Taking Risks

4

For kathartickat - because you rock. 💛

//

HIM

I close my eyes as I relish the feeling of being in the water again. My back on my board, my legs underneath the cool ocean, the sound of the waves around me almost lulling me to sleep.

That is - until I felt a huge splash of salty water on my face that I unintentionally gulped.

"KINGINA NAMAN!" I scream before sitting back up and flailing, trying to get my balance as I wipe my face of excess water. "KATRINA APRIL!!"

"Ay, wow. Full name talaga, ha? Ganyanan na pala ang labanan ngayon, Richard Faulkerson Jr.?!"

My best friend, ladies and gentlemen.

"Taragis naman, Katring! Ang sakit kaya sa lalamunan!"

She shrugs as she continues to snort in laughter while looking at me. "Bakit ka ba kasi nakanganga?? Tsaka malay ko ba kung patay ka na diyan. Nasa gitna tayo ng laot, hoy! Hindi kita ililigtas 'pag tinangay ka ng alon."

"Wow, thank you, ha? Kaibigan nga talaga kita."

She is still laughing and teasing me as I splutter beside her, while I grumble under my breath and complain about bitches and friends.

A surfer like me, I met Katrina during my newbie days - with her being my surfing instructor. A full five years older than me, she was a hard ass despite her being a head shorter than I am. I remember cursing her a lot in my head for the things she made me do while she was teaching me. But she was the best instructor there was and I was adamant that I learn from her.

I remember the last day of her class. The only way to pass was to wipe her out as we surfed the small waves in La Union. Being the competitive person that I am, I really took that to heart and made it my mission that by the end of that class - I would wipe her out.

And I did. Numerous times in fact. That she cursed me over and over again before congratulating me and saying that I passed and that she was proud of me.

Because I was the only one among her students to be able to do that.

The rest was history, as they say. We became fast friends and she made me compete in different surfing divisions, driving me to be the best. She also helped establish our YouTube channel for surfing enthusiasts like us.

We do have subscribers of our channel that ship us together though and she would always laughingly point out that "hindi kami talo."

I remember when we did a live feed of when I was about to compete - people were commenting about how great and cute we look together as a couple.

She made a yucky face towards the camera and grabbed my neck in between her arms, squeezing me before saying, "Etong gagong 'to? Ewww!! Kadiri! 'Di kami talo nito, 'no?! Parang kapatid ko lang 'to, ano ba kayo?? Magsitigil nga kayo!"

And that is what we truly are with each other. Aside from being best friends, I consider her my older sister, a part of my family. A sister from another mother.

She knows everything there is to know about me. At least the ones that I didn't have the heart to tell anyone - I told her. Everything about myself and my family - our hardships, trials - she knows.

I was quite glad actually that she took me in under her wing and that we became friends. She is someone I would trust with my whole life and I know that she will always be there for me, come hell or high water. Though she tends to mother me most of the time.