I was surprised later that afternoon when Joey asked me what my visual acuity was and grade of my glasses. I mean, why would she even ask me about that? Then I noticed she was eyeing my recently repaired-by-scotch-tape glasses. So, I gave her the answer then asked her, "Ba't mo naman naitanong?"
She gave me a shrug. "Wala lang. Curious lang ako. Kasi baka kaya naman kahit 'di ka magsuot ng salamin."
We went to our club room together that afternoon, since it was every Friday that we held our club meetings. I was a bit excited because it was my first time joining. Earlier, Alicia said she needed to leave early to fix the club room. Luckily, I bumped in to Joey and we agreed to go to the club room together. Joey led me to the room at the far end of the hall.
My new friends and I were all in different sections: Alicia and I were on the same section, Madie was all alone in another section while Robyn and Joey were classmates.
"Tara," Joey invited. I gave her a nod as my reply.
Joey was the type of girl who didn't act like one. She was a bit on the boyish side who prefered wearing a baseball cap to hide her messy shoulder lenght hair rather than using hair clips or headbands. She was also into sports, particularly basketball. And the Pink Angels would often sneer and scoff at her for being unlady-like.
"Dedma lang ako sa kanilang mga judgemental humanoids," she once told me. "Hindi naman ako mamamatay kung ganito talaga ako, eh."
The minute I stepped inside of the club room, I instantly knew it was the Purple Flower Book Club. It was not because of the rich purple color that plastered the four walls of the room; or the flimsy white curtain with small purple flowers that framed the windows. It was not even because of the shelf of books that stood on one side of the room. No. It was the ambiance that the room exuded—with a vase filled with flowers atop a table, a simple set of couches that surrounded a coffee table in the middle of the room and the comfortable looking cushions on the carpeted floor that looked so inviting. There was even a small counter table on one corner. The entire place made me feel at home and at ease. It made me want to curl my feet under me while sitting on one of those comfortable cushions with a book on my lap and a hot chocolate on one hand. Speaking of which, the room did smell of warm chocolate.
"Welcome to the Purple Flower Book Club room!" Alicia said with her usual bright and sunny smile.
Joey and I went inside. Madie was already in the club room, setting up cookies on the plate at the counter table. Robyn was arranging the cushions on the floor.
"Club room ba talaga ito?" I asked incredulously. "Mukhang nasa bahay ka lang at, ang ganda naman ng club room n'yo."
Alicia giggled. "Syempre! Kahit konti lang ang members, dapat 'yong the best pa rin ang para sa kanila."
"Salamat kay Alicia at sa nagagawa ng kanyang pera," Robyn added. Ah. Now I learned something about Alicia: She belonged to a rich family. Why hadn't Alicia ever mentioned this piece of information with me?
Alicia gave Robyn a pout. "Parang sinasabi mong masama ang nagawa ko. At saka 'di ba nagbenta naman tayo ng cupcakes at cookies last year para may pambili tayo sa decorations ng club room natin?"
"Na siya namang binili lahat ng tatay mo," Joey supplied.
Alicia turned to me and gave me one of those puppy eyes look. "Masama ba ako, Alex? Dahil sa ginawa ko?"
I didn't know what to say, really, since I have no idea of the real story on how the club started.
"Alicia, wala kaming sinabing gano'n," Madie said, as she moved around from behind the counter and carried a plate of cookies and placed it on the coffee table. "Ang gustong sabihin nina Robyn at Joey, sa aming lahat ikaw 'yong sobrang dedicated at mahal na mahal ang club na ito at gagawin ang lahat para sa club at club members."
I saw Robyn rolling her eyes. "Oo, Alicia. Engot ka talaga kahit kailan."
I gave a chuckle as I saw Alicia trying to give Robyn a hug while Robyn kept on pushing her away. So, I guess there were still a lot of things I didn't know about these people; one thing I knew was that they were a good bunch of kids.
The fifth member and co-founder of the book club, to my surprise, was actually a tall boy who introduced himself to me as Peter Marasigan. He was a bit on the lanky side and wore glasses like me. Being a tall and lanky was probably the reason why he stooped a little.
"Kailan ka ba naging si Peter, ha, Pedro Marasigan?" Joey joked when Peter went to sit on the couch, making the rest giggle.
"Hayaan mo na akong maging si Peter, JO-SE-PHINE," Peter answered, emphasising Joey's real name with a sneer.
"Shattap! Ew! Ew! Ew!" Joey said, playfully throwing a cushion pillow at Peter. It turned out Joey hated her name. I wonder why?
When we were all settled around, and while Madie was serving us all a cup of warm chocolate drink, Alicia presided the meeting. She and Pedro, who would rather be called Peter, sat on the couch while the rest of us decided to sit on the carpeted floor.
"Okay. Since may bago tayong member, sa tingin ko ay makabubuti na rin kung magkakaroon tayo ng re-election for president, vice president and so on."
"Sa tingin ko 'di na kailangan no'n, Alicia," Joey said. "Anim lang naman tayo, eh."
"Iyon din ang tingin ko," I said. There was really no need for an election. "At saka, bago pa lang ako rito so 'di ko pa alam mga rules and mga usual activities dito."
In the end, we all agreed to keep Alicia as the President. Peter remained as the Vice President, Madie as the Secretary, Joey as the Treasurer and Robyn, surprisingly, the PIO.
"PIO na naman ako?!" Robyn protested. The others tried to hide their giggle. I mean really, Robyn had a point to object. She wasn't really a people person, if you know what I mean.
"At si Alex na lang ang ating researcher," Alicia said. "Bale ikaw ang naka-task na gumawa ng list of books na babasahin natin at idi-discuss every week."
I gave her a nod. As the meeting progressed, and as Joey and I almost finished the platter of Madie's homemade cookies, I realized the diversity of taste in books each club member had. For instance, Alicia was into romance novels and fairy tales, Joey was more on the suspense/thriller/horror/conspiracy theory books while Robyn was more of the Nicholas Sparks and John Green fan. Madie was more into the fantasy-adventure type of books.
Now, when they asked me what books I usually read, I was very glad to share it with them. "Gusto ko 'yong mga gawa ni Jane Austen. Favorite ko din 'yong gawa ni Alexandre Dumas na The Count of Monte Cristo." And then when I started naming other classic novels, they all looked at me as if I was talking about Newton's theory of relativity. Only Peter was the one giving a nod of approval.
"Eh, trip niya ang mga luma at old," I heard Robyn murmured as she nudged her elbow on Alicia's side.
"Someone na may tastes sa books. At last!" Peter announced causing four pair of eyes to throw him dirty looks. Peter raised his hands in a mock surrender. "Ang akin lang, hindi pa tayo nakakapag-discuss ng classics na libro. Ba't 'di natin umpisahan 'yon? Tutal ngayong year El Filibusterismo ang pag-aaralan natin sa Filipino. Ba't 'di na lang natin i-discuss 'yon para may edge tayo 'pag dating sa class?"
The girls seemed to think it was a good idea when they all gave a nod of assent. I did the same. The club meeting concluded, and after that I helped the rest to clean the club room. I waited for Alicia while she and Peter were locking the club room. Alicia had asked me to accompany her somewhere.
"Saan tayo pupunta?" I asked her when staryed walking down the corridor going outside the school building.
"Sa tennis court," she answered. "Ibibigay ko kay Benjamin 'yong advertisement paper ng club natin sa kanya para maisali niya sa school paper next week. Baka makatulong na makahakot ng bagong members, lalo na sa mga first years."
Tennis Court. Benjamin. Those were the only words I could understand. I suddenly found myself combing my hair with my fingers, biting my lips to make it red, and pinching my cheeks to give it some color.
"Okay ka lang? Ba't sinasaktan mo ang sarili mo?" Alicia asked eyeing me curiously when she caught me pinching my cheeks.
"Ha? Hindi naman," I simply said. I didn't know. Really. All I knew was that I was excited to see Benjamin. And then I remembered my scotch-taped glasses. I felt dismayed afterwards. My glasses were a total turn off.
***
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