Kabanata 12
Him
"Before going ahead I would like to extend a warm welcome to every person present over here. Also, I would like to extend warm gratitude to all for giving me this beautiful opportunity to welcome all of you to this camp. This is surely a special day for you all. As today you are going to start a new and fresh journey of your life, full of new challenges, milestones, and achievements. This day is a day of nostalgia for many; it is a day with many new mixed feelings of happiness, confusion, fear, and excitement. But don’t worry; we all are here for you, to make sure that this journey is memorable for you all." masayang tugon ng MC.
Magkakatabi kaming pito sa isang pahabang upuan. We are all serious and attentive. No one dares to speak up. This is going to be the best rollercoaster ride of our journey, full of fun, knowledge, growth, and ultimate success. The day we will end this journey, we will surely miss the memorable time that we are going to spend here. Napangiti ako ng palihim habang iniisip ang mga posibleng mga gawain dito sa camp.
May nakita naman akong lalaking seryosong naglalakad papunta sa gawi namin. He is wearing an eye-glasses. He also brought some manuals and books.
"I am Loe Gomez, the mentor for this booth. I'll going to teach you some techniques on how to make a good artwork and on how to be a good artist. We will also have some activities. There's an individual, by pair, and a by group activity." he smiled.
"So for the Arts Booth, now is the perfect time to refine observational drawing skills. Your first activity is to participate “View From My Day” drawing challenge. It can be an abstract. From art you can search yourself and you can tell your life story, your thoughts, your vision through colors on canvas let everyday people find themselves by seeing the art. Save your day for today and we will begin tomorrow." our mentor explained.
I exhaled and cheered myself up. I'm a little bit nervous and excited. With the way of Mr. Gomez describes such things, I feel something is steering inside of me.
From my peripheral vision, I saw someone is walking towards me. Nilingon ko naman yun at nakita kong nakangiti si Torce sa akin.
"Can we partner in by pair activities?" he asked.
Nag-aalinlangan naman akong sumagot. Gusto kong tumanggi, pero di ko magawa. Tiningnan ko naman si Laurence. He was looking intently at me and looked away. His jaw moved for a clench. Nagulat naman ako ron. Ngayon ko lang na-realize na may anggulo pala siyang suplado.
I just plan to refuse but Laurence suddenly leans me closer and whispered. "You'll be my partner, right?"
Napatitig naman ako sa kaniya bago tumango.
"Yes. I'm s-sorry Torce... Pero partner na kasi kami ni Laurence," I awkwardly stated.
Ngumiti naman siya. "Okay. I guess I'm going to search a partner right now." he chuckled. "Balik muna ako don. Salamat."
***
Nang nakapasok kami pabalik sa painting room ay agad kong inilapag ang gasket na dala ni Laurence. I borrowed her mom's gasket since Laurence have one. All of us immediately fell asleep. I was really tired because of the trip. Gumising rin ako nang maaga kaya ganun.
Aimee woke us when the lunch were already ready. Nag-unat muna ako bago tumayo. May inihanda na mga pagkain sa loob ng room at pinipila kami ni Mr. Gomez para ma-organize ang pagkuha nito.
Nakita kong pagod na tumayo si Laurence. I giggled when I realized that this is the result of his earthshaking excitement earlier. Siguro nga hindi ito natulog kagabi at naghintay lang na pumatak ang oras ng alas tres para puntahan ako.
Nang natapos na aking kumuha ng pagkain ay may itinuro yung assistant ni Mr. Gomez na doon daw ako papaupuin. Naglakad naman ako papunta sa isang pahabang upuan na may pahaba ring mesa.
Aimee, Hannah, Torce, Adi, and Yves walked towards me, lead by Laurence. They were carrying their trays. And they were coming to sit here.
"Ba't ang liit ng friedchicken ko?" reklamo agad ni Adi nang nakita ang mga tray namin. Inisa-isa niya ng tingin ang friedchicken na ibinigay ng staff.
He pouted. "Tapos yung menudo………madaming sabaw pero kaunti lang yung karne. Samantalang sa inyo? Ang unfair!" dagdag pa nito.
Agad naman siyang hinampas ni Aimee. "Gago ka talaga. Baka marinig ka pa nila at hindi ka na papakainin!" saway niya.
Mahina naman akong natawa dahil sa mga asal nila. I looked into each of their eyes and saw nothing but joy.
I saw Laurence shake his head and laugh because of what they were doing. Adi continued to complain about the food but in a weak voice.
"Alam mo Adi, dapat magpasalamat ka na nga lang dahil may pagkain na ibinigay hindi yung nagrereklamo ka pa. Yung iba nga walang makain pero ikaw? Kung makasumbat ka akala mo naman pera mo ang binili ng mga tuh." galit na tugon ni Hannah sa isang maliit na tono.
I saw her brows furrowed even more while saying those words to Adi. Natahimik naman kami bigla. Adi conscientiously looking at his tray and wondered if he would speak or not.
"Knock. Knock!" Torce suddenly said to change the topic and to ease the awkwardness.
Agad naman kaming sumagot. "Who's there?
"Spell," nakangiti niyang sambit.
"Spell who?" we asked in chorus.
He chuckled. "W.H.O."
We all looked at each other and seem to have deep thoughts. Natawa naman kami ng mahina.
"Ang corny!" komento ni Aimee.
"Joke mo bulok na." Yves said in a cool air.
Natatawang umiling si Torce bago ibinalik ang atensyon niya sa pagkain. We talked again with a different topics. Nag-aasaran, nagbabangayan, at nagtatawanan. I just secretly watched them and smiled.
I wish we will stay like this forever. Away from pain, doubts, grief, and sorrow. This is not the life I pictured about but here I am. Enjoying my life and believe that I can still make something beautiful.
And that's because of him,
Laurence.
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