Beginnings Beyond Comfort (Erudite Series #4)

Simula

Ang mga taong nasa paligid ko ay mga ambisyosa at ambisyoso, nakaaawa sila.

Naniniwala ako na ang payak na daan ang dapat tahakin ng isang tao. Saves you from a ton of embarrassing moments that others would probably never forget. Kapag simple lang ang buhay, madali lang din ito. Iyon ay dahil kapag sumobra ka o bumongga ang galaw mo sa mundo, gugulo ang lahat. Kapag masiyado kang maingay. Kapag masiyado kang mayabang. O kapag masiyadong kang tapat.

"You want to join us?" tanong ng block mate kong si Mario. "Where to?" I asked.

Nasasanay na akong mag-Ingles dahil sa kaniya at sa iba.

"We'll go to Malate, may bago raw na bilyaran do'n," umiling ako agad dahil ang layo no'n sa school and I didn't want to play billiards.

"Sure ka? Baka may pogi ro'n," wiggling his brows, he asked me again.

What is it with him and guys who were pogi? It sort of seemed like his calling in life was to pair everyone he met with guys who were pogi. It was obvious he didn't like girls, but I can't really say for sure he was gay. He never really admitted it as well...

Umiling ako muli at nilagay na ang notebook at ballpen ko sa bag. "I'll study at my dorm, kayo na lang."

"Sige, aral ng mabuti!" tumango ako at lumabas na ng room.

I was greeted by the sounds of car horns on the way to my dorm. One thing I hated about Manila was the pollution. It was everywhere.

Sa bawat lingon mo, may usok o mabahong pavement na puno ng dumi. Ang mga taong nagbebenta ng iba't ibang pagkain sa bangketa ay dumadagdag din sa polusyon. Hindi naman ako galit sa kanila mismo; nauunawaan ko namang do'n sila nabubuhay, 'yon ang nagpapakain sa kanila. Galit lang ako sa kinalalabasan ng ginagawa nila, 'yong dagdag nilang polusyon dahil sa usok ng niluluto nila o basura nila.

Kaunti na lang. Makaaalis din ako rito. Kaunti na lang at sa Diliman campus na ako. I could breathe fresh air every time I would go out of class.

When I got to my dorm, naligo agad ako at nagbihis ng shorts at shirt. I opened my laptop to listen to music while studying. I played my downloaded classical playlist. Offline na playlist 'to para hindi na ako mag-internet. The only type of sound I listened to when studying was classical ones, it pushed me to be focused. Plus, I once read a study about classical music making the brain function better.

I was a Development Studies major at UP Manila. First-year. And, planning to shift to Business Economics in my second year. Hindi kasi ako nakapasok sa program na gusto ko, pero nakapasok naman ako sa campus ng UPD. Pero hindi ko gusto 'yong mga natirang programs, kaya naman nagpasiya akong i-take na lang itong course ko ngayon na related sa dream program ko kahit papaano.

It was only Monday, but I knew better than to let a day pass without reading any material. Kaya naman binasa ko ang readings para sa isang subject. Tapos, nag-inat ako at tiningnan ang oras after a while. Four hours. I read and wrote notes for four hours.

Time to eat dinner.

I decided to buy food from Chowking since it was cheap. I went down from my room which was in the second floor. The night seemed to be darker than usual. Natakot ako na baka umulan bago pa ako makauwi. So, nagmadali ako sa paglalakad.

Arriving at the fast food place, I took out my wallet from my pocket and lined up. There were so many students here. Ang iba ay mula sa trabaho base sa corporate attires. It was a busy night for everyone. It was Monday, after all.

"Good evening, Ma'am, what can I get you?" the cashier woman asked when it was my turn to order. "I'll get the Chao Fan."

"Drink n'yo po?" I decided to pass on soft drinks tonight. "Ala carte," I simply said.