Strings of Memory

Extra 1

Luna got mad at the vice principal for saying things about us. About our band and our decision for doing it. It pissed me off, but Luna? She was furious. At dahil sa galit niya, she pulled a stunt that landed us outside the principal's office—nakaluhod habang nakataas ang dalawang kamay sa ere.

Punishment namin 'to dahil sa ginawa ni Luna.

I'm thankful to Ma'am Esquivel for trying to defend us and to the principal for taking our side. Dahil sa kanila, ito lang ang naging parusa namin. This was much better than being banned from the festival.

"His face looked really funny when the Principal scolded him. Haha. Pahiya siya," natatawang sabi ni Luna.

Napatawa rin kami. It was funny. Pulang-pula 'yung mukha niya sa galit, at parang lalo pang lumaki ang butas ng ilong niya habang sumisigaw.

Pero napatigil kami nang biglang marinig ang tawa ni Wynther. Sabay-sabay kaming napalingon sa kanya, at halos manlaki ang mga mata ko sa gulat. He immediately tried to maintain his poker face, pero hindi rin niya napigilan ang matawa. And that made us all laugh with him.

I'm happy. He's starting to open up to us.

And with no more obstacles in the way, ibinuhos na namin ang lahat sa practice. We spent every moment perfecting our performance. At habang abala kami, I also noticed the budding romance between Wynther and Luna while Elliot was just watching them.

But then, on the day before the festival, he did something unexpected. Sinabi niyang magkita sila ni Wynther sa clubroom. And I knew exactly what he was planning.

Alam kong gusto niyang mag-aminan ang dalawa sa nararamdaman nila para sa isa't-isa.

How do I know that?

Gut feeling.

And I'm never wrong.

Then, the day of the festival came. The day when our perfectly tuned synergy...

Became out of tune.

That day went on like any normal day—ang kaibahan nga lang, may halong kaba dahil araw iyon ng performance namin. We were joking and playing around like usual, but the only thing different was Luna being late.

"Baka naman natutulog pa 'yon," natatawang sabi ni Elliot, and we just went with that. Posible naman talagang mangyari 'yon.

Pero habang tumatagal ang oras, mas lalong bumibigat ang paligid, pati na rin ang pakiramdam namin, dahil wala pa rin si Luna.

Nang puntahan kami ni Ma'am Esquivel, she tried to ease our nerves, pero wala iyong epekto. Still, sumunod pa rin kami sa kanya nang sabihin niyang kailangan na naming magpunta sa gym.

And there, we made a choice—to perform without Luna to keep the band alive. Para hindi ito mawala. Just like what Zeira said, she will have more opportunities to perform with us as long as the band exists. Kaya kahit mabigat sa loob, we did what we had to do. We performed—to keep her dream and our dreams alive.

Our performance was well received, and somehow, Wynther's voice managed to ease the heaviness I was feeling. There was something about his voice—it reminded me of Luna's. And because of that, I started to dream... to imagine them singing together on the stage we were aiming for.

How their voices would blend together along with our instruments. How we would make everyone happy with our performance... it was a dream I wanted to come true.

But life really is cruel. Dahil nang dumating si Ma'am Esquivel, parang dinurog niya ang mga pangarap ko—pati na rin ang puso ko.

"Luna is dead."