"Yes. I'm serious" He says and I can feel my heart beating as fast as it could. Ohmygosh. Seryoso ba talaga siya? Manliligaw siya? This is not what I'm expecting.
"Ha? Talaga?" I asked him and hindi pa rin makapaniwala.
Juan laughs. "Yes, I am. I've been thinking about this for the last couple of days Eva and last night, I was really contemplating and I just couldn't wait, it's now or never"
"...so.. um... will that be a yes or no?" Tanong nito at halatang-halata na kinakabahan din si Juan.
Ohmygosh. Ohmygosh. Am I hearing it right? Manliligaw si Juan sakin? Holy shit. Hindi ko inexpect 'to! Ibang-iba naman sa dapat pag-uusapan namin. My emotions are overflowing right now that I can't even think right at the moment except for my answer to na siguradong-sigurado ako.
"Um...pwede ba sa bahay na?" I nervously asked kasi as much as I want na payagan siya ng manligaw sa'kin, I just think it's better if sa bahay na talaga. I want it to be formal with my parents.
"...kasi, um... kanina morning Juan, I told my parents about us. And gusto ng magulang ko na makilala ka, they want me to invite you for dinner tonight kaya this is why I want to meet you para sabihin 'to sayo" dagdag ko naman.
And then nakita ko ang paglaki ng ngiti ni Juan sa kanyang labi, "Holy shit. I'm going to meet your parents?" gulat niyang tanong.
"Um- yeah. But if you're not free—" Bago ko pa man matapos ang sinabi ko, Juan cuts me off.
"No.. no.. of course, I'm free Eva" aniya not letting me finish my sentence. "I want to meet your parents"
"Talaga? Mamaya na 'yon.." sabi ko sa kanya trying to confirm if he really wants to meet my parents. Parang happy pa nga siya. Not the expression I'm expecting. Akala ko, kakabahan siya just like my other suitors felt when I told them my parents want to meet them.
So, actually, there were only two guys who really tried to court me. And, yung kwentuhan namin ni Dad about nung tatlo raw yung nasindak niya and dalawa yung nareject ko were all just a joke. Biro lamang iyon kasi the truth is, yun nga, dalawang tao lang talaga yung nanligaw sa'kin.
The first one was back in high school. We were like this love team kasi we always get paired up pagmay presentation or kaya pageants. Everyone in the school were really pairing us up. So, at first, I don't really like him at all, I only see him as my schoolmate, batchmate gan'on but dahil sa panunukso ng mga kaklase, kaibigan namin sa'min, ayon nahulog tuloy ako sa kanya at siya rin naman.
Hanggang sa nagkadevelopan kami and nanligaw siya sakin. I rejected him kasi bata pa kasi kami nun at hindi naman ako papayagan ni Dad for sure. At hindi nga. Kasi when someone told Dad na may nanliligaw sakin, andami kong sermon na natanggap galing sa kanya and basta yung thought ng mga sinabi ni Dad ay bata pa'ko para sa mga ganyan in which I understand kaya nga nireject ko.
And then yung isa naman, my Katipunan friend. Let's name him Bubble. Kasi para siyang bula e, bigla na lang nawala.
So, Bubble and I met because we were both endorser of this brand. Nakatrabaho ko siya sa photoshoots and he's really nice to be around. Makulit and yun nga, hanggang sa nagkadevelopan din kami, he asked me if he could court me.
Pumayag ako and by means, niligawan niya rin yung parents ko. That time, pinayagan na'ko ni Daddy kasi he thinks na pwede na'ko sa edad na magkaroon ng suitors. My parents like him, because he literally made ligaw talaga sa mga magulang ko. But a week after him of courting me, ayon, nawala siya na parang bula. Bigla na lang hindi nagparamdam. Binlock ako sa kahit ano mang media na maaari kaming magcommunicate.
I'd be lying if hindi ako nasaktan because I did. That was my first heartbreak and that hurt me so much. Kasi he left me talaga with a big question mark e. Yung hindi mo alam kung ano yung dahilan, yung what made him do that, were you not enough ba for him, may nagawa ka bang mali and so on. He almost got Dad and he almost got me, kaso wala e, iniwan talaga ako with no explanation.
When my parents found out what happened,, Dad was really furious that he always says na if he sees Bubble raw, he won't be having second thoughts to punch him and then after that, Dad was kind of, pinagbawalan na'ko sa mga relationships pagkatapos may nangiwan sa'kin sa ere and told me to just focus on my studies.
It was hard to move on that time. But, I did eventually, kasi nabalitaan ko, masaya naman siya nung iniwan ako kaya napaisip din ako na parang ang unfair naman, na ako lang naglukuksa sa'min dalawa kaya I chose to move on. My heart chose to move on.
I averted my eyes to other things and I thank God, na madali lang pala ako makakamove on if your mind and your heart chooses to move on at the same time. Nagcooperate naman silang dalawa and that helped me big time.
Pagkatapos namin mag-usap ni Juan, kitang-kita ko talaga kung gaano siya kasaya when my family wants to meet him and that he was so exited too. He was really happy and masaya rin ako sa kanya, sa amin. And yeah, we agreed na we'll go to our house together and that susunduin niya ako on my last class.
After our talk, Juan insisted to walk me to my class and that feels so new to me kasi hindi ko pa nararanasan na may maghatid sa'kin patungo sa klase ko. Like never pa talaga. And this is a first.
"Are you sure you're going to walk me to my class?" I asked looking at him. "baka may class ka ngayon and I can manage naman, ano ka ba.."
"I don't mind.... not at all and besides, my class will be in 30 pa naman" he replied while giving me a smile.
Napatango na lamang ako and let him walk me to my class as his arm rested on my shoulder. Napapansin ko naman na karamihan sa mga estudyante na nadadaanan namin would look at us. I was starting to get used to this since lately, araw-araw kami magkasama ni Juan and may mga tao talagang napapatingin sa'min and let me tell you, it bothers me sometimes.
Kasi it worries me kung ano kaya ang iniisip ng mga tao towards us. Sometimes, I feel like, everybody doesn't approve of what Juan and I has. Feeling ko, I don't deserve him and he deserves someone better. It's really getting into me and it's making me overthink so much.
Alam ko naman na their opinions don't really matter and shouldn't be matter because after all, kayo lang talaga. It's between Juan and I only. And this, is what I've been waiting and wanting for. Huwag ng pakawalan. Don't get affected by the things that only pull you down. At 'yan ang mga iniisip ko lagi to remove the negativity away.
My day ran smoothly and time to time, I can't help but think na Juan's going to meet my parents na. It's making me feel anxious and at the same time, excited. And when my last class ended, Juan waited for me outside of our classroom kasi yung sa kanya ang mas unang natatapos.
Napansin ko naman na iba na yung suot ni Juan unlike kanina na he was just wearing casual clothes like pants and shirt. Pero ngayon, naka white polo shirt na siya that is tucked in on his navy blue pants with his brown belt also.
And can I just die right now? H looks so formal, hot and gwapo with his look right now. Like, seriously, How could he be so fine like this? Ang gwapo niya sobra! Mas lalo lang ako na-inlove tuloy at humanga kung gaano talaga ka-gwapo ng lalakeng 'to. He's too fine that makes me think na I'm one hell of a lucky girl. Damn.
"You look good" Were the first words that left my mouth as I smiled widely, telling him that.
Kita ko naman ang pagdako ng ngisi niya when he heard me. "Thank you. And I thought of changing because you know, I'm going to meet the love of my life's parents" sabi niya na mas lalong nagpalaki sa ngiti ko ngayon.
Hindi ko naman sinasabi na ako 'yon pero parang gan'on na nga. He called me 'love of my life'. So, sinong hindi kikiligin no'n?!
