50 BOATS

Fourth Boat (Lower Deck)

To my second boyfriend who named Rafglen, the fourth boat is for you.

Am I ready for this? Am I ready to spill the real tea?

This fourth boat is divided into two decks. Different genres, different challenges, same man.

The lower deck is how it all started.

Okay, here it goes... I think I am ready to talk about the past, to talk about you.

We first met each other way back 2005. Grade 2 tayo no'n. Classmates. Kaso we're not friends kasi we had different group of friends. I don't know who were your friends that time but I assure you I'm not one of them.

Wala naman talaga akong pakialam sa 'yo. Wala akong pakialam sa ibang kaklase natin na hindi naman ako kinakausap. Nasa adjustment period pa ako no'ng time na iyon kasi bago sa paningin ko ang ibang kaklase natin pero luckily I blended with them easily.

Napansin lang kita no'ng isang araw, nahulog ka from the second floor to the first floor. How it happened? I don't know. Ang tanga mo naman no'ng time na iyon.

'Yong room kasi namin dati ay nasa second floor ng building. Actually, lahat ng star sections from Grade 1-6 ay nasa second floor ng Barcelona Building. Medyo delikado lalo na't mga bata pa kami no'ng time na iyon and playing was only our priority. Unlike sa grade 5-6 kasi medyo nagkaka-isip na.

So 'yon nga, nahulog ka sa barandilya ng second floor. Dinala ka sa ospital at hindi ko na nalaman kung anong sunod na nangyari. All I knew that time is you survived.

Bigla ka na lang pumasok sa school na may helmet ka na sa ulo. As far as I remember, you were called helmet boy. Tama ba? Ewan. Nakalimutan ko na kasi.

Basta, simula no'ng aksidenteng iyon, pinagsuot ka na ng helmet for biking. Color blue pa nga 'yon, e. Later on, nalaman ko na 'yong helmet ay para proteksiyon sa stitches ng injury na nakuha mo no'ng malaglag ka.

And I have this specific memory about you when we were on our 2nd grade. I saw you one night, nagba-bike ka and sa likuran mo, nakasunod ang owner-type jeep ng family mo and they were guiding you to bike on a national road. From that day on, naging malupet ka na sa paningin ko.

Magka-klase tayo mula grade 2 hanggang grade 6. But we're not friends. We don't share the same circle of friends. You were weird. You were unpredictable. You were different. Para kang multo, lol.

Teka nga, sandali lang. Teka, sandali lang talaga. Ano ba! Ba't nagtutunog bitter ako? Wait, I'll lighten the mood lang.

Okay, so madalang sa sobrang dalang lang tayong magpansinan noon. I don't even care about you. All I know is that you were my classmate, nothing more, nothing less. Masiyado akong busy sa buhay ko with my first discovered crush life. Masiyado akong focus sa ibang bagay. Masiyado akong nalibang kay sige kog kaon. Char. #ProudBisaya

Okay, so, back to it. So, um, yeah, hindi talaga kita napapansin. Hindi ko napansin na kahit sobrang lapit lang ng bahay mo sa school ay nagawa mo pang maging late everyday. Hindi kita napansin na ikaw 'yong gumawa ng paper mache project natin dati, 'yong turtle? Hey, that was amazing by the way. Nagawa mo 'yon at that age. Hindi kita napansin na ikaw 'yong tinatawag nilang attorney because your father, were at that time, in Law School.

Hindi kita napansin o pinili ko lang na magbulag-bulagan sa 'yo? Never thought these information retained in my memory up until now. Hindi nga yata kita napansin.

So, dahil hindi kita napansin, kaya pagtungtong natin ng high school, hindi ko alam na hindi na pala tayo magka-klase na dalawa.

We separated ways. Sa public high school ako nag-aral, just like our other classmates, at ikaw naman ay sa private school because you quite belong to the rich society. I dunno, dahil siguro educated and professionals ang family mo kaya itinuring kayo ng iba na mayaman.