Book 1: The Day She Came (UNDERGOING MAJOR REVISION)

Chapter 5 - First Time

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Di ko mapigilan ang palakas na palakas na pagtibok ng puso ko.

The world had stopped turning. Time stopped flowing. Sa isang kisapmata'y pakiramdam ko'y nahuhulog ako ng paulit-ulit. Did she have some kind of magic? Was she some time deity?

I never had the time to find out myself.

"It's you!" she exclaimed.

Napakurap ako.

"What?" I absentmindedly asked.

Tumawa siya. "You're blocking the way." she said in an amiable tone.

"Oh, sorry." ani ko bago pumagilid.

Something clicked in my brain. Was it an instinctive decision? Was it a rational choice I made? Before I could even ponder what had happened, my brain lagged behind my mouth.

"You're going? Can I treat you a couple of slices first?" I heard myself ask.

Tiningnan niya ako habang iniisip kung nagbibiro ba ako. She then looked away, thinking.

"Hmm – maybe I could stay for a couple slices. Libre mo diba?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." sabi ko.

Ewan ko pero in an instant, I felt this warm feeling towards her. A rush of positive emotions flooded my system. Pakiramdam ko ba ay matagal na kaming magkakilala, and it's like I'm going out with a friend whom I haven't seen for quite a long time.

"TARA!" she giddily said.

I felt her hand wrap around mine before I felt her tug. Everything looked so damn slower that they should be. Aba'y putangina, pakiramdam ko'y nakahallucinogen ako or something. The way her hair bounced off her back as she skipped towards the counter, the way people walked here and there, the way she seemed to bounce with every step, the way everything moved; all of it was so fucking slow.

Gusto kong sumigaw, hindi dahil frustrated ako or anything, pero gusto kong sumigaw at magtatatalon. Pero I held my composure. Baka mapagkamalan akong tanga kung bigla na lang akong magtatatalon ditto.

A whole pan of pizza arrived at our table in a few moments, as well as our drinks. Sinabihan ko siyang mauna nang kumuha ng isang hiwa. She did so, but I could sense reluctance as she did. I couldn't blame her. The fact that she was eating pizza with someone she only met a couple of times makes up for that.

"What brings you here?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Wala. I just want to be alone." I replied before biting off a chunk of pizza.

"You wanna be alone but I'm here dahil inaya mo ako." she said, with a confused look.

"Well, wala lang. Nagbago yata isip ko." I lied.

"Hindi ka pa sigurado kung nagbago isip mo o hindi?" she asked before chuckling.

"What? Really. It's a fact." I defended myself with wacky gestures.

She laughed.

My God. That laugh. I have only heard it a couple of times but it's still as angelic as ever. It's like a heavenly woman came down to this pizza place and sat opposite me.

The night flew past us, as the pizza began to slowly disappear, slice after slice. Hindi ko namalayan na paunti nang paunti ang mga tao sa loob ng pizza place. I have only realized that it was late when she received a phone call.

"Opo, opo. Sige po." she said before hanging up. "Welp." she turned to me. "Looks like I have to skedaddle." she added as she swung her jacket over her head and pulling it down her torso.