A Time For Us

Chapter 1

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like after ten years? Would you have reached your dreams? Pursued your passion? Do what you were afraid to do? Being prudent can either be an advantage or a weakness. If we were to be stuck worrying about our future we may not be able to see and value thing that we currently have. We may be too focused in reaching our dreams and forget living the life we have now. Thinking about our future is great but worrying too much about it may make us lose the essence of living.

It's crazy to think that after ten years, we might not be able to see our old friend. We may never hangout with them again or go clubbing until were wasted. We may not have time to see our siblings and parents often because of different work schedules. Thinking about these things makes me realize that after ten years, a lot will change. People will come and go but only one thing will stay with us forever. That is ourselves.

I'm Jaxon Dimitri Funtabella, gaano man kasosyal pakingan yung pangalan ko kabaliktaran naman non yung totoong estado ko sa buhay. Isang hamak na skolar lang naman ako na nagaaral ng bachelor of science in accountancy sa Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila o mas kilala sa tawag na PLM. Simple lang ang buhay namin, ang nanay ko ay isang empleyado ng gobyerno habang ang aking ama may maliit na karinderya.

Habang nakatingin sa mga kumikislap na ilaw at mga taong nagsisiyahan sa may gitna ng field ng UST ay natuwa ako. Tila parang ang mga studyante rito ay walang mga problema, puro saya lang.

"Hoy Jaxon, para kang tanga diyan." Sabi ni Ronnie sabay akbay sakin.

"Anong nginingtian mo dyan?"

"Ang ganda naman ng Christmas tree niyo, ang laki." Sabi ko sabay lingon sa kanya.

Binigyan niya ako ng tingin na tila ba ay tagabundok ako.

"Jaxon, christmas tree lang yan. First time mo bang makakita ng ganyan?" tanong niya sabay bitiw sa akbay sa akin.

"Hindi naman, ang ganda lang kasi ng sa school niyo. Mukhang ginastusan." Seryosong pagpapaintindi ko sa kanya.

Imismid at inalog ang ulo na para bang umiiling. Hinawakan niya ang balikat ko.

"Dapat lang noh. Ang laki-laki ng binabayaran namin per semester. Dapat lang gastusan nila ang lahat ng events." Medyo galit na sabi niya.

"Ay Oo nga pala, sasama satin yung kaibigan ko mamaya sa inuman ha. Okay lang ba?" he asked.

"Oo naman, walang problema. Kilala mo naman ako, kaibigan ng bayan." I said then laughed.

He joined my laughter before he held my hands and pulled me inside the campus.

"Tara na nga, malapit na magperform yung favorite band ko. Kung sumama ka sa paskuhan last year, edi sana nakita mo na yung crush na crush mong singer." Sabi niya habang hinihila ako.

"Paano naman ako makakasama, hindi naman ako studyante rito, hindi rin naman ako inimvite." Mapait na sabi ko.

"Ronnie, Jaxon, I'm here." Sigaw ng babae na naka upo sa may picnic cloth sa gitna ng UST field.

Hinila ako ni Ronnie palapit doon at pinaupo.

"Jaxon, ang late mo naman dumating. Di mo tuloy nakita magperform yung ben&ben. Ang galing pa naman nila, sobrang ouchie sa heart bestie." Sabi ni Sue.

Niyakap naman siya ni Ronnie at hinalikan sa pisngi.

"Bakit ka naman nasaktan eh hindi pa naman tayo nag hihiwalay. At hindi rin naman tayo maghihiwalay. Forever tayo diba." Malambing na sabi ni Ronnie habang sinisiksik ang kanyang sarili sa kili-kili ni Sue.

Gumawa nalang ako ng expression na tila ba ay nasusuka. Bakit ba ako nagkaroon ng ganitong mga kaibigan? Well, si Ronnie ay bestfriend ko since grade 6 when he transferred to our school. Then in highschool, I met Sue. Classmate namin siya tapos niyaya niya akong magmeryenda. At first, I refused, pero nung sinabi niyang libre niya. Go na Go ako. Then days after naging close narin siya ng mga friends ko tapos pagpasok ko isang araw, sila na. walang ligaw-ligaw basta sila na.

"Pinagsisihan ko talagang pumayag na magpalibre ng merienda sayo." Mapait na sabi ko.

Napatigil sila sa paghaharutan at sabay na napatingin sakin.

"Grabe ka naman bestie, aren't you happy for us?" Sue said in a cute tone. She gave me puppy eyes but I just rolled my eyes at her.

"Kung ganitong klaseng landian ba naman ang mikikita araw-araw sino ba ang hindi maiinis?" I said.

"Edi humanap ka rin ng jowa. Hindi yung inaaway mo ako kasi bitter ka." She said na parang naiinis.

"Alam mo naman di ba, study first. At kung gusto ko man magjowa edi sana nagtinder na ako." I said.

She scanned my body then laughed.

"Alam mo, wala naman problema sayo eh. I mean, gwapo ka naman, okay naman katawan mo. Yung ugali mo maaayos pa naman yan---" I cut her off.

"Anong ibig mo sabihin na maayos?" I asked and moved closer to them.

Pinagitnaan kami ni Ronnie at inakbayan kami parehas.

"You're perfect Jaxon. You truly are, but you're too nice." She said then held my hand.

"I agree" Ronnie said and looked at me.

"I'm nice naman pala, so what's wrong?" I asked.

"You are too nice that people will get the wrong idea because of it. Remember Maria? The one you helped to study?" she said.

I nodded.

"She thought that you liked her. That you were helping her because you are interested in her. Then she made a whole illusion that you and her are a thing. That's kind of dumb because you're..." she looked confused.

"Gay." I continued.

"Yes, but along you being too nice, is you being too innocent not knowing that what you're doing genuinely can come out rude to others."

She said.

"That's true Jaxon, the way you denied her so f*cking brutal. I mean, she prepared this whole surprise for your 1st monthsary tapos tatanongin mo siya kung magjowa ba kayo? Bro, ang savage mo dun."

Ronnie said jokingly.

I sighed and frowned.

"But you know, we didn't come here to talk about how shitty you are. We are here to have fun and listen to music. So tara na, tayo na! it's time to party!" Sue stood up and started to sway with the pop music being played.

Ronnie and her started to sway with each other. While I'm dancing alone. Sad.

We continued dancing when suddenly I was left alone. The two were nowhere to be found but, I was having fun dancing so instead of looking for them, I continued dancing. And when the beat dropped, along with everyone else, I started to jump.

After two more songs, then I decided to look for them. I called them but no one was answering. Texted them but still no reply.

"T*ngina." I said while looking at my phone.

Naghintay ako ng ilan pang minute bago nagdesisyon na umuwi. I was pre-occupied texting them a long hate message when I suddenly bumped into someone.

Natapunan ako nung iniinum niyang juice. My shirt is wet and so is his.

"I'm so sorry." I said then grabbed my hankie from my pocket then crouched to wipe his shirt.

"What the F*ck!" He said angrily so I looked up at him. "So stupid, aren't you looking at where you're--" tha last sentence is almost a whisper.

I stood up straight and looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry" I said softly.

He looked at me with his eyes narrowing, his brows calming and lips faintly smiling.

"It's okay." He said and smiled shyly. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket then tried to dry himself. He looked at me and held his hand up and said...

"I'm Luke Sandoval. Are you single?"