From The Bottom of My Hypothalamus

Chapter 05

"I'm okay, Carrel."

"May okay bang umiiyak?" I wiped her tears.

She chuckled, "Kainis naman 'to." She bitterly smiled as she also wiped her own tears.

"People will run their mouths in the stupidest way possible. They want to destroy other people's lives, but they'd always end up destroying themselves." Saad ko.

"Naglilitanya ka na lang diyan bigla."

Napatawa ako.

"Wala lang," sumandal ako, "Na-realize ko lang."

"They talk big as if they know something. Anong klaseng satisfaction kaya ang nakukuha nila sa gano'n?"

Ate Zeph shook her head, "I know people who are rotten down to the core will hurt everyone except themselves... pero bakit ako? Anong... kasalanan ko?" Nangingiyak niyang tanong sa akin.

I felt my heart slowly break at her question.

Nasasaktan ako para kay Ate Zeph. Wala naman siyang kasalanan. Kilalang-kilala ko rin siya. Mabait siya at kahit kailan ay hindi naman niya kayang pag-isipan nang masama ang ibang tao... pero bakit ganito sila sa kaniya?

"Alam ko namang ampon lang ako..." She says, fidgeting her fingers. "And they'd never love me as genuine as they can dahil ampon nga lang ako..."

I rested my head on her shoulder, "Mahal kita, Ate Zephyrah. Kahit wala akong kapatid, kuntento na 'ko dahil nandiyan ka... so please be kind to yourself, Ate."

She gave me a pat on my head, "Thank you, Cara... I think you should go and rest now. May pasok ka pa bukas."

"Will you be fine here?" Tanong ko at umupo nang maayos.

She nodded as a reply.

"Usapin ko na lang din sila Ate Cha na dito muna sila sa salas. Sorry, Ate Zeph, may schoolworks pa kasi ako, eh." I gave her a small smile.

"It's okay, Cara. Thank you."

Pagkatapos ng moment namin ni Ate Zeph, pinuntahan ko ang iba ko pang Ate at sinabihan sila na samahan muna si Ate Zeph, habang ako ay umuwi na dahil marami pa akong schoolworks.

I almost stayed up all night, pero hindi na kinaya ng antok ko kaya't humiga na ako para matulog. Natapos ko na rin naman 'yung mga urgent talaga na ipapasa kaya pwede naman na siguro akong matulog.

The morning was warm and cozy.

Medyo inaantok pa nga ako kaya alam kong mukha siguro akong tanga na nakatitig sa kawalan sa loob ng classroom at naka-halumbaba pa.

I snapped back into reality when someone knocked on the door, it was the secretary of the Psychology Association, our professional organization.

"Good morning, Psych-1A! Kindly proceed to the auditorium located at the main building. Thank you so much!"

We all stood up from our seats. Some of my classmates started exiting the room, while I waited for Win who was busy tying her hair up into a bun.

"Ano meron?" Tanong niya.

"Malay ko rin." Natatawa kong sagot.

Naglakad na kami papunta ng auditorium, at umupo naman kami sa may bandang gitna. I saw Trina wave her hand at us, signaling that we should sit near the stage.

I shook my head dahil nahihiya ako, pero syempre, si Win, go na go 'yan.

"Tara na, arte mo! Hindi ko nga makita 'yung stage dito, oh!"

Of course, at the end, I was convinced to go further down and to sit near the stage. We sat on the vacant spots right next to Trina and Vax.

The host of the program then took the initiative to check if all sections were present. I just noticed that there were unusually large numbers of students that were coming in. Hindi naman gaano karami ang mga psychology students sa SLU pero bakit ang dami ngayon?