Forgetting the Remembered Part II
"Is he or is he not?" And this was my question after the signs had been subtly revealed to me, stealing and modifying a scene from Macbeth.
"Yes, he is," my good friend Heaven would usually say, "because of the signs." (Oh, Ven. You’re such a good friend. Where are the rest like you?)
"Yeah right," my beastfiend Maya Anghela would butt in. (Are you my friend? Joke.)
And after hearing my story equally equipped with gestures, sounds, facial expressions and other add-ons, others just stared at me as if I just read 20 romance novels, some nodded their heads as if they have heard about it for a million of times, and the rest asked me in the most polite manner if I’m depressed. Can’t a gal have a potential love story scripted in heaven? (*toink) Ouch.
To see if he’s indeed the one, I tested myself in stupid ways like: if he likes what I like to eat, he’s the one; if he’s into arts, he’s the one; if it will rain (this was during the rainy season) every morning for five days, he’s the one; and other crazy ifs.
The first "if" came true: (flashback please!) When we went back to Manila after the seminar, the group separated into two to eat dinner. It was probably God who grouped us because some of my friends ate at McDo while we (there’s probably 8 to 9 of us) went for Burger King. We– I and he— ordered at the same time in different counters, three counters between us.
When we came back to our tables, as if it’s really scripted, we sat opposite to each other and found out that we ordered the same dish— terriyaki rice bowl with bottomless ice tea.
"Ay, pareho ‘ta," he suddenly said. I just smiled, my way of not saying anything stupid again.
"Wala ka nasum-udan sa sauce?" he continued while I started gobbling up my terriyaki-laced rice.
"Wala man. Okay lang," I finally answered after taking a gulp from the tea.
After a slash of silence, he added, "Nasum-uran ko ‘ya."
The second "if" also came true. He’s into arts (great, yipee!). But though he is more skilled with a mouse than with a brush, he’s still considered as an artist. He also sings great, no kidding. I’m not saying this because he’s my crush. He sounds like Josh Groban, really.
And the third "if"? Well, the first day was MTV-like: me, walking towards my classroom for 7:15 am— in slow motion; then the sky did some sprinkling and moistening, leaving my face dewy. Oh, happiness.
On the second day, however, the sky was a little sad; it gave minutes of heavy tears.
The third day was like- Ako:"guys, ngaa may sun?" Fwend: "It’s morning, gurl. ‘La ka naman guro katulog kagab-i ‘no?"
The fourth day, my friends approached me and said, "Pst, ano ginakasubo mo da? Nag-away na naman kamo ni Nanay mo o ara imo?" Ako: "Wala a. Gusto ko tani mag-hibi." Fwend: "Ngaa haw?" Ako:"I will cry instead of the sky." Fwend:"Gapakadlaw ka? Joke ‘to?Tickle me, tickle me."
And on the fifth day… Fwend: "Ti, wala ka na pag-asa parts. ‘La naka-ulan for three days na." Ako: "May ara parts eh. Galing… lihog lang a(dala trapo sang back of my hand sa iya uniform). Fwend: "Wala huya."
Well, almost all of my crazy "ifs" failed me and just led me making foolish assumptions— which made me "assuming." That’s when I realized it’s not for me to control the situation, so I handed it over to Destiny. Plus, I don’t belive in coincidence.
"Destiny, destiny… daw si piho ka… It’s up to you na ‘ya. Remember what our T.H.E. teacher in high school said- ‘Life is what you make it’," blurted out by another friend when I told her about the destiny thing.
"Sa Serendipity gani…" I said, trying to convince her.
"Movie man na iya," she retorted back.
"Support man da bi ho…"
I ignored the other comments of my friends, then I prepared the driver’s seat for Destiny and drove me to him a number of times (voice insert: that’s because you’re in the same school, you…).
One Friday afternoon, (which is our university’s free day—meaning, we can dress in civilian clothes and we don’t have classes the whole day; we just have to attend to our organizations, school projects, and other academic stuff), I borrowed the mountain bike of our college pub photographer and zoomed my way towards the grand stand. (I normally biked around the campus and didn’t mind people or slow down because I didn’t want them to think that I was showing off or enjoying the ride in another way— whatever that means to you; biking was a stress-reliever to me back then.) Okay, back to the story.
As I was zooming toward the grand stand, there were groups of students coming my way. Out of nowhere (or because nga I wan’t looking), he blocked my way, which made me loose my grip on the bike for a few seconds; if not for my total concentration, I would have bruised myself.
He laughed, probably enjoying my embarrassment; "Buang," I said quickly before speeding off again.
As I made several twists and turns around the campus, I somehow regretted why didn’t I let myself fall when he blocked me; I should have fallen from the bike to his hands, we should have fallen together, or we should have fallen for each other… (Voice insert: You wish! Wahahaha!)
Okay, okay. It’s just him and his friendly way of greeting me "hi." And it’s just me and my assuming self. Ha!
School year 2004-2005 ended and summer embraced us with its warmth. I didn’t see him again, which was good as I was able to concentrate with pub concerns.
After weeks of running after teachers, writing news articles of same topics as that of previous years’, spending a series of nights at a printing press in Baluarte for presswork on the college’s newsletter, and preparing our office for the enrollment, I felt the need to see him again.
It was my turn to run after signatures of some school officials for my scholarship, so I went office- hopping. In the AS building, I met another crush of mine (who was my classmate in Filipino 101, a hunk with a Happy toothpaste smile, and he’ll be in another story of frustration) and chatted for a while.
After saying goodbye, I rushed to the office of my classmate, scanned the whole area if there were monster advisers around (and there’s none), and giggled, laughed, and blushed like a high school student who got her first real love letter from a real person.
Then I heard a sound of a seat being moved behind the computer, and when I turned, I saw him staring at me as if he just saw a scene from PBB, dripping with ka-kornihan (but there’s no PBB during that time).
I signalled my friend that I have to get out of their office,asap, to run away from making another spoof and from him. After closing the door, I walked slowly down the hall and got lost in a crowd of students with blank expressions on their faces because of enrollment procedures and fees.
Days after that, I managed not to see him (or pretended not to see him) because of the thought that I will melt if he sees me, with that embarrassing moment playing in his mind. But because Destiny wanted to do her job for me, things didn’t go my way. (cont.)
