decoding the boys ✔️

69 | threes

They always come in threes. Three musketeers. Three wise kings. Three idiots. Mayroon pa ngang 'Third time is a charm' o 'di kaya-'Strike three and you're out'. This time, bad news came to me in threes.

Before that, walang premonition that it would come. Classes were tougher this January kasi. Ang daming experiments na dapat pag-aralan, ang dami rin lectures na dapat basahin. Hindi ko na alam saan kukuha ng oras para sa sarili ko. Nagkaroon lang ako breathe of fresh air nung lumabas kami para sa despedida ni Lhyle. Syempre, umiyak na naman ako. Lalo na si Anjo. But the rest of the girls were cool enough to give 'asshole' gifts to Lhyle.

Nung umalis siya, para akong nawala sa sarili. Na-culture shock ako ng ilang linggo at sobrang desperado kong makausap siya everyday. I missed him so much. Hindi talaga ako sanay na ganyan siya kalayo but then, weeks turned into months, and we eased into it. Nakasanayan ko na rin. Syempre 'di nawala yung pagka-miss ko sa kanya but Lhyle did his best para maging part pa rin kami ng buhay ng isa't isa. Ni wala pa nga siyang two months doon, nangangako na siyang uuwi siya ulit para sa 'min.

Just like that, before I knew it, lumipas na naman ang birthday ko. In between those taxing school load and emotional hiccups, I squeezed some quality time for me and Racel because even that was harder to come by. Busy na rin kasi siya sa load niya. Our schedule only went lax two weeks before summer and then, finally, it was vacation time again. Grabe. Yung totoo. May pakpak talaga ang oras.

As promised, I spent most of my summer days with Racel and his crew. Binawi namin lahat ng oras na tipid at hiram lang ang quality time namin. We went canyoneering in Cebu, had a blast in Laresio, and even went to Amanpulo to celebrate Marco's birthday. Thank goodness I saved up a lot of money since I was burning cash faster than I could breathe this summer season. Well, 'di naman talaga ako gumastos masyado sa accommodation dahil kadalasan, sagot nila 'yon and ayaw din ni Racel na gumastos ako, but I wouldn't just let them spoil me rotten like that. I have my pride as a De Villa din, so I made sure to pitch in my share when they weren't that strongly rebuffing me. It was great na kahit papaano, I was earning some cash for myself din dahil sa freelance content writing at editing na ginagawa ko for some blogs.

Mga bandang May, nearing the end of summer na, we went to Palawan for some beach-bumming. Actually, si Christelle ang nag-aya, nakisali lang ang boys. First time na sumama ng ibang mga members (sina Harvey, Kleo at Brett) ng basketball team ng Centrex U. Nando'n din sina Camille, Bea, Melissa, Sheena, Gwen, Ivan and James. Basically the whole Youth Camp squad. Masaya na sana pero badtrip lang. Nandito si Natalia.

Kasama ko si Gwen sa room at naubos ang unang gabi na puro kwentuhan at kantyawan lang ang ginagawa namin. Nalaman ko na tuloy pa rin pala ang panliligaw ni Ivan kay Camille. Grabe. It's been what, years? Ayaw niyang tigilan si Camille kahit na mukhang wala talagang interest ito sa kanya.

At one point, I said as much to him.

Ivan laughed. "Wala, e. Kapag tinamaan, tinamaan talaga. Siya na yata pinakamatagal na minahal ko, alam mo 'yon? Malas lang kasi walang pag-asa."

Sinuntok ko siya sa braso. "At least naging close kayo."

"Destiny ko na yatang maging Instagram bestfriend habambuhay," sabay lapat ng kamay niya sa dibdib.

Natawa ako. "Baliw."

The next day, we toured Coron: we went around foodtripping, island hopping and taking photos. Napansin kong habang ginagawa namin ang mga 'yon, sulyap nang sulyap sa 'kin ang ka-team ni Racel na si Harvey. See, that boy was as laidback as they come. Hindi ako malapit sa kanya kasi tahimik ito at laging may sariling mundo. Mga katropa lang niya ang kinakausap niya at kahit 'yon, bihira lang. Also, hindi rin siya palasama sa mga lakad kaya nagtataka ako sa inaasta niya na parang may gusto siyang sabihin sa 'kin.