Not His First Choice

Chapter 1: The Presscon

“The cast can take 3 more questions”, someone with authority announced.

 A hand shot up in the crowd, anxiously waiting to be picked.

ABS-CBN was holding the annual presscon for their newest teen offering – Growing Up. The hottest teen stars in the country had been picked to join the cast: Kathryn Bernardo, Julia Montes, Diego Loyzaga, and many others. But the press was more intrigued with Kathryn’s new loveteam partner – Daniel Padilla.

After a long pause, the anxious reporter was pointed at – this was the ‘go signal’ that he could ask his question. The reporter stood up.

“May question ako para kay Daniel…”

Daniel fixed his posture as he picked up his microphone. “Ano po yun?”, he asked.

The reporter continued, “Crush mo ba si Kathryn Bernardo?”

Daniel paused, taking the time to think about what he would say. Everyone was anticipating for his ‘yes’.

“Siyempre po! Sino ang hindi magagandahan kay Kathryn? At dabest rin siya sa pagarte,” Daniel said as he gave a ‘thumbs up’ to Kathryn. “Of course, crush siya ng bayan at kasama ako doon.”

As that last statement came out, Daniel continued to look at Kathryn. The two smiled.

“Kanino ka pa nagagandahan?”

Daniel blushed, then looked at the floor. “Wala na po…”

“Parang umeechos ka eh! Bakit ka nagbablush?”

Daniel didn’t know what to say. Kathryn knew the press wanted an answer and that they wouldn’t be satisfied with an awkward silence. She immediately swiped the microphone away from Daniel’s hands.

“Tama ka sir. May iba pang crush si Daniel…”, Kathryn started to say. “At si Yen [Santos] yun!”

Daniel’s eyes widened; he wasn’t expecting that Kathryn would reveal his secret. Everyone turned to face Yen. Her face went red with embarrassment, obviously uncomfortable with this turn of events.

“Diba DJ? Crush mo si Yen, crush mo si Yen!”, Kathryn sang in a teasing tone. She then nudged Daniel but he was too busy trying to hide his face.

The reporter raised his hand once more. The room gradually became silent again. “Pwede po ba isa pang tanong? Last na ‘to”, he said.

“Sige po,” Kathryn happily said.

“Papayag ka ba na mapunta si DJ sa iba?”

Kathryn’s smile slowly faded. She began to think…

Ever since nagkakilala kami ni Dj, instant ang chemistry namin. Nung mas nakilala ko siya, once naging super close kami, dun ako nahulog sa kanya. Mahirap yung hindi ka mafall sa kanya eh. Kasi nasa kanya na ang lahat – maalaga, nakakatawa, may pagmamahal sa pamilya, at cute pa! Pero alam ko na hindi mutual ang feelings natin para sa isa’t isa. Ang tingin niya sa akin, best friend lang. So kesa mawala ang friendship namin, isasakripisyo ko na lang ang nararamdaman ko para sa kanya… huwag siya lang mawawala…

After a long pause, Kath answered. “Well, hindi lahat ng loveteams nagkakatuluyan. At sa tingin ko, ganon ang mangyayari sa amin ni Dj. Hanggang friends lang talaga.”

The host of the presscon then stood up and said, “Okay, tapos na ang presscon. Salamat sa lahat ng pumunta.”

One by one, reporters started leaving and the room began to empty. Kathryn looked back at Daniel, to see how he was doing after she publicly embarrassed him. She noticed that he was staring at the opposite end of the table. Kathryn turned to see what he was staring at… he was staring at Yen… and Yen was staring back…

“Hoy!” Kathryn nudged Daniel. She seemed to have nudged him too hard, since he almost fell off his chair. After regaining his balance, he sat up straight and ironed his shirt with his hands. Yen then looked away.

“Salamat ah,” Daniel muttered. “Alam na ang buong sambayanan na type ko si Yen!”

“Ang torpe torpe mo kasi!”, Kathryn argued back. “At least alam din ni Yen na gusto mo siya. Baka pwede mo na siyang ligawan. Malay mo, may gusto din si Yen sayo.”

Daniel looked back at Yen. Yet another ‘titigan’ moment took place between the two. Daniel then raised his eyebrows, in his signature suave way. Yen laughed to herself.

“Alam mo, parang tama ka,” Daniel said as he stroked his chin.

After analyzing Daniel, Kathryn knew he had something up his sleeve.

“May plano ka, no?”, Kathryn asked.

“Oo, liligawan ko na si Yen!”, Daniel excitedly said. “At tutulungan mo ako!”

Daniel raised his eyebrows at Kathryn, like he did with Yen.

“Huh? Bakit ako?”, Kathryn whined.

“Kasi ikaw ang bumuking ng sekreto ko!”, Daniel said as he pointed at Kath. “At… may isa pang dahilan…”

“At ano na naman yun?”

Daniel scratched his head [he seemed to do that a lot]. “Hindi kasi ako marunong manligaw eh.”

Kathryn was in shock. “Ano? Diba nagka tatlong girlfriends ka na!”

“Oo, pero isang text lang, nagiging kami na eh,” Daniel laughed.

“Wow, ang gwapo mo ah!”, Kathryn replied as she pushed her maangas loveteam partner.

“Sige na… please!” Daniel made a puppy dog face at Kathryn, knowing this was the only way he would get her to give in. “Babae ka so alam mo kung ano ang gusto ng mga babae.”

“Malamang!”

“So ano? Tutulungan mo ako o hindi?”

Kathryn thought a bit to herself once again…

Bakit ko tutulungan si DJ kung magkakatuluyan siya ng iba? Ayoko… pero mukhang si Yen talaga ang gusto niya. At kung magiging sila, magiging masaya si DJ. Kung saan siya masaya, dun din ako…

After a long pause, Kathryn crossed her arms and finally said, “Sige na nga!”

“Talaga?! Salamat Kath! Maraming maraming salamat!” Daniel was so overjoyed that he hugged Kathryn.

Kathryn was a bit startled by his excitement, but eventually hugged him back.

At that very moment, when Kathryn was in Daniel’s arms, she couldn’t help but think…

Sana ako na lang ang first choice mo Dj…