The Things I've Learned From Him

1: Invitation from the Past

"Ouchh!"

Napaaray ako dahil sa pagkaka-paso sa niluto kong mushroom soup. It is already eleven in the morning at ngayon pa lamang ako mag-aagahan. Nagluto na ako ng madami dahil balak ko ng pag-isahin ang aking breakfast at lunch...brunch in short. I am not good at cooking pero dahil ako lang naman ang kakain nito ay pupwede na kahit sunog o hilaw ang pagkain.

I've been living here alone for almost three years. I've decided to buy this condo unit dahil malapit ito sa aking trabaho. I have my day-off every Sunday and usually I just rest the whole day or go mall to shop and sometimes I visit my family at my hometown.

I turn on the television to watch my favorite cartoon... yeah you know, I love cartoons a lot even I'm turning twenty five soon because it serves as my therapy from a stressful week.

"Gross!" halos iluwa ko ang nilutong kanin dahil hilaw pa ito. Nagsisi ako bigla dahil dapat ay nakinig na ako sa aking ina noong tinuturan nya ako na mag-luto.

Habang pilit na inuubos ang pagkain ay napatingin ako sa invitation sa aking harapan.

Let us reunite!

The letters are written in gold brush script font. The whole invitation is matte black with roses at the bottom as design that makes it appear elegant.

May nag-iwan nito sa may labas ng aking pintuan. I asked my bestfriend about it but she said she's not the one who left that invitation. Maybe some of my classmates or batchmates, I don't have any idea because I lost my contact from them after we graduated.

I sighed. Inisip ko na ito ng makailang beses at palagi na lang nahahantong sa desisyong hindi na pumunta.

Tinutok ko uli ang atensyon sa TV. I remember, I started to watch this cartoon about the three bears noong nasa high school pa lang ako. My high school life is so precious that I'd decided to just keep it as a treasure. Hindi ko na masyadong binabalikan dahil sa iba't-ibang emosyon na nakukuha mula sa mga alaalang iyon. The assortment of joy, excitement, sadness, and pain is so unbearable so it's better not to reminisce.

"Naku! Bakit di ka pupunta? Ano yan di ka pa rin maka move on... Diyos na mahabagin ilang taon na ang lumipas at sa di malamang dahilan ay di ka pa rin nakakalimot sa dinanas natin!" pa-histerikal na sambit ng matalik kong kaibigan habang kumakain kami. She's looking at me intently like I am the most wanted criminal on Earth.

Ang mga actions nya ngayon ay hindi bagay sa atmosphere na mayroon ang restaurant dahil bawat salita nya ay may mga matang napapa-tingin sa aming kinauupuan.

We finished our work easily kaya nag-early out kami.

"No! You have to go to our reunion and besides, pupunta yung mga close friends natin nung high school and they are all expecting you kaya I can't see any reason for you to not attend on that event!" she added while rolling her eyes. Alam kong konting salita nya pa ay malalaman na ng mga tao sa loob ng aming kinakainan ang talambuhay ko and that will be so embarrassing.

Sabay naming natanggap ang invitation para sa reunion ng aming batch at magmula sa araw na iyon ay pilit na nya akong kinukumbinsi. But every day passes, mas lalo ko lamang gustong manahimik sa aking unit sa araw na nakasulat sa invitation.

Me and Sasi are friends since we are in pre-elementary. We used to meet every weekend to play or do our stuffs dahil nasa iisang village lamang kami. In high school, we decided to choose the nearest school in our place and that is Monteo High School, I remember how we ran the path from our houses to our school when we are late. In college, we pick a University in Manila and take the course architecture. We rent an apartment and live like a city girl. Luckily, we are hired at the same company together after we graduated.