"Congrats Lance!" bati ni Mom.
Recognition na ngayon. Tapos na ang pasukan, bukas simula na ng bakasyon at tapos na ko sa pagiging grade one.
"Still not the first" komento naman ni Dad.
Hindi ko nalang pinagtuunan ng pansin si Dad. Sanay na ko.
"Yaya?" lumapit ako kay yaya Lotty para kunin yung box na pinahawak ko sa kanya.
Hinanap ng mga mata ko si Mikki. Nakita ko siya kasama si Lea at ang parents niya.
Nilapitan ko siya at inabot sa kanya yung box "Congrats!" bati ko.
Si Mikki kasi ang nagtop one. Top two naman ako.
"You're so sweet hijo. Mikki be polite and accept his gift" utos ng Mom niya.
And she did. "Thanks" sabi niya habang nakayuko.
Kontento na ko dun. Naging masaya ako buong araw dahil doon.
Natapos ang bakasyon. Pasukan na ulit.
"Lance!" sigaw ni Hans kasama si Greg at Nathan.
"Oy!" sabay sabay kaming pumasok sa classroom. Buti na lang magkakaklase pa rin kami.
Tumingin agad ako sa paligid. Pero wala pa sila. Tumunog na ang bell at dumating ang bago naming teacher pero wala pa rin sila. Baka hindi papasok. First day pa lang naman.
"Alam niyo ba ang daming nangyari nung bakasyon!" simula ni Hans habang papunta kami sa canteen. Recess na kasi.
"O anong nangyari?" tanong ni Greg.
"Madami nga! Una, pumunta kami sa Palawan. Nagswimming ako. Ang ganda doon."
"E, nakapunta na din ako dun e. Ano pang ipagmamalaki mo?" sarkastikong tanong ni Greg.
"Yabang mo! Oo nga pala. Nagmigrate na sila Lea papuntang America" sabi niya.
"Sila Lea?" paniniguro ko. Kaya pala wala siya. "E si Mikki?" tanong ko.
"Ganun din. Last week lang. Pag-uwi namin galing Palawan nagpafarewell party sila sa bahay. Sabi doon na sila for good" paliwanag ni Hans.
Nalungkot ako sa nalaman ko. Hindi ko man lang nakuha ang achievement ko. Ang makausap si Mikki.
Lumipas ang mga taon. Nauso ang social network sites kagaya ng facebook, Instagram at Twitter.
"Look Ivan" sabi ni Hans habang tutok sa laptop niya.
They used to call me Lance but when we graduated elamentary, they changed my nickname. Mas cool daw ang Ivan according to Camille. She had been close to us since grade three dahil sa groupings, since then, she became part of our squad.
"What is it?" I asked without looking.
I'm busy reading.
"Remember Lea Alcaraz?"
Umiling ako. "But sounds familiar, tho"
"The friend of Mikki Gale Torres" the name caught my whole attention which made me look at him.
"Remember?" he smirked knowingly.
How could I ever forget the person who used to ignore me nine years ago?
"What's with them?" I asked coldly.
"Nothing. I just saw Lea's facebook account and just right now, she accepted me" Hans smile grew wider.
I shook my head and brought back my attention to the book.
For the past nine years, wala kaming naging balita sa kanila. Maybe some already forgot about their existence. And as for me, I'd realized how stupid I was back then for bringing myself following and trying to befriend a girl who doesn't care about the existence of others.
I just wanted to be friends with her and that's all. I grew up now.
Years had passed. I'm still stick to my group of friends. And still studying in the same school I've started on sing prep. Now that we graduated high school. We still chose the same school for college. That's how loyal we are.
"Sigurado ka na ba sa course mo?" tanong ni Nathan.
"Oo naman!" sagot ko.
I have decided to take civil engineering, Hans and Greg will take business management, Nathan wants medicine so he'll take nursing first. Whilst Camille wants the same page like mine. Nag-usap kaming sabay sabay magpaenroll. Napaaga nga lang ako ng dating kaya naisipan kong tumambay muna sa administration office. Pwede naman e.
I saw the admin approaching the two girls. Inquirer siguro. May iilan na dumadaan at bumabati sakin. At binabati ko pabalik. Yes, I'm still friendly and I can't help it. Nature ko na talaga siguro. Seems like everyone are close to me. Umalis na yung dalawang babae. Pero narinig ko yung sigaw ng admin kaya lumapit ako.
"May problema po ba?" tanong ko.
"Oh, thank God Ivan, pakibigay naman to sa dalawang babaeng kakalabas lang. Naiwan kasi nila, schedule pa naman yan" sabi niya.
I accepted it without hesitation. Maliit na bagay lang naman ang pag-abot nito e. Nagmadali akong lumabas at hinanap yung dalawang babae and luckily, hindi pa sila nakakalayo.
"Miss! Miss wait!" sigaw ko.
Huminto sila at nagtatakang tinignan ako.
Napahinto ako nang mapatitig ako sa isang babae. Walang emosyon ang makikita sa mukha niya, poker face lang siya. Parang.. pamilyar.
I remember a very specific girl who used to ignore me and everyone else.
I shook my head. Imposible.
"Ang bilis niyong maglakad, o" inabot ko sa kanila yung schedule na naiwan nila.
"What's that?" mataray na tanong nung isang babae.
"Schedule, naiwan niyo, pinahabol lang sakin ni admin"
"Oh, sorry, naistorbo ka pa, thanks tho!" sabi nito sabay kuha ng papel at inabot sa babaeng nakapoker face pa rin. "Memory gap" then she giggled.
Wala man lang sinabi yung isa at basta na lang umalis at iniwan ang kasama niya.
"Uy, salamat ha. Sorry sa kasama ko. Ganun lang talaga yun! Thanks ulit! Mauna na kami. Bye!" paalam nito bago tumalikod at hinabol ang kasama.
Why did they remind me of the my old classmates?
"Ivan!" sigaw ni Hans. "Kanina pa kita hinahanap, kanina pa sila naghihintay satin" Tuluy tuloy na sabi nito.
Pero bago kami makaalis, nakita kong bumalik yung isang babae papunta sa direksyon namin.
"Excuse me.." sabi nito pagkatigil sa harap namin.
"Yes, miss? Anything I can do for yo-- Lea?" hindi makapaniwalang tanong ni Hans.
"Sabi ko na nga ba, kilala kita e! You looked familiar so I thought naging classmates tayo dati?"
"Yeah. Hindi mo ba ko natatandaan? Ako si Hans" he extended his hand.
"Hans? Yung kapitbahay nila Mikki?"
"Yeah. So, kamusta ka na? Long time no see" then he smirked.
Ako naman hindi din makapaniwala sa naririnig. Lea Alcaraz? That means..
Impossible.
Napatingin ako sa maputing babae na mahaba ang buhok at nakapoker face.
"Eto lalong gumanda. So, siya si Ivan? Teka, para wala naman akong kilalang Ivan dati?" napatingalang tanong nito na tila nagiisip.
"Haha, si Lance. Ivan Lance Meneses. Si President"
Huminga ako ng malalim nang magsink in sakin lahat. Kaya pala she reminds me of her kasi siya na pala talaga yun!
I smirked.
I'm not the same old me. So, I took my step forward to go nearby her and placed my two hands on both sides of my pockets.
"It's been awhile Miss Vice" I said.
Wala akong nakuhang sagot o reaction galing sa kanya maliban sa pagkunot ng noo.
Same old her but at lease my improvement. She can look back now unlike before that she can't even spare me a glance.
"Mikki?" biglang sabi ni Hans na nasa likod ko na ngayon.
"Yeah. She is. I'm glad we've met, it's been a long time huh" sabi ni Lea.
She didn't changed. She's still as jolly as she was just like before.
"Anyways. We have to go. For sure magkikita pa naman tayo ulit. Ciao guys!" hindi na kami hinayaan magsalita at hinila na ni Lea si Mikki palayo.
I took a deep breath.
Some parts of me wants to jump for joy. And some refuses to.
"Want her still?" nanunuksong tanong ni Hans.
"No" I replied rather immediately.
"Sinabi mo e. Let's go" tinapik niya ang balikat ko at nagsimulang maglakad.
Sumunod ako sa kanya.
After that meeting. That poker face of her didn't leave my mind. Her emotionless eyes who looked at me for the first time sent shivers and I don't know why. It's still clear to me what I did and she'd done to me few years ago. But the way she looks back made my urge to become her friend is hitting me up again.
Maybe it's really my nature.