30 Days with Fina

Day 2

30 Days with Fina by JellOfAllTrades
Chapter 2

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. Grumbling I looked at the caller ID to check who is calling at such an early hour.

Jaime Reynaldo calling..

My best friend, Jaime is also a ladies man. He's just the good boy type that's why he has no trouble getting up early. I accepted the call, my eyelids half-closed.

"Dude, what is fucking wrong with you?" I muttered.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Jaime's husky voice greeted.

"You of all people know that I hate being woken up early."

"Yeah, I know that, pero kasi may problema tayo."

"Ano?"

"Pumunta dito si Andrea, hinahanap ka."

I bolted upright on the mention of the girl's name. "SHIT!"

Andrea is one of my flings back in Manila. I would have considered staying with her longer if it were not only for her uncomfortable clinginess.

"Woke you up, didn't it?" Jaime laughed on the other line. "Anyways, napaalis ko na sya, but I have that feeling she'll be back soon. Kelan ba balik mo?"

I groaned, remembering how long I'm supposed to stay here in Quezon. "A month,"

"Excuse me? Nagkamali ata ako ng dinig, did you say a month?"

"Pinagkaisahan nila ako and now I'm stuck here in Calauag for a whole month."

"Wow," I heard Jaime whistle as he thought of something, he always does that. "Ano nang plano mo? Jan ka muna maghahasik ng lagim?"

"Baliw! Hasik ng lagim ka jan?!"

"Oh really? Ginaganyan mo ako? Dude, we all know na hindi ka basta basta titigil sa pambibiktima ng mga babae."

I rolled my eyes. "Dude, hindi ako pwede maghasik ng lagim o mambiktima or whatever dito kasi pinagbantaan ako nila mommy. Kapag lumandi ako, and I'm telling you, they will know, kukunin nila yung susi ng baby ko."

"WHAT?!"

Jaime knew I like to call my shiny silver Volvo 'baby' and that I love it more than I have ever loved any girlfriend I ever had. Some would have laughed at me but he doesn't because he does the exact same thing with his blue Mustang GT, except he calls it 'love' which is kinda gay for him. But who cares, we both love our cars.

"Anyway, alam mong hindi ko type ang mga probinsyana tapos nung sinabi nilang isang buwan ako dito, I actually reconsidered them for a minute! And then the next thing I know, my mom's telling me I can't find myself a fling kung ayaw kong mawala yung baby ko!" I complained. "Dude, there's a difference between not wanting to and not being able to."

"Your life sucks."

"I know! Bro, anong gagawin ko? Mamamatay ako sa boredom dito!"

"Labas kayo ng mga pinsan mo."

"Magkaiba kami ng lifestyles. If I hang out with them, sa una lang masaya, after some time magsasawa ka din."

"Wala ka bang ibang kaibigan jan?"

I groaned. "Dude, I haven't been here for five years. Wala na akong kakilala dito."

It's been a while since I was here in Calauag and although I remember meeting a chubby girl in the playground, it was a decade ago. I doubt that girl is still around.

"Makipagusap ka sa pinsan mo! Baka may kakilala silang cool and awesome like me?"

"You?" I snorted, "cool and awesome? Niloloko mo ba ako?"

"I'm trying to help you here."

"Fine, I'll ask Gerald or maybe even Mary."

"Cool. Sige na, I gotta go." Jaime said. "Call me or text me soon or just let me hear from you regularly para naman masabi ko sa girls mo na buhay ka pa!"

"Baliw ka talaga kahit kailan!" I laughed. "But thanks, bro! You the best!"

"Don't mention it, brah."

I dropped the call and got up. I was about to go out when I saw my ragged expression in the mirror. I look like a mess like I always do every morning; my spiky shoulder-length hair is mushed up, my black eyes effortlessly tantalizing, my nose, crooked for being broken once by an angry ex-girlfriend's boyfriend and my red lips pulled into a tight sneer.

Breathing in, I knew I have to look a bit more decent when I go for breakfast so I stood up straight, combed my hair with my fingers, pushing it behind my ears to reveal quite a number of earings on my left and a couple on my right and smiled sweetly at my slightly better-looking reflection.

"There ya go, a smile the girls in Manila fall for."

I went downstairs, acting like there's nothing wrong about staying in this dusty old place for a whole month. There's food on the table and pretty much everybody in the house has already had their breakfast so I ate alone. This is how we live here, if you wake up late, you eat breakfast late.

When I had my fill, I went to the living room looking for my cousins.

"Oh, gising ka na pala," Gerald looked up from the TV. "Kumain ka na?"

"Kakatapos ko lang," I answered, sitting between him and his sister, Mary on the sofa.

"So, anong plano?" Mary asked me.

They always ask that whenever we see each other. Since me and my brothers live in Manila, they think we live an amazing urban pop lifestyle, so to be 'cool' like us, they would always try and do what we do, wear what we wear and have what we have. Me and my brothers never really cared if they do that because it makes us look high and mighty but sometimes I think it's ridiculous for them to copy us when we live in the city and them in the province. Our lifestyles are obviously different and whatever may be cool in Manila may look stupid in Calauag.

And to prove that, they're currently watching a show that used to be hot in Manila. The people in Manila grew tired of it after weeks and weeks of repeated storyline but apparently, they never grew tired of it here in Quezon.

I grabbed the remote and changed the channel. They complained but I only grunted at them. I looked for a nice show but came up with none.

"Walang kwenta," I passed the remote to Mary who only returned the channel back to the one they were watching earlier.

I pushed my back to the sofa and closed my eyes, still sleepy.

"Ate Jell, anong gusto mong gawin?" I heard Gerald ask from beside me.

I opened my eyes and saw that both of them are looking at me, waiting for an answer.

"Ewan." I shrugged, unsure about Jaime's suggestion earlier about looking for someone I can hang out with. "Asan nga pala sila Kuya?"

"Nasa kabilang bahay si Kuya Ken, si kuya Kier tulog pa." Mary answered, returning to the TV.

"Sila mommy?" I asked.

"Umalis kasama sila mommy, di sinabi kung san ang punta." Gerald answered, looking at me still. "Ano na ate Jell? Anong gusto mong gawin?"

I thought about Jaime's suggestion again. I can't hook up with anyone if I want to lose my car, my cousins will eventually bore me and Calauag doesn't really have any good places to hang out in. Jaime's right, I need to find someone with the same likes as I do. I need a friend.

"May kakilala ba kayong pwede kong maging kaibigan?"

Mary turned the TV off and she looked at Gerald for a moment, their eyes talking to each other. I waited for someone to speak up but I never really had a long patience.

"Ano na? Magtititigan lang kayo jan?"

Gerald shrugged and Mary faced me, serious. "Well, meron kaming kakilalang isa."

"Good, kausapin nyo sya, I want to meet this person immediately."


*****


Night has come and I've already prepared myself to meet this 'Ashley' Mary had been telling me about all day. Gerald said they met Ashley when Mary was forcefully signed up for the town fiesta's singing contest last year in which Ashley was a contestant too.

"Hindi sya katalinuhan, pero maganda sya. Kumakanta sya sa mga pacontest dito at palagi namang nananalo, kahit minsan runner up lang." Mary said as Gerald pulled the van into a stop in front of a karaoke bar.

"Ayos! Inuman na 'to!" Kier cheered in the back seat.

Our parents allowed us to party tonight since we're all already of age. The van was kindly lent to us since later at midnight, our dad will come and drive us all home in it.

I got out of the van and eyed the place warily. The three-story building is whitewashed, the upper two floors housed rooms available for cheap renting and the entire first floor is dedicated to entertaining people with karaoke and beer.

Kelly's Karaoke the neon pink sign glowed brightly. I felt like I'm looking at a structure built in the 1980s and is forgotten by time.

"Tara?" Mary held my arm and guided me in.

The place is surprisingly crowded. Groups of people, both young and old huddled in booths and tables filled with beer bottles and peanut bowls and some other food that goes well with beer. A couple stood on the stage, singing "Way Back Into Love" a bit off turned. Waitresses dressed in white tank tops with red neckties and black pencil cut skirts walked around carrying trays of beer mugs and bottles. The place definitely has the eighties feel to me.

"There she is!" Gerald pointed to a large round booth where a girl sat alone.

"Sino daw?" Kuya Ken asked over the noise of the karaoke. He and Kier don't know of the favor I asked our cousins. They only know that we're here to have fun.

We walked to the table and the closer we got, the clearer the view I saw of this Ashley.

She is beautiful, almost like the girls I usually see in clubs and bars in Manila, except this isn't Manila and that girl is still a probinsyana in my eyes.

"Hi!" She stood up to greet us, "ako si Ashley, nice to meet you!"

She has a probinsyana accent that made my brain buffer for a moment to understand what she said.

"Ay, Ashley, eto si kuya Ken, si kuya Kier at yung gusto namin ipakilala sayo, si ate Jell." Gerald slid in to introduce us. "Kanina ka pa ba?"

"Hindi naman," Ashley shook my brothers' hands saying, "Nice to meet you," and when she reached me, she smiled at me sweetly and then kissed me on the cheek. "Hi Jell,"

"Nako, nako!" Kuya Ken shook his head teasingly at me. "Lakas ng kamandag ah!"

"Wala akong ginagawa!" I said to him and Kier but they only snickered.

I feared for my car. If Ashley does something like that again, my brothers will report to our parents and I will surely lose my baby.

They all got in the booth and I slid in beside Ashley.

"So, Jell, hindi sinabi ni Mary na ang hot mo pala." Ashley seductively said to me. I tensed on my seat as her hand held my arm.

"I..uhh..ikaw din Ashley." I tried to calm down. What the fuck is wrong with this girl? As far as I know, my cousins doesn't know about my parents' threat yet, so why are they trying to get me to lose my car?!

"Hi! Goodevening, welcome to Kelly's Karaoke! Eto ang aming menu." A waitress came to our cubicle and handed out menus.

I tried to concentrate on picking something out of the menu but Ashley's hand on my arm is disturbing me. I really don't want to lose my car because of her. She's not worth it.

"Isang dosenang San Mig light para samin....Saka lechong kawali, sisig at saka mani na rin." Kuya Ken said to the waitress after asking us what we want.

"May idadagdag pa po kayo?" The waitress asked, writing down our order.

"Tawagin ka nalang namin kung meron pa," Kuya answered, closing the menu and sliding it back to the waitress.

The girl nodded, took the rest of the menus, and left.

"So Jell, pinsan mo sila Gerald?" Ashley asked, uncomfortably close to my face.

If I were in Manila, I would have already made a move on her. By two more sentences, I would have already convinced her to come with me to some place else. But this isn't Manila and I have a Volvo hanging on the balance. If I mess up with this girl tonight, I would spend the next semester commuting to the university.

"Yeah, pinsan ko sila." I answered coldly, feigning disinterest.

A woman came up to the stage and chose her song.

"Oh, wow," I muttered as the song blared on the speakers. Seriously? Tukso?

"Gusto mo ba yang kanta?" Ashley asked, her eyelashes batting.

Kayrami nang winasak na tahanan
Kayrami ng matang pinaluha
Kayrami ng pusong sinugatan
O, tukso, layuan mo ako!

"Nope, I hate that song." I shook my head, taking Ashley's hand off my arm. But then she touched my hand, sending a jolt through me.

"Talaga? Ako din kasi eh, ayoko nyang kantang yan."

You can do this, Jellane! You can do this!

"So, Ashley, ano bang pinagkakaabalahan mo ngayon?" I tried to act calm and cool, slowly taking her hand off mine.

"Nagaaral ako,"

"College?" That was a stupid question, but what the heck, I'm not aiming to please.

"Oo,"

"Talaga? What are you taking?"

"Education,"

I nodded, unable to think of anything boring to talk about. I have never realized not impressing somebody is this hard.

"Ikaw ba? Nagaaral ka pa?" She leaned in closer to me to whisper on my ear. "Because if you want, I can teach you a thing or two."

I gulped. No Jell, you will not screw up! And then I thought of something smart.

"Talaga? May alam ka ba sa economics? Kasi ako, I'm taking up a double degree in economics."

"Double degree? Hindi ba mahirap yun?" She looked impressed and I smiled.

"Actually, madali lang siya, once you get to know--" And I drawled on about economics, using the most mind-boggling terms my professors has ever thought me.

You see, I'm not exactly as bad as my family and friends think I'm supposed to be. I may always be out partying at night, but in the day, I'm an A+ student. That's how I got my car, I got one semester filled with straight As and my dad rewarded me with a Volvo. It's also why my parents let me be with my crazy party life, they know I know what my priorities are.

I talked to Ashley about economics for what felt like hours and I knew she was getting bored but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. I was enjoying myself because this is the first time I'm doing this. Not trying to get to anyone's pants.

"And that's just how it is," I drank my sixth bottle of beer, feeling the heat spreading throughout me.

Ashley drank her beer too, seductively looking at me the whole time. She licked her red lips and I've got half a mind to lick it too if only my Volvo isn't in danger of being taken away from me.

"Alam mo, naiingayan na ako dito, gusto mo ba lumabas muna, pumunta sa isang lugar na mas tahimik?" Ashley leaned in.

I checked my cousins and my brothers, all who are busy talking about cats and dogs, not minding us a bit.

"Dito nalang tayo, ayoko silang iwan eh." I shook my head no.

How on earth can she still want me after that very long lecture about economics? I thought I lost her at the first mention of 'supply' but apparently, her 'demand' for me hasn't dropped to zero.

"Sige na please?" Ashley put a hand on my thigh and I jumped away from her.

"Oh? Anyare sayo? Ayos ka lang?" Kuya Ken asked, looking up from his half-empty beer bottle.

"Yeah, I'm fine, CR lang muna ako." I excused, turning my back to them and walking to the ladies room.

"What the fuck is wrong with that bitch?" I muttered to myself as I looked at my reflection on the mirror. I look awesome as usual but can't she just take a hint? I tried to bore her with economics talk that anyone can fall asleep to, I tried putting her hand away whenever she touched me and I always pulled back whenever she tried to lean in and whisper something at me. Is she really that dense not to understand I don't want to do this?

Well, maybe I do want to do her. But that's not the point. I have a car, a shiny silver Volvo, that I can't afford to lose.

"Jell?" The door opened and Ashley went in. "Ayos ka lang ba?"

I turned to face her, hoping she didn't hear me earlier when I said bitch. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Ashley approached me and put a hand on my shoulder. "You know, kung ayaw mo na dito pwede naman tayong lumabas."

"Alam mo Ashley, maganda ka, pero kasi..." I inched away, scared that if she touches me more I may lose my head and kiss her right now.

"Pero kasi ano?" She stepped closer, trapping me between the sink. Her right hand lay on my shoulder and her left slid to my waist, pulling me dangerously closer.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

"I...uhh..." Oh my gosh, I have a perfect view of her cleavage right now. How on earth can I get myself out of this when she's right here, offering herself to me. I have half a mind to kiss her and carry her to an empty stall and finish our business there. But my Volvo, I can't lose my Volvo.

Ashley reached for me and just when her lips are about to touch mine the door flung open and I quickly pushed her, causing her to fall on her butt.

"Ashley! Ayos ka lang?" Mary helped Ashley up from the floor.

"Ano bang problema mo ha?" Ashley angrily shouted at me.

"Ikaw! Ikaw ang problema ko!" I shouted back, losing my temper. I stormed out of the comfort room but instead of returning to our table, I left the karaoke bar.

Kelly's Karaoke is located on the western side of town, a good three blocks south of the seawall. And as I fumed about how I almost lost it back there, I absentmindedly brisk walked to the seawall.

The night sky is dark and cloudless, with millions of stars shining brightly and the new moon out of sight. I walked silently along the sea wall, looking out far into the calm dark sea, the light salty breeze cooling me.

Aside from the seaside playground in the far eastern seawall, we also used to go to the dock located on the center of the town, near the market. It's a small fish port that is alive with business on the early hours before dawn and a small 'tourist' spot during the rest of the day. It's like a small strip of road in the middle of the sea where small and large boats can dock and drop off their catch. It's about five hundred feet long and in the end, it has a large cement sculpture of a turtle carrying a very large letter C on it's back. We used to call the place 'letter C' and the turtle, 'Pong Pagong'.

Tonight I see Pong Pagong again after five long years and much has changed since then. Last time I saw it, Pong and the letter C are newly painted, but now Pong has already lost it's front left fin, back right fin and it's tail. The paint is fading and there are vandal writings everywhere. Even in places I thought is impossible to reach.

Four of the twelve lamp posts that lighted the area are broken and one is blinking, and yet the place looks serenely safe. There's a couple sitting on Pong's front right fin and a group of teenagers huddled on one side. I went to Pong's left side where a single girl sat alone on the edge of the dock. I sat on the edge too, huffing at how the night went horribly wrong.

"Bwisit na babaeng yun," I muttered to the dark sea. "Muntikan pa akong halikan.."

I closed my eyes for a moment and then looked up to see the stars.

"Andami nila noh?"

I looked to my left. The girl who sat on the edge is looking up at the stars too and she has a small smile on her face.

"Uhmm...err...yeah, andami nila." I just said, looking up again.

"Nakakalungkot isipin na ang ilan sa mga bituin na yan ay matagal nang patay," The girl said and I curiously looked back at her again but she was still looking up at the stars. "What we only see now are the last of their light that traveled so far to reach us here on Earth."

"That's interesting to hear," I said. "Iniisip ko lang kanina na para silang 'sanlibong pimple sa langit eh."

She laughed. A laugh that seems to be music to my ears. And her smile, she looked so...so genuinely happy.

"Now that's interesting," She finally said after recovering from my joke.

I scooted over so that I can talk to her better. "Hi, I'm Jellane. But call me Jell."

"Hi Jell, nice to meet you."

"Hindi mo ba sakin sasabihin ang pangalan mo?" I asked, my eyebrow raising.

"I don't talk to strangers."

My forehead creased. "Talaga? Eh pagkakaalala ko ikaw yung unang nagsalita satin."

"Ako ba? Ang pagkakatanda ko kasi sabi mo kanina nabubwisit ka dun sa babaeng muntikan ka nang halikan."

I flushed at what she said. She must have heard me mutter earlier when I came here. I need to stop talking to myself.

"Sorry, that was rude."

"Hindi, ayos lang," I shook my head. "Nabubwisit naman talaga ako eh."

We sat there in silence for a few seconds, watching the sea.

"Alam mo Jell, hindi ka dapat mabwisit dun sa babae." The girl finally said.

"Bakit naman?"

"Because everything happens for a reason. Hindi ka naman nya susubukan halikan kung hindi ka nya gusto diba?"

I looked at this girl. This girl that is a stranger to me but feels like a girl I've known for a long time. She looks very probinsyana to me with her long hair being blown by the wind, her olive skin shining on the dim light and her simple white t-shirt and shorts outfit. She has a relatively thin eyebrow, dark round eyes, small cute nose, and thick red lips.

"I guess everything does happen for a reason." I repeated, captured by her smile. "Kasi kung hindi nya yun ginawa hindi ako aalis...At kung hindi ako umalis hindi kita makakausap."

She smiled shyly at me and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Too bad you don't talk to strangers," I leaned on my hands behind me and looked up on the stars again. "I would love to have a friend like you."

"Fina...My name is Fina."

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A/N: (May 21, 2014)

I reposted this because of some technical problems. Sorry, I took a while to respond to your comments :)