Player of the Game

Love Song for No One (John Mayer)

JHOANA.

I woke up to Ate Ella's singing. God, bakit ang saya-saya naman n'ya yata today.

I grabbed my pillow and covered my head- please let me sleep some more.

"Good morning, Jhowjhow! Rise and shine!" I can see her elation from six feet afar- with my eyes closed.

"Ayoko pa. Inaantok pa ako." I pulled my blanket closer. Jusko, please give me another 10 minutes.

But then, Ate Ella came trudging and started pulling my blanket away. "Let it go!! Ayoko pa gumising!"

"Bumangon ka na, 'ayan si Bea oh!" Hindi ko alam what got into me. I got up immediately to see kung ando'n nga s'ya.

Ate Ella started laughing hysterically. Halos gumulong na s'ya sa sahig, kakatawa. Ah. She got me! Kainis.

"Hoy, Jhowjhow! Umagang-umaga humaharot ka d'yan. Sinasabi ko sa'yo, tumigil ka na." Despite the lecture she was giving me, hindi pa rin s'ya tumitigil sa pagtawa. Paano ko ba naman s'ya seseryosohin.

Bumangon na rin naman ako, might as well, ituloy ko na, 'di ba?

I stood up, gathered my things and headed for the bathroom.

"Bahala ka d'yan! Hindi ako harot." I called out as I was entering the bathroom door.

"Nag-jjoke lang ako, ategurl. 'Wag ka ngang masyadong affected. Ikaw eh." And off she started laughing again. I don't really get what's funny about it. 

As I was starting to soak into my bath, she suddenly called out to me and said, "Baby Jhowjhow, una na ako sa baba. Mag-pprepare raw kami ng breakfast sabi ni Ly. Sunod ka, ah!" 

"Oaks! Uy, PS 'wag mo naman kainin lahat ng pagkain baka wala na kaming abutan." 

"Don't worry, hindi ko kayo uubusan ni Bea. After all, you two gave me a wonderful dinner last night." Ate Ella thoughtfully said. Akalain mo 'yun, grateful din naman pala s'ya? I didn't answer her. Hindi ko rin alam. I just smiled at the thought. I remember that dinner... then the phone call during it... the exchange of texts... #FriendshipGoals. As I bathe in the aroma of raspberry, I think of the ways things happened so fast yesterday. And for some reason, it made me feel like I deserved it- we deserved it despite the fact that we did hurt some people. (Kahit deep inside feeling ko, OA lang talaga sila kasi wala naman talaga dapat ikagalit sa ginawa namin?) 

Kumusta kaya si Bea? Was she able to sleep? I can't wait to see her. 

So I hurried with my preparations. As soon as I finished packing my things, I immediately went out. Patay, almost 30 minutes na since Ate Ella left. Malamang, ando'n na sila lahat sa baba.