Seven Months

Chapter 2

The mass has ended and we went to our respective lines to avoid chaos. My eyes are glued to him, afraid of the thought that he'll disappear in this crowded covered court.

Violet, who is my best friend, walked towards me. She was looking at me suspiciously like she was reading my mind. "Kanina ka pa tingin ng tingin sa 4th year. Sino ba hinahanap mo?" She asks. "Ah wala." I replied, my cheeks burning. Tumingin ulit ako sa line nila and found him missing. I sigh heavily. 

"Hoy Violet! Alam mo ba tong si Kayle, ang landi landi sa mass kanina! Kung ice cream lang si Jamie, tunaw na yun kanina pa." Sermon ni Prisca habang kumakain ng isaw. 

"Kaya pala tingin ka ng tingin sa line nila kanina, bruha ka!" Sabi ni Violet sabay sapok sakin. "Teka sino ba yang Jamie na yan?!" She continued sabay subo ng nuggets.

"Yung maputi--"

Hindi na natuloy ni Prisca ang sinasabi niya dahil kagad sumabat si Violet.

"YUNG MUKHANG MONGGOLOID NA BANGKAY?!" Sigaw nito.

"Hoy hindi siya mukhang monggoloid no! Wag ka nga!" I whine while glaring at her.

I have to be honest. Dati ko pa nakikita si Jamie pero I was never attracted to him. And aaminin ko, I never found him attracting. Who the hell would be attracted to a guy who walks like a "siga" but has a really thin body?! Hindi ko siya binigyan ng kahit isang sadyang tingin sa mga past few years. I just see him kapag nadadaanan namin sila. Kaya nagtataka ako kasi bakit kung kailan graduating na siya eh doon ko pa siya napansin. Siguro, I judged him too easily before. Hindi kanggaya ng nangyari ngayon. I did not just see him. I looked at him. And I did not just look at him. I observed him.

After that day, I was excited to go to school. He accepted my FB request last September 22. Now, it was the 24th day of September and everything turned out normally. And by normal I mean, waiting for him during flag ceremony, staring at him the whole time, searching for him during recess, lunch and dismissal plus looking up to the 4th floor to see if he's there. Palagi kasi siyang nakadungaw sa balcony eh. 

Nothing much happened today, nahuli lang naman niya kaming magbabarkada na nakatingin sakanya. Yes, alam na ng buong barkada. Pinagsabi ata kagad ni Hal. Forever mentally rolling my eyes at him. We were sitting on a bench and then dinaanasn nila kami ng mga kasama niya. Napatingin siya sakin and caught me looking right into his eyes. A smirk formed on his lips. I don't know if I was hallucinating. If I was, it was so realistic.

Nung nalagpasan nila kami, agad naman akong tinukso ng mga kaibigan ko. 

After a long day, agad akong umuwi and opened my facebook account. I searched for his name and started scrolling down his timeline when I noticed a lot of birthday greetings. I looked at the right side of my monitor and there nakalagay ang "Today's Jamie Larvithug's birthday".

Biglang nagstop ang paligid ko at napatulala lang ako sa monitor. It's his birthday today! Hindi ko man lang siya nagreet kanina. I sigh heavily and was about to post a greeting when I thought na mamayang 11:59 PM ko nalang siya igigreet para pag binuksan niya ang FB niya, sakin ang una niyang makikita. Sakin siya unang magtatype ng "Thank you!" at copypaste na ang sa iba.

Mabilis akong naligo and that's when I thought na gawan siya ng letter. I decided to write him a letter and promised to myself that I would write one everyday. Isusulat ko lahat ng nangyayari sakin sa araw-araw na pagtingin ko sakanya and then I'll give the letters sa graduation niya.

Dear Jamie,

Enter a place where no one can see you reading this. Digest everything that is written in here slowly. Love hand-written letters. Class.  Yes, you are now receving one. Siguro sa panahon na binabasa mo to, nakagraduate ka na...

And who knows where my hand took me.

I look at the clock at malapit ng mag 11:59. I typed a "Happy Birthday! :)" sa timeline niya and posted it ng tumutok na ang orasan sa oras na inaasahan ko.

It was the first time I admired someone so much. I have never felt anything like this in my whole life. Seeing him today was like seeing him for the very first time. Hindi ako nagsasawa sakanya. And the effect that he gave me last first Friday mass, ganoon parin ang nararamdaman ko ngayon.

And then I thought how hard it is for me to be left here alone next school year.