Lipad-Alapaap (Girlhood Series #3)

PROLOGUE

"And as I end my speech, I want to say one thing to my fellow privileged youth; always maximize your privileges."

I genuinely smiled at the faces I could see from the platform where I was standing. For me, this was a dream come true — being able to use your voice to inspire and to educate.

I was invited by a talk show to be their guest, for I was one of the youth influencers in the country right now. I was very happy when I received their invitation because finally, I could take a stand in a national TV where a lot of Filipino citizens were watching.

"There are actually a lot of ways to share your privileges. An example of this is what I am doing right now. I am using myself as an instrument to voice out the cries of the oppressed and those people living in the marginalized area. Or if you have a spare money, you can buy goods to donate," I continued empowering the heart of the youth so their hearts could burn with passion to serve the Filipino people. "I am not saying this because I am romanticizing poverty. Hence, I am saying this because I want you guys to realize that not all of us are in the same room with the same privileges. That's why I am encouraging you all to look outside your window and see how it's like outside your privileged room, and never get out of touch. That's all, thank you."

"What an empowering message from a youth advocate slash YouTuber Gianna Rossi! Once again, let's give this young lady a big big round of applause!" the host exclaimed.

I waved both of my hands to the audience as a gesture of thanking them for listening to me tonight, then I also thanked the host for having me on his talkshow. When I arrived in the backstage, I was showered by the staff of the show with a lot of congratulations. Sa sobrang dami nila, hindi ko na alam kung sa'n ako ngingiti at kung kanino ako unang magpapasalamat.

Nagpahinga lang ako saglit sa dressing room bago mapagdesisyunang lumabas. A personnel called the security team to escort me, since a lot of media were waiting for me to get out of the studio. Nang makalabas ako, halos mabulag ako sa dami ng flash na bumungad sa harap ng mukha ko.

Actually, I was not the type of person that the media would usually tail to. They rarely stick their noses on YouTubers because our scope was only on social media. But after the interview, I became an Izzy Mercedes all of a sudden. Ganito ba talaga rito sa showbiz?

"Miss Gianna, gusto mo bang magpa-interview?" tanong ng isang bouncer.

I chewed my lip as I put myself in the dilemma of going home or having an interview again. "To be honest, the only camera I am comfortable of speaking with is my filming camera. So no." I smiled as I voiced out my decision.

"Ano raw?" I heard a murmur from my behind.

"No lang naintindihan ko, boss," someone replied. "Ah, basta ayaw niya! 'Yun na 'yon!"

We continued our interrupted stride to the parking lot after I chose what to do. When we reached the parking lot, I thanked the bouncers and gave them each a 500 peso bill for escorting me away from the different journalists with their big-ass cameras.

I sat in the driver seat of my Chevy Malibu. This was the first fruit of my YouTube hustle, and I was only eighteen when I had this. Isa ito sa mga paborito kong ipagmalaki dahil ang pera na pinambili ko rito ay hindi nanggaling sa bulsa ng mga magulang ko.

Habang nagmamaneho ako pauwi, nakikinig lang ako sa playlist kong puro feel-good songs. It was the type of music I like to hear while driving, especially kapag ako lang mag-isa. Binubuhay kasi ng ganitong kanta 'yung puso ko, at nakakalimutan kong mag-isa lang ako. I was smiling and dancing to the songs despite the heavy traffic offered by Makati.

But my smile left my lips when I heard Alapaap of Eraserheads played from the stereo. It has been four years already since I had this most heartbreaking experience, pero siya pa rin ang naalala ko tuwing nakakarinig ako ng kanta ng Eraserheads — lalo na kapag Alapaap 'yung kanta. Eto 'yung madalas namin pinapakinggan dati, pareho kasi namin pangarap maging piloto.