Behind These Walls

(1) Meet Dennise

Silence.

Dennise found heaven in a place called the "Coffee Library". The name of the place speaks for itself, coffee and library. It doesn't have a very big area but there are different "booths" inside divided by book shelves. Parating tumatambay dito si Dennise kapag weekend dahil dito siya nakakapagrelax.

The booth is shaped like a coffee cup, with brown leather seats and a small round table at the middle. Each booth can have 4 people sitting inside. Coffee is ordered by pressing the buttons on the side of the booth. A waitress will come and serve it to you. Sosyal diba. Pero ginawa nila yun para hindi maingay kung may counter pa kung saan oorder and mga tao.

Nang makitang walang nakaupo sa "spot" niya ay iniwan niya ang bag niya sa booth tsaka humarap sa mga shelf. You can walk around the area to look for a book you'd like to read. It's like a silent rule to get one at a time, but if you really need more than one then it's okay. Dennise would always get two at first and read one chapter each to weigh which would seem more interesting, then returns the less interesting one to the shelf nearest to her booth. Hindi naman kasi arranged yung mga libro kaya kahit saan pwede ilagay. Para na din daw yun maging random ang babasahin ng mga "regulars" ng cafe.

Not a lot of people come to this cafe since the era of e-books. Not that Dennise didn't like this at all since there are less people to share the space with, but she believes that the place is so great and many people should come and visit. Malapit din naman ito sa school nila, pero bihira lang ang nakikita niyang schoolmates dito.

Nang makapili ng librong babasahin ay bumalik na siya sa booth niya at umorder na ng kape. Ilang sandali lang ay dumating ang may-ari ng shop.

"Sabi ko na nga ba ikaw yan eh Dennise."

Nakita naman ni Dennise si Fille, friend niya. Galing din si Fille sa university kung saan nag-aaral si Dennise pero graduate na siya. Nagkakilala sila sa isang science competition noon kung saan kasali silang dalawa. Dennise loves science and is taking up BS Biology. She doesn't know yet if she will pursue taking up Medicine.

"Uy Fille kamusta?"

"Eto mahina pa din ang cafe pero kinakaya naman."

Madami pa din namang pumupunta dito sa cafe nila at dahil pagmamay-ari naman nila Fille ang building eh hindi siya namomroblema sa renta. The cafe buys books twice a month, and that is where mostly the earnings go to. Pero kung magpapatuloy ang mahinang benta, baka maging once a month na lang. Natatakot naman si fille dahil baka lalo lang kumonti ang tao sa cafe kung sakali.

"Sorry to hear that. I'll try to bring Bea here na rin minsan."

"Thanks Dennise. Pero we both know naman na hindi mo yun mapapasama dito."

Bea is Dennise's girlfriend. They've been together for 8 months now pero never pang sumama si Bea sa cafe.

"Sabagay. Ayaw nun sa tahimik eh."

"Well she should at least try for you diba?"

Ayaw ng mga kaibigan ni Dennise kay Bea. First of all, they don't even know why Bea liked Dennise. Not that Dennise wasn't likeable, but their personality just doesn't match. Bea loves to party. She can't stay still longer than 5 minutes. She is outgoing, extremely friendly, and very confident. Hindi rin pwede sa kanya ang sobrang tahimik, gusto niya at least may music kung walang nag-uusap.

Dennise loves silence. She loves music too, pero yung mga mellow lang. She spends most of her free time reading books. Mahiyain din siya. Kung iisipin opposite sila ni Bea. Nagulat na lang ang lahat sa araw na nagsimulang manligaw si Bea kay Dennise. Nagkakilala sila sa tutorial session kung saan kinailangang turuan ni Dennise si Bea ng Math dahil bagsak ito. Kailangan ni Bea makapasa para makapagpatuloy ng paglalaro dahil varsity ito sa volleyball.