First day of college! Aattend daw kaming mga first year sa isang orientation program na gaganapin sa University Auditorium. Pagpunta naming dun madami-dami na ring mga tao sa loob. Iba’t-ibang klase ingay ang bumungad sa amin, mga tawanan, sigawan at marami pang iba, masyadong random ang paligid. Sa may bandang gitna ‘yung reserved na upuan para sa amin, ginuide kami ng isang usher papunta dun. Since wala pa naman akong kaclose, I decide to seat near the edge of the aisle. Second to the last to be exact. The emcee announced that the orientation will start in 15 minutes, and so I put my earphones on.
“This will gonna be a long boring talk.” I mumbled to myself. I am a type of person that will choose a series of novel than having a social life. I don’t appreciate events that involves a huge number of strangers. I scrolled my phone for a song that will doze me off. Suddenly…
“Miss.” Someone is calling for my attention. Lumingon ako. I face a boy of my age wearing a surprised expression.
“I-I-Is t-you heart taken?” *insert a moment of silence here* Then I finally recovered and realize what he truly meant. I composed myself and smiled at him.
“I guess you should be referring to this sit not my heart. No, this sit is not taken.” I said trying my best not to laugh. He retorted and blushed.
“S-sorry, mind if I sit here? Wala na kasing iba upuan eh.” Tumango nalang ako. *insert another moment of an awkward silence here*
“By the way, I’m Irvin. Literature major ka din siguro.” Inoffer nya ‘yung kamay nya for a friendly hand shake.
“I’m Aliz. Yeah, I guess magkaklase tayo.” I smiled. But then biglang parang tumigil ‘yung mundo nya. He suddenly stop moving and set his eyes on me.
“Irvin.” Wow, I think he is sort of a daydreamer.
“…kasi ‘yung kamay ko.” He snap back to reality .
“Ahh. Sorry. Hehe.” He muttered.
“It’s ok. You love to daydream, don’t you?” pabiro kong sabi. I find him really amusing. Natapos ang program at madami kaming napag-usapan. Napakadami din naming nalaman sa isa’t isa.
And that is where our friendship started. He is fun to be with at never kang maboboring. Naging super close kami to the extent na hindi na kami mapag-hiwalay.
Suddenly, it ended unexpectedly. Bigla nalang syang hindi pumasok. Hindi sya nagpaparamdam. So, I thought na he wants to be alone. Naghintay ako.
Days.
Weeks.
Months.
Pero wala na kong narinig tungkol at mula sa kanya. Para syang naglaho ng parang isang bula. I tried to text him many times but no response. Sinubukan kong tawagan sya but I found out that he’s number was no longer in services. I was so frustrated but little by little I accept the fact that he’s gone.
Four Years Later.
“Ate, san po ‘yung upuan ng mga BSPsychology?” tanong sa akin ng isang first year.
“Ah, yeah. This way po.” Sabi ko sa kanya.
This is my first time to be an usherette sa Freshmen Orientation Program.
“The program will start in 15 minutes. Everybody please take your seat.”
The emcee announced. Kaya naghanap na kami ng mga kasama ko ng mauupuan. I saw a girl na halatang nag-iisa lang at walang kasama. Few years ago, I remembered I was all alone on my first day, too. I smiled. Naupo na kami at pinili ko ‘yung seat na second to the last leaving the seat next to me unoccupied. That is when I realized that this was the exact spot where I sat four years ago. I put my earphones on while I was in the midst of a dejavu-like occurrence. Then I heard that someone has cleared a throat near me. Di ko nalang pinansin. I was about to close my eyes subsequently someone started to talk.
“I see that this seat is clearly not taken, but I want to ask you something else.” At first I thought that it was just a psycho-stranger but I realize that I know the owner of that voice. I turned to him to clarify what I suspected.
“Is your heart taken?” Those words made me realize everything. From the first day ‘til this moment. There is no doubt, I know my answer.
“Yes, my heart is taken and you took it away Irvin.”
--END—
