Dominika (Pale As Dead I) | COMPLETED

𝚝𝚠𝚘

d e e
june 18, monday, 11:45 a.m.

I bit the nail on my thumb as I scrolled further down the post on kuraimiwako.com. It was titled Pale As Dead: The Beginning, and it was posted over a year ago.

It was just a more detailed version of their Wikipedia page, so I clicked out of it after a few paragraphs. Si Shishi ang drummer, at yung guy na nakabangga kay Gwen ay ang bassist nila, si Paris. Yun ang naging much clearer sa akin.

I turned my phone off and stole a glance at the empty seat beside me. Umalis si Shishi when the clock had ticked eleven kasi na-announced na wala ang teacher namin for that class.

Zach, my ex-boyfriend, played drums too. And guitar. He was never in a band, but he loved music so he had taught himself how to play various instruments. It was because of him that I knew some bands. He liked rock and all the other genres that fell under that umbrella.

I wished I had heard about PAD before, but I only knew the bands that Zach knew. Kapag naman pumupunta kami sa gigs, hindi ko rin natatandaan ang names ng bands na natugtog. Ang alam ko lang ay yung mga favorite talaga ni Zach.

Kurai Miwako was a website for hot gossips in the school. It was nothing too fancy. In fact, it looked quite sketchy. You had to be invited to create an account so you could post and read the posts. The girl who had told me about this site had also sent me an invite.

There were forums as well, live chats, and you could add other users as friends. There was also an option to post videos na pwedeng ma-view ng lahat. Majority of the videos were of PAD's. Live performances nila, practice sessions, and clips ng daily lives nila. Parang ginawa nga yung site para sa PAD. The background was the cover of their latest album that was titled Tagubtob. There were only a handful of topics in the Discussion Board na hindi tungkol sa kanila. And nakalagay rin naman sa description sa Home page. It was a place where the religion was the band. I was yet to tell my best friends about Kurai Miwako, although probably alam na rin nila.

Lunch was at twelve kaya bumaba na rin ako with my things. It was a slow first day, but I still enjoyed it. Lahat kasi ay bago sa paningin ko.

While I descended the stairs, tinali ko ang buhok ko. Centralized ang aircon sa buong building, but naiinitan pa rin ako. Since the hallways had large windows, the sun glared at us freely from the outside.

"Dee!"

I stopped and turned. It was Gwen who had called me, and with her was a familiar face. Paris.

Tiningnan ko saglit si Paris. Pinigilan kong mapasimangot kasi nagtaka ako kung bakit tumigil din siya. "Where's Helen?"

"Clinic," Gwen said with a soft sigh. "She said medyo dizzy siya. This is Paris, by the way. He'd be our chaperone today."

It was clear to me na ayaw rin ni Gwen na malaman ni Paris na naging stalker kami for a while ng band nila, so I had to hide a smile.

Paris offered his hand quickly, like he had really been waiting for that introduction. "Hi. Nice to meet you, Dee."

I accepted it kasi mukhang okay naman na si Gwen, so hindi na ako dapat nainis. "Hindi ba muna tayo maglu-lunch before the tour?"

"Baka mabitin oras natin."

"No, ayos lang yun," sabi ni Paris. "Study hall naman tayong lahat after lunch. Kain muna tayo tapos tour. Oks ba yun?"

"Oks," sabi ko, medyo natatawa. "But I don't think I wanna eat sa rooftop. Sobrang mainit today."

Medyo natawa rin si Paris. "Sa rooftop kayo dapat kakain?"