed on the table as a support. I stared at the ocean that was glistening because of the sun's rays.

It looked really real.

Nagkaroon kami ng short quiz about sa di-in-iscuss ni Mr. Aldemor bago natapos ang kaniyang klase sa amin. I wasn't sure if I my answers were correct since I didn't listen to his discussions. Nangopya na lang ako sa katabi ko pero hindi rin siya sure sa sagot niya.

The next peroid was our research. Kahit mabilisan ang pagpasa namin doon, malaki ang grades na nakuha namin. Si Yelena rin naman nag-edit at nag-ayos ng lahat, kaya thanks to her na rin.

"How did your father even had that boat there?" tanong ni Caes habang iniikot ang tinidor sa pasta.

Napahinto ako sa pagsipsip sa juice ko at saka napatingin sa kaniya. Nasa cafeteria kami ngayon dahil lunch break pa namin, and ang subject after nitong break ay vacant dahil may pinuntahan pa ang teacher namin.

"How should I know? Namatay na siya bago pa man ako ipinanganak." Dinampot ko ang kutsara kong may laman na pagkain at saka sinubo 'yon.

"Eh si Tita Cinzel? Hindi niya ba sinabi sa 'yo ang about do'n? Alam niya bang may laboratory ro'n?"

I sighed. "Maybe."

Nagsalubong ang mga kilay niya. She let go of the fork, leaned her back on the chair, crossed her arms over her chest and spoke, "Kung alam naman pala ni Tita, bakit hindi ka niya sinabihan?"

"She may be my mother, but I don't ask her questions like that. Alam kong may rason siya kung bakit hindi niya sinabi, and I respect her decision."

Napanguso siya at napakibit-balikat. "Ikaw bahala." Sumimsim siya sa kaniyang tubig bago nagsalita ulit, "Pero let's tell the others about the boat, ha."

Napatitig ako sa kaniya. Is this the same Caesonia who gets angry easily when I talk about the boundary and my plans about going beyond it? Oh, well, mas maganda ngang ganito siya ngayon. I don't know how to handle a Caesonia with anger issues.

I smiled. "Sure."

--

AS USUAL, after school, makikipagkita kami kina Reivohr, Zeig, at Aveyron pero this time, hindi na kami sa cafe magkikita. Nauna pa silang nag-uwian kesa sa amin kaya sinabihan namin silang hintayin kami ni Caes sa labas ng school namin.