The university town hall was packed with students and staff. Ang totoo ay nagplano kaming kumain sa labas, but we changed our minds at the last minute because there could be a high possibility of traffic at this hour, and we might end up eating drive-thru food instead of a proper meal. Sa huli, napagkasunduan naming kumain sa university town hall.
Together, we put our food tray on the table and sat on the chair.
"I heard that you had a great time at the party, Noe." Panimula ni Heidi.
"Just to be clear, nothing happened to us at the party. In fact, Vaughn wanted the both of you to join his party but you were unavailable, so I went alone." Noe explained herself.
Tumango ako bilang pagsang-ayon. Totoo naman.
"And?" Heidi pressed further.
"That's all."
"I heard someone get drunk and breakdancing in front of the guests," Heidi said with a full-blown smirk, flashing it towards Noe.
Napatigil ako sa pagnguya ng pagkain para lingunin si Noe. Pareho kaming natawa ni Heidi dahil sa biglang pagnguyngoy niya, minus the tears. Tiyak na napahiya na naman siya dahil sa sobrang kalasingan niya.
If Heidi and I just kept quiet and slept when drunk, Noe was the opposite. Si Noe ang tipo ng tao na kapag nalalasing ay nawawala sa katinuan. Naalala ko noong senior high school soiree namin muntik na siya mapaaway dahil nalasing siya at kumandong sa isang lalaki, na noon ay nasa gitna ng away ng kaniyang boyfriend. Akala ng bakla ay ipinagpalit siya ng kaniyang boyfriend kay Noe. Wala rin kaming ideya na tungkol sa pambababae ng guy ang pinag-aawayan ng mga bakla tapos si Noe biglang pumasok sa eksena. Mabuti na lang naresolba ang isyung iyon dahil dumating ang adviser namin at kinausap sila ng masinsinan.
"How did they react to your performance? Parehas pa namang kanan ang mga paa mo," I jested.
Binato niya ako ng isang pirasong fries na lalong nagpatawa sa amin ni Heidi.
"Totoo bang engage na 'yong dalawa?" Heidi inquired.
"Vaughn and his girlfriend?" singit ko sa usapan nila.
"That's true," Noe replied, showing little to no interest in the conversation. "That's mainly the reason why I decided to go to his place so that we could clear everything up."
"What about you two?"
"I and Vaughn don't have a thing. Our relationship is merely a dalliance, and we both admitted that everything we did was a mistake."
Iyon ang dahilan kung bakit tutol kami ni Heidi sa kanilang relasyon. It was absurd for them both to go out together when one of them is involved in a romantic relationship with someone else. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang totoong nararamdaman ni Noe. Maaaring may part sa kaniya na apektado rin siya.
"Imagine you are born into a wealthy family just to end up in an arranged marriage for the sake of business deals or politics." Heidi fussed while swirling the spaghetti on her fork.
"It shouldn't be surprising, though, given that both of their families are made up of businesspeople and live close to one another, as well as the fact that they are each other's parents' only offspring."
"That explains," I said thoughtfully at Noe's statement.
On a serious note, is arranged marriage still a thing in the Philippines? I thought it didn't exist in the country. Perhaps in the past, arranged marriages were common, but not anymore in this age. I was wrong, I see.
"'Di ako makapaniwalang inaamin mo sa'min na naging kabit ka." Heidi's face was one of amusement, but it straightened right after.
That had Noe's mouth hanging open, feigning offense. "I didn't know he had a girlfriend before we hooked up. He was very secretive to me."
BINABASA MO ANG
Love Persist
RomanceAs the summer heat left and the monsoon season began, a new academic year was in full swing. Para kay Heaven, na isang college student, this meant another year of burying herself in academic pursuits. Despite her energetic personality and carefree a...
