Summer Memory

Chapter 3

            Liza had stayed as beautiful as I had last laid my eyes on her, perhaps even more so. She had been my classmate in my junior and senior year in high school, but I never really knew why I didn’t notice her in that way until senior year.

            Liza was pretty, and above all, she was nice. She was the type that you found easy to talk to, and she bonded well with her peers and other people. I was in the higher classes in junior and senior year, and being my classmate, she was indeed quite smart. She was popular around school, being in the PAO, Performing Arts Office. She was a great singer and actress, and an even more incredible dancer.

            Beauty, brains, talent, personality, and charisma; she had it all, and everyone looked up to her and admired her.

            It was no secret she became my crush. Truth be told, almost the whole class knew it, from when I joined a group open forum. Half the class was at July’s mansion on his invitation, one of the required ‘high school parties’ that we were not supposed to miss. We were lounging in July’s huge room – sitting on the bed’s edge, the floor, and almost any space deemed to be safe to sit on. Everyone discussed each other’s love lives, and by that, I meant we mortified a person’s past relationships in the funniest and most ridiculous way possible. It was definitely amusing, seeing some of my friends squirm, groan, and flat out deny every single gory detail about their past – and not to mention disastrous – relationships.

            We were all good-natured about it, and nobody said anything below the belt that would sour anyone’s mood. We drew a thin line from what we could laugh at and what we should absolutely not talk about. No arguments were made aside from the occasional banter and side comments fired at the person being discussed. It was funny; when we discussed someone that was in the room, we would playfully ignore that person and retell that person’s past relationships like the one we were talking about wasn’t with us.

            We were all laughing at Min’s failed almost-relationship with Jon when suddenly the spotlight was on me.

            “Oh, Lucas…ikaw? Musta ang love life?” (T/N: “Oh, Lucas,…what about you? How’s your love life?”) Jane, our former-class-president-turned-group-leader, asked. I laughed before answering “Wala ah!” (T/N: “None!”)

            “Sus, imposible. Meron yan kahit crush,” (T/N: “Yeah right, that’s impossible. You’ve got to have at least a crush.”) Min, our former class-secretary-turned-group-fashionista, teased.

            “Hmm…ano…” (T/N: “Hmm…let’s see…”)

            And like the rest of the rest before me, I told them of my previous crushes. They poked fun of some of them, and I laughed with them. Until, that was, when it reached the junior and senior year crushes.

            “So, sino nung third year?” (T/N: “So, who was it on third year?”) Jen asked.

            “Micah,” I said, referring to my previous arty classmate who was half Spanish. She was, to put it shortly, nice, frank, mischievous, and pretty.

            “Aaah, eh ngayong fourth year?” (T/N: “Aaah, well what about fourth year?”) July sneered.

            The reason July and the rest asked me this was because they had a vague idea who it was. All that was left was for me to confirm their suspicions.

            I refused to meet Jane and the rest in the eye, so I jerked my head to the left. What I didn’t expect though, was that it was Liza who was sitting beside me, and like the rest of them, she was looking at me. Our eyes only met for a second before I looked away again, but the slight movement of my lips upward gave me away. Still, I denied them my real answer.

            “Wala. Wala akong crush ngayong taon. Aral muna” (T/N: “None. No crushes this year, studies first.”)

            “Bwisit, yung tunay!” (T/N: “Bullcrap, the truth!”) Jane pointed a finger at me. Min, July, and the rest of them were suppressing laughter. Liza quirked a smile. I gave up and told them indirectly.

            “Katabi ko siya.” (T/N: “I’m sitting with her.”)

            “Saan, sa classroom?” (T/N: “Where, in the classroom?”) Min asked in what could possibly be her attempt at an innocent voice. I frowned.

            “Ngayon.” (T/N: “Now.”)

            Silence. I was easily at the edge of the loose circle we began to form at the start of this mortify-me-session. Nobody sat at my right, which left me with the obvious person on my other side.

            I stole a glance at Liza at the corner of my eye. She was no longer looking at me, and decided that her hands were much more interesting to look at. Jane and the rest laughed with glee, and I allowed myself to laugh as well, though it turned out as a loud and awkward nervous laugh. I heard Liza let out a soft chuckle from beside me. The rest of the love-life-mortify-session continued, and more teasing ensued. Amidst their joking and my loud laughter, by the edge of my vision, I saw Liza slowly inch away from me, leaving an obviously large empty space between us. I didn’t mind though, I already knew she’d do that. But still, for my indirect confession to be met with an equally indirect rejection, it hurt me. I knew she wouldn’t look at me – the awkward-looking nerd boy back then – in any way other than as friends and classmates. Why‘d you think I was hesitant to tell Jane and the rest about it? I never wanted her to find out.

            The last time I saw Liza was at Vince’s party last summer. By then, we had only exchanged hi’s and hello’s, and that was it; Liza was out of my life. Until now, that is.