Saudade

I looked at her in awe. It has been a long time yet she still has the same effect on me. I still love her after all this time. I haven't moved on yet and I don't plan to. I smiled and gave her the flowers. I saw her smile. I knew she would love it. It's her favorite flower: carnations.

"Happy 9th anniversary, love. Ang bilis ng panahon 'no?" I said and let out a laugh.

"I can still remember when we first met. You were frantically running. Malelate ka na kasi. Paano ba naman inubos mo ang oras mo sa pagpapaganda para sa akin," I laughed. "Just kidding. You're already beautiful without those things you put on your face. You're always beautiful in my eyes, dear."

"Tabi!"

Lumingon ako pero huli na dahil ngayon nakapatong na sa akin ang isang babae. Nakakunot ang noo nito sa akin. I stared at her. She's pretty, as in really really pretty. Natigil lamang ang pagtitig ko sa mukha niya nang tumayo na ito.

"Ano ba yan?! Sabi na ngang tabi e! Ay nako," sabi ng babae habang pinapagpag ang damit niya. Even before I can say sorry, she already left. Napailing na lang ako at naglakad papunta sa klase ko.

"Tapos akalain mo nga naman, magkaklase pala tayo sa isang subject. Nakakatawa lang. Talaga ngang itinadhana tayong dalawa na magsama," sabi ko habang umiiling-iling.

Philosophy ang sunod kong klase at malapit na magsimula ito kaya nagmadali akong pumunta. Nang makarating ay sakto namang dumating din ang prof namin. Humanap ako nang mauupuan at nakita ko ang babaeng nakabunggo sa akin kanina. Busy itong tumingin sa salamin at magpulbos. Umupo ako sa tabi nito.

"Uh, miss. Andiyan na si Professor Gomez. Baka pagalitan ka niya at kunin iyan," sabi ko.

Ibinaba niya ang kanyang pressed powder at tumingin sa akin. She smiled sweetly and said, "H'wag mo ko kausapin."

"I'll only do that if you tell me your name."

Napataas ito ng kilay. "The fuck do you care about my name?"

"Gusto ko lang naman malaman pangalan mo."

She rolled her eyes. "Ewan sayo."

I looked at her open notebook and there's a doodle of her name. Denisse.

"Denisse huh? Hi Denisse. Nice to meet you. I'm Tristan."

"How did you-"

"Ms. Reyes and Mr. Mondragon, you may leave the room if you're not interested in my class."

Tiningnan niya ako ng masama at tumayo kaya sumunod na lang ako sa kanya.

"Well thanks a lot, mister."

"Ang taray mo noon, grabe. But it made you more interesting. Simula nun, parang gusto na kitang makilala pa lalo. I want to know what's behind your sassy attitude. And so I did. Sa kakakulit ko sayo, nakilala kita ng lubusan. I learned that the bitchy attitude is just a facade, you were actually a sweetheart and a kenkoy. From that moment, I liked you. Wait, no, I started to love you more and more each day. Do you remember the jar I gave you? 'Yong may lamang mga papel. Tsaka itong regalo mo sa aking bracelet."

Today is Valentine's day and I decided to give her something special and not those common valentine gifts. I'll give her a jar full of small pieces of paper with sweet words written on it.

"Love!"

I saw her waving her hands up high and running towards me. May date kami ngayon kaya nakasuot ito ng floral dress na hanggang tuhod at nakakulot ang buhok niya. I smiled. She's beautiful as always.