Mason was just listening to Ethan's story while waiting for Cameron and Louise. The place where they came was Louise's cousin's coffee shop. The place was cozy. Halos tambayan ng mga estudyante dahil na rin sa mga party games na available sa lugar. He's still amazed how the place would always just smell like coffee and vanilla combined. Nakakagutom.
Anton suddenly just stood up and frowning said there had been an emergency at her home. She bade goodbye to the boys first at saka pumunta sa mga babae. Mason and Ethan speculated for a bit, hindi namalayang napunta na sports at Valorant yung usapan.
"Sama ka mamaya, nag-aya kasi si Prox." His friend was asking him to play Valorant with him. Agad naman syang pumayag. Ethan is a Valorant pro player. Ito lang talaga usually ang bukambibig nito sa kanilang magbabarkda. Dahil na rin siguro sa kanilang mga lalaking magbabarkada ay ito lang ang nasa ABM strand. They started hanging out in JHS though, it was Anton who introduced the then lanky twig looking guy in grade 7. Ngayon ay normal na ang katawan, sobrang tangkad nito, mas matangkad sa kanya. Madalas niya ngang ayain sumali sa basketball team pero mukhang sa online games lang interesado ang tropa.
Napatawa siya ng maalala ang sinabi ni Cameron: "I don't know, the ones that really catch my eyes are the tall ones." She'd always say that, pag napapag-usapan kung anong mga ideal types nito. It was shallow but he guessed she really meant it, since now, she's actively seeing Ethan.
He wasn't entirely unaware of Ethan's admiration for his best friend. Ang unang-unang sinabi kasi nito nang makita si Cameron ay tanungin kung may boyfriend ang kaibigan. But he never really was forward about it, kaya hindi naman nya ito pinagtuonan ng pansin. Akala nya'y wala na talaga itong naramdaman sa kaibigan and they went to just being close friends. Kaya hindi niya mapagilang magulat ng minsan ay tinapat siya ni Prox tungkol dito.
It was a Friday night, so the bar was fully packed. Mga taong galing sa mga malalapit na companies sa metro. He was smoking with Prox, they have not exchanged words yet, parehong nakapokus lang sa paghithit at nakatitig sa kalsada. He's had a few drinks but everything was still normal. Mainit lang sa katawan but the adrenaline's manageable.
Halfway through the stick, he took his phone out. He wondered if Cameron's still awake. It was only past 11, big chance she is. He sent her a nonsense message. Napatawa sya nang makitang nabasa na nito ang mensahe pero hindi naman nagreply. Napansin ni Prox ang ginawa niya kaya tinanong siya nito kung sino ang kausap.
"Just Cam," tipid nyang sagot at ibinalik ang phone sa bulsa ng maong na pantalon. Hinithit ang sigarilyo.
"Cameron is such a cool girl," biglang komento ni Prox.
Nalilitong tiningnan niya iyo ng mabilis. It surprised him to hear Prox talks about Cameron. Madalas kasing tahimik lang ito, tagamasid sa kung anong kagaguhang ginagawa ng magbabarkada. He never took him for someone who's had an opinion about her, a positive one at that.
"You just don't get it," dagdag pa nito nong hindi pa sya nagsalita.
He sure doesn't get it. Unang salitang pumapasok sa utak nya para ilarawan si Cameron ay 'brat'. Napangiwi sya sa sarili nang bumalik sa isip nya ang mga panahong hindi siya nito pinansin o kaya nama'y iniyakan sa tuwing hindi nakukuha ang gusto. Her pretty face is amusing when she gets what she wants, though, so there's that.
"In my head, she's just your typical bratty little sister," he quickly said, trying to finish the topic. Hindi siya komportableng napapag-usapan ang kaibigan. It always ends up with him getting furious and offended if the other person said anything negatively, or weirded out when they held her too good.
BINABASA MO ANG
Somewhere Between Friends
FanfictionA fan-fiction. Somewhere Between Friends was a story written by Lovelornme when I was in High School. I was so fixated on her Nuknukan Trilogy and fell in love with the characters kids; Mason and Cameron. I forgot most of the small details of the...
