I'm Away

Osja

Barbeque in Cali is totally different compared to the barbeque here. Intestines. Eew. So, Filipinos actually eat intestines in barbeque sticks. I'm not really sure how it would taste, but I think I'll have an answer soon.

"Eat! Eat! Eat!" Lhoy and his friends urge me to it. Now I'm cursing the canteen for serving this food today.

I carefully taste the tip of the wave-shaped barbeque. It's really bad. The texture is rough and its somehow raw and bitter. I don't like it. Not at all.

Lhoy laughs at my unpaintable face.

"Oh my gosh, I hate you!" I say, quite girlishly. I must've been too loud. Lynn comes towards our table and sits without even asking permission.

"Sino to, Lhoy? Chic mo nanaman?" Says one of Lhoy's friend.

I have no idea what they're saying but I think its about Lynn. "This is my friend, Lynn. She's supposed to arrive next week but... yeah..."

"Shiiiieeet! My nose is blooding! Shiiiieeet!!!!" The person who spoke earlier speaks again. I think his name is Mark. Everybody, including me, ignores him.

Lhoy, with his other friend nicknamed Osja, wave to Lynn. She, however, replies a stare.

???

"Lynn, quit the attitude." I say. She ignores me and eats.

Lhoy, Mark and Osja starts talking again. "Mga dudes," Osja starts, "Malapit na ang test."

Mark laughs, "Edi mag pre-pray ka nanaman, ha, Osja? Bakit ba kase sarap na sarap ka sa tinapay na walang lasa?"

"Psh." Lhoy quiets them. "Marinig kayo ni ser." He looks at the group of teachers sitting at the next table.

"Yaan mo yun." Mark says.

"Porket binigyan ka lang ng sebenti payb." Osja replies.

"Yabang mo ah."

"At least hinde sebenti payb."

I see Mark stand up while holding a fist and muttering Tagalog words, "Timping-timpi na ko. Ang yabang mo dude, this is not the first time."

Lhoy sees my worried and confused face, so he pats my head, "They're like that all the time."

I smile, waiting for more explanations.

"It started when sir Bert gave a project about dinosaurs. Nobody did it but Osja, a dino nerd of some sort. Evrybody-including me- got a grade of seventy five except Osja who got ninety. Since then, Osja's head began growing huge."

'"Grabe, pre. Nakaka-nosebleed ka." Lynn says, I eye her with confusion but she just laughs me off. Osja and Mark also stop their quarrel to be more confused than ever.

"Nagtata-galog ka?!" Asks Osja.

"Kinda. I haven't told anyone before but I had a Filipino friend once. He thought me how to speak a little in his language.

"So its a 'he'?" I raise one eyebrow at Lynn.

"You're partnering me to someone who translates Tagalog words to me? Get outta here! You know if you're jealous, there's also a person in your current life who does the same thing."

I look around and see Lhoy's face flushed, then I start to realize what she's talking about.

Riiiiiiiing

Good! Saved by the bell! I thought I had to deal with that awkwardness. Good thing there's a bell system here.

I walk towards the chemistry lab just like my classmates. I look at my stuff to remember if I forgot something. Two pens, quiz notebook, my normal notebook, the little notebook I write to, the SciCal I borrowed... I think this is everything... but there's something that tells me it's not complete.

I sit at my spot, the third seat at the fourth table. It's the ugliest seat at the room, but nothing else was vacant when I had to join this class.

The daylight shines over and I feel its hotness melting me. To make things worse, our teacher is sooooo boring, but I'm stuck here now. If only dad enrolled me at the start of classes and not in the middle, I wouldn't be sitting at this dreadful place.

•••

Shit! Shit! Shit! I remember now! The liquid thingy! I forgot it at home! Oh my goodness, my group cannot perform the experiment without that. Oh my goodness.

"Please bring out your materials. We'll be performing the experiment."

Everybody has their assigned stuff except me. Oh my God.

Sir Bert goes around the room checking of the materials are complete. I guess he has extras... hopefully.

"And group six?" He stares at the materials. I close my eyes, readying myself for a lecture, no, not that kind of lesson, silly.

"Looks like you're complete." I open my eyes when sir Bert speaks. Huh?

I look at the side of the table where they stacked the materials then to everyone. I see Osja (he's my groupmate by the way) winking at me.

I smile.

Thanks, Osja.

In that instant I look at him again with a wide grin over his face telling me that I'm welcome.

•••

After Chem Class

I pick my notebooks from my dusty locker and right after I close it, I see Osja's face.

"Oh, hey. Thanks earlier."

"Don't mention it. I was walking down the store before I went to school earlier this morn and they're selling them for twenty pesos. What a deal!"

I sit, laying my back at the lockers behind me, he does the same.

"You know, I've been wondering where you got your name?"

He laughs, "Are you a christian?"

I just nod.

"Well, the altar bread is called 'osja' [here in the Philippines]. And I kinda like the taste of it somehow. DON'T LAUGH."

I desperately hold my laughter, "I won't."

"Okay, miss I-have-a-better-nickname-than-you, how did you get your name?"

"Heeey!"

"Seriously, how'd you get your name?"

Now that I think about it, I haven't given the question much thought. "I don't know, actually."

"There are reasons why things are what they are, try to find as many of those as you can. It's like a quest in life."

"Deep, aren't we?"

He ignores my joke and doesn't reply.

I guess the silence that covers this moment is the silence I need to accept his words.

•••

Happy new year!

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!