Familiar warmth in the cold

IV.

"Oh popcorn." Inabot ko ang isang bowl ng bagong lutong popcorn kay Nat. Nandito kami ngayon sa sala ng condo naming dalawa. Nanonood ng movie.

"Thanky," sambit niya na hindi inaalis ang tingin sa flat screen t.v. Yung mga mamahaling gamit ay galing kay Nat. Halos yung mga gamit ko lang sa kwarto ang akin dito. She insisted to buy everything since it was her idea to get a bigger condo.

"Saan na daw yung dalawa?" I asked while eating popcorn. It has been a week since the party. Hindi kami masyadong nag uusap ni Clarken dahil busy rin sila sa school. And I worked on erasing what I saw in the party. Kaloka si Clarken mga sis. Iba pala talaga ang kamandag eh.

"Papunta na raw. Bumili lang sila ng milktea." Nakanood na kami ng isang movie kanina. Hinihintay lang namin kung anong gusto nung dalawa... na magugustuhah rin namin.

"Babe, here's your milktea!" Rinig namin ang boses ni Rahyen mula sa labas. Nat jumped out of the sofa and opened the door for her boyfriend.

"May lakad kayo? Ano to, fashion week? May prod? Intermission number sa intrams?" Tinadtad ko sila ng tanong na ikinatawa nila. Wow, gumagaling na ang L.A. playboy mag Tagalog ah.

Paano ba naman, dumating ng naka porma. Clarken was wearing black ripped jeans and a plain blue polo while sporting his original black Rolex watch. Rahyen on the other hand was wearing a big pastel pink shirt paired with shorts na mayroon pang chains?

"Eh ikaw, saan lakad? Matutulog? Maglalaba? Mag huhugas ng plato?" What a clap back from Rahyen Martinez. Hinampas ni Natasha ang jowa niya. He was making fun of our pajamas and messy hairs. Naka pony tail naman for the record.

We sat on the big sofa. Napatingin kami ni Clarken kina Nat at Rahyen na naka sandal sa isa't isa. Natasha is leaning on Rahyen's chest.

"Yuck. Kakilabot."

"Eww. Corny."

Binati kami ng dalawa ng mga throw pillow. Pasintabi sa single oh!

"So what are we watching? Action for sure! Bring on some Dwayne Johnson right there!" Kinuha ni Clarken ang remote sa kamay ko.

"Hoy, hindi. Romance tayo. To All The Boys I Loved Before."

"Cristen is right."

"No babe. Clarken's pick is better."

Nag bangayan kaming apat. Umabot pa sa puntong bakit puro gusto ng babae ang nasusunod at nilabanan naman namin ng argumentong "Watching romance doesn't make you less of a man."

"Okay stop! We'll just pick a number. Basta kung anong mapili, yun na." Bumunot kami ng number sa palabunutan na ginawa ni Nat. Rahyen was the one to pick the number. Kung ano ang numero sa listahan ng mga movie, yun na ang panoorin namin.

"Okay so for that, we have... this one." Nat played the movie. I wasn't able to see the title because I cleaned our mess. They laughed when the movie started and I don't even know why.

"Bakit? Anong movie yan?"

"Friends with benefits." They answered in unison. I almost spit out the water I was drinking. I looked at the screen and confirmed that it is indeed that movie. Justin Timberlake is on.