Blank Canvas

Chapter Nine

Note: This chapter was a bit longer than the other ones I published but I chose not to divide the parts because I deemed that a new chapter is unnecessary. Nevertheless, I hope you like it. Have a nice day, wherever you may be in this vast, beautiful world.

Summary: Talia joined Jay and his class as they attempted to accomplish an altruistic art project outside of the city.

I stared at the Sierra Madre mountain range in the distance as I tried to sit comfortably in my bus seat. We left Manila on Friday an hour after midnight and I knew as soon as I saw the imposing view shrouded in dawn that it would not be long before we were in Baler.

A girl from Jay's class, who was sitting across from Jay and me on the bus, smiled at me. Her name was Violet and I wondered if she was named after the flower or the color. I woke up an hour ago because my neck was starting to get stiff from lack of movement. When Mom heard that the trip was for a good cause, she immediately gave me the thumbs-up. She even baked treats for me to share to the other students, which they absolutely loved. Jay had eaten almost all of the cereal-marshmallow-caramel bars.

Jay and I stayed up until three in the morning.

He handed me his neck pillow and said, "Let's play a game." A mischievous grin crossed his face. "Ask me eight questions about you that you think I don't know the answer to. Whoever scores the most points gets a prize."

"Why eight? More importantly, what's the prize?" Jay offered me the window seat but I declined. The inky darkness with ghostly silhouettes outside was not a sight to behold.

"Let's not put the burden of that on us. Why don't you choose anybody from my class who will stand as the one who will decide what will the victor get. We don't tell that person who won. Fair enough?"

"Yes." I looked around and told him that I want that girl with the tortoise-shell eyeglasses to decide.

Jay agreed that Mari would be perfect since she would have no bias because she and Jay were not that chummy. "If I win, I want a kiss from you." He said the words in a nonplussed way.

"What? No way. No kissing. Why would you even want that? You have a pretty girlfriend. No." I felt my face turned beet-red. When we arrived at Jay's school, he introduced me to his classmates and to his art teacher. Everyone nodded warmly at me like they knew me. His arm was draped protectively on my shoulder. I found out that I was the only outsider who joined the cause but Jay's teacher was glad that I came. The other people who were invited could not come while others were simply not interested.

"Is that an impossible request?" His face was still teasing and smiling but there was a shadow in his eyes. His forehead twitched in a way that if you did not pay attention, you would not see the slight, almost non-existent lines that appeared on the surface.

"I don't know," I answered as casually as I could muster. "I think so. We're the kind of best friends who do silly things, not sappy stuff. But I guess I can spare you a friendly kiss on the cheek."

He nodded. Before I knew it, he began to pepper me with questions. The game had started and the kiss was forgotten.

"When I was eight, I had a pet hamster. What was his name?"

That was easy. I got that one without trouble. The hamster's name was Mr. Gerbill Gates. I have always teased Jay that for someone so imaginative like him, he named his pet with the stodgiest name.

"Who is my favorite Filipino artist?"

I answered Bencab. The correct one was Vicente Manansala. I should have known. Jay loved cubism and Manansala's honest portrayal of human conditions.