Friends to Lovers to Strangers

Chapter One

Year 2017

It's fall season and I am on my way to the campus. First day ko ngayon at sobrang kinakabahan ako, wala pa akong friends or kakilala sa school na to. Sana lang, this is going to be a good school year for me. Nang makarating na ako sa campus, agad kong hinanap yung classroom ko. I got there early para atleast I have time to look and familiarize myself in the campus.

Nahanap ko na yung classroom ko and the class doesn't start in 15 minutes. A sighed of relief was let out at umupo muna ako sa lounge area malapit sa room. Biglang may tumabi saken na lalaki at tumingin lang ako sa kanya. Napansin kong he was looking at the same class as I am in, kaya naisip ko baka bago din siya sa campus at same class kami.

Time passes by slowly, at na bored na ko kakahintay. Buti na lang dumating na yung prof namen 5 minutes early bago mag start yung class. Hindi muna ako pumasok, I was waiting for the other students na pumasok. One by one pumasok sila nang room at sumunod na din ako, tables and chairs are first come/first serve; buti na lang may bakante pa sa bandang likod.

Dun ako umupo at tumabi ulit saken yung guy na nakatabi ko sa may lounge area. Ngumiti lang ako sa kanya awkwardly, we don't know each other yet at alam kong may 'introduce yourself' in every class dahil first day ngayon. Some of my classmates ay may mga kakilala na, which made me more nervous kase pano kung I won't be to make any friends today.

Nag start na yung klase and I was right 'introduce yourself' ang pinagawa samen nang prof namen. Other students groaned kase nga they already have friends, pero it was unacceptable kase di pa naman namen kilala yung isa't isa. It was the typical introduction kaya mejo mabilis ang ikot each table, I don't like public speaking kaya super kabado ako.

"Hi, my name is Iseah, I am 21 years old and one thing about me is that I like to travel" sabi ko habang nangi-nginig yung boses ko sa kaba. Sumunod naman saken yung lalakeng katabi ko, "hello, nice to meet you all. My name is Cedric Kent, you can call me Cedric, I am 21 years old and one thing about me is that I like computer games"

When everyone was done introducing themselves, nag start na mag lecture yung prof namen. She said she's going to take it easy on us ngayon kase it's the first of class. Kaya today, pinagawa lang kami nang mga small activities, still involves speaking in front of my classmates and in partners. It was an hour and a half class pero super slow nang time.

Di na kami nag pansinan nung Cedric na yun and I went to my next class, some of the students sa last class ay parang same class ulit kami. Di ko na nakita kung saan nag punta si Cedric. It was only 5 minutes bago mag start yung next class kaya we all rushed to the next room which is nasa pinaka dulo pa nang hallway.

Some of us made it on time, yung iba naman medyo na late nang konti. The prof understood since the vacant between the classes are very little. Biglang dumating si Cedric sa class "sorry I'm late, I had a hard time looking for the class."

"that's okay, you can sit down" sabi nang prof. He sat down kung san meron bakanteng upuan. Medyo malayo din saken. Napa-isip ako biglang kung magka parehas ba kami nang kurso na kinukuha.

Binigyan kami nang 15min break nang prof namen, I'm still thinking kung bibili ba ako ng coffee or should I just stay in class. Lumapit bigla saken si Cedric at nag tanong "punta ka bang cafeteria?" I just looked at him, didn't know what to say.

"Uhm, balak ko sana kaso parang tinatamad ako" sabi ko sa kanya half smiling. "Ahh ganun ba, pwede mo ko samahan?" Napaatas ako nang kilay sa tanong niya at sinungitan ko nang tingin. This is kind of awkward na he is asking me to go with him. Ayaw ko naman mag mukang snob at masungit "uh, sige tara" pumayag na lang akong sumama.

We went to the cafeteria to buy iced coffee, medyo mahaba yung pila nung bilihan nang kape and we only have 15 minutes to spear. "Maabutan kaya naten yung class naten?" Tanong ko getting anxious. "Don't worry, kaya yan malapit naman na eh" tumango lang ako. Hhmm, he smells like trouble.

Finally, we got in front of the line and ordered our coffee, "I'll pay for it na lang para di na hustle" sabi ni Cedric. Pumayag na lang ako kase baka malate kami sa klase namen. "sige, I'll just pay you back later." Sabi ko na lang.

After we got our drink, nag madali na kaming umakyat sa class namen. Ang tagal pa naman nang elevator. "Kung kailan nag mamadali ka tsaka naman ang bagal ng elevator" sabi ko "I know, ganyan naman lagi eh." Sabi ni Cedric at nag tawanan kami.

We got to our class just in time, and the prof started another lecture.

After our second class, vacant hours ko na; which means I don't have any classes and I can eat lunch. I reminded myself na tanungin si Cedric if same ba kami nang course na kinukuha at kung may classes pa siya after.

Nakalabas na kaming lahat sa room at hinanap ko kung nasan si Cedric "looking for me?" Sabi niya habang naka tayo sa bandang gilid nang room. "Yes, kase may itatanong sana ako" I honestly said. "Oh, ano yun?" Sagot niya naman, mukang na gulat on how straightforward I was.

"I was just curious kase, anong kurso kinukuha mo?" Agad kong tanong. "I'm in aviation, ikaw ba?" Balik niyang tanong saken. "Ahh, I see, sa tourism naman ako" Sagot ko. "Bat mo naman na tanong?" He asked again. "Kase, we had the same two classes, kaya I thought na same tayo nang kurso na kinukuha" I shyly smiled. "Aahhh" he also smiled.

"Oh siya sige, punta na kong cafeteria" sabi ko before it gets awkward. "Ikaw saan ka?" Tanong ko, "I have another class eh, mamaya pa vacant ko." He explained. "Ahh sige, una na ko then. Bye" we waved goodbye to each other and went on our separate ways.

He's not bad din pala, maybe he can be my friend while I'm in this school. He was the first one to approach me, muka naman siyang mabait.

And at that moment, di ko aakalain na mag babago yung buhay ko dahil sa kanya.