30 Days with Fina by JellOfAllTrades

Chapter 9

There was a group of naked women in front of me, all of them dancing to some unheard beat. I tried to stand up but then I realized there are silver cuffs on my wrists, tying me to the chair.

"Loving the show, Jellane?" I heard a familiar woman's voice echo around the room. I tried to look for the source but there was also an iron crown on my head, holding me in place.

I struggled to get out of the miserable chair and felt a shock spread from my back. I cried out in pain as I smelled burning hair.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." I heard another familiar woman's voice.

"What do you need from me?!" I shouted, struggling still.

"I want to see you suffer," The first voice said.

"The same way you made me suffer." The second voice said.

The girls in front of me stopped dancing and just then did I realized that they were no ordinary girls. They were all of the girls I ever hooked up with. Gods, they must be more than twenty by now. If I weren't tied to the freaking electric chair I would have felt proud of my achievement. twenty-plus girls?! I've been way too active for the past three years.

A girl came forward and I remembered her to be the last girl I played with. Ashley.

"Masaya ka pa atang makita kaming lahat." She said.

I tried to play it cool. "Sinong hindi sasaya?"

But that must have been a wrong answer because another shock erupted from my back. This time though, I bit my lip and stopped myself from crying out loud.

Another girl stepped forward and my heart skipped a beat. It was Mikaela, my first girl.

"What happened to you, Jellane?"

"Ikaw."

Another shock spread through my body and I almost thought that the sour taste in my mouth was blood. I faintly remember a high school physics lecture where our teacher put the wires attached to a battery to his tongue and told us electricity tasted sour. I never thought I'd come to the same conclusion, except the battery mustn't have hurt this much.

"Hindi na nakakatuwa 'to." I growled. "Pakawalan nyo na ako."

"Bakit ka namin pakakawalan?" Ashley spat.

"Kung gusto niyo maglaro, play fair."

Mikaela shook her head. "Hindi kami ang naglagay sayo jan, Jellane."

"Oh eh di sino pala?"

"Ikaw."

"Why the fuck would I do this to myself?" I snapped. "And how on earth would I be able to do this?" I struggled on my shackles but it only cut on my wrists.

The girls started to leave and only Mikaela stayed behind, looking at me with those pitying brown eyes.

She opened her mouth, "Jellane!" She called out but her voice was different. It was somewhat distant and masculine. I frowned.

"Jellane!" She shouted again in that masculine voice and this time I heard a loud constant banging.

My eyes flew open to the darkness of my room. Gasping for breath and drenching in cold sweat, I threw the duvet off of me.

"Jellane!" Someone banged on my door. "Pag di ka pa bumangon iiwan ka na namin!"

"Gising na ako!" I shouted back.

The banging on the door stopped and I knew Kuya Ken has left me for now.

It was only dawn and the sun hasn't risen up yet. I opened the lights in the room and looked at myself in the mirror.

"What the fuck was that dream?" I muttered to my messed up reflection. My dark hair is damp with sweat and is sticking to the back of my neck. I pulled it into a ponytail to feel better.

I wondered why I would even dare to put myself on an electric chair. The physical possibility of tying myself with those ironclad shackles is close to never.

I just shook my head and went to the bathroom to get ready before going down for breakfast. Aside from me, my cousins, and the helpers, everybody else is still asleep, but it didn't stop Gerald and Kier from not keeping their voices down. They were practically screaming orders at everybody.

"Kalma nga kayo pwede?!" Kuya Ken shouted as almost everybody is running around getting their stuff ready last minute.

"Time check?" Mary asked as she stuffed her clothes in a bag.

I checked my phone for the time. "4:58 AM. Kalma kayo guys, isang oras pa oh.."

"Kalma daw, ikaw nga nanginginig jan eh." Rence pointed out. I looked at my hands and found that I'm playing with the phone again, the shaking quite obvious.

I slid my hands on my pants pockets. "Naeexcite ako."

Rence threw his bag to Kuya Ken who's starting to load some of our stuff in the back of the van. "Ano, makakapunta ba yung GF mo?"

"Gago, di ko yun GF. Friends lang kami." I threw my bag at him.

"Pengeng tinapay!" Kier reached out for the dining table.

Mary who was standing close to the bread got one and threw it to Kier who barely caught it.

"Hoy, pagkain yan! Wag niyong paglaruan!" Rence scolded.

"Che!" Kier spat, his cheeks bulging with bread.

"Kadiri ka," I muttered, grabbing myself a pandesal.

"Mas kadiri ka," Kier said, hearing me, bits of bread flying from his mouth. Kuya Ken approached our youngest sibling and hit him on the back of the head.

"Sinabihan ka na namin na wag magsasalita pag may pagkain ka sa bibig eh!" Kuya Ken scolded. "Tangna, kadiri ka."

I ignored their bickering and went outside for a minute. Checking my wristwatch it only said 5:14 AM. I still have 46 minutes to wait if Fina will come.

The sun is starting to rise now and the sky that is as dark as midnight earlier is now turning to a light shade of violet. The atmosphere is crispy cold and I wondered if Fina was allowed to come with us. After a few minutes, I saw a group of girls carrying bags walk towards my direction.

I called Mary from inside the house. "Oy Mary! Yung friends mo andito na."

When I turned my attention back outside, the group of girls is already beside the van, looking expectantly at me. I just smiled at them, unsure of how to entertain them. Mary came bounding past me to greet her friends so I went back inside to maybe grab some coffee.

"Wala pa ba siya?" Rence asked me.

I noticed that the boys have finally settled down now. All four of them are sitting around the table and are eating.

"Wala pa," I sat beside Rence, grabbing a mug from the center of the table and filling it with coffee.

"Darating ba yun?" Kuya Ken asked from opposite me.

"Darating yun." I said.

"Sino ba yun?" Kier asked. "Di mo pa binabanggit samin yung pangalan nya."

"Fina." I answered, taking a sip of the black coffee.

"Fina--?" Rence pushed. "Walang apelyido?"

"Fina Romulo."

"Si ate Fina?!" Gerald seemed to wake up from his reverie.

"Bakit, kilala mo?" I asked, quite surprised.

"Naman, naging student council president yun sa St. Peter dati eh," Gerald explained. "Pano mo siya nakilala eh hindi ko na nga nakikita yun dito?"

"Sa dagat. Remember when I walked out of the karaoke bar? Andun siya sa letter C."

"Tapos sa playground meeting place niyo? Sa tabing dagat parin?!" Kier teased, laughing. "Ano, pinopormahan mo na siya noh?"

"Hoy, hindi ah!" I rejected. "Good girl 'to!"

"Siguraduhin mo lang," Kuya Ken said, making a gesture that means he'll keep an eye on me. I just rolled my eyes at him.

When 5:45 came, we started to do a final check on our things in the van. I looked around consciously looking for Fina.

"Hoy, Jellane, kapag wala pa yang si Fina ng 6 o'clock aalis na tayo." Kuya Ken said to me. "Mahaba pa ang biyahe papuntang CamSur."

While they waited inside the van, introducing and talking to each other, I paced back and forth in front of the van. I felt nervous that Fina hasn't shown up yet. What if her parents didn't allow her to come with us? We'll leave the place without her! And I don't think I would enjoy the day knowing she didn't come.

"Ate Jell, 5:55 na!" Mary shouted from inside the van. I only gave her a slight nod.

I checked my cellphone and mentally slapped myself for never thinking of asking Fina for her number. How am I supposed to contact her now?!

Kuya Ken started the van's engine and I started to panic.

"Hoy! Mamaya pa! Wala pa si Fina!" I complained.

"Relax, pinapainit ko lang yung makina. May tatlong minuto ka pa eh." Kuya Ken smirked.

I frantically looked around, hoping to see a sign of Fina down the road but found none. The clock is ticking and my heart is pounding. Where is she?!

A couple of minutes passed and there's still no sign of Fina.

"Sumakay ka na. Di na darating yun." Kuya Ken called.

I looked at my wristwatch and saw that it's exactly 6 o'clock now. Shaking my head in disappointment, I got in the van.

Just as we were about to leave, I saw a flash of white in the side mirror. Surprised at first, I checked it again and saw that there's a girl wearing a white t-shirt hurrying towards us, waving her arms.

"TEKA! SAGLIT!" I shouted.

"Ano?!" Kuya Ken irritatedly looked at me.

"Anjan na siya!" I pulled the van door open and got out. "FINA!"

"JELL!" She shouted, slowing down into a jog.

I didn't know what came over me, relief to see her or just happy that she's here? Anyways, I ran up to meet her and pulled her into a hug.

She seemed surprised by my actions but hugged me back after a few seconds.

"Akala ko di ka na darating." I whispered.

"Napasimba kita kahit hindi ka naman talaga nagsisimba, papayag ba akong tanggihan ka?" She replied, pulling away from me. "Tuturuan mo akong mag-wakeboard ha? Nagpromise ka."

I smiled and took her bag. "Yun lang pala eh. Tara na."