01 | Ikaw Ang Aking Musika

Kabanata 21.

Tagaytay

Ace was more beautiful than Tagaytay. He was more fantastic and ethereal than the place. He was drop dead gorgeous.

Kulang pa ang mga salita para mailarawan siya.

Hours before Tagaytay, we were still sleepy. Pareho pa kaming mumukat-mukat nang marinig ang alarm, pero parehong walang choice kundi tumayo. We set a rock song as an alarm for us to effectively wake up. Madaling araw palang, gising na kami sa ingay ng tugtog.

Wala naman kaming karapatan magreklamo dahil kami mismo ang pumili no'n. And it was really effective. Nagising agad kami sa lakas na gigimbal na yata sa buong bahay.

We probably finished preparing 30 minutes after waking up. Naihanda na namin ang lahat bago pa kami makababa. Of course, our trip isn't complete without our jackets.

Wala yatang umalis ng walang dalang jacket o coat man lang. Takot kami ng manigas pareho sa lamig.

Cruel Summer— now playing

Tagaytay was just 30 mins drive from their rest house. Mabilis lang dahil may shortcut papunta ro'n. 'Ni hindi ko nga alam at sa tagal ko na ring nabubuhay, I don't even know this place where we can drive down to meet Tagaytay in front of our eyes.

Hindi ko rin naman masisi ang sarili dahil hindi naman ako umaalis ng San Francisco nung bata ako. I grew up there and I rarely leave the place. I can tell that now. At hindi rin naman kasi ako papayagan.

Growing up, mom and tita were really protective of me. Wala rin naman kasi akong kapatid o pinsan from their side kaya wala silang ibang inaasikaso maliban sa akin. Tita has no child, she didn't choose to have one, instead, inuna niya muna ang sarili kaysa sa pagpapakasal o pag-aasawa. Kaya ako lang ang inaalagaan niya noon.

Pero ngayon, I was able to handle myself na. Nakakamiss nga lang sila.

Ace and I played a song from the stereo so that we won't get sleepy throughout the ride. Kahit may antok pa ring nararamdaman, we managed to sing and vibe to some songs from his playlist. That helped us a lot since we're still both lacking sleep.

"I can't believe you memorized that! Swiftie ka rin ba?" I exclaimed after we finished singing Cruel Summer.

"Always," He laughed.

Actually, napansin ko rin nung nakaraan na palagi niyang hinuhum yung isa sa kanta ni Taylor Swift. I noticed that he really loves singing Back to December.

Especially that one part. And I loved that too.

"Ikaw, what's your favorite song?" He asked.

Nag-isip naman ako. These days, I really like listening to that one song na hindi talaga mawala-wala sa isip ko na tipong nasaulo ko na dahil paulit-ulit kong pinakikinggan. Mabuti nga't hindi naririndi si Ace sa akin.