Continued Love

1

Monique

ANOTHER day, panibagong stress nanaman. Bumangon ako at pumatungo sa bathroom upang maligo dahil kailangan maaga ako sa school ngayon kasi 6:30 ang first subject 'ko.

I can ditch that class if I wanted to kaso baka hindi ako bigyan nang allowance ni Mommy. She values education so much kasi. Sabagay, she has a point.

My mother is an obstetrician gynecologist or commonly known as ob-gyne. She works at our own hospital.

Most people in our clan are doctors, some are businessmen and women, few are lawyers and may isa na teacher.

Our family name is extremely well-known. Hindi rin naman kasi biro mapabilang sa pamilya namin, you can expect highly of us.

Pagkatapos 'kong maligo, agad akong nagbihis. I'm taking up BS Psychology, I was inspired by my Tito that's why I took up this course, he's a Psychiatrist and somehow gusto 'kong sumunod sa yapak niya.

My two brothers are professional doctors, si Kuya Mhon Kael Cohen ay isang Cardiologist while si Kuya Mhord Chase Cohen naman ay isang Pediatrician.

Sila ang mga Kuya ko, masyado silang seryoso sa buhay, lulong sa trabaho and they spoil me too much kaya love na love ko sila to the highest level.

And my Dad? Siya lang ang abogado sa amin. Ewan, hindi niya kasi feel maging doctor dahil mas sikat ang angkan namin sa larangang medisina pero ayaw niya talaga. All he wants is to be a certified lawyer in which, nagawa niya naman.

Nagmadali akong bumaba dahil may naamoy akong masarap. Manang is cooking one of my favorite dishes, kaldereta.

"Good Morning po Manang." I greeted and kissed her cheek.

"Magandang umaga anak. Itong niluto ko ay ang paborito mo pala." Sabi niya habang hinahain ang kaldereta.

"I know po Manang kaya nga nagmamadali akong bumaba because I can smell from upstairs that you're cooking my favorite dish eh." Sagot ko.

"Ikaw talagang bata ka. Oh siya kumain kana at baka mahuli ka pa sa iyong klase." Sabi niya at ibinigay sa akin ang plato ko.

I ate fast kasi malapit na talaga akong malate kahit maaga akong nagising sobrang tagal ko naman matapos sa pagligo, though I have a car para mapadali pero it takes fifteen minutes bago pa ako makarating sa school 'ko pag commute naman I can say mga 20-30 minutes depende kung tricycle o jeep ang sasakyan mo.

Matapos 'kong kumain nilagay ko ang plato ko sa lababo, hindi kasi namin ugali na iwanan lang ang mga plato pagkatapos naming kumain sa lamesa.

I hurriedly went to our garage, sumakay sa kotse ko at pinaharurot ito papuntang school. At exactly 7:00am ay nakarating ako.

Gosh, I'm 30 minutes late. I ran towards our classroom at naabutan 'ko na nagdidiscuss ang prof namin.

"You're late Monique." Sabi nito at tinaasan ako nang kilay.

"I'm sorry Tita, I mean Ma'am." Ngumiti pa ako nang sobrang lawak. She rolled her eyes and signaled me to enter the room and take my seat.

Nga pala she's my tita, kapatid siya nang Dad ko, she's a dentist to be exact, but she chose to teach instead kasi passion niya talaga ang pagtuturo.

Siya yung nag-iisang guro sa angkan namin. She really wants to be a teacher sana, education sana yung course na balak niyang kunin nung nag college siya kaso tumutol si Lolo dahil gusto niya talaga doctor so, my tita decided to finish dentistry pagkatapos ay wala nang talak si Lolo dahil my Tita graduated as Suma Cumlaude sa batch nila kaya hinayaan niya na si Tita magturo, that was their deal daw na hahayaan na siya ni Lolo magturo,  kapag may natapos siya sa medisina.

She's single kasi twenty-nine palang naman siya, masyado pa daw siyang bata para mag-asawa pero from what I know may nanliligaw sa kanya, co-teacher niya pero ewan 'ko anong plano niya.

After finishing my class dumeretso ako sa school gym in order to meet my bestfriend and first degree cousin, namely Freya Gruardy Cohen.

Adopted siya ng tita 'ko, kinuha siya ni tita nung 15 siya sa isang orphanage, doon din kami nagsimulang maging close. We have the same course pero sa ibang section siya napunta.

"Gosh, finally you're here. Why are you so matagal ba?" She complained. I just rolled my eyes because of her over reaction.

Umupo ako sa bakanteng upuan at tumabi naman siya sa akin.

"You just waited 10 minutes Freya." I answered.

"I hate waiting and you know that. Pero let's change the topic, I have good news and bad news, choose which one you want to hear first." She smirked. Actually, feeling 'ko bad news ang dalawa base sa reaction niya.

"Bad news. Spill it." I said.

"Nah, I'll tell you the good news first." She said at tinawanan ako. Gaga pala tong pinsan ko pinapili ako tapos siya din naman magdedesisyon.

"Whatever sabihin mo nalang."

"The good news is your lover boy Camp, is back and his brothers along with him ay dito na magste-stay for good. The bad news is, doon sila sa tapat nang bahay niyo magste-stay." She explained with teasing eyes.

I didn't answer her. I don't know what to react. Mahigit dalawang taon din silang nawala, ang mas inaalala ko ngayon ay si Camp.

My Camp is back.