One of the Boys 1 & 2 (Published by Pop Fiction)

Chapter One

Abberent

Present

Life's too short to be anything, but happy. Remember to always smile, Ags. 

Sincerely yours,

LYA

I sighed as I read the last note that he wrote for me before he left for Canada ages ago. Life is too short to live with pain and sadness so might as well enjoy every second of it. Besides, we'll never know when we're leaving. We'll never know when people will leave us.

Ang daling sabihin, mahirap gawin lalo na kung isa-isang nawawala ang mga dahilan kung bakit ka masaya. Sana kasi, madali na lang kumalimot ng tao; sana madali lang mag move on; sana may gamot o machine na pwedeng mag-alis ng certain person or memory para madali ang buhay. Para mas madali mag function.

Unfortunately, it's not like that. Ang daling tumawa at ngumiti, pero ang hirap maging masaya. Mas madali pa ngang mapasaya ang ibang tao kaysa pasiyahin sarili natin. Mas madali pang i-comfort ang ibang tao kaysa i-comfort sarili natin.

"Uy, Ags, ayaw mo talaga sumama? Saan na naman punta mo?" Abby asked, while fixing her things. Nasa dorm kami ngayon dahil wala kaming duty sa hospital. Inaaya nila akong mag beach, pero mas marami pa akong gustong gawin.

I tied my hair up in a bun and wore my volunteer shirt. "Church and volunteer." I have three roommates and they're Abby short for Abigail Pavia, Dyma (as in Die-ma) Young, but we call her Dy, and Zoe short for Zoella Damian.

Our campus has a lot of buildings including college buildings, doctor of medicine, college of law, and dorms for men and women. May hospital din and chapels. Hindi naman kami malayo sa Manila, but the environment's here really different.

There are many places to study. May mga coffee shops rin. Unlike Manila, konti lang ang dumadaang sasakyan dito at hindi sobrang init ng panahon. In fact, mahangin nga dahil sa mga puno at grass (na marami rin ang tumatambay, natutulog, at nag-aaral) at matataas na buildings.

And I must say I like it here. It's actually quite refreshing.

"We're leaving. Are you sure you don't want to come?" Zoe asked worriedly.

I chuckled. "I'll be fine."

Ever since nag start ang ang med school, sila na ang kasama ko sa dorm. Abby's two years younger than me. She says what she thinks. Member siya ng debate team noong highschool siya until college. Silang dalawa ni Zoe ang laging nagca-clash.

Dyma's a year older than me. She loves cooking, experimenting, and reading books. Hindi siya umaalis ng bahay nang walang dalang libro. No boyfriend since birth. Never been kissed, never been touched. Morena at malaki ang boobs kaya lagi siyang naka-malaking shirt.

Meanwhile, Zoe and I are of the same age. Stress-reliever niya ang mga lalaki. May isang beses nga, I caught her having sex with two strangers. She's a blogger, pero hindi na siya ganun ka-active, because of med school. She smokes and drinks, but I really don't mind.

At first, nanibago ako dahil hindi ako sanay na may kasamang mga babae. Nanibago rin naman daw sila sa akin dahil puro lalaki kasama ko and there are times that I act like one of them. I actually didn't realize I was acting and thinking like a guy until they told me.

But what I like most about them is that they never judged me. Minsan, sa sobrang stressed namin, nag-aaway away na kami, pero after a minute or an hour, mag-uusap na kami na parang walang nangyari.

-

"Agatha!" Sister Doms welcomed me with open arms.

Minsan lang ako magkaroon ng free time kaya sinulit ko na at nag dala ng mga libro para sa mga bata. Niloloko nga ni sister kasi pwede na raw akong mag tayo ng library sa dami ng na-donate ko.