Months have passed since that very unfaithful night. Ilang months na rin ako nagtatago sa kanya. Hindi na ko sumasabay sa kanya every morning. Tuwing tatawag siya, sandali lang ako makipagusap. Pag pupunta naman siya sa house wala na ko magagawa kundi entertain siya. Alangan naman ipagtabuyan ko yung tao. Eskandalo!!!
So after months of pag-iwas I finally decided to give our friendship another try. Napagod na din kasi ako kakatago. And besides, naubusan na ko ng alibis and excuses. Hehehe.. Kaya balik sa dati ang drama naming dalawa ngayon. As usual napansin ‘to ng barkada at nakiusosyo na naman sila.
“Kayo na ba ulit?” tanong nila.
“Hindi.” I simply answered
“Eh bakit ano…”
“We’re just friends. Balik sa dati.” I said cutting off their sentence.
“Bahala ka.” Yun na lang nasabi nila.
Friday, movie night namin.Syempre excited ako kasi marathon ngayon ng mga scary flicks like the ring series, the grudge and all the likes. Ang venue namin ngayon is sa house nila, may bisita kasi si mommy sa house that night. When I got to their house, I saw him in the entertainment room, nagaayos.
“Aba! Himala! Nagaayos ka ha?!?! Baket dito tayo? Hindi ka na naman nakapaglinis ng room moh noh?!” sabi koh na medyo nangaasar pa, habang tinutulungan ko siyang magayos.
“Ano ka?! Malinis kaya room ko! Nasira kasi VCR ko sa room kaya dito tayo ngayon. Tsaka…” Hindi na niya natapos yung sasabihin niya kasi biglang may dumating na girl na may dalang chips and dip. Imposibling bagong maid kasi napakasexy naman ng suot niya to be a maid’s uniform.
“Hi! I’m Twinx. Lagi ka sakin kwento ng best friend mo!” sabi nung girl.
Eh di napilitan na lang ako mag smile. ABA NAMAN BA!!!!! Sino ba ‘tong bruhang to na feeling close agad!!!
“I’'ll just get some more chips.” Sabi ni Twinx.
Wow! Hanep sa pangalan! Twinx!!!! Ano ka chocolate?!?!?!
When "chocolate” left, I looked at “pare” na nakataas ang kilay at alam na niya kung ano ibig kong sabihin.
“Pare,” sabi niya, sabay akbay sakin.
“Alam ko hindi ko nasabi sayo na pupunta siya kasi I was not sure kung okay lang sayo kaya sinama ko na lang siya. Gusto koh kasi meron munang approval ng best friend ko bago ko siya… you know.” He continued, as he playfully played with my hair.
“Fine! Pero remember, kaya tayo nagkaroon ng movie night, for us to spend more time together. Just the two of us. Diba?! Sacred night nating dalawa to eh.” Sabi ko in a tone na nagtatampo na nagpapacute.
Pero he just looked at me with pleading eyes, saying, “please…” so wala na ko nagawa.
“Fine! One chance lang! I’ll stay pero I don’t want this to happen again. Okay?!” I said.
He just hugged me and gave me a peck on the cheek.
“Thanks pare, you’re the best!” sabi niya.
Hindi na ko nakapagsalita kasi biglang umeksena yung Twinx. Kusa na ko lumayo after that. All throughout the marathon, tahimik lang ako unlike pag kaming dalawa lang, pagtatawanan pa naming dalawa yung mga nangyayari kahit na drama. Kahit na he’d come up to me and say something funny about the movie, I’ll just smile and not discuss things any further. Sobrang ilang na nga ako sa situation eh, tapos eto pa ‘tong Twinx na umeeksena. Ano kami?!?! Close?!?! Please lang no.
She tried approaching me nga eh and make small talks. I just smiled and tried to cut all her little chitchats short. Tapos grabe pa siya makadikit kay pare! Grabe!! Hindi ko na siya ma take !!! Hindi kinaya ng powers ko. So I texted Sheryn. After a few minutes lang, dumating na si Sheryn. I bid the two goodbye and headed for the door when he got hold of my hand.
“Alis ka na agad?” he asked, mukhang worried nga siya about me, which kinda made me feel good.
“Yah, punta ako kila Ashley. Emergency eh. May nasira sa thesis namin, kaya we have to start all over again.” That was my excuse.
I know it was lame but I can’t think of any other excuse eh. Buti na lang nakiride na din si Sheryn.
After a week, he approached me on the park while I was sitting on our favorite bench.
“So what do you think of Twinx?” he asked.
“She’s okay.”
“Approved ba?”
“Okay lang.”
“Bakit ka nga pala bigla umalis?”
“Thesis namin remember?” I said in a matter-of-fact tone.
He just gave up on our arguments. And after a deafening silence, lumabas na naman yung pagkachildish niya. He started cracking up these really corny jokes but still never fails to make me laugh for no reason at all. After all these years, he still knows how to cheer me up and make me smile.
Months have already passed, I thought I had already moved on and was able to accept the fact that we’re just friends. I was wrong. Kasi nung sinabi niya na sila na, grabe sikip ng dibdib ko! Hindi ako makahinga. I was gasping for air and I was a loss for words to say to him. Pero dahil isa akong mapagpanggap na tao, I just smiled and said,
“Good for you. Wish you all the luck.”
Kaplastikan ko no?! Kaya nagkusa ako na medyo lumayo na sa kanya, ayoko nga makasalamuha yung “chocolate” na yun no! Kaya I decided na ibaling na lang sa iba ang pagtingin ko. Sakto namang biglang dating sa scene ang isang drummer ng isang banda sa school na bigla nagparamdam sakin. Hanggang sa naging close kami and you know, alam niyo na siguro patutunguan nun diba?! Pero syempre to be fair sa best friend ko, I wanted to get his approval bago ko sagutin si “little drummer boy”.
Nung nagkita nga sila, there was some kind of tension between them. So obviously hindi masyado naging maganda yung pagkikita nila. Pero when my “pare” saw me very happy with “drummer boy”, he just said yes. But he gave me a very clear warning.
“If ever he hurts you or makes you cry, even just a single tear, kahit anong pigil gawin mo sakin, malalagutan sakin yang drummer boy na yan. Okay?!” those were his exact words.
Lupit ng pare ko no?! Dinaig pa tatay ko! Natouch ako with what he said. At least I know he still cares for me.
