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Panimula

Panimula

"Happy 19th birthday po, Andria."

Inabot ko sa kanya ang paperbag na kanina ko pa hawak pero hindi niya ito kinuha. She squealed when she saw me and immediately kissed me on the cheek.

When my Mommy said not to worry even though Andria and I are not really close, I didn't actually thought that Andria will be like this —smooching almost everyone.

"Glad that you came, sis! Oh, there's a section for the gifts. There oh," itinuro niya 'yung maliit na table pero punong-puno na ng mga regalo.

The gifts were near the beverages. Amoy ko na agad ang matapang na alak na nakalagay sa isang long table. The classic red cups used for house parties are scattered in different places, different kind of chips were also almost every where, and I don't even want to talk about the people who were getting a little too wild for their age.

My grip on the paperbag tightens. That's a lot of gifts, there are probably a lot of people here too.

"E-excuse me, yes, thank you..." I was pushing my way through the gifts section. Marami ang umatras, umusog at umurong upang makadaan ako.

I don't even know why I'm suppose to be here. I know my Mommy is trying to gain favors for Andria's parents since this is the subdivision where we also reside but I don't think I should be the one currying favors for them.

I heaved a sigh as my shoulders slumped.

Maybe, this has something to do with their influence with the neighborhood. Kaya naman malayang nagkaroon ng ganitong klaseng party sa subdivision namin.

It was almost like a typical house party from American teenage flicks. I heard Andria came from the states, this is probably why she's kind of liberated and freely does what she wants.

And her parents let her.

Lucky her.

My mission was successful. Nalagay ko naman ang regalo ko sa lalagyan ng mga regalo niya. It was all piled up and no one is actually watching over it.

I fetched my phone to check if my Mommy or Daddy already contacted me. Ang sabi nila ay susunduin daw nila ako kapag masyado nang gabi. I agreed because first of all, I didn't even want to be here in the first place.

The mob of people went rowdy as the song keeps on blasting. Ako naman ay agad na napatakip sa aking mga tenga.

I saw some people looking towards me and smirking.

"Philomena!" Andria went towards me and I gave her a smile. She returned it as she handed me a paperbag. "Can you put this on the gift section? I'm kind of dizzy and I might destroy the arrangements..."

I nodded and reached for the paperbag.

"Sige po, ilalagay ko po muna ito." Itinaas ko pa ang paperbag na galing sa kanya. I didn't mean to check it out but the paperbag wasn't even properly wrapped, kitang-kita ko ang polaroid sa loob nito. Nice gift.

"Enjoy, Mena! Let's talk later, okay?" Andria said but as soon as I turn to talk to her —she was already gone.

Napahawak ako sa mga braso ko, secretly embracing myself. I was really shy when it comes to gatherings, lalo na ngayon na wala ako masyadong kakilala rito.

I went to the table to put the gift. Andria sure does have a lot of friends. I don't even know why I have to be here. We only met through our parents, there's really no deep link.

This was the first night party that my parents approved. Sila pa mismo ang pumilit sa akin na pumunta. Most of the time, they don't even allow me to attend. Bigyan ko na lang daw ng regalo.