REIVEN'S POV**
When I arrived sa club, agad naman sumalubong sakin si Danielle with a big hug. Andun din si Vien and her boyfriend, Jeims.
"Aw, rei rei with a long face. Let me guess, di umuwi si West kasi nasa boyfriend?" Danielle said as she led me back to our table, finally meeting mga kasama naming iba.
Nabaling naman ang tingin ko dun sa babaeng nakaupo nang tahimik sa isang gilid. Sya lang yung di ko pa nakikita, so I guessed sya yung sinasabi ni Danielle.
"Stop bringing her up," I said as I sat down near the quiet girl.
"Nangyan, may nakita lang na chix kinalimutan na si West," natatawa namang tugon ni Aiden.
Di ko nalang pinansin, instead I smiled at the girl and reached out a hand.
"Im Reiven."
At first, she looked shocked, but later, she flashed a warm smile before taking my hands to shake with me.
"Im Zein, nice to finally meet you," she answered, making me tilt my head.
"So you've been wanting to meet me?"
"Yes, I actually find you really beautiful... When I found out kasi na you're friends with ate Dani, I took the chance," tugon naman ni Zein na tinanguan ko nalang.
It's actually no surprise na kilala nya ako. You can say I'm pretty famous.
I'm not flexing, just stating facts.
"How old are you?" tanong ko kay Zein as I pass her a glass of tequila.
"Actually, just turned 21," she said with a smile, slightly lowering her head as she takes the glass from me.
"Happy Birthday, cutie," I said as I pat her head.
Pansin ko naman na napaiwas ito ng tingin, but I can see her ears flushed red.
"Grabe talaga, Rei. Baka si Zein naman next mo na iuwi ha?" singit ni Aiden, currently with two girls beside him.
"Hoy! Ano ba, ang bata bata pa ni Zein, make an exemption," tugon naman ni Danielle na kakarating lang.
"Ate naman, I'm 21 na oh," Zein, beside me, retorted.
"Aba, gusto mo rin talaga maiuwi ni Reiven?"
"I mean.... who wouldn't?" Zein said, then looked at me with a cute little smile.
Bigla naman itong hinampas ni Danielle dahilan para mag peace sign sya.
Natawa nalang ako sakanilang dalawa, overprotective kasi talaga si Danielle with her friends, sadyang wala na sya magawa sa ginagawa ko sa buhay kaya angal nalang ginagawa nya, but in the end, sumasabay nalang sa trip ko.
Like my habit with taking girls home. She doesn't really support the idea itself, but since she knows ayun nalang talaga nagpapasaya sakin minsan, she just let's me do it.
Napalingon naman ako kela Vien and Jeims na naglalandian sa gilid.
When Vien noticed I was looking at them, lalo pa sya pumulupot kay Jeims before sticking out her tongue.
I raised my middle finger before mouthing the word "walang forever" dahilan para tumawa lang sya.
Everybody else was busy. Danielle and Zein nagkukulitan, si Aiden busy sa babaeng nakapaligid sakanya, si Vien and Jeims naman syempre, may sariling mundo.
And here I am, taking bottles down one by one.
Somehow, while I was staring into nowhere, bigla nanaman nag flashback nangyari samin ni West.
How she gently puts her finger on my lips as she stares into me.
I can still feel her touches.
Her scent still lingers around me, I can still hear her soft voice and the noises she made on the backseat of my car.
Friends don't do that, di ko rin naman masabi na we're more than just friends.
To this day, it's still a question kung ano ba talaga kami.
We always say we're just friends, but we keep doing questionable things.
I snapped back into reality nalang nang bigla akong hampasin ni Danielle.
Hinagisan ko naman ito ng masamang tingin.
"Pustahan, iniisip mo nanaman si West."
"Bet on your ass, I'm thinking about work," depensa ko naman at agad na kumuha ng isa pang bote.
"Hay nako! kaya ka nga inaya lumabas para marelax ka eh!" singhal nito.
"Pano mag rerelax yan? Eh may sama ng loob kay BFF kuno," singit naman ni Vien.
I can't help but just roll my eyes at them as I chug down the bottle.
"Ang lakas mo uminom, makakauwi ka ba mamaya?" Aiden asked.
"If hindi, Danielle is responsible for me," I answered bago tinignan si Danielle na ngayon ay nakakunot noo.
"Buti pa ako, may taga hatid," pagyayabang naman ni Vien bago niyakap sa braso boyfriend nya.
Napatawa nalang si Jeims.
Honestly, sa aming circle. Vien and Jeims are known as the greenflag couple.
Like, lahat ng magagandang characteristics in a relationship taglay na nila.
They've been together na rin since 2nd year college.
Si Danielle naman, she's also straight and may manliligaw sya.
Whilst kami ni Aiden, babaero raw parehas.
But they'd always say ako talaga pinakamalala.
Maya maya, tumabi na ulit sakin si Zein.
"The amount of bottles you've taken down is impressive," she said while counting the bottles infront of me.
I just laughed a little.
Saglit umalis si Danielle, while si Aiden.
Obviously, nasa private room na kasama yung dalawang chix nya.
Vien and Jeims went home na since may pasok pa silang parehas.
Ayaw din kasi ng boyfriend nya na masyado nalalasing si Vien, kaya maaga na sila umuwi.
Kaming dalawa nalang ni Zein andito sa table.
I'm not a shy type, di lang talaga ako masyado madaldal when I'm outside.
Ewan din pero pag si West kasama ko, napak ingay ko.
"Can we take a picture?" Zein said, making me turn my head.
I thought about it for a while, pero pumayag din naman ako since it's just a picture.
She then moved closer then took out her cellphone.
After a couple of shots, she smiled at me then said thank you.
It was silence between us again kaya nagpasya na akong mag initiate ng conversation.
"Do you still go to school?" I asked her.
"Yes. Im taking computer engineering," she answered.
"Ikaw po ba? Are you not in college na?," dugtong nitong tanong.
"Nope. I work as a choreographer currently, I do modelling too."
"Yeah.. I follow you on social media," she said.
"Oh really? What's your account? I'll follow you back," natutuwa ko namang sagot as I moved closer to her.
She pulled out her phone to show me, agad ko naman syang finollowback.
After some time, panay tawa na kaming dalawa.
I've found out we both have some similarities, and we were having some fun together.
"You look so cool sa picture na pinost ko," Zein said as she's laying her head on my shoulders, showing me the photo she took of me and posted on Twitter with the caption.
"Why won't you look at me?"
"Ang kalat natin sa comments," she said while laughing.
I just laughed it off with her.
Pinagtitripan ko kasi sya sa comment ng post nya.
From my notifications, I can see that West is spamming me with messages and calls. I just ignored it and didn't even bother to read any of it.
It's not like iniiwasan ko sya. Or am I?
Reasonable naman tampo ko right?
Ayaw ko lang kasi na puro sya ang iniisip ko tonight.
But I can't help but wonder why in the world is she spamming me with messages? I thought kasama nya boyfriend nya?
My thoughts were cut off nang may itanong si Zein.
"You're receiving a lot of messages from that person. Is she your girlfriend?" the girl asked eagerly nang mapansin nya ang sunod sunod na notif from West.
I watched the notifications come in nonstop. Kulang nalang ata sumabog na cellphone ko.
"No, she's just a friend."
"Weh daw. Friend pero parang concerned na concerned sa whereabouts mo oh," she said.
I just sighed before turning my phone off and looking at her.
"Tonight is about you and me, wag mo pansinin yun," I said as I tuck the loose hair behind her ears.
Bigla naman itong namula.
For now, all I want is to have fun.
Bahagya pa akong nagulat nung yakapin ni Zein yung braso ko.
She then looked up to me with a smile.
"Wala naman magagalit kung yayakapin kita diba?," she asked.
Tumango lang ako.
Although kung andito si West, she'd be fuming.
Why am I worrying about her again? It's not like this is any of her concerns. In the first place, may jowa sya.
Something playful came into my mind. I turned to Zein na tahimik na nagcecellphone habang yakap yakap parin braso ko.
I lifted Zein's chin before softly saying.
"You do much more than just hugging me. I won't complain," tugon ko.
Bigla naman natawa si Zein bago umiwas ng tingin.
"Para kang tanga," she said, trying to hide her face.
This girl is not so bad after all.
Looks like I found what could satisfy me tonight.
I actually find her being flustered cute.
Naagaw naman ang atensyon ko sa cellphone ko nang bigla ito umilaw, it received a notif.
It was a message from West, again.
Saglit ko nalang binasa yung notif from the lockscreen.
Message From West
West: Reiven, I swear to God, im running out of patience.
West: Im giving you 10 seconds to reply, or else, ako mismo kakaladkad sayo pauwi.
I can't help but laugh to myself.
She's clearly upset.
Im sure na nakita nya yung post ko na picture ni Zein. Sure rin ako na nakita nya yung post ni Zein lalo't naka tag ako.
But here I am, ignoring her messages and calls.
Isa pa naman sa ayaw nun is dinededma ko sya.
Nagtatampo ako, so valid naman na di ko sya pansinin. And for the record, she's not my girlfriend para obligahin sarili ko na mag reply right?
She has her boyfriend, Art. Bakit ba ako ginagambala nito?
But honestly, kinakabahan ako pag galit si West.
I just turned my phone off and decided to give Zein my full attention.
We had a few more drinks until we were both already pretty much drunk.
Di parin nakakabalik si Danielle. Ang sabi ni Zein, may pinuntahan lang daw saglit. She'll be back naman daw since sya ang maghahatid kay Zein pabalik sa condo.
Things were starting to get pretty messy with Zein and I. Closing na yung bar, but since close kami ng may ari, we get to stay until we want.
I was holding my head dahil medyo lasing na ako.
Zein came back from the bathroom then sat down beside me, leaning her head on my shoulders.
"Kaya pa ba, Rei?" she asked.
"First time you called me by my nickname tonight huh?"
"It's cute. Pero kaya mo ba mag drive?" she asked again while holding my hands.
She's comparing the size of my palm with hers.
"Dang, your hands are pretty."
"Pati kamay maganda?"
"Yeah. Your fingers... they're long," she said while giggling.
"Curious how they feel?"
"Hoy!" she said sabay hampas sakin dahilan para tawanan ko sya.
"What? Im just asking. Im pretty good with my hands," I said with a smirk.
At this point, di ko alam if nagb-blush sya dahil sa sinasabi ko or dahil sa dami ng nainom namin.
She carefully touches my hand before looking at me.
"If di mo kaya umuwi, you can just go back to my condo. Spend the night over?," she said.
I know where this is leading to. And I'm actually liking it.
I was about to reply sa sinabi nya when a familiar voice spoke.
"She's definitely not going home with you."
I turned to see who it was.
Halos mawala naman pagkalasing ko nang makita kung sino yun.
"West."
She then turned to me with her cold glare bago ibinaling ang tingin kay Zein na walang alam sa nangyayari at payapang nakasandal sakin.
"Excuse me? But who are you?" Zein asked.
Nangunot naman noo ni West as she approaches us.
"Ako lang naman yung kasama nya sa bahay. I basically take care of her, and I say, she's not coming home with you," madiing tugon ni West.
She again threw an angry glare at me bago ibinalik kay Zein and tingin.
"You don't really get to decide don't you?" Zein replied bago umayos ng upo.
I can feel the tension between the two, but dala rin siguro ng tampo ko kay West, di ako umiimik.
Di ko nga expected na makikita yan dito eh.
Halatang di ako natiis, pumunta talaga.
"I don't care, so get off of her because she's coming home with me, and not you."
"Rei's an adult, she get to decide whom she goes with," depensa naman ni Zein as she holds my hand.
I can see how West's jaw clenched. She bit her lower lip lightly before looking at me.
If looks can kill, paglalamayan na ako bukas.
Let's say, ayaw talaga masyado ni West na may mga dumidikitdikit sakin. Isa na rin yan sa reasons ng away namin minsan.
Isa pa yung pagkama ko ng mga babae. It's always a reason of our fight pero di nya naman sinasabi bakit galit sya.
I honestly don't see it as a big of a deal, lalo na para sakanya. I don't see how it concerns her lalo't may boyfriend nga sya.
"Get your hands off of her."
"Not like pagmamay ari mo si Reiven, miss," asar naman ni Zein as she holds my hand tightly.
"How rude of you to just barge in here. Im sure ikaw yung tinutukoy nila rito kanina na dahilan why Reiven's getting so drunk right now."
Nanlaki naman mata ko sa sinabi ni Zein.
West's eyebrows furrowed as she looks at me like "what the hell does that mean".
"Whatever is going on between Rei and I, is none of your business."
"Then it's also none of your business kung kanino sya sasama ngayon pauwi diba?"
"She's mine, she's coming home with me," West said before she finally stepped in closer and takes my hand away harshly.
"She's not your girlfriend." tugon ni Zein.
I heard West laugh before leaning closer to Zein.
"Listen here kiddo. I don't give a shit about your opinion. Reiven is coming home with me, and wala ka magagawa dun."
"Pinipilit mo kasi. She's clearly happier with me, if di ka nga umeksena surely sasama sakin yan eh."
"Happier with you while you're out. But in the end sakin uuwi yan."
When things were about to get pretty messy, saktong dumating si Danielle.
"Zein, tara na, hanap ka na sakin ni daddy mo, pupunta raw sila sa condo mo ngayon," Danielle said as she pulls Zein away, saving the situation from getting any more messy.
Ramdam ko yung galit ni West, but since I'm sulking, I didn't dare say anything.
Nang makaalis yung dalawa, I took my hands off from her grip bago bumangon.
Agad na rin ako naglakad palabas, gusto ko nalang umuwi.
Mas gugustuhin ko ngayon mag kulong sa kwarto rather than facing her right now.
Masama talaga loob ko.
"Why the hell are you ignoring my messages?," West said as she follows me outside.
"None of your business, why are you even here? go back to your boyfriend. Masasabihan nanaman ako na papansin."
"Eto nanaman tayo! Why does it always have something to do with Art?" she angrily asked as she follows me to the parking lot.
Di ko nalang sya pinansin and continued walking to my car.
But bago pa man ako makalapit sa kotse ko, she pulled me by my hand and kinaladkad ako papunta sa kotse nya.
It's rare to see her bring her car out.
"San mo nanaman ako dadalhin? I have my own car-"
I was cut off nang buksan nya ang pinto and commanded me to go in.
"Ayoko."
"Buhatin pa kita papasok?"
"May kotse ako."
"Ipakuha mo nalang sa kaibigan mo. Get in."
I felt my eyes tearing up. Not dahil pinipilit nya ako.
It's caused by my mixed emotions.
I bit my lip hardly trying so hard not to break down in tears.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"First, you forget our anniversary, now you drag me home as if wala lang nangyari?"
She just stood there quietly staring at me.
It was a moment of silence between us, until she finally sighed heavily, and stepped closer to hug me.
"I'm sorry, Rei. I forgot."
At some point di ko na napigil luha ko. I just felt my tears run down my cheeks.
Ever since she met that guy kasi, she's been kind of neglecting me.
And nakakatampo lang kasi sya nalang talaga meron sakin mangyayari pa yun.
I have already lost my parents. I do have relatives but nasa province, yung iba naman, di ko close.
And for some family matters, galit sakin ang relatives ko sa father side.
At this point, all I really have is West and myself.
Seeing West be taken away by some guy hurts for some reason I can't explain.
Aminado ako, oo nagseselos ako. Because the attention she used to give all to me, napunta na sa boyfriend nya.
And wala rin naman ako karapatan magreklamo.
I felt West hugged my tighter.
"Im so sorry, Rei. I know I've hurt you, but please uwi na tayo? Ayokong matulog na di tayo okay." she whispered as she carefully caressed my back.
Di parin ako umiimik, I'm still sobbing quietly as she hugs me.
"Im sorry sa attitude ko back there. I just got jealous, you won't reply to me pero may kasama kang iba kanina."
I wanted to say nagseselos din naman ako sa boyfriend nya pero in what position do I have para sabihin yun?
Yung sakanya acceptable pa na selos as a friend.
Pero ako? Nagseselos sa jowa?
Parang ang kapal ko naman dun.
"Uwi na tayo. Let's talk about it when we get back," she said as she lets go of me.
Her gaze softened as she looks at me.
Wala na yung galit sakanya. All I can see is the calmer and softer version of her.
Just like the girl I met years ago.
She wiped my tears away before stroking my hair then smiled at me.
"Uwi na tayo? I don't wanna go home without you. It feels lonely without you," she said.
I just smiled at her.
Nakakainis karupukan ko minsan.
"I hate you."
"Sige sabi mo," she said laughing.
"I hate the fact na ang yabang mo kanina kasi alam mong sayo parin ako uuwi."
"Of course, they're not me. Alam kong ako parin pipiliin mo, ako bff mo eh," she said before winking.
Natawa nalang ako.
Yeah right.
Im just your bestfriend.