This is the story of how we reunited.
REUNION, 2 YEARS AFTER HIGHSCHOOL GRADUATION
Grabeng pagod, kakatapos lang halos ng prelims namin kaya eto sobrang dragged and drained ako. It's almost 6PM when my phone beeped. Nasa bus ako on the way home, I checked kung sino. It was from a highschool friend.
Siguro mag-aaya to umuwi sa amin at pumunta sa foundation week ng school namin dati. Unfortunately, hindi invite ang message. Rather it was a shocking news.
"Please pray for the soul of Roy. He passed away this 4 am due to cancer of the blood. Let's pray for our good friend who never failed to make us smile when he was still with us."
Nanginig ako right after I read the message. Really, he's too young to pass away.
Roy.
Why so soon?
Hindi ko namalayang naiyak na ko, ni hindi ko nga expected na maapektuhan ako ng ganito. Hindi kami close ni Roy, but he's a good friend. Siya yung as usual na pinakamakulit sa class namin. Hindi kasi nagrereshuffle yung sections namin nung highschool, so close na yung buong class by the time we graduated. We were like a family.
And Roy.. he's like the big brother to everyone of us.
"Anong gusto mo? Resbakan na natin?" Sabi niya sa isa kong kabarkada na umiiyak dahil niloko ng boyfriend.
"Wag na kuya Roy. Sayang lang fats mo dun." Medyo chubby kasi si Roy.
"Hoy ano ka! At least kapag sinuntok ako nun, walang epekto. Fats muna masusuntok niya bago tong maskels ko. Eh ako, isang sapak ko lang dun, tumba na." Natawa kaming lahat.
That was he like. Protective in his sweet and funny ways.
Pagdating sa tinutuluyan kong apartment, nag-online ako agad at nagcheck ng FB. Everyone was mourning for Roy's death. Lahat halos, "we will miss you Roy" ang status along with their most memorable moment with him. I read every post, I couldn't help but admire him more. Although hindi kami yung friends na nagsabihan ng personal problems, hindi nakakalimot si Roy mangulit every now and then.
Nagpopup ung group chat ng section namin nung highschool. Nakisali ako sa usapan and napagplanuhan namin na pumunta bukas ng gabi sa wake ni Roy.
Dahil Saturday night, maraming tao ang dumalo. Actually puno na ung chapel kung san si Roy. Everyone has stories to tell about Roy and how good of a guy he was to each of us.
Michael, his bestfriend stood before us.
"Good evening, everyone." Lahat kaming nagkukulitan kanina natahimik. Makulit kasi talaga kami pag nagkikita kita. Aware pa rin naman kami kung nasaan kami, it's just that ayaw naming bumigat masyado yung feeling. Kumbaga, ayaw namin ng drama. It's Roy were talking about, the funniest among us. The one with the loudest laugh. Kung buhay lang yun, baka nakikisama pa siya sa chismisan namin. Sad to say, he's just out there observing us.
