My first bestfriends live about five blocks away from our house--Shiela, her cousin Aaron, and their neighbor Yayay. They used to come to our house to play with me. We would "sell" flowers (dandelions, santan, and NNF > 'no name flower') and play piko, out-outan, and langit lupa. Suddenly, they stopped coming. I don't know why, but I didn't really care by then. I was too shy to be the one to visit them so I just stayed home. I had my own set of friends at school so I wasn't exactly "yearning" for a company.
Once, I rode a jeep going to TSU and saw Shiela sitting in front of me. I managed a small smile. It's so weird seeing her after more than 5 years. I didn't know what to say so I just looked out of the window, wondering if she even remembers who I am. As for Yayay, I've never seen her again for the last 10 years.
Aaron had passed away. He had a brain tumor. We went to his wake and I looked at him in his coffin. I wondered what could have happened if we stayed friends and if he still knows me. It's a shame I didn't get to see him the last few years he was alive.
* * *
I was in Grade 1 when I got to know Tatiana. I didn't know exactly how we became the best of friends--maybe it's because my mom and her mom used to bring our lunches to school together, and that we both don't have any siblings. We used to go to each other's houses and play. We went to Baguio together, shared stuff, ate lunch together, and even wore the same clothes. I think the friendship began to fade when we were in Grade 4 and she got into a different section. She started to join inter-school competitions and made a new set of friends. I had my own set of friends too, and I guess that put an end into our best-friendship. We remained friends until Grade 6 and I never heard from her again when transferred to another school--except for that one time when her cousin (who was my classmate) talked to her and passed the phone to me.
The last time we saw each other was during the UP Sandiwa review. We didn't talk to each other. It's as if she doesn't know me and I don't know her. That's when I knew-- our friendship has long been ended.
* * *
I didn't have any bestfriends until Grade 6--if you would void that time when Joy said that I'm her bestfriend because I doubt if she even meant it.
* * *
February 2001--just a month before graduation, my frikkin shoe broke. Little did I know that that frikkin broken shoe would lead me to the person who would later on be my bestfriend--Jewilyn. I don't know why she did it, but she stayed with me when I asked her to. Maybe she pitied me, or maybe she's just cool like that. I can tell she really wanted to watch the show rather than stay with this boring girl (me) and I don't understand why I also chose to stay outside the Don Bosco gym, when I could have easily carried the sole with me and both of us would have watched the show. Maybe it really is fate. If I didn't choose to be stupid enough to do what I did, maybe I wouldn't have hung out with her after that. She would still be my friend, but I doubt if we would be this close. The four years of high school brought us even closer. We fought--events I would rather forget. But it's these events which made our friendship stronger, and Jarjar Binks and BaoBao King continued with their adventures, battling evil and eating goopey dumplings.
High school is where I met wonderful people, including my other bestfriends.
He does not know this, but I have to thank Alan Paul for something. I know I've never actually admitted it except to my friends, (who thought it would be fun to spill the beans) but I really had a crush on him. It wasn't just a crush. It was a patay-na-patay type of crush *vomits*. There, I said it. Anyone could tell him to go to this website and read this himself, I wouldn't really care. I practically had a crush on almost every guy when I was in high school, it wasn't a big deal anymore.
Anyway, it was because of this crush thingy that I've met June a.k.a Juneneng. Oh how I used to hate this girl. She always steals the spotlight with her jokes (na hindi ko pa pinagtatawanan noon kasi nga naiinis ako) and she stole a point from our group when she stood up at the same time I did and gave the same answer, but Mam Castro gave her the point. Now, how did we become friends? It's because of Alan Paul.
June and I have our own respective schoolbuses and she's my only classmate left with me while waiting for those. That's when she asked me who my crush was--and I told her XD. She gave me his number and I frikkin sent him a message and etc. I don't want to go into the details. I shudder everytime I remember those O_O. This is how some of it went:
Me: Anong sabi nya?
June: Tinatanong nya kung kilala ko daw yung number na 'to. 09192701033 (yes, memorize ko pa ang kauna-unahan kong selpon number)
Me: Talaga? *dreamy eyes*
ew...
ew...
ew...
Okay, back to reality.
It was also June who accompanied me during lunch hours when Wey and I had a fight (my fault). We also used to meet and roam on the grounds of Montessori's parking lot and talk about Alan Paul (again). We're both camera addicts too (a.k.a mga silo sa camera) no wonder most of our barkada pictures were those of the both of us.
Jaffe and Con-con joined our group during our sophomore year. It was then I discovered that Jaffe lived only a few blocks away from our house. Since then, we started going home together. We used to share the tricycle fare or ride the jeepney and then have a happy conversation while walking back home. Sometimes, we rode the bus going to school together. It always makes walking appear less tiring. We often had misunderstandings. There was a time when we argued and didn't speak to each other for (I think) more than a week. It was hard for me to not be in good terms with a friend, especially with her, but I managed to resist the urge to apologize. I've noticed that we've been fighting almost every other day, away-bati palagi, and maybe one way to stop this is to let an argument last for some time until we're really ready to apologize to each other. Then one night, much to my surprise, she called. It was my mom who answered the phone. We talked and that's when I realized how much I've missed her--how I missed talking and being with her. I don't recall any other major quarrel after that. Jaffe and I have a lot of fun memories together. We walked from Magsaysay to TSU, tried to lose weight, and dreamt of marrying a superstar (Bloom and Radcliffe). I was also the one who named her modus operandis (kamusta naman yung Ragnarok poster na ginawa nyang cover ng envelope nya para mapansin ni "Procter & Gamble"). Kamusta din naman ang pamatay na tawa niya na talaga namang walang sinabi ang tawa kong no comment lang.
Ben. Most wouldn't understand how a person who has no reaction could be one of the best guy friends anyone can ask for. The secret lies within his uhhhhhhhhhh... 'muscles' (masculado daw siya eh) and hair (known for accidentally trapping a fly, thus saving the world from a typhoid breakout). Ben is a man of few words (taong bundok?) meaning right after telling him a 5-minute story about something, his reply would either be "Syempre" or "Talaga naman" or worse, "Care ko"
* * *
It's amazing how long since we've seen each other and yet it seems as if we've never been apart. Thank God for the internet. It seems that the occasional "I miss you" is enough to assure me that the flame of friendship between us continues to burn even though we're miles apart.
Now I understand why I still haven't found a friend here in the states. Maybe it's because I'm not really looking for one because I don't actually need one.
Gracey D.C. 21. Moon. Box Elder, South Dakota. Registered Nurse. moody. weird. wired. loves cats, dogs, cockatiels and cows. paranoid. trying to save the world before mealtime.