๐๐๐
๐๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐, ๐ต:๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฎ.๐บ.
"Calling the attention of all high school freshmen. All high school freshmen."
Ms. Angeles, our English teacher, stopped reading the passage from The Catcher in the Rye. It was the second class for the day and it was going quite slow. Beside me, Shishi raised his head from his sleep sa ibabaw ng bag niya. Lahat kami ay napatingin sa speaker na nakasabit sa itaas ng chalkboard, on the right side, near the door.
"Please proceed to the gymnasium and bring your things with you. I repeat, please proceed to the gymnasium and bring your things with you. Thank you."
Ms. Angeles sighed. "Okay, class dismissed. Proceed to the gymnasium now, please."
We were like rabid animals na biglang pinakawalan sa wild dahil madaling madali kaming lumabas lahat. I headed straight away sa kabilang room to meet my best friends. Nakasalubong ko pa nga si Paris who must be looking for Shishi. He said hello and even winked at me kaya natawa ako.
Sa gym, we were asked to line up like noong opening ceremony. Kaya kami ni Gwen, sa medyo likod ulit nakapila. Helen was in the frontmost kasi she was apparently the shortest in our year.
On the stage, standing there in a lovely yellow dress, was the school's principal, Ayako Matsuoka. I found out from Kurai Miwako last night that she was Kyo's cousin. Fuck me, I was stalking their band online again. But I thought magka-surname lang sila at first. Behind her were some members of the faculty including our Homeroom teacher, Mr. Gutierrez.
"Ohayou gozaimasu," bati niya in Japanese. I knew it meant good morning. Watching anime all my life, I knew the basic greetings in that language. Besides, it was taught here once a week. We had our first class for that subject yesterday for thirty minutes.
Binati din namin siya in unison ng, "Ohayou."
"I won't take this any further," Principal Matsuoka said. "I've called for this assembly to announce something which I'm sure will make you all love this school more."
Whispers erupted. Saying something like that would of course trigger everyone's curiosity. And the fact na para lang sa freshmen ang assembly na 'to made it more interesting.
"Let's just say I've done a little observation since school started on Monday to see how everyone was holding up, especially sa mga new students natin."
"Ano kayang na-observed niya?" Gwen wondered.
"Makinig ka kasi," I told her.
"Nagtatanong lang ako, ang arte mo."
"So I've found out that most of you have friends from other classes which you are not in. Please take a look at this picture for example."
Kasabay ng paglabas ng picture sa PowerPoint presentation ay ang tilian ng mga girls. Well, it was none other than a picture of Paris and Shishi together kasi. It looked like a selfie taken by Paris in which he only dragged Shishi with him. Mukhang napilitan lang talaga si Shishi sa picture. The upper half of his face was hidden beneath the bullcap he was wearing. I also saw that sa Kurai Miwako. Fuck me talaga.
I looked around me, trying to find the Vandalics, and I located them standing a line away to our left. They were in the back, with Paris sa pinakadulo and si Shishi sa unahan niya.
"We all know that Mr. Dominguez and Mr. Abrell are really close friends even before they started their music career, and even before they joined our own prodigies, Mr. Chavez, Mr. Sullivan, and Mr. Amore, in their band Pale As Dead. And it was such a shame that they were separated this school year."
And the fangirls howled and shrieked, drowning the rest of Principal Matsuoka's words with their noise. I wanted to strangle them. Fangirl din ako but not to that extent. Excellency in discipline, my ass.
Despite that, our principal still smiled patiently and tried to calm the shrieking banshees down. "Lastly, this picture of these new students."
And when the picture came out, my jaw dropped. Parang gusto ko na lang himatayin sa sobrang hiya.
It was a picture of me, Gwen, and Helen. In it, my best friends were waiting for me in front of our classroom. And there I was sa door, palabas pa lang. We were all smiling.
I wanted to shriek like the fangirls. How did they even take that picture of us? Gusto kong magalit kasi we were never asked for our consent, but we looked pretty pa rin naman sa picture so I chose na hindi na lang magreklamo. It was grainy, like a shot from a security camera, and the angle suggested that it was taken from the hallway.
Humarap sa akin si Gwen as she put a hand on her lips. "Nakakahiya. This is so nakakahiya."
"God, tayo lang ba ang new students dito?"
"These three girls are new students here," Principal Matsuoka continued. "I've found out that they were sadly separated as well. Ms. Yurieva is in 1-A while Ms. Renfro and Ms. Lo are in 1-B."
Gwen and I groaned. I did not want to be mentioned na parang shout-out. Nagtitinginan na kasi sa amin ang lahat ng nearby students. I had no idea how our school principal even knew about us.
Lumingon ako sa pwesto ng Vandalics. I should not be bothered but the thought pa lang na nakita nila yun was embarrassing. They were freaking celebrities here, for fuck's sake. What would they think? Jesus.
Paris was already looking at us. When he saw me turn my head, he waved. On the other hand, Shishi stood with his hands inside his hoodie's pockets and tahimik lang siya na nakikinig (yata?) sa sinasabi ni Principal Matsuoka sa stage. He looked so bored, yet so strangely chill.
Then he turned his head towards our direction. And my heart skipped a beat.
Nag-iwas agad ako ng tingin. Bigla akong kinabahan. Maybe because nahuli niya akong nakatingin sa kanya. Nakakahiya. Baka kung ano pa ang isipin niya.
"So, this assembly is about the new class distribution."
The screaming and cheers that followed were the loudest I had ever heard my schoolmates do.
Kahit papaano, natuwa rin ako kasi makakasama ko na ang friends ko sa class. Gwen and I even hugged each other. Kahit lagi kaming nagbabangayan na dalawa at nagsasakitan, syempre mahal ko pa rin siya. From the front, Helen gave us a thumbs-up.
"See the bulletin board for the new rosters. That's all. Dewa odaijini, minna. Gokigen yo."
Kasabay ng pagbaba ni Principal Matsuoka mula sa stage was the spread of chitter-chatter. Nagsama-sama na yung mga nasa same groups to go to the quadrangle.
"Mga panget!" Helen called us with an excited smile and as soon as nakalapit na siya sa amin ni Gwen, dinamba niya kaming dalawang ng hug. "Classmates na tayo for sure!"
We got to the bulletin board and immediately checked the first roster for Class 1-A. We were delighted to find that Principal Matsuoka was true to her word.
14. ๐๐ฐ, ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ
23. ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ, ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ
28. ๐ ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ข, ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฌ๐ข ๐๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฏ๐ข
"Hey, look," Gwen called us to attention while we were in the middle of celebrating this miracle. "Classmates din natin sila Shishi at Paris."
Because of what she pointed out, I felt this new wave of quavering in my stomach. Two of the three most popular kids in school would be in the same room as us for the next ten months. That was something to be excited or even nervous about for me.
1. ๐๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด
9. ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ป, ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฉ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ
Na-focus yung attention ko for a second sa pangalan ni Shishi. His real name, Shiloh, sounded so cool. It meant 'peace' and was mentioned in the Bible. Hindi ko rin alam kung bakit but I Googled what his name meant last night. After seeing him perform live, lalo akong na-curious sa kanya. It was just funny kasi kabaliktaran niya ang meaning ng name niya.
We stepped aside as a new group came in to look. It was the girl with deep dimples na lagi kong nakikita around school. She was from 1-C before, I saw her go out of that room when I went out to go to the toilet. Flanking her were two other girls who had matching flamboyant daffodil earrings. She traced the names under 1-A with her index finger until she stopped at one and smiled.
5. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข
She had a nice name. I mean, Amara sounded so pretty. Unlike mine, Dominika. It sounded so matigas sa dila.
"We're not classmates, Amy," the girl on Amara's right said with a pout.
"Shut up and don't bitch about it," the other said. When Amara looked at her with her brown doe eyes, blinking twice, the girl pressed her lips together in a snarky smile. I guessed she would be in our class too.
Nauna silang umalis. Hanggang sa mawala sila sa paningin ko, nakatingin ako sa kanila. Amara might be short, but she had nice legs that she did not hide dahil ankle-length na white socks lang ang gamit niya.
We went back to the classroom at half past ten to wait for our next class before lunch. It was the same room as I had the past two days and I told Gwen to occupy Shishi's seat. In some ways, it was probably a privilege to sit next to him, but I wanted to sit next to my friends more. Helen occupied the seat on the other side of Gwen. It was a great thing na wala pang masyadong tao sa loob so we had the chance to choose where we wanted to sit.
"Let's go to OT later," I said. "Twice a week na attendance sa club ang kailangan, 'di ba?"
"Yeah," Gwen answered before clucking her tongue. "Ang bagal nga ng oras, eh."
"Excited ka lang na makita si Kyo, eh," sabi ko pa. "Tapos magpapabebe ka 'pag kaharap mo na."
"Oh, shut up for once."
I was about to say something more but the door slid open which was immediately followed by our classmates' hollering.
"Here they are na!"
Shishi and Paris strode in. Shishi donned his usual deep scowl and it even deepened when his eyes landed on his old seat. Lasing 'yan, naamoy ko yung alcohol from him noong katabi ko siya kaninang umaga. Si Paris naman, feeling kandidato na nagca-campaign kung makakaway at bati sa fangirls.
And Amara was with themโwhich made me make a taas-kilay.
"Shit, pare. Ang ganda talaga ni Amy. Ang sexy pa," said the guy na nakaupo sa unahan ng seat na nasa unahan ko.
Nagkatinginan kaming tatlo when Amaraโor Amyโlinked arms with Shishi as she pointed to the vacant chairs in the front. Gwen even closed my mouth by pushing my chin up kasi napanganga talaga ako.
"They're together?" I asked in disbelief. It was not like I had a crush on Shishi and I was jealous. But he did not strike me as one to commit romantically to someone. And the fact that it was the girl whom I found so pretty pa talaga ang girlfriend niya was really surprising. She was the most beautiful girl I had seen in school so far kaya. Like, he was hot, but they were more like a princess version of Shan Cai and an angrier Dao Ming Si. Clichรฉ.
But in fairness, bagay pa rin silang dalawa. There was something about them that would make you think how perfect of a match they were kapag nakita mo silang magkasama. It was maybe what they called 'chemistry' or something.
"Aw, kawawa naman ang Dee-Dee namin, broken agad," Helen teased.
"What? No! Iโ"
Napatigil ako kasi nakita kong papalapit na sa amin si Shishi. Tumigil siya sa harap ng table ni Gwen at nakipagtitigan siya sa friend ko with squinted and angry eyes.
Gwen looked at me then at Helen as her face lost its color. "Um... Sorry, okay. I'm moving."
"No, you're not," Helen said. Hinawakan niya si Gwen sa braso. She raised her chin and tinitigan niya rin si Shishi like a seething little ball of fire.
"Shi, come on, dun na lang tayo," Amy said, tugging at Shishi's arm.
"We weren't told na the seat plan would be the same," sabi ko kaya napatingin si Shishi sa akin. Kinabahan ako. For the love of God, I never knew someone else's stare could unnerve me like that. It was the same stare that always made me lock myself in my room at home and the realization na mangyayari rin pala sa akin 'yon sa school disheartened me to the core.
Tinitigan lang din ako ni Shishi, but hindi siya nagsalita.
"There are plenty of other seats left," I added. Medyo nag-tremble pa yung voice ko sa last word na sinabi ko kasi for a very short period of time, natakot talaga ako sa biglang tingin niya sa akin kanina.
"Pwesto ko 'yan," he said. Yun lang ang sinabi niya pero napababa ako ng ulo kahit hindi ako nag-iwas ng tingin.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paris leave the guy he was talking to and walk over to us.
"Tol, tara, dun tayo sa unahan," Paris said, clasping a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Nauna na sila dito, eh."
Shishi swatted Paris' hand off him and walked over to the front with Amy tailing after him.
"Tabi," Shishi told the guy who said Amy was beautiful earlier and he took the seat when the poor dude left. Amy then took the seat next to him.
"Sorry," Paris said. "Sira talaga ulo no'n, eh."
"We're not surprised," sabi ni Helen kaya napatingin sa kanya si Paris.
Gwen tapped Helen lightly with the back of her hand kasi medyo rude ang friend namin sa part na yun, but Helen did not back down.
"Init ng ulo mo lagi sa'kin," emotionless na sabi ni Paris before looking at me. "Sorry ulit, ah. Nakainom kasi, eh. Kaya bad trip."
"Okay lang," I told him. He smiled at me and nodded at Gwen, tapos umupo na siya sa kabilang tabi ni Amy.
Lumingon sa amin si Amy at nagkatinginan kami. She smiled apologetically before going back to her conversation with Shishi. And I could not tear my eyes from him kahit sa likod ng ulo niya lang ako nakatingin.
He's taken na pala.
"Pa'no 'yan, babe?" Helen asked. "Unavailable na pala yung crush mong salbahe."
"What?" I frowned. "Who said crush ko siya?"
"Sabi mo sa'kin!" Helen slapped Gwen sa balikat.
Tumawa si Gwen. "So si Zach pa rin?"
"Seriously? Change topic."
"Fine," Gwen said and narinig ko pa na pinagalitan siya ni Helen.
Babalik ka pa ba, Zach?
"Hoy, Dee. Don't you cry on us, ha."
"Shut up, Gwendolyn. Sinong iiyak? Ang lakas ng boses mo."
Nine years down the drain, Zach.
I felt eyes looking at me so napatingin ako sa harap where I sensed the stare coming from. My brows furrowed slightly to see that it was Shishi. But as soon as nagkatinginan kami, he looked away. Baka napatingin lang. Ang lakas kasi talaga ng boses ni Gwen.
The day went by fast after that. Our club activity ended at about four. Kyo even asked us if we liked the new class distribution when we got there, but he left early kasi kailangan niyang pumunta sa Kapisanan ng Musika to probably do some music-related stuff. I had no idea what they did there. I hung out in the lobby of our clubroom kasi wala pa akong guild na nasasalihan. Ate Jessa Presto, the captain of Cosplayers Guild, was egging me to join them, but I told her I was not sure yet because I was still considering Streamers. After all, all they did there was watch anime or read manga and discuss them. Who would not want that?
My parents were not home when I got back, so I walked to Alpha Mart, the convenience store inside our subdivision, to buy snacks. I planned to watch the first three episodes of the new historical and military anime that was released a few weeks ago. The anime-focused online group that I joined was raving about it since its release so I was curious. Also, the silence that my Mommy Alicia left behind always made me want to cry so I tended to keep myself busy.
Mommy Alicia was my dad's aunt. My real grandmother, her sister, died when Dad was still a kid so she raised him instead. Then when he graduated from high school, he moved to Russia because of my grandfather. He went back a little over two decades ago and married my mom.
Mom and Dad would always spend the better part of the year in Lesovostok. They had a fishery there since yun ang industry that the city was known for. I had been there twice and it was nice naman. It was more of a 'walk around and take it all in' kind of place from what I could remember, but it was not for me. Siguro kasi hindi naman ako doon lumaki.
Next to Alpha Mart was Mineski Infinity, the internet cafรฉ where I used to hang out with Zach. He always played DOTA there with some of his friends here. Lagi ko siyang hinihintay sa lounge and it always took him hours but every wait was worth it. Lalo kapag nakangiti siyang lalabas kasi panalo sila ng team niya and he won cash kasi ipangkakain namin yun sa burger place dito.
Lalagpasan ko na sana yung Mineski kaso I was called by a familiar voice. To say I was surprised to see the Vandalics outside was an understatement. There they were, with three more guys around our age.
Paris walked up to me with a smile. "Hey. Dito ka pala nakatira?"
"Yeah. Anong ginagawa niyo dito?"
"Dumayo lang kami. Pustahan sa DOTA."
"Laki ng smile mo, ah. Nanalo kayo?"
"Heartthrob smile tawag d'yan," he said with a wink kaya napatawa ako. "Hindi pa kami nakakapaglaro. Ngayon lang din kami nakadayo dito, eh. Sa'n ka dito?"
"Sigma Street," I said and my eyes traveled past Paris papunta kila Shishi at Kyo.
Kyo waved at me, but Shishi scoffed as he lifted the cigarette stick to his lips. Nakakainis kasi parang siya pa ang bad trip na makita ako kahit ako yung taga-dito.
"Tagal ng bakante, eh," sabi ni Paris. "May naglalaro pa kasi. May practice pa naman kami mamayang eight. Para sa gig sa Sabado. Manonood ba kayo?"
"Yup."
"Nainom ka ba? Kasi kailangan mong bumili ng beer sa entrance. Yun yung entrance fee, kumbaga."
"Aw, no, I don't drink."
"Sige, bigay mo na lang sa'kin yung beer mo."
Napangiti ako. "Sure. Kaso hindi pala namin alam yung papunta sa Toracco. I mean, I got directions from Google kaso sabi ng review dun, hindi raw yun accurate."
"Gano'n? Teka." Paris shoved his hand inside his pocket and brought out his phone. "Anong number niyo? Para ma-text ko kayo sa Sabado."
Napatingin ako sa kanya saglit. Then sa mga kabanda niya ulit. Kyo was speaking with the other guys, but si Shishi ay nakatingin sa amin. I took the phone from Paris and typed our numbers one by one, copying Gwen's and Helen's from mine because I did not have theirs memorized, and gave it back to him.
"Pupunta ba talaga si Helen? Laging galit sa'kin yun, eh. Bakit daw ba?"
"Oh," I mumbled. I was caught off-guard and I fumbled for words to say. "Um, ewan. Medyo suplada kasi talaga yun, but she's really sweet when you get to know her. Legit one of the nicest people I know."
"Talaga," sabi niya. Nakangiti naman siya, so I guessed he believed me. He should kasi totoo naman yun. "Hindi yata kami ang last set, so may time para makatambay tayo. Puntahan ko kayo pagtapos naming tumugtog."
"Sige."
"Kuya, tara na!" Kyo called. Pumasok na yung iba, but he and Shishi waited for Paris.
"Pasok na 'ko," Paris said. "Takits bukas."
"Yeah, good luck. Manlibre ka kapag nanalo kayo, ah."
Tumawa siya and lightly tapped my waist. Nagkatinginan kami saglit. He must have intended to tap my back but missed. He seemed to disregard it na lang and smiled at me again. "Libre kita ng lunch bukas."
I laughed as well. "Sabi mo 'yan. I'd hold on to that."
He flashed me one last smile and waved. Then he went inside. Kyo followed him, but Shishi did not. He stayed outside, his back against the brick wall, and took a long drag off his cigarette while holding my gaze.
Nginitian ko siya. It was a 'nangangapang ngiti' on my part, but his face remained the same.
Instead, dumiretso siya ng tayo as he rubbed his finger against his nose at itinapon niya yung cigarette niya sa ground. Without so much as a nod, pumasok na rin siya and I was left there feeling nostalgic to the bones.
It was like watching Zach enter the same internet cafรฉ all over again.