Loving a Believer

Chapter 11 - Throwback

"But you two are best friends. That's fine."

"What?" Hindi makapaniwalang sabi ko.

They started to grab our arms and tried to pull us.

"Let go of us. This is unjust. The game is for couples, not for best friends," I said with sarcasm and humor at the same time.

They all laughed at what I said.

"We need one more. Katuwaan lang naman," Leo said while laughing.

"My wife will kill me. Would you save me?" I joked, though I meant it. They didn't know how jealous my wife is.

They bursted into laughter.

They didn't force us anymore, because they couldn't really convince me to join. Demi and I weren't kids anymore to do such things like that, especially now that I was already married. People might misinterpret us.

When they proceeded to the guessing gesture game, they requested me and Demi again to join the game, and we accepted it this time. We needed to guess and gesture the title of a song. The category was English love songs.

"I'm not familiar with some love songs, so you're the one who will guess the song," Demi told me.

"Alright," I said.

May dalawang unang partner na nauna sa amin, bago kami. Demi and I went up onto the stage when the emcee mentioned our names. They cheered us up.

Demi got one rolled piece of paper from the box. She read what was written there. And then the emcee counted on us. "Go!" he announced.

She made gestures through her fingers. And I started guessing.

"Two words."

"First word."

"One syllable."

She made a heart shape through her hands.

"Heart?" I guessed.

She shook her head.

"Uhm, love?"

She smiled and nodded her head.

This time she gestured for the second word.

"Three syllables," I said.

She acted like she was reading a book.

My brows furrowed. "What's that?" I said.

Our audience laughed.

"Book?" I mumbled. What could I relate to books? I thought. "Story?" I guessed.

Demi's eyes widened, indicating that I got it. She gestured to me to continue.

"Love Story?" I said.

The audiences shouted.

And I realized, the name of the singer was required.

"Love Story by Taylor Swift," I finalized.

I smiled when the emcee announced that we got it in fifty seconds. That meant we beat the first partners. Demi and I did a high-five and stood by on the side of the stage to wait for the result, because there were still partners left. We were just laughing while watching them playing the game. We really enjoyed the game.

"We won," I told Demi with a smile on my lips.

"I think so," she said and smiled back at me.

Until they finally announced who was the winner, and it was us. We got a prize, and it was a mug with a print of our class picture. I found it funny, so I really laughed when I saw it. Demi also got one and she loved it.

When we were finally done playing the games. Our reunion ended with a video presented on the projector. It was a video of our throwback photos when we were in high school. They called it "Totoy days", and after a few years we all improved in all aspects. Everybody became professionals. All our dreams came true.

The place was filled with laughters and teases, not until when the video played the song "Kanlungan by Noel Cabangon". That moment, the atmosphere became emotional.

My eyes turned on Demi who was just staring at the slide play pictures with sadness in her eyes. Our eyes met when she stared back at me.

It took for me to realize that the lyrics of the song were connected to how Demi and I met. We were so young that time. We became friends, until we grew up. But now, it felt like the friendship we had was no longer like before. I didn't even know if we were still friends after we had broken each other's heart.

Maibabalik nga ba ang kahapon?

***

The program had ended, but not the bonding. They decided to drink and stay in the place. We were now in a long table while having fun and talking about random things. It was now around seven in the evening.

I excused myself for a while because I needed to use the comfort room.

After I washed my hands and dried it off, I took my phone and called Fara's number. It took a few rings before she answered my call.

"Hello?"

"Are you home now?" I asked.

"Yes. Hindi ka pa ba uuwi?"

"I'm going home now. Magpapaalam lang ako sa kanila."

"Okay. Take care. I love you."

"Thanks. I love you too. See you later."

I put back my phone in my pocket as I exited the comfort room. The comfort room was located outside so I saw how dark the sky was as I walked further more, heading the entrance of the hall. I heard a familiar voice call my name so I stopped walking.

"Storm."

I turned around to see that person, and I was right that it was Demi.

"Hey, why are you here?" I asked her.

"I wanna talk to you."

We stayed outside and went to the part of the place where we could talk without interruptions, because she said it was a serious matter.

"Actually, I don't wanna tell you about this, but I can't take it anymore," she said like she wanted to cry.

I got curious what it was.

"It's about our child," paninimula niya.

My brows met and asked, "What about him?"

"Not 'him' but 'her'. It's about our daughter, Dylan."

"Daughter? I thought our child's name is after my name because he's a boy?" naguguluhan na sabi ko.

She started to sob and said, "T-they are twins. His twin is Shekinah. S-she's alive."

My eyes slowly widened in shock. I felt how my heart started beating faster and faster as I absorbed what she said.

"Please, Dylan, she needs you."

I didn't know what to say. I was dumbfounded.