“Hailee?” A familiar voice called me.
“Hailee!” Rinig kong tawag ulit sakin at hindi ko alam ang mararamdaman nang makita ko ang taong akala ko ay hindi ko na makikita ulit.
“Clarke?”
“Akala ko hindi mo na ko maalala. Long time no see.”
Long time no see, indeed. Huling kita namin ay third year highschool palang kami. Looking at his eyes and dimples made the memories come back.
I dunno how to call what had happened between us five years ago. Naging kami ba? O imagination ko lang ang lahat? Was I just imagining that he liked me because he was doing a lot of sweet things even though he was in the other side of the world? I really dunno.
“How are you?”
“Good. You? Its been what? Seven years since the last time we saw each other?”
Naalala ko kung paano kami naguusap noon. He stayed until 4 am just for me. He always sang for me whenever I asked him to. Minsan ay bigla nalang nya ko kakantahan. Maggood night siya sakin kasabay ng pagsasabi nya na nasa school na siya. He even wanted to take care of me, when I was sick. He said he’s always gonna be there for me. He’s the constant. He was really sweet.
I smiled and pushed the thoughts away. “What are you doing here?”
“Kasama ko sila James. Party lang before I leave.”
Sila James. Sila James na kaibigan ko rin, na walang alam. Akala ko manunukso sila nung nagkita kami ulit, especially that Clarke and I were cat and dog in highschool. And James is his bestfriend, he didn’t even tell him?
“Im going back to US. We were both in US pero dito lang pala tayo ulit sa Pilipinas magkikita.”
“Oo nga.”
Silence.
“So kumusta na kayo ni Seph?” I know he’s kidding but I couldnt stop the bitter feeling.
He knew there was nothing going on between Seph and I. We were just friends. He asked me to stay away from him, I didn’t. Clarke was so insecure. He was so jealous, or so I thought. But Seph told me that their ex, cheated on Clarke, with him.
I shook my head. “Its good to see you but I have to go.”
“Pao.” I heard him say bago pa ko makalayo. “I miss you.”
Pao. That was his endearment to me. He said my cheeks looks like Siopao kaya un tawag nya sakin. I found it sweet. Pero hanggang sweet lang. Minsan nakakapuno rin. Ung puro patama nalang. Ung walang label. I asked him if whatever is going on between us is just a joke for him, he asked me, “Do you think I’d go this far if this is just a joke for me?”
Pero sa kabila noon, wala pa rin. Hindi pa rin niya sinabi kung anong meron. So I told him I like him, he asked me, “Are you on drugs?”
That’s the time I told myself its enough.
“I’ll see you around.”
