Scripted Relationship

Chapter 6

ERIK

"Bookstore?" Rose asked me. She was surprised that we were in front of a bookstore. "Paano naging 'special place' ang bookstore?"

"This is Step Two," I smilingly replied to her as I pulled her hand. We went inside the bookstore and led her to the General Fiction Shelf of the bookstore.

"Anong gagawin natin dito?" She annoyingly asked me.

"Read the signs." I said to her as I stretched my arms in opposite directions as if welcoming her to a museum of wonders. "While I was writing "Accidentally", I always go here to read the signs. Not only to read books, but to read on persons' actions while inside the bookstore."

Rose just gave me a wondering face.

"Look at that girl." I discreetly pointed on a teenage girl in the other side of the aisle. "Look at what section she is. Try to look at the book she is looking for."

Rose gazed at the girl I was referring to.

"She is in a teenage fiction section, right. Look, she is now reading a copy of 'A Hundred Days With You'."

"Anong significance?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"Imagine her life story through the books that she chooses. What do you think is her interest? How does she communicate? To her parents? To her friends? To her boyfriend? Does she have one? What are her problems? What are her heartaches? How does she acts and reacts on them?"

Rose was quietly looking at the girl like she was analyzing her. It was a good sign.

"Teenager siya," Rose started saying. "Sa itsura at pananamit pa lang niya, mga sixteen to eighteen siya. She is interested in teen fiction books. Gusto niya ang mga kuwento na related sa high school life kasi kanina pa rin niya bina-browse 'yong 'A Hundred Days'."

I grinned. "Go on."

"Tingin ko, galing siya sa isang middle-class family tulad ko. Hindi kasi ganoong classy ang style niya."

"Go on."

"Feeling ko... Suplada siya sa unang tingin. Nakataas kasi ang isang kilay niya ngayon. Mannerism niya siguro. Pero mukhang madali siya makasundo kapag naparamdam mo sa kanya na okay kang kasama."

Those were good observations, I thought. Then, Rose suddenly said which made me curious: "At taken na siya."

"Taken?"

"Tingnan mo." She pointed on a boy who came to the girl's side and held her by the waist. "May boyfriend na siya. Kaya rin nasabi kong mabilis siyang makasundo dahil nawala ang nakataas niyang kilay pagkarating ng boyfriend niya."

"Very good," I gladly commented. "You see the significance of what you did?"

"Imagination," she convincingly replied. "Imagination using realization."

"Correct. You imagined her life story based on what you see on her and the books that surround her. People usually choose to read the books that best suit them. In this case, the girl is in love with the boy. Don't you think?" I smiled at her as she looked on the couple who were already teasing each other. That annoyed me a bit though.

"Okay. Pero bakit sa bookstore? Bakit hindi sa isang library?" She asked me back.

"We need to be quiet when in a library, while we can talk freely in a bookstore," I responded to her. "Your imaginative mind will drown in the silence of the library. Too much silence will lead you to overthink, which will gradually make you crazy."