Seasons And Changes

PRELUDE | Love is the Season

MISHA CATHERINE

The first time I felt compellingly and palpably jealous, one that is sincerely valid and fitting for the 15-year old undergoing-puberty-me, would date back to that one August afternoon of 2010, out of the many afternoons it had, when my hands slipped off the rusty 7-feet monkey bar in the old playground near the entrance of the humble subdivision I reside.

FLASHBACK

The setting sun painted the afternoon sky a vibrant amber hue, making the Komorebi in the Acasias and playground toys lustered in perfect autumn gold. Fading asphalt pathways in between soft soil grounds exude a cool after-rain scent interplaying with the calm breeze. Shy chirps of the Mayas, a bark and meows of the pets from the nearby home of the old Spanish couple, high-pitched children's chuckle in the playground, and reserved blabbering from the people coming home from their schools and workplaces resounded like a silent stereo.

I skipped my last class and went back to the subdivision earlier to witness this nature's beauty and capture it in my Fujifilm FinePix... and to take a nap under the shades of Acasias in the playground while there are not much children playing yet. I woke up after thirty minutes and climbed up the monkey bar while sucking a green apple flavored lollipop because I still have to wait for Eli and Heizen Kit before going home. My ever-angry mother would kill me once she found out that I cut class, again. By this time, students who are coming home from school started to occupy the playground.

Looking from the top of the monkey bar, it was very picturesque; the tone, mood and even the spirit were all like specific details cutout from lucid dreams or utopian society. I made sure to frame it in my camera. It was indeed a good afternoon-– a total opposite of all the unfortunate events that I had no idea was about to unveil before me.

The twin towers who I was waiting for showed up after a good ten minutes – the Navalta cousins. Eli Josiah, Heizen Kit and I have been friends since the beginning of our lives as the relationship goes way back to our grandparents. Since our birth, it has always been the three of us. However, they got all the good genes while I was only blessed with my golden orbs, healthy white skin and well, rich ancestors.

Both lads are extremely good looking Asians; who are lean but have visible cuts showing their becoming ripped-physiques, sharp and defined visuals, and soaring heights which stand out for a 12-year old (Heizen Kit) and 16-year old (Eli) teens. They do look more mature than normal Filipino teens of their age. One valid explanation to support that is their foreign roots because Eli Josiah's mom is Korean while Heizen's mom has Japanese and Aussie descent; that's why Eli is towering tall and intimidating pale in complexion while Kit has the perfect fair tone complementing his height to make him look like an amateur model. To balance the credits, their fathers who are the real twins are from a dangerously blessed bloodline as well.

The first one to spot me as soon as they walked near the playground was Eli – the heartbeat of my existence. No he's not my boyfriend; but I'm sure we're both aware that what we are and what we have is more that friendship. I called unto him and waved when his eyes were scanning the ground, even though I think he knows who owns that voice that called him. His monolid eyes evidently grew in size when he saw where I was – 7 feet up the ground.

"Misha Catherine, get the fuck down from there!" He frustratingly shouted and rushed to where I was with Heizen Kit tailing behind him looking at me with his enthralling sharp and lazy eyes.

"Eli! Heizen Kit!" a cool and grungy female voice suddenly erupted out of nowhere calling the two guys and the next thing I knew, they seemed to forgot they were coming to me and stopped in front of a tall girl. She got a long wavy hair with highights; with the colors playing between light brown and pale pink. She got a snow white skin tone and long, slim figure which is somehow familiar.

My forehead creased at their reactions because I can't image out who the girl was, as it was her back facing me and I kind of lost my brain. Who the hell can make Eli smile like an idiot other than me? Who can bring out emotions to Heizen Kit's eyes when even I can't? We've been together for 15 years and I never thought I'd see them reacting like this to another girl than me!

With these thoughts flooding my mind, a strange but overwhelming emotion jolted in the middle of my chest. It was like a mix of a stormy whirlpool and a time bomb ticking; a birth to a very destructive combination. It was my first time to feel such consuming kind of emotion, so provocative that each of my cells was clouded to make me move unconsciously. I straight up, planning to go down and see for myself who is and what's so jaw-dropping with this unexpected presence, only to have witness Eli foolishly pinching her nose with that child-like smile on his face while Kit gleefully hung his arms around her shoulder, both are gazing at her lovingly.

That's when the timebomb reach 00:00 and the whirlpool became a raging storm. I swear I heard the thunder roared and felt the chills on my spine. The scene that unveiled before my eyes caused an explosion with high casualty rate... and possibly, a wreckage beyond repair. And it was me... I am the victim.

It's still a blur to me what and why did that happened then, but I knew I fell down from the monkey bar because I reached home with a bondage on my left foot because I was sprained. And I didn't know which hurt more; the excruciating sting because of the sprain on my legs or the unidentified creeping pain on my heart when I saw Eli and Kit's back on me, walking away with that girl.