"Bossing ano na?" narining kong tawag sa akin ng mga juniors ko sa kabilang room.
Agad ko namang itinigil yung ginagawa ko and quickly made my way to their room. Nadatnan ko si Kianna, Joy at Cj na naka abang sa akin habang lahat sila ay nagsisiksikan sa iisang kama.
"Oh ano ba ito?" I asked them. "Di ba pwedeng mamaya nalang?"
"Come on ate Kim!" as usual si Kianna nanaman yung number one na pasimuno dito. "Lahat nalang pinaghihintay mo, pati pa ba kami?"
"Grabe ka naman Kianna." hirit naman ni CJ. "Minsan kelangan talaga nating intindihin si Ate Kim kasi mahirap kung lagi nalang natin siyang minamadali."
"Ayun naman oh." I exclaimed as I gave a high five to her. "Buti pa si carmel, naiintindihan ako."
"Corny niyo." Joy rolled her eyes. "Bossing, para sayo rin naman ito eh. Gusto lang namin na sumaya ka ulit. I mean mas sumaya yung team."
"Hala siya." react ko naman. "Masaya naman ako sa inyo eh. Masaya naman ang team ha."
"Putek!" agad namang sabi ni CJ. "Ate Kimmy tama na, baka hindi ka niya magustuhan kung ganyan ka bukas tapos ayaw na niyang sumali sa atin."
Actually this set up has been planned ng mga batang ito a month ago pa. Si CJ kasi ay may dating teammate daw from Cebu who will transfer to DLSU this semester. Dati raw siyang volleyball player na dapat ay maglalaro sa team namin but she opted out because she decided to stay in Cebu. Na meet na siya ng mga juniors ko but since busy ako sa schedule ko, never pa ako nakasama sakanila.
"Oh so let's start na." Kianna announced as she sat in the middle of the room. "First of all Ate Kim, her name is Cydthealee Demecillo."
"Ano?" I asked her. "Anong klaseng name naman yun?"
"Judgemental oh." Joy cut me off. "Cyd-thea-lee, pero she prefers to be called didit or Cyd."
"Teka bakit ba kelangan pa ng briefing para dito?" I laughed. "At ano bang gagawin ko, eh makikipag kilala lang naman diba? And sabi niyo nga na I should try to get her sa team."
"Oo nga ate." CJ agreed. "Pero it's better parin kung may alam ka sakanya, alam mo yun, para mas maging smooth yung first meeting niyo."
They all gushed like 13 year olds na kinikilig. Ewan ko pero feel ko ay pinaglololoko nanaman ako ng mga batang ito.
"Jusko, ewan ko sa inyo." I told them as I stood up from my position.
"Ate Kimmy naman." Kianna quickly held me back. "Just be patient okay? It's for the team, and malay mo, it's gonna benefit you more than you think."
"Okay 5 minutes." pinagbigyan ko sila. "5 minutes at babalik na ako sa kwarto ko mga loko kayo eh. It's midnight na kaya. Nako pag di ako magising bukas."
"Ate Kimmy chill naman oh." CJ replied as she massaged my back slightly. "Trust us, gaganda araw mo bukas. Trust the 18."
"The 18?"
"So eto Ate Kim." Joy started as she ignored me. "Take her somewhere quiet, she likes tea and coffee so alam mo naman na kung saan pwede, tapos don't ask her personal questions, kasi hindi pa naman kayo ganoon ka close and lastly, medyo clown si ate Cyd so just go with her jokes."
"Tapos ate Kim medyo mahiyain siya sa una, papalagayan ka muna niya before she gets talkative. Very talkative." CJ added. "Wag mo rin siyang agad I-talk into joining our team. Get to know her first and then the rest would just follow."
Looking at these girls, they all look serious. Giving me these advices about this girl I am about to meet tomorrow. I'm not going to lie though, with these facts, I am starting to get curious. Sino nga ba itong Cyd Demecillo na ito?
"Alam niyo kayo, kung hindi ko lang kayo teammates feel ko parang sineset up niyo ako sa isang blind date." I told them. "Wag kayong ano ha, I'm just doing this for the team, wala ng iba."
"Sus Kaf." Kianna responded. "I will really, really laugh at you kung sakaling mag iba isip mo sakanya."
"Malay niyo, after so long finally magkaka love life na ulit si Bossing." hirit pa ni Joy.
"Che. Ewan ko sa inyo." I replied. "Oh sige na, babalik na ako sa room, text niyo nalang sa akin bukas kung saan kami magkikita. Hanggang 3:00 pasok ko."
"Goodnight bossing." They all said in chorus. "Trust the 18."
"Goodnight mga loko." I rolled my eyes at them. "Lash you guys!"
~
I have been siting in this coffee shop for about half an hour now. Napaaga yung dismissal ko in my last subject kaya naman napa aga rin akong pumunta sa meeting place. Ang dami ko nang nakita na morena na babae, which was the only description they gave me about Cyd, ang still wala parin siya dito. Sa dami ng social media options, ewan ko kung bakit hindi ako pinakitaan ng picture ni CJ.
Dahil masyado na akong naiinip, I decided to call CJ to confirm kung dadating pa siya.
"Hoy asan na siya?" I asked as soon as she picked up. "Ang dami ng morena na babae na dumating dito pero wala pang lumalapit sa akin."
"Ate Kim chill ka lang." she laughed. "Kaka text lang niya and on the way na daw siya."
"Galing saan, sa España?"
"Bossing galing lang siya ng Razon's." she replied. "I bet she's gonna be there any second."
"Sinabi mo ba sakanya na siya manlilibre ngayon?" hirit ko sakanya. "Wala akong pera ha--"
"Kim Fajardo?"
I heard a voice called out my name in my back. As I turned around, there she is. Of all the morenas I saw earlier, she looked different. I mean I didn't expect anything with her but totally I was thinking of a very different Cyd Demecillo.
"Cyd Demecillo?" I asked her back as I took my phone down without even saying bye to CJ.
"Yes!" she smiled as she extended her arm at me. "Hi Kim, I'm Cyd. Nice to finally meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." I told her as I shook her hand.
Umupo siya in the chair right in front of me. Hindi ko alam pero bigla akong nakaramdam ng kakaiba. Maybe I was expecting a much different person than who I am face to face with right now. Parang may weird feeling ako sakanya but I don't know what is it.
"Kim, kung ano man ang sinabi ni Carj, i mean ni Carmel sayo about sa akin." she started. "Wag kang maniwala doon, she's a liar. I am not who you think I am."
Napansin niya siguro na medyo napa kuno yung mukha ko kaya naman tumawa siya.
"Charot." bigla niyang sabi. "I'm just messing with you, parang napaka serious mo kasi eh."
"Ay ganun ba?" I tried to laugh. "Eh ano kasi eh.."
I can't seem to say my words straight.
"Okay ka lang?" she asked me. "Bakit parang nauutal ka?"
I mentally scolded myself for acting so weird. Bigla kong naalala yung mga payo sa akin nung mga bata na do's and don'ts when talking to her.
"Umm okay lang." I denied. "Anong height mo?"
"What?" she laughed. "Height ko? Um nasa around 5"8 ata, but I'm not sure."
"Ahh." I hummed. "Mukha ka kasing mahaba."
Seriously? Mukha kang mahaba? Nice way to make this conversation more awkward.
"Okay." she said with uncertainty. "So siguro 5"8 karin kasi mukha ka ring mahaba." she said with a hint of teasing.
I badly wanted to disappear right now. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ganito yung pinaggagagawa ko infront of her. I mean yeah she does look pretty attractive but I never get this crazy in front of a girl.
"Um you want to order something?" I asked her badly wanting to have a reason to get away from her. "Coffee? Tea? Food?"
"Surprise me." she challenged me. "Sabi nina Kianna magaling ka raw eh. Looking forward to be impressed."
"Loko talaga yung mga yun." sabi ko naman sakanya as I stood up. "Be right back."
Agad akong umalis sa table namin and with that ay nakahinga ako ng maluwang. I don't know but something about that girl made me feel different kind of things. Nag order ako agad ng usual kong inoorder dito and I hope na magustuhan niya ito. I decided to stay in the counter to wait for my order just to have a little more time away from her.
Sa maiksing paguusap namin, ang dami ko na agad napansin sakanya. I noticed how she curls her hair to the back of her ear every 10 seconds. The way she does so many facial expressions caught my attention too. I also noticed the way she says other people's name, like mine, she says it with endearment and it's kinda cute actually. But her smile, I think that's what caught my attention the most. Her smile just captures her whole being. It's beautiful.
Bago pa lumalim yung pag iisip ko about that girl Cyd ay tinawag na ako nung waiter dahil naka ready na yung mga orders ko. I quickly made my way back sa table and there she was just patiently waiting for me.
"Seriously? Pretzels and Green Tea Frappe?" she asked me with an eyebrow raised. "Sinabi ba yan sayo ni Carmel?"
"Um, no." I replied habang ibinababa ko yung mga iyon sa table. "Eto kasi usual order ko eh. Ayaw mo ba? I could order something else naman."
She laughed at me again. Lagi niya akong tinatawan now I am starting to feel na pinagloloko niya rin ako.
"So you mean parehas tayo ng usual order?" she smirked. "Wow Kim, you're really starting to impress me."
"Actually my usual order is Double Chocolate Green Tea Frappe." I told her. "Pero parang na sense ko na you're not a double chocolate type of girl, so I stuck with the plain green tea."
"Sa wakas you got something wrong about me." sinabi niya as she stuck her tongue out. "That's actually my favorite one, but I like this too. Though I am a double chocolate type of girl." she said with a wink.
Definitely something's different with this girl. Usually I don't go for girls who has a maangas vibe but she seems different. She could be a sweetie patootie in a second and the next babalik siya sa maangas vibe niya. This girl is just driving me crazy.
"Okay." she finally spoke pagkatapos niyang kumagat sa pagkain niya. "Let's play a game."
"Game?" I asked her. "Ano tagu-taguan?"
"Tagu-taguan ng feelings. Char." agad niyang banat. "Hindi loka, let's play 20 questions."
"Grabe ka naman Cyd." sabi ko sakanya. "Kakatapos ko lang mag finals kanina tapos ngayon may 20 questions pa."
"Haha funny." she rolled her eyes. "I'll ask 20 questions about tapos you do the same to me."
"Kahit ano?"
"Yes, kahit ano." she answered. "Ay wait, let's do 18 nalang, total we know each other's name and height naman na." she said with a smirk.
And so we did. We spent our supposedly meeting para sa pagsali niya sa team into getting to know each other. We didn't even feel the time being spent here in the cafe. Napansin namin na padilim na sa labas but we didn't care. As much as I hate to admit it, I am actually having fun getting to know this girl who was a complete mystery to me a few hours ago. Naging personal yung mga ibang questions ko but she was nice enough to answer all of it.
Hindi pa sana kami titigil nang biglang may nag text sakanya. Clearly she is also enjoying my company.
"Oh shit." bigla niyang nasabi.
"Ano, may ka date ka ba dapat ngayon?" I teased her.
"Buang ka Kim." agad niyang sagot. "Uuwi nga pala ako sa Taguig ngayon sa uncle ko, at ngayon nasa dorm na siya susunduin nga niya pala ako."
"Oh so sinong buang ngayon?" I laughed. "So kelangan mo ng umalis?"
"Bakit ayaw mo pa ba?" she challenged me.
"Kung sasabihin ko bang oo, will you stay?"
She gave me a teasing smile, yung bang parang talagang inaasar niya ako. I didn't mind it kasi she looks cute doing it.
"Charot ka." she said to me with a slap on my arm. "But yeah, I have to go Kim."
"Anong pwede kong gawin to make you stay?" I still insisted.
"Ah so gusto mo talaga akong mag stay ha." she laughed again. "I wonder why."
"Well first of all, hindi pa tayo nakapag usap ng dapat nating pag usapan." I told her. "At isa pa, I haven't decided kung gusto kitang friend or hindi."
"Smooth." she exclaimed. "Very smooth Kim Fajardo. Then there goes two reasons why we should meet up again diba?"
"Free ka ba bukas?" I asked her.
"Hmmm.. Di ba pwedeng mag mahal naman ako?" she pouted. "Lagi nalang akong free eh."
"See you then?" I asked. "5pm tomorrow, same place?"
"Lakas mo naman Fajardo." she teased me nang tumayo siya sa upuan niya. "But sure, I'll be here."
"See you." sabi ko sakanya as I turned my head back habang nag start siyang maglakad away sa table.
"Kim." she stopped infront of me. "Eighteen."
"18?"
"Diba yun naman ang hinihintay mo?" she asked me. "Yes I would love to play with your team and I want to wear number 18."
A big smile just came across my face. So that's what Kianna, CJ and Joy meant when they said trust the 18.
"Welcome to the team number 18, Cyd Demecillo." I smiled at her. "Ay wow bagay nga sayo."
Without another word bigla nalang siyang lumapit sa akin and gave me a quick kiss right there and then. Defintely I was stunned. I was stunned because Cyd just kissed me and I was stunned because I liked it.
"Pero parang mas bagay tayo." she smirked as she walked away.