T H O M A R A
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Inaamin ko, at the age of 19, nakatatlong girlfriends na ako, but still the image of me being a 'pakipot' doesn't change. Yung tatlong exes ko, lahat sila ang nanligaw sa akin and not me. Na kung hindi pa sila ang unang mangliligaw sa akin, siguro wala pa rin akong nagiging girlfriend ni isa hanggang ngayon. Kaya nga instead of 'chickboy' image, naging 'Mr. Pakipot' tuloy ako.
I'm a working student. I really need to work to support my studies. Ulila na kasi ako, my parents and my younger brother died on a plane crash when I was only 10 years old. Galing kasi sila sa Iloilo that time, province namin, then ako naman naiwan sa Manila because of school activities. Kaya ngayon nakikitira na lang ako sa bahay ng Tita ko. But then, sultera ang tita ko and she got sick last year, Tuberculosis to be exact, she can't afford to send me to school already because of her condition kaya eto, I have to work. Wala naman na kaming ibang relatives dito, they are either on States or sa Iloilo kaya si Tita Rita na lang ang parang nag-iisang kapamilya ko. Pwede na bang pang MMK yung story ko? Joke!
I'm already on my 3rd year in college. End of first sem last school year when we broke up nung third girlfriend ko. Paano kasi, we always don't have time for each other, kaya we both decided na dapat na muna kaming maghiwalay.
First sem really ended so fast, it's already second sem! One and half year to go at gra-graduate na ako. It's only a week that passed since our second sem has started when I met a girl at the university, her name is Ara. We accidentally met. Nagmamadali akong naglalakad sa corridor when she saw my pen fall from my binder notebook then she picked it and handed it to me. Kinuha ko naman agad iyon then I thanked her. I asked her name that time and gave mine too. Torres' moves everybody! Starting that day, I know to myself that my life would change.
"Am I inlove again?" That's the question I kept on asking myself. After nung pagkahulog ng ballpen ko, weeks pa bago muli kaming magkita ni Ara. Maybe because we have different schedules and weren't on the same course. She's a 2nd year BS Biology student while me, I'm taking up BS Business Administration. Pero even though we rarely see each other, she always crosses my mind. Never a day had passed that I didn't think of her. I always look for her at the university, but I never saw her, no signs of Ara to be found. Pero yung sinasabi kong parang may mababago sa buhay ko, siya na pala yun. I think, I have a crush on her already. Then that crush turned into a big admiration. And that big admiration became love. I felt, I already love Ara!
Pero kapag ligawan na ang usapan, alam niyo naman na di ba? Natotorpe ako! "Hindi ko siya liligawan." That's what I thought that time. Then I remembered how my three exes became my girlfriend. They are the ones who courted me!
"Ano ka ba talaga, paps?" I remembered Kib, one of my bestfriends, asked me then when I had my first girlfriend. "Torpe ka ba? Manhid? Playing around lang? Ano ba talaga? Hindi ka naman siguro bading di ba?
"Shut up! I'm not gay. It's just that, hindi ko lang talaga alam what's on me!" tatanga-tanga kong sagot.
