Best for Us (GU #3)

forty-one

I took a pause and waited for Tyler's reaction. It took a while but he nodded then said, "Yeah, I remember. Olivia's younger sister."

Agad kong itinaboy ang naramdamang inis dahil pinag-uusapan namin ngayon si Olivia. Who apparently was the other one who got the Juliet role. Pero saka ko na 'yun babanggitin kay Tyler. I don't want us talking about her anymore.

Doon naman nagtanong si Tyler. "And what did she tell you?"

Napahinga naman ako nang malalim, naalala na naman kung paanong sinolo ako ni Ren matapos i-meeting lahat ng napiling casts kanina at nagbigay ng scripts. Of course she was happy we both got in.

Pero sobra niya rin akong hinype sa pagiging Juliet. Okay na sana eh kaso may bigla siyang nabanggit tungkol doon sa isang part ng play. Ang puno't dulo ng lahat ng ito.

"It was about the script," sagot ko kay Tyler. "How the director who will take over the play strictly stick to it. Like to every scene and every line na nakasulat doon."

Tumigil na naman ako at tumaas na naman ang kilay sa akin ni Tyler, nag-aabang.

"And there's kissing scene," dugtong ko't hindi na pinansin ang bahagyang paniningkit ng mga mata ni Tyler. "Three times. And Ren told me na normally the kissing scenes are to be done daw sa final and dress rehearsals. Tapos pang huli na kapag play. And that's three times I have to do those three kissing scenes with the one they picked as Romeo. Nine. That's how many times I have to do that.

"And with someone I even don't know. Ayoko namang gan'un. Like, sure, I already have my first kiss with you but still, that's just a one time thing. Tapos some other guy will kiss me for nine times? What the hell, diba?"

When Tyler remained quiet with his now even more narrowed eyes, I went on, "Kaya ko yun sinabi sayo. Na halikan mo ko at least ten times para at least yung first ten...I mean eleven kisses ko lahat galing sayo. Maybe, that can compensate yung mga kissing scenes na gagawin ko sa play, somehow."

Patuloy pa akong tinitigan ni Tyler bago siya marahas na napahinga. He muttered something but I didn't caught it. But with the look in his eyes right now, he was clearly pissed, so I might as well assumed that it was a profanity.

"Maybe, your classmate's just a bluff," he finally said after his silence. "I don't the school will allow something like that."

Agad akong umiling. "I'm afraid not. Ren was so sure when she told me na last year gan'un din yung ginawa. Saka she even sent me a link of the previous year's performance to prove it."

Which I haven't seen yet. Paano ko ba naman mapapanood kung nagpanic na ako nung ibinalita niya iyon sa akin kanina.

Tyler muttered something again. This now I was sure he cursed. Napahawak siya sa magkabilang sentido bago binalingan ako ng tingin. "Then, just quit."

"What?" medyo gulat kong sabi. Wasn't he just supportive of me the day of the audition? Tapos kanina he even congratulated me. Why all of a sudden he was telling me to quit?

"There's no reason for you to do something you don't want to," saad ni Tyler. "Just tell them you're against it then quit."

"It's not that easy," I told him. "Not that we all kind of signed 'yung waiver na we agree for all the practice dates and we accept yung roles."

"What?" It was Tyler's turn to be surprised now. "You still signed it after knowing na may ganung mangyayari?"

"I didn't know at first," tanggi ko. "Pagkatapos lang nung meeting sa akin nabanggit yun ni Ren but then it's not like I can't do that, really. I mean, hindi rin naman daw as in real kiss yung nagaganap dun. Just that smack thing. And we're supposed to be actors, na professional dapat. What made me panic actually is yung fact na ibang guy yung unang makakarami sa akin ng kiss."