Into the Spotlight

Chapter 5

"Sana all pinage-effort-an!"

"Sana all may boy best friend!"

Nakapangalumbaba ako habang sumisimsim sa milkshake ko at nakatingin sa kawalan. Walang humpay naman ang pag-iingay ni Pat at Jian dito sa table namin. Kulang na lang ay itodo nila ang pagsigaw para umabot sa entrance.

They were making a fuss about the papers Shin gave me this morning.

It turns out that the paper he gave was a scratch of when he was trying to find out the meaning of the Thai question I wrote in my notebook. Nung time na kumakain kami ng midnight snack. Pinicture-an niya pala 'yon tsaka niya hinanap.

I only know taught him the basics of Thai script so I didn't expect that he'd be able to translate it into English. Medyo complicated pa naman ang Thai script.

He probably searched for the romanized equivalent of each character tapos gumamit na siya ng Google translate. He actually got an accurate meaning.

ถ้าคุณมีชื่อเสียงคุณจะยังเป็นเพื่อนกับเราไหม?
If you become famous, will you still be our friend?

Tangina, ang sipag. Kung ako 'yan, tatamarin akong magtranslate. Hay, sana all nga.

Then on the envelope, he wrote a response which left me in awe.

อะไร ทำให้ คุณ คิด อย่าง นั้น? ฉัน จะ ไม่ เคย.
What makes you think so? I will never.

About Pat and Jian being noisy? Of course I told them about it. I always tell the girls (include Earl, too) everything gossip-worthy. But right now, sana pala hindi ko na sinabi. They're making a big deal out of it kasi.

"Don't you consider Chris and Shin your boy best friends? How 'bout Earl?" I asked.

Pat gave me a dismissive gesture. "Nah. First of all, hindi boy si Earlita. Si Chris naman ka-close namin. I mean, what I mean is 'yung childhood friend na boy best friend! Gets mo ba ako? Atsaka ikaw kasi ang best best friend ni Nate and vice versa. Basta, ewan ko! 'Di ko rin maintindihan ang sarili ko."

"Gets kita, mga one half at one fourth." pagtango ni Jian. "Basta 'yung friend na solid since kabataan, ganern. 'Yong bang sobrang perfect ng friendship"

I shrugged. "Sa Wattpad lang may ganoon, guys. I meant the perfect friendship. Kita mo nga kami ni Shin, kung minsan ay halos magsapakan na? Ganoon talaga 'pag parehas siraulo."

"Daming alam, sana all pa rin." Jian muttered.

I just heaved a sigh and finished eating my lunch while my two companions are talking to—or should I say, shouting at— each other. Paminsan-minsan ay nakikigulo ako sa kanila lalo na 'pag nadadamay ako sa usapan but most of the time, I'm silent whenever I'm eating.

The professor of our next subject after lunch did not attended to our class so I opted to read through our recent lesson for a few minutes and proceeded to type an update on my laptop.

"Sophia, Sophia!" medyo masama pa ang pagpukol ko ng tingin sa kaklase kong tumawag sa amin. She looks unbothered naman so it's okay. I don't like it if someone is disturbing me whilst I'm busy.

May inilapag siyang strawberry milkshake sa desk ko at kinikilig na ngumiti. "May nagpapabigay."

"May nagpapabigay?" Sinuri kong mabuti ang cup at may naka-tape pang note na may smiley face. Binalik ko ang tingin sa laptop at nagpatuloy sa pagtipa. "Sino raw?"