If Only I Could

Chapter 2

"It's been a while since you spent time with the environment, kaya kita dinala dito."

The park was almost empty. I took a quick glance at my watch and realized it was a 30-minute drive. He led me to a cottage where there was approximately 8 bottles of beer. We settled down on the bench and for a moment, silence reigned over the cottage as he was suddenly busy texting.

And I was like a lost sheep, unaware of what was going to happen.

A few seconds later, someone suddenly covered my eyes and I could clearly hear footsteps. "Surprise! Ay, tanga. Erwin alisin mo nga yang kamay mo!" 

As the hands which covered my eyes were removed, it took a few seconds before I could see clearly. And the serenity that was here at the park when we arrived was now nowhere to be found. My college friends were here, one was holding another case of drinks, one was busy putting food on the table and one was busy chasing the other around the park.

"Sup Dev, it's been what, 2 years since the last time we gathered like this. Happy birthday bro!" 

I looked at Erwin and gave him a smile. "Thank you for coming." 

"Grabe. Iba talaga pag English major. Tara na! Shot na!" 
"Cody magtigil ka, ikaw unang bumabagsak."

"Gago ka pa rin Efren. Baka ikaw."
"Tangina mo halika dito!"

I sighed. They're still as energetic as they used to be. I sat back on the bench and one of them joined me. 

"Did you charge your social battery?" He asked, making me pop out a small smile. "My social battery seems to always be full whenever we gather like this, so there's no need to charge." 

"How's work? Balita ko ikaw may highest rating among all secondary teachers?" His question caught me off guard. Not wanting to talk about it, I remained quiet and looked for my brother who was now nowhere to be found. "Where is he?" I accidentally asked out loud. "Si Kuya Kevin ba hinahanap mo? Check your phone Dev. Kanina pa umiilaw." Karl said to me. I did what he said and realized my brother did leave me a text message. 

8:55 pm

From: Kevin

Enjoy. Nasa mesa yung susi ng kotse mo. Happy Birthday again little bro. Kahit hindi ka na little haha

"Karl! Anong sinabi mo kay birthday boy? Ba't malungkot yan?" The loudest one among us was the one who called out Karl. He glared at him in return. "Bakit ako na naman?" Karl even asked him. "Ikaw katabi eh!" And that was enough to get Karl to leave my side and run after Fred who was still teasing him.

Karl and Frederick were the youngest ones among us. Erwin, Efren, Cody, Sef, Bobbie and me were the ones who were of the same age. But we all met during the acquaintance assembly during our firstyear in college. "KARL! CODY! PAG YUNG CAKE TALAGA MAHULOG KAYO IHUHULOG KO!"

"I see Bobbie still has the shortest temper." I commented, making Sef chuckle. "Alam mo naman yan, kakalma rin yan maya-maya." He replied. "24 ka na?" He asked, after seeing the candles on the cake. "Ay hindi Sef, 42 na yan si Devin. Mas mabilis pagtanda niya ganun." Erwin answered him sarcastically, earning a candle slap from the former. Chaos was still evident at the park that it made me sigh. I don't normally like these kinds of gatherings because I easily get tired, but since it's them, I could hold on for a bit longer than I used to.

After all, Erwin was right. It has been 2 years since we gathered like this. And the last time we gathered was because of Fred's 21st birthday. After that, we all lost time to gather because we all became adults. Some of us are even married already.