Blog # 2:
“Mr. Nice Guy”
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He was the typical image of Mr. Nice Guy—tall, not-so-dark, and handsome. Meztiso and a member of the basketball varsity team.
He was in my year. He looked familiar and I remembered he used to be from the next classroom from a year ago. Classmate siya ni Redzel noon. And now, classmate ko na siya.
He wasn’t like those boys who used to be my classmates before. Tahimik lang siya, pero hindi naman siya masungit. In fact, he smiled a lot. Shy nga lang. I mean, shy ‘yung ngiti niya. Hindi rin siya katulad ng mga kaklase ko dati na sobrang magugulo at maiingay. In spite of him being popular among our batch, he didn’t seem to flaunt it.
Even though we were classmate, hindi kami nag-uusap. We had different sets of friends. We just came to know each other personally when he picked up my Art project that was lying around on the floor dahil noong binuksan ng teacher namin ang bintana, pumasok ang hangin sa loob ng classroom at nilipad ang project ko papunta sa puwesto niya.
Lumabas saglit ang teacher namin para kuhanin ang ibang mga art projects na nilipad sa labas. May lumapit sa desk ko at pag-angat ko ng ulo ko, nakita ko si Fitz sa tabi ko, inaabot ang art project ko. “Sa’yo ito, ‘di ba?”
Tumango ako at tumayo. “Yes, thanks,” sabi ko.
Ngumiti siya nang tipid at bumalik na sa puwesto niya.
Wala namang kakaiba sa ginawa niya dahil normal naman siguro iyon na isasauli mo sa may-ari ang papel niya kapag napulot mo ito—unless hindi ka gentleman at hahayaan mo lang ‘yun na liparin ulit ng hangin.
As days passed by, hindi na kami nag-usap o nagkaroon ng encounter ni Fitz. Sabi ko nga, we had different sets of friends at wala naman kaming transaksyon. We were classmates, pero hindi ibig sabihin niyon eh mag-uusap na kami just because wala lang, trip lang. Pero one time noong nagkaroon kami ng ballroom dancing activity, I had hoped na siya ang maging partner ko kasi he really seemed nice. Unfortunately, by height ang pairing and ouch lang sa part ko dahil I was one of those na hindi pang-beauty queen ang height. Petite, in short. And Fitz was like 5’8 or 5’9. He really was tall for his age of eleven.
Hindi ko siya crush. Yup, guwapo siya. Charming. Palangiti and he really seemed nice. And even though he wasn’t my crush, I would find myself catching glimpses of him. Wala lang, gusto ko lang. Siguro marunong lang talaga akong mag-appreciate ng beauty.
Crush siya ng class president namin na si Leira. Palagi kong naririnig kung paano nila inii-stalk si Fitz. At palagi kong naririnig from her friends na bagay na bagay sina Fitz and Leira, especially since pareho silang matangkad at may hitsura. Saka pareho silang into sports. Perfect pair, they said. At ang chismis pa eh crush din ni Fitz si Leira.
Well, to be honest, bagay naman talaga sila. I tried not to think about that—na possibly crush ni Fitz si Leira. Besides, why would I? Eh hindi ko naman siya crush, right?
“Ang guwapo ni Fitz, ano?” biglang sabi ng pinsan kong si Calliope noong minsan ay nanunuod kami ng basketball game during Intrams.
“Uh-oh,” I said, shrugging.
Ngumiti siya nang nakakaloka. “Crush mo, ‘no? Kanina mo pa kasi tinitingnan.”
“I am watching the game. It just so happens that he’s holding the ball most of the time,” mataray kong sabi sa kanya.
“Like, seriously, Cel?” natatawang tanong niya. “Ang taray mo talaga. Kaya hindi ka nilalapitan ng mga lalake eh.”
Hindi ko na lang siya pinansin at pinanuod na lang ang isa ko pang pinsang si Chrysanthemum na mukha nang baliw sa pagsi-cheer sa gitna ng court habang ‘yung kambal naman niyang si Clover ay sumisigaw rin. May dala-dala pa silang pom poms at hindi ko alam kung sino ba ang sini-cheer nila.
