Serendipitous Convergence

Chapter 11

Dala dala ko ang laptop ko sa coffee shop kung saan namin napag usapan na magkita.

I have already chosen a seat and I have also connected my laptop to my hotspot too when the door opens and there comes Noah with his plain white shirt and shorts. Muntikan pa akong mabulunan sa sarili kong laway nang makita ang suot niyang sapatos. He is wearing the shoes I've chosen!

"Nice shoes!" komento ko nang makita niya na ang direksyon ko.

Umupo siya sa harapan ko. "Alam na alam talaga ng mga mata mo kung ano ang totoo," tumingin siya sa sapatos niya sa baba at pinakita ito sa akin. "Bigay ng kaibigan ko, original na Nike,"

So she really took the recognition...

But anyways, I gave it without thinking of anything in return, not even a thank you or a recognition for a kindness that only comes out once in a blue moon so it shouldn't be a big deal...

But things always end up as a big deal when it involves Noah!

"You like the color?" I asked.

His eyes are on me with his eyebrows both raised, parang may naisip siya.

"Ngayon na sinabi ko yan. Sa tingin ko napansin mo lang itong sapatos dahil kombinasyon ng paborito mong kulay, tama ba?"

Nagulat naman ako doon, he knows my favorite color?

"kung iniisip mo kung paano ko nalaman, mula grade 7 seat mate kita Kataleya, mas matagal pa kitang nakakasama kaysa sa mga kasama ko sa bahay. Sa loob ng mga taon na kasama kita, kung ikukumpara yon sa pagkakakilanlan ko sa kanila sa parehong taon, mas nakilala kita,"

And that made sense because it's true. We spend more time in school than we do on our houses. I never understood the saying that people outside our home knows us better not until today cause yeah, my parents could claim that they know me for the person they see inside the house but they don't know how I spend my time outside, how I communicate and how I treat people.

But Noah, he is the one who is seated beside me, he's the one who can see my actions most, he is the one I talk with apart from the people I am close with. Through the years we spent being each other's seatmates, he knew much better than my parents did in those years.

"And you like those two colors too, right?" and this is what I observed, he had the same two colors for almost everything he brings with him.

Pero imbis na sumagot ay ngumiti lang siya bago ilabas ang notebook niya.

"Umpisahan na natin, ayaw ko namang gabihin ka kahit ihahatid naman kita,"

I was expecting him to do everything not because I am too lazy to help and that is what I want him to do but because those are the kind of leaders I got used to. They will do everything because they don't trust that we can pass their expectations. For the past few years I chose to go solo even when they still have my name on the output.

But Noah... He listen, he tries to understand, kapag may hindi kami pareho ng opinyon, tatanggapin niya ang parehong opinyon. Kapag mali ako, sasabihin niya kung ano. With him being my partner that I consider as my leader as well, I could say he boost my confidence on the output I pass to him. He consider everything and when he has something to edit, sinasabi niya sa akin. Feeling ko tuloy pasok ako sa standard ng isang Noah Ezekeilo, ang top one sa klase namin.

Noah organize everything while I am the one incharge of creating a presentation on it. The thing with him is he trust me too much, to the point na hindi na niya kailangan tingnan, makikita na lang niya sa reporting namin.

That is how we are for all the projects that came. I used to hate groupings for making me feel useless because my grades aren't that high and group mates always depend and have their trust on honor students. I used to hate groupings or anything that makes me work with anyone in the room because they show their disbelief in having me as a group mate. They just hate me so much.