august

him

Iya and Triz can't stop whispering about something at the passenger seat since I picked them up from school. Kanina ko pa sila sinisilip sa rear view mirror dahil sa mga bulungan nila.

"What's the tea, sis?" Pabiro kong tanong habang pula ang ilaw ng traffic lights.

Ngumiti nang nakakaloko sa akin si Triz. "You know Zoe Estrella, right?"

"No, I don't. Siya ba pinag-uusapan niyo kanina pa? Someone important?" I said before shifting gears at nagpatuloy sa pagda-drive.

"Maybe not important to you but to someone we know."

Iya rolled her eyes then looked at Triz with a bored gaze. "Quit with the guessing game, Triz. Ang showbiz mo masyado." Triz just laughed at her.

Iya continued. "Zoe Estrella is Javi Maranello's girlfriend." So?

I now became familiar with the girl's name. She was popular, a campus crush but then went back to the US to continue her studies.

"And anong meron kung siya ang girlfriend ni Javi? He doesn't talk to us anymore, why bother talk about his relationship." I am now confused about their topic. May dapat bang pag-usapan sa relasyon nila?

Naghahanap ako ng parking spot habang patuloy na nagku-kuwento si Iya. "Well, they've been together since January pero last April, Zoe went back to the US for college. It's August now and hindi pa siya bumibisita dito since then. I don't think Javi can survive an LDR."

LDR, huh? Pero sino ba kami para humusga, we don't know him like that anymore dahil hindi na siya nakikisama sa grupo namin the moment he entered into a relationship. Kaya nga kahit pangalan ng girlfriend niya, hindi ako masyadong pamilyar.

We were childhood friends — Me, Iya, Triz, Francis, and Javi. Iya, Triz, and I are in our freshmen year in college, while Francis is in his 2nd year and Javi's in his 3rd year. We lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same schools, and our parents were high school friends. It was natural for us to be friends too. Pero he somehow changed when he pursued and dated that girl — he was then never present whenever we hang out, later on nalaman na lang namin in his social media accounts that he got into a relationship. We thought na he was really focused on getting that girl kaya hindi na inintindi ang barkada. We reached out to him on multiple occasions but never got a proper reply, so we kind of gave up and let him do his thing.

We just went on with our lives.

"We shouldn't mind their relationship. Hindi na natin ganoon kakilala si Javi, baka naman kaya niya ang LDR." I stepped out of the car, so did Iya and Triz

"Did any of you invite Francis? Baka magtampo 'yon." I asked the two girls in front of me. "I was in a hurry to pick you both up kaya nalimutan ko."

Lumingon si Triz sa akin. "I messaged him. May bike ride sila ng blockmates niya ngayong hapon, next time na lang daw."

"Buti pa si Francis, kahit may bagong pinagkakaabalahan, he never forgets to communicate with us. Unlike others" Nagpaparinig pa 'to si Iya, eh hindi naman siya maririnig ng pinaparinggan niya.

Speaking of... 'others'

"I actually talked to Javi before I went to school earlier..." Pauna kong sabi sa dalawa para hindi sila masyadong magulat.

Nilingon nila ako at sabay na hinila papalapit sa kanila.

Triz started to ask me. "What? Where? When? and WHY?" Typical Triz.

"Oh no, he didn't. Sa iyo talaga siya lumapit? Walang konsiderasyon ang kupal na iyon." Komento ni Iya.

"Kumalma nga kayong dalawa. I was driving palabas ng village at may aso akong muntik nang masagasaan. Turns out siya pala ang may-ari noon or I'm not sure kung kanya, siya may hawak eh." Kuwento ko habang naglalakad sa mall. We chose to spend some time at a nearby café and ordered our drinks.