11:09 am
We trudged out of the house, the mood obviously down. Many people were still staring at us, mostly at Matt. I stared daggers back at them to intimidate them a little.
It was easy to feel something else. To distract myself from what I was actually feeling.
We passed by the group of guys who stole Matt's money and attacked me last night. They were talking among themselves when we passed. Now they were staring at us.
We both didn't say anything until we were on the other side of the road. The sun was beating down on us, but I paid it no heed. I didn't need the sun to feel hot.
We began walking back to the direction of the mall. We were both silent for a while.
"Do you. . ." I cleared my throat. "do you regret this?"
It took some time before he answered, "No."
I stopped walking and faced him. "What?"
"Yeah, no."
"Why?"
"Because. . ." He managed a small smile. "well, you're my Last Friend and we're gonna stick to each other until the end."
I huffed. "I hate it. I hate me."
"Don't say that," he replied, his voice taking a more gentle tone. He awkwardly reached out with his hand, but drew it back last minute.
"No, you don't get it!" I screamed. "My family has always been like this. You're just a Last Friend. You wouldn't get it."
An emotion unfamiliar to me passed by his face. Maybe it was because it was a combination of some others.
He sighed. "My parents are like that too. They keep fighting each other all the time. Now, every time they could, my mom would try to get away from my dad, saying it as an excuse for work."
I didn't say anything. He didn't get it still. He wouldn't understand. No one would. No one will.
We both stood there motionless on the sidewalk. At this time of the day, the road became a desert, the sun ray's colors creating that effect. That, and the obvious lack of people.
Matt sat down. He looked tired, and every inch of his skin was red from the heat. I watched him rummage through his backpack. "So what are we gonna do now?"
"We can go to the mall. . ?" I suggested. "I've always wanted to know what's inside those malls."
"Okay." He grunted as he stood up. We began walking. "What do you want to do in the mall?"
My cheeks burned, which was saying something, because everything was burning. "Well. . .I've wanted to try something for a while."
"What is it?"
"You'll find out when you get there." Meanwhile, I was praying to whatever what was above.
"Oh, okay," he answered.
"Have you ever wanted to try something?"
"Yeah. Like ride a bike."
"You haven't ridden on a bike? What?"
"Heh. I've always been afraid of getting into an accident."
I almost face-palmed. "Please don't tell me that you don't know how to swim as well?"
"I've always been afraid to drown," he replied, matter-of-factly.
If it were any other day, if it were any other person, I would've urged him to learn to bike and swim.
But I guess that didn't matter anymore today.
-
As we entered the mall, the guard gave us a suspicious look. We both made eye contact and I just managed a small smile.
Then, the cold air hit me, a relief from the boiling summer air. I looked around and saw many restaurants and stores.
It was huge. There was so much space. I could only imagine how many people back at my place could fit in here. It would last us years.
My place. . .never mind.
Matt was beside me. "So, where do you want to go?"
"Let's look for it," I replied.
"It? What's it?"
"You'll see."
"You don't even know your way around here!"
I grabbed his arm. "That's why you're coming with me!"
We walked past people walking slowly, taking in the change of place. I inhaled the air. Even it was different from my place.
What got me was the soft noise. I usually imagined malls to be very noisy, despite the obvious lack of people when I passed by here sometimes. But, apparently, when the roads became deserted, so did the malls. And I noticed that there were barely any people our age.
This was good. The fewer people, the better.
I tried to hum to the music, but it felt like a new tone. It didn't sound like the music I'd hear from the radio at all.
I looked up and saw a digital billboard hanging within a very tall space. I gasped in awe.
It felt like I entered a different world, even if this was quite literally close to my place.
"This is so cool!" I said, a little too loudly.
"Shh! People are staring at us! Stop looking up!" Matt hissed at me.
I turned to him. "Sorry." I looked and saw two bakeries across each other. "Do you want to eat?"
"Are you hungry?"
"No," I said. "Are you?"
"No."
"Okay."
"Okay."
We continued walking.
After we passed the bakeries, I encountered a strange sweet smell from them, and a more concentrated crowd in front of us.
I looked to the left and right and saw more restaurants. Beside us was an elevator with glass walls. I watched in amazement as a pack of people were carried up and down.
This was the stuff of fiction I had always wanted to read.
I turned right, following the majority of the crowd. There we came across more restaurants. Jollibee was the biggest and had the most people there, which was a given. Practically everyone in the Philippines had heard of Jollibee, regardless of the kind of people they are.
We passed by a supermarket, which was also filled with people. I didn't have any plans of shopping, so we passed by the store.
A family riding some electric bike passed by us.
"Let's ride one of those soon," I told him.
"I don't have any money to rent those bikes. Some peopke stole it."
I winced at the memory. "But I do."
He looked at me in disbelief. "How did you get some?"
I considered keeping it as a secret, but I sighed instead. "I stole them."
"What?"
I harrumped. "Don't act surprised." I turned away from him and continued marvelling at the grand structure I was in. I still couldn't fathom its sheer magnitude.
"Okay, fine. But you still haven't told me what you want to do."
"Sheesh. You're so tight. Loosen up!" More people ended up staring at us again.
He had to give them a smile and dismissive wave before turning back to me. "Don't be too loud. We'll get escorted to leave."
I giggled at my loudness. I decided to hop on the escalator, the moving stairs, so it can carry me to the second floor. I looked back and saw Matt follow suit, with a not-so-happy look on his face.
I sighed to myself. I waited for Matt to arrive and looked at him.
"What?" he asked me.
"Okay. So. . ." Suddenly, I fumbled my fingers in embarrassment. "The thing I want to try doing. . ."
"Why are you so nervous?" He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm your Last Friend. You can say things to me, even without context. I wouldn't know what it is anyway. And, I get to take it to your grave."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I have always wanted to try dresses."