Dominika (Pale As Dead I) | COMPLETED

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 - 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

┗━━━━━━━ ｄｅｅ ━━━━━━━┓

𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟸, 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝟼 𝚙.𝚖.

"So we'll get the tracks by Monday, in time lang para sa pasahan niyo ng project, tama?"

We all nodded.

"Okay," Kuya Warren said as he rubbed his hands together. "Ishe-share rin natin sa socials ng PAD yung tracks niyo para makahakot din ng boto. Ano pang kailangan nating gawin? You tell me."

Nagkatinginan kami. Ang dami namin. Ako at si Shishi; sila Helen at Paris; sila Gwen, Amy, at Emma; sila Kyo, Kotani, at Odessa. Ten people na nakikinig lang kay Kuya Warren pero walang sumagot sa amin kung may kailangan pa ba kami kasi binigay na nila yung lahat ng support na kailangan sa project namin.

"Mukhang okay na 'yan," sabi ni Kuya Clark. "Sigurado namang papasa 'yang mga 'yan. Ewan ko lang dito sa utol mo, maraming haters 'to, eh."

Emma glared at him pero tumawa lang ang kuya niya.

"Ang bad, Kuya Clark!" Amy pouted. "Ayokong bumagsak!"

"Ay, oo nga pala. Kayo ni Gwen, 'no? Sige, ipagpe-pray ko kayo."

"Bale yung kila Shishi at kila Paris, finishing touches na lang ngayon," sabi ni Kuya Chico. "Yung kila Kyo pati kila Emma, aasikasuhin pagtapos no'ng sa dalawa."

Nagpasalamat kami ulit. Kahapon, kami nila Shishi yung nag-record, then sila Gwen naman ngayon. Narinig na namin yung first draft ng sa amin kanina and I must say, ang galing ng pagkakagawa. Parang marunong talaga akong kumanta.

After that, lumabas na rin kami sa building ng Berserker Noise, yung record label na may handle sa PAD, dito sa Nunier. Sa kanila kami nag-record and kinausap sila ni Kuya Warren na i-double time daw yung pag-ayos sa tracks namin kasi kailangan nang ipasa sa Monday. Lahat ng tracks namin ay titled as covers when they would be released sa YouTube—featuring PAD. God, I could not believe my awful singing would ever go on to YouTube. How far I had come. Marketing strategy for us raw yung gagawing pag-feature sa band nila, Kuya Warren joked. He had a point din kasi yung iba, kumuha rin ng famous and/or amateur singers.

Emma and Kuya Warren went home separately kasi he had his own house na pala. Kuya Clark and Kuya Chico went ahead in their vehicles na rin. Pati sila Kotani at Odessa. So ang naiwan na lang ay kami ng best friends ko, the Vandalics, and si Amy. We went to the Starbucks right across the street kasi it was a Friday naman and we did not have anything to do.

The day was going great for me. One, ang ganda ng outcome ng project namin ni Shishi. Hindi kami masyadong nakapag-practice, unlike yung iba na constantly nagre-rehearse, pero okay pa rin. But the one I would never forget was Gwen's group's. Their second song, which was mostly sang by Emma as she played the keyboard with PAD playing in the background, was Closer to Fine by Indigo Girls. She chose it herself daw kasi hindi magkasundo sila Amy at Gwen sa second song nila kung Britney Spears or One Direction.

The way Emma sang it made shivers ran down my spine. It was hypnotizing and I was there to drink every note she poured out. Para siyang nagkukwento. Like it was her life story she wanted to shout to the world. Naalala ko yung time na nakita ko yung marks ng cut sa wrists niya at naisip ko, okay lang ba siya? I did as she asked. I never told anyone about it. But it worried me while I listened to her. Although she looked better now. She must be just blending herself with the song to become one with it, as many musicians did, and she succeeded.

Another thing na dahilan kaya ako masaya, dumating na yung costume ko for the parade. I would be cosplaying as Kurumi Tokisaki from Date-A-Live. Ayaw ni Shishi na ituloy ko pa rin when he saw the costume because it showed a lot of chest area. Akala ko pag-aawayan pa namin, but he relented and said na mag-cover na lang ako as soon as possible.