Strings of Memory

Chapter 17

Nang tumigil sila sa pagtawa, sumulyap muna sila sa akin bago sinagot ang tanong niya.

"It's true," sagot ni Youssef, na agad muling nagpasamid sa akin.

What?! Are they fucking serious? I'll have to ask my mom about this because there's no way this is true.

"Okay ka lang?" tanong ni Rive habang patuloy pa rin ako sa pag-ubo. Inabutan niya ako ng isang baso ng tubig at marahang hinagod ang likod ko.

"Kanina ka pa nasasamid," komento niya, pero hindi ko na iyon pinansin dahil nakangisi na sina Youssef at Harrison habang nakatingin sa akin.

Napangiwi ako. They must be enjoying this a lot.

"Really? How?" tanong muli ng deskmate ko.

"Well, Nico had a huge crush on Tanya when we were just starting out. But Tanya liked someone else at that time. By the time Tanya finally fell for him, Nico had already moved on and fallen for his now-wife," kwento ni Youssef.

What? I really have to ask my mom about this because what the hell? They never told me about this! Akala ko sina Tori at Harrison lang ang may something. Yun pala pati ang tatay ko at si Tanya, mayroon din.

"Wow. Buti po hindi nasira ang friendship nila dahil doon," komento ng deskmate ko.

Nakangiting umiling si Youssef. "No. They would never let something like that ruin their friendship. Kaya nga nag-decide na mag-move on si Nico kasi ayaw niyang mag-iba ang tingin niya kay Tanya. It was a long process, but he managed to succeed."

I really have to thank my dad for choosing to move on dahil kung hindi niya ginawa 'yon ay siguradong wala ako dito ngayon.

Tumango-tango ang deskmate ko. "So Nico moved on. How about Tanya? Did she move on?"

There was a long silence after that question before they finally answered.

"Yes, yes. She moved on," sagot ni Harrison.

But I know that's a lie. Their silence was the real answer. She never moved on, and she's still living with that regret until now.

"How about Tori? Where is she now?" tanong naman ni Elliot.

"She's a music teacher now," sagot ni Youssef.

"Really?" sabay na tanong nila Elliot at ng deskmate ko.

"Is her name Victoria Esquivel?" biglang tanong ni Rive.

Looks like he figured it out. He's really smart compared to these two rabid fans. He managed to put the pieces together with just that one detail.

Ngumiti si Harrison. "Yes. That's her name. She's now a music teacher in your school. What a twist of fate, isn't it?" sabi niya bago magpatuloy. "Oh! And I forgot to mention-she's the adviser of your club."

Elliot, Zeira and my deskmate were all shocked by the news.

Napakunot ang noo ko nang makita ko ang reaksyon ni Zeira. She didn't know? Ganoon ba talaga kalaki ang ipinagbago ni Tori? I'm sure they've met many times dahil kabanda lang naman ni Tori ang uncle niya. She should be very familiar with her by now, but even she didn't recognize her.

Sabay na tumawa sina Youssef at Harrison dahil sa naging reaksyon ng tatlo.

"Hindi mo sinabi sa akin na si Ma'am Esquivel pala si Tori, uncle!" sabi ni Zeira.

"I can't believe it," mahinang sinabi ng deskmate ko.

"Si Ma'am Esquivel at Tori ay iisa?" hindi makapaniwalang saad naman ni Elliot.

"You never asked, kaya hindi ko sinabi sayo. I thought you weren't interested in knowing," sagot ni Youssef kay Zeira.

"The reason why you didn't recognize her was because she's not using her stage name anymore na nickname lang naman niya," sabi ni Harrison at bahagyang tumawa dahil sa ginawang stage name ni Tori.

"We were never allowed to disclose our full names when we were still in a band because of our contract with the agency kaya wala na masyadong nakakakilala sa amin ngayon. They would only know us if they recognize us or if someone tells them that we were part of The Reverie. And in Tori's case, her appearance also changed a lot. Kung dati ay para siyang tomboy, ngayon ay babaeng-babae na siya," patuloy niya.

Napansin ko ang ngisi ni Youssef sa huling sinabi ni Harrison, habang ang tatlo naman ay tumango-tango sa sagot na natanggap nila.

"She was supposed to come here, too, but she had to attend something urgent, kaya hindi siya natuloy," dagdag ni Harrison. Mababakas sa boses niya ang panghihinayang na hindi nakasama si Tori. At mukhang hindi lang ako ang nakapansin noon, dahil nakita ko ang mga ngiti sa labi ng mga kasama ko.

"Is there something going on between you and Tori?" biglang tanong ng deskmate ko-na nagpasamid kay Harrison.

Binigyan siya ng tubig ni Youssef at tinapik-tapik sa likod habang natatawa. Nang makabawi mula sa pagkakasamid, sinamaan niya ng tingin si Youssef at binatukan bago bumaling sa deskmate ko.

"No!" defensive niyang sagot-na lalo lang nagkumpirma sa hinala ng mga kasama ko. "How did you even come up with something like that?"

"Kalma, bro. Tinatanong ka lang nung bata," natatawang sabi ni Youssef, pero hindi na siya pinansin ni Harrison.

"It's also one of the things I read on Reddit, and based on your closeness, I thought it might be true," sagot naman ng deskmate ko.

"Oh," ang tanging nasabi ni Harrison bago muling uminom ng tubig. He cleared his throat before answering, "No. It's not true."

This time, he was calmer-at mukhang totoo na ang sinasabi niya, kaya nadala ang mga kasama ko.

But not me.

Tumango ang deskmate ko at mukhang nalungkot dahil sa nalaman. Habang napahalakhak naman si Youssef.