A Summer to Forever

2

I was exhausted from all the walking in the nearby mall looking at clothes with Ate Jules. It was never like this with my mom because she hates waiting for me when shopping. When I'm with my friends, we don't really go shopping that much - we eat. A lot. So I wasn't really used to this kind of malling. But I'm glad I was with Ate Jules.

"How do you like my picks for you?" Ate Jules was all smiles.

"Thanks ate! Idol talaga kita when it comes to dressing up," I shyly admitted.

"Meganun?! You can always ask me, you know." She nudged me. "Lalo na ngayon 3rd year college ka na! Kailangan mo nang mag-dress to impress for guys," she chuckled.

"Grabe dress to impress kagad?"

"Oo naman! Bakit, wala ka bang crush?"

Crush. Well, there was Kenneth in my PolSci class. He's got good looks and good grades, but he's unattainable; he's Mr. Popular. There's also my good friend Kim, but I know we'll always be just friends no matter how much I admire his good looks and charm. Besides, I don't want to be awkward with him.

"Hmmm," I thought about the guy that I saw earlier beside the house.

"Hmmm?" said Ate Jules.

"Hehe, wala pang serious crush. Happy crush lang. Pero I'm game to dress to impress," I said excitingly.

"That's the spirit! Basta, don't be insecure with your body, okay? Love it!"

"I'll try to keep that in mind, ate." We started walking towards the mall exit.

"Uy, Menggay andito pala kayo ni ate?" said Sam who walked towards us. I noticed that he had two guys following him, both on their phones. One was playing because he was holding his phone on landscape, while the other one looked like he was scrolling through an article or his feed. Wait, he's the guy that I saw earlier!

"Ate, Meng, these are RJ and Ry," introduced Sam.

"Nice to meet you RJ and Ry," greeted Ate Jules. "I'm Julia and this is our cousin, Maine."

"Nice to meet you too," said the cute one with the glasses. He was wearing a plain gray shirt with khaki shorts and slippers.

The one who looked like he was playing just glances at us, smiled, and went back to his game. He looked like he was around mine and Sam's age. "Gamer," I thought to myself as I saw his PacMan shirt. But I also noticed that he was bulkier than the other guy. A gamer and a gym buff.

"You are..." asked Ate Jules.

"I'm Ryan, you can call me Ry for short," he extended his arm.

Okay, his name was Ryan! He looks a lot older face-to-face and he seems interested with Ate Jules! Oh no!

"Hi," I said shyly.

Ry smiled at me.

"Are you brothers?" asked Ate Jules.

"What do you think?" joked Ry.

"Well, 'di kayo super magkamukha but your names both start with 'R'. I think you are brothers!"

"Yup, this is my little bro, RJ," he pointed. "Sorry ah, adik kasi mag-COC 'yan kaya may pagka-anti social."

We laughed.

"Anyway, where are you going ate? Kain lang kami," explained Sam.

"Kaka-shopping lang namin," Ate Jules raised our shopping bags. "Pauwi na kami, actually. Wala kasi kasama si Tito Al."

"Okay, see you later."

"It was nice meeting you, Julia and Maine," Ryan looked at me first then smiled at Ate Jules.