Years have passed.
Graduating na ko!
Malapit ko na din makuha PhD ko. Yup, nag doctor ako. If ever you’re wondering what happened to my “drummer boy”, we broke up, kasi no matter how hard he tried he still can’t fill that empty void in my heart. I know that he truly loved me but my heart was just not into our relationship. About “pare” and Twinx. I’ve never heard a word from them since they graduated college.
I heard na Twinx is now an executive in a famous modeling company while my best friend is now the president of one of the top engineering firms in the country. Other than that, wala na ko balita about them.
On my graduation day, I wish he was there. So I could share that special moment with a special person in my life. But he was not there by my side. Though I was celebrating that day with my family and friends, deep inside, I felt so alone. I’ve already got my PhD and already putting my ten-year course into practice.
One Saturday morning, I got a letter from my previous high school. Merong Alumni Homecoming and all are requested to come kasi it’s the school’s 75th year. Though hesitant at first, I’ve decided to go. Wala naman ako gagawin kasi I’m on a month leave from the hospital. Ever since I got my PhD I’ve been doing countless numbers of surgeries and now I’m on my very first leave.
I was already running late when I got to the school. It felt to good coming back to this place. Eh di napangiti na lang ako. Bigla ko kasi naalala yung mga memories ko sa school na yun. And all those happy memories shared with him. Medyo nalungkot ako sa thought na yun, kasi ngayon ko lang naalala na in almost all of the most unforgettable and special days of my life was shared and spent with him. Pero simula ng magkaroon siya ng Twinx, nawala lahat bigla. If only I was able to set him free. Kung hindi lang sana ako naging stubborn and gave the girl a chance. In the auditorium, all my high school friends we’re there.
Everybody looked the same pa rin naman, except for the suits, formal wear and gray hairs here and there. But nonetheless, they’re still the same. I sat with my old friends. Syempre kwento galore kami. Grabe, ang iba samin gray hair na talaga. Syempre we all talked about our times spent in the school. All the happy memories we had. Grabe sobrang laugh trip talaga to go back to memory lane. At first, I thought this whole reunion thing would be boring, but I was wrong, wala kasi masyado pinagbago old friends ko kaya we’re still having fun.
Throughout the night, I felt very unease. I keep on looking around as if looking for something or someone. Yah, I’m looking for him. He’s one of the reasons kaya ako nagpunta dito eh. I want to see him again. In the middle of the program, wala pa rin siya kaya hindi na rin ako umasa. Hindi na siguro yun dadating. So, hindi ko na tinapos yung program, nainip na kasi ako eh. Fine! Aminin ko na nga, nainip ako kasi wala pa siya, and iniisip ko siya. He’s been the only person I was thinking about all night.
I went out for a walk to catch some air and take my mind off him. I was walking through the old campus. Not much has changed. Hindi ko namalayan, my feet brought me to OUR sacred place. Yung place only the two of us knows about. Gulat din ako kung pano ako napadpad dito. Siguro nakasanayan na. I slowly walked towards the bench where we usually spend our break times. Dito kami lagi kumakain ng lunch and dito rin kami lagi punta just to chill and talk. I sat on my pwesto sa bench and stared blankly into the sky, reminiscing about our good old days.
Tapos biglang dumilim. May nagtakip ng mata ko. Kinapa yung hands to identify or at least get a clue on who it was. OH MY GOSH!!! Can’t be!!! OH MY GOSH talaga!!!!
“Pare?” I asked, then took hold of his hands and pulled him closer to me.
“OUCH!” he said. “Hindi pa rin talaga kita maloko! Huli mo pa rin ako.” Sabay flash ng kanyang killer smile.
