decoding the boys ✔️

49 | mahal kita

The party in Circuit Makati was comprised of rabid fangirls, cool indie bands and blasting music through the speakers.

Dumating kami dito ng around eight p.m, past nine na at sobrang kapal ng mga tao. Constello was done playing din, kanina pa. They were now in the field with us para maki-jam. Mas mellow na rin ngayon ang tumutugtog sa harap kaya kalmado na ang crowd, kumpara kanina na puro rock ang kanta kaya malilikot din ang mga tao.

'Di kami kumpleto ngayon, wala ang The Three Idiots kung tawagin ni Kuya Paul: sina Kuya Travis, Kuya Chris, at Kuya Nick, dahil busy sila sa school works.

It was the same old party style, nothing special but I was on my toes the entire night. An hour ago, Racel texted me na nandito na sila. Thanks to the squeals of some girls, agad namin silang napansin. Kasama niya sina Justin, Christelle at iilan pang mga kaibigan.

My cousins froze up beside me. Napansin ko rin ang pagbagsak ng ngiti nina Kuya Jacob at Kuya Onyx.

Kinabahan ako then. I thought magkaka-trouble ulit pero buti na lang ayaw sirain ni Kuya Jacob ang gabi niya.

"Cut me some slack," sabi niya lang when Andrew asked kung aalis na ba kami.

So here, one hour later, nandito ako sa bandang gitna with the boys while nandoon naman just a few feet away from us sina Racel. It felt good to see him again but I refrained from looking too much. Lalo na nasa 'kin ang attention ng boys minsan.

Speaking of the jerks, kanina pa nila ako inaasar dito kay Luis. Assholes. I should've known I was walking into a colossal amount of trouble nang inaya nila akong magpunta dito sa concert.

Tawa na nang tawa sina Kuya Jacob at Mathev habang tinutulak sa 'kin ang kaibigan nila.

"Luis, p're. Ang layo mo naman yata kay Javee. Conscious na conscious, a?" pang-aasar nitong si Kuya Onyx.

Ngumisi kaagad sina Dash Lim, Andrew, Gian at Kuya Jacob at nag high-five naman sina Mathev at Kuya Andrei.

"Ang mga single dapat nagtatabi! Dito ka nga!" sabi ni Kuya Paul sabay tulak din sa 'kin papunta kay Luis.

I scowled at the boys. They laughed right away at lalong nang-asar. Doble naman ang pamumula ng pisngi ni Luis. He shyly smiled at me which I returned with a soft nod of my head.

Uminit nang sobra ang pisngi ko. Damn! Nakakahiya! Kahit kailan talaga sila!

"Stop, dudes," saway ko. "Nakakahiya kay Luis."

"Ows? Bagay naman kayo, e. Why don't you try dating?" Kuya Jacob asked with a raised brow.

I rolled my eyes. "You forgot na? You hate everyone who comes near me."

"'Cause they're assholes. Si Luis, hindi. Pwedeng pwede." Ngumisi pa ito at kumindat.

My mouth hung open. Hindi ako makapalag dahil katabi ko na si Luis. I didn't want to sound na super revolted ako at the idea of us dating. That would be rude but then again, sobrang conscious ako dahil alam kong nakatuon sa amin ang atensyon ni Racel.

Which I confirmed when I looked in his direction.

Naglipatan sa harap ang mga tao kaya natatanaw ko siya. Malayo siya kaya hindi ko makita masyado ang expression niya but his arms were crossed now as he looked on at us.

Oh, my god. Buti na lang kumapal ulit ang mga tao sa pagitan namin kaya kahit papaano, natakpan na ulit kami.

"'Wag ganito, dude. Nakakahiya sa kapatid mo," sita lang ni Luis na pulang-pula na.

"Just saying, man. You got our approval in case you wanna date. Mas okay nang ikaw kaysa kung sinu-sino lang," and that was that.

Buti na lang may bago nang banda sa stage kaya mas fired up na ang hype. Habang busy sa jamming ang boys, I slowly inched away from Luis and placed a good distance between us. Napansin 'yon ni Kuya Andrei na inakbayan lang ako.