The Tale of a Tale Teller's Unfortunate Soul

Chapter 3

-Jeleina's POV-

"Ito yung Council. Ikaw yung Senior High School Councilor. Bali 14 tayo don." Kuya Ped was showing pictures of the Council. Kuya Gerfred insisted that I call him Ped or Peddy; apparently, it was what I always call him, dati. He has explained the Council members one-by-one. From the president to the councilors.

Jomar, who apparently is also 3 years older than me like Kuya Ped insisted to not call him kuya, stopped Kuya Ped from swiping the photos to the next one. As a result, it stopped to a group photo where I was looking at him. The photo was taken during a meal. The rest were looking at the camera, except for me.

"Birthday mo. 18th Birthday. Sa office yan, pagka tapos ng Mitting De Avance namin sa New site. Sinurprise ka nila Pres. Hindi ka na nag-expect non kasi nagkaroon ka na ng advanced celebration sa isang resort." The photo accidentally turned to the next one. A photo of him and I in a pool. My arms and chin were resting in his shoulders, we were both wearing sun shades. My smile on the photo was genuine, too real for me. I never expected that I would ever smile like that, my whole life; specially with all the shitty things that had happened to me when I was younger. It was apparently a burst shot, which was playing quite slow than usual. There was also a shot where one of my cousins were splashing water on us, a photo where we were kind of shading our faces from the sun whilst looking at it, and other photos of the two of us in the pool.

"Yan yung simple party mo non Ate, invited ang Council with jowa/friends, Animalia at Eoabdidbus." Mara butted in. Like Kuya Ped and Jomar, she preferred that I call her Mara or Majjo, she explained that those were the nicknames I gave her and that she would prefer if I used it when I talk to her.

My mind was bluffing. I, Jeleina, had a birthday party with other people attending? And not just some random people whom my family knows or is acquainted to, but my friends. I never celebrated my birthday where some friends of mine attended. Specially to have more than one friend, three friend groups at this point.

"Yung mga binanggit mo. Can you tell me their names, introduce them to me?"

"Kuya Jomar may picture ba sa phone ni Ate ang Animalia?" the kid turned to Jomar. In response, he just took a phone from his pocket and searched for something, handing the phone to the kid. She showed me the photo, it was a collage; one photo was taken at a coffee shop, the other one was shot at which I suppose is a grand ball. She then pointed at the faces, one by one. "Yan si Tita Dada, owner ng tambayan natin na coffee shop sa harap ng school, minsan tawag mo sa kanya eh zoo keeper kasi siya ang taga saway sa atin. Yan naman si Kuya Kenneth, tawag mo sa kanya Kentot, siya ang pinaka matanda sa friend group natin, 3 years ahead siya sayo. Yan naman si Gerome, si Khate, si Kayce, si Karylle, si Christopher, ako yan, tapos ikaw naman 'to."

"Ate Star! Ikaw nalang mag introduce sa Eoabdidbus." Tala went near us. She was holding an iPad. She showed me a mirror picture, a group one. "Ikaw yang may hawak ng camera, sher ko lang, baka di mo din kilala sarili mo eh. Yan naman ako, baka kasi blurred na naman paningin mo, di mo ako ma recognize. Yan naman si Ashley, pinangalanan mo ng abo, anak yan ng military, minsan tawag mo din sa kanya tangkad sagad. Ito naman si Ruffa, pero mas gusto mo siyang tinatawag sa second name niya tapos ang bigkas mo ay tagalog, ginagawa mong Ma-e, minsan mo din siyang tinatawag na tangsit liit lalo na pag naiinis siya sa tao. Ok na? Gets mo ba? Syempre gets mo, matalino ka eh." Star articulated fast. Ang dami niyang sinabi, halos puro pa pang babarag, pero I did not feel even a small amount of uneasiness. Hindi din ako na-offend. It was as if sobrang sanay ko na sa ugali niya. I just gave her a thumbs up and smiled, she strode back to her table and continued whatever she was doing.

"Yan naman yung Council, ito yung President natin." Kuya Ped said while showing a graduation pic of mine holding a whiteboard with 'Bunso ng Council' written across and a tablet with a group photo flashed through the screen. Beside me was a guy wearing glasses and a blue polo. Education siguro course niya. "Siya naman yung Vice-president natin." He flashed a photo of me and a lady wearing dresses. Cute, we look like we were going for a western look. Matchy matchy pa yung corset namin and we both were wearing boots. Ate Vice-President and I were looking at the camera with our forefingers pointed at it, like a gun. Gangsters yarn?