That Summer When She Cried

That Summer When He Went Back

Jeric has been nothing but grouchy for the past few days.

On weekdays, he has to go to school, attend practices, go home, and be a boyfriend. How he squeezes all of those activities, he knew he was not able to do so. Kadalasan, naiiwan na lang ang pagiging boyfriend responsibilities on weekends.

Ang problema, wala din si Reema ng weekends. Her family stays in Cebu and she has been going back and forth there as if Cebu is just one block away from school. Yes, she can pay for her flights without questions asked. Kahit pa nga yata balikan araw araw ang gawin nito, magagawa nya.

He isn't taking Reema away from her family. Rather, he's simply requesting for her to spend a weekend with him when possible dahil wala na silang oras dalawa. When she's not in Cebu, she's somewhere else fulfilling her modelling commitments.

He was supposed to watch Jeron's game that Wednesday. Lalo pa na ipapakilala nito ang girlfriend nya sa family nila. However, he and Reema had a big argument which caused him to have a very bad mood. Isa pa, nagtatalo pa din sila ng girlfriend nya when the game even ended.

Jeric and Reema called it quits before they separated ways.

Yet he knew that that breakup would mean making up by Monday. Para lang silang empleyado na nagpapahinga sa relasyon kapag weekends.

To avoid spoiling that moment, Jeric decided to just go home and pretend he has forgotten. May ibang pagkakataon pa naman para makilala nya ang girlfriend ni Jeron.

That weekend, he made sure he was available to be with his family to watch and support his brother. They were already seated when he asked his mom about Jeron.

"Mom, where's Shoti's girlfriend? Hindi ba sya manonood?"

Their mother shook her head. "His girlfriend went to Bataan. May aasikasuhin daw. Your shoti will go there after his game," she answered.

"Bataan?" he was confirming it. He remembered her right away.

"Yes. She's from Bataan. Bakit?"

He shook his head. "I just know someone who is from Bataan. But anyway, Bataan is a big place."

"Si Reema? Bakit wala sya?"

"Mommy, when did Reema ever appear on game days like this?" Alyssa asked. "Buti nga yung girlfriend ni Jeron nasamahan tayo kahit ilang weeks pa lang sila. Ahia's girl is too busy to spare us a drop of sweat."

She's the only one among the two girls who has the guts to express her opinion about his girlfriend. Alyssa is older than him and he could not argue with her for he will never win. Jeron may not be in favor of Reema but he remained neutral at least. Almira is younger than him and respecting her kuya, she keeps her mouth shut whenever Jeric is around.

Jeric just raised both his hands in surrender. Wala naman syang masasabi sa sinabi ni Alyssa. What she said is true. Ang pagtatalunan na lang naman nila is the way that she said it.

When the game started, they have forgotten the argument that they had. Jeron gave all that he can which greatly contributed to the team's performance. He was as if rushing to end that game so he can leave.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Jeron was the first one who went straight to their dugout. Walang arte, he packed his things quickly and went to see his family out. Jeric badly wanted to talk to Jeron and have some drink. He was still feeling bad that time and whenever he feels down, si Jeron ang palagi nyang kinakausap.

But when he went out of the dugout, Jeric saw that Jeron could not be stopped from leaving. Kung pwede lang na lumipad, alam nyang lilipad ito makarating lang agad.