Faded (COMPLETED)

D

October 15, Sunday

The familiar sound of motor engine roared coming from outside the church.

Naramdaman niya ang mga titig ng mga kagrupo niya sa activity ng church.

"Ano?" Inangat niya ang ulo at nakita ang nanunuksong tingin ng mga ito.

Hindi niya alam kung mga bulag ito para hindi maintindihan na wala na sila.

Wait. Wala naman talaga 'sila'.
Ngumisi lang siya saka kinuha ang foil na materials ng activity.

"Balita ko may gf na raw siya," biglang bulong ni Geoffrey, ang churchmate na nakaupo sa upuang nasa harap niya.

Ang kaniyang ambang paggupit ay nahinto.

I thought hindi siya pinapayagang mag-girlfriend?

Namagitan ang katahimikan sa grupo nila. Nang mapagtanto niya ito ay umakto siyang walang pakealam. She didn't care. She didn't wanna care anymore.

Yumuko siya upang lihim na ikurap-ikurap ang namumuong luha sa kaniyang mga mata.

•••

November 7, Tuesday

"Bullshit!" Malakas na sigaw ni Xylie sa kaniyang cellphone.

Nanginginig siyang nag-type sa keyboard nito.

Nagtsa-chat sila ng isang kaibigan niyang si Noel ng sabihin nitong huli na hindi siya ang may hawak ng account niya for the previous 30 minutes.

Noel Javier:
Si Drei nga ang nakausap mo kanina.

Xylie Gomez:
Hindi ako nakikipaglaro, Noel.

Xylie Gomez:
😒

Imposible. After many weeks, ngayon lang siya magpaparamdam? What about his girlfriend?

Last time she heard, he was rebelling against his father. He was grounded. Did he really love the girl too much that he had guts to go against his father?

She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Well, why would she care? Tapos na ang kung anong meron sa kanila.

Pero ang tanginang utak niya, pilit niri-replay ang lahat ng masayang sandali. May patibok-tibok ng mabilis din ang puso niya. Fuck these uncontrollable human organs.

All in all, he never asked the question. So what they had was just in the past.

Past is past. Never discuss.

Noel Javier:
Bahala ka. Tinanong niya kanina kung sino ang ka-chat ko. Sabi ko ikaw. Tapos sabi niya pwede bang siya daw ang mag-chat sayo. Ayieee! Kinikilig ka no?

Dug. Dug. Dug. Ang bilis ng tibok ng puso niya. Calm down, heart. Calm the fuck down.

Noel Javier:
Asus. Basta nagsasabi ako ng totoo. Geh. Alis nako.

At nakita niyang nawala ang green dot sa tabi ng pangalan nito.

Huminga siya ng malalim at nanginginig ang sariling ni-scroll up upang balikan ang usapan nila ni 'Noel' for the last 30 minutes.
Kaya pala parang ang weird ng mga salita nito kanina.  Noel wouldn't really ask something like how she was doing in a middle of their conversation.  It would sound too polite of him.

Noel Javier:
Musta ka na?

Xylie Gomez:
Maganda pa rin.

Noel Javier:
Kailan ka naging maganda?

Xylie Gomez:
Aba! Bastos to ah. Mas matanda ako sayo kaya gumalang ka.

Noel Javier:
Maganda ka po Ate Xylie. Okay na?

Xylie Gomez:
Okay pa sa alright? 😘

And so on...

Napahilamos siya ng mukha.

Shit! Ano ba, Xy? You're moving on na diba?

She exited her conversation with Noel's account and entered Aldrei's name on the search bar.

As expected, hindi niya ito makita. He still had her on his blocked list.

Xylie knew that he actually had a Twitter account. Pero wala siyang lakas na loob na i-message doon.

Xylie loved herself enough not to chase for someone who didn't want to appreciate her. And just like that, her first love ended.

She never saw him again. Days after, she heard that he lived in a boarding house near his school which was a town away from their own.

They said, distance made hearts grow fonder. But it didn't mean that they wouldn't get tired.

And they would not forget. Because love was everywhere. She might meet another love. But for now, she would savor it and let it fade though time.

A/N: Tadaaaaa! Tapos na ang Faded, just like that. This is real life. May mga relationships (in a sense where people connected) na basta-basta lang natatapos. Walang paalam. Ghinost. Ginawa kang trial card. Sakit, pre. Anyway, thank you for reading. Sa mga may ganitong experience, okies lang 'yan, beh, hindi dito nagtatapos ang buhay. May darating na para sa 'yo talaga. Hopefully. 🤞🤞🤞