Once Upon An Us

Prologue

I nodded my head to the beat when finally the DJ changed the sexy, kinda romantic song, to a nice upbeat real party music. Tinaas ko ang shot glass ko at sabay na inisang lagok iyon kasama ang mga barkada ko.

"Happy Breakup, Lips!" Sabay na sigaw namin at nag shot ulit.

Muntik ko ng madura ang ininom ko dahil tinaas niya ang dalawang dirty fingers niya sa 'min. Lasing na nga talaga 'to.

"Kuya, more Cuervo and tequila and three glasses of beer, please!" Lasing na sabi ni Yvo sa dumaan na waiter. "Thank you~"

I chuckled. Her face is so red! Kita ang pagiging chinita niya dahil ngiti siya ng ngiti. The usual drunk Yvonne.

"Hey, Black Label sa 'kin!" Singit ni Serena. "¡Te daré una bofetada si no me consigues una!"
(I'll slap you if you don't get me one!)

"Detente, Rena, no te entenderán. Ya no estamos en España," sinigaw ko sa tenga niya.
(Stop, Rena, they don't understand you. We're not in Spain anymore.)

This girl really has evolved from speaking all English when she's drunk to speaking Spanish. Good thing I know the language since we just came home from Spain. Serena and I have to since we have different tasks to do here.

"Welcome back, SerAnne!" Tinaas ni Lips ang beer niya nang malapag ng waiter ang order namin. Tinapik niya pa ang ulo namin ng malakas. 'Lang hiya.

We cheered and clinked our glasses. Mataas ang alcohol tolerance ko kaya binabantayan ko isa-isa ang mga kaibigan ko. Though kinda blurry na ang paningin ko. But I'm not that drunk.

Lips also is same with me. Parang may sira nga lang 'to. But she can still think clearly. Kasama ko siya noong nag-explore ako sa buhay.

I was confused with my life.

Everytime I see people my age before achieving things that they prayed for or they're passionate about, palagi kong kini-kwestyon ang existence ko. I envyed them kasi at that young age alam na nila ang gusto nila.

They have dreams ready to be fulfilled. I was surrounded with hopeful people.

While I was there, no idea and no any specialties. I felt empty. I felt left out.

But I met Lips and she became my buddy. We rebelled countless times.

And I was thankful at least because for the first time, I said something nice when I met him. Parang nakalimutan kong nagso-soul searching ako noon. Because of him, my parents smiled genuinely when I told them that I found my path.

And that was all thanks to Lips. We met because of her.

But it's been years now. Kahit nasaktan ako, malaki pa rin ang pasasalamat ko kay Lips dahil nakilala ko 'yong lalaking iyon. He made me realize so much.

Even though I hated him, a part of me is still grateful because I won't grow if it wasn't for the pain that he inflicted. I won't be standing to where I am today.

My phone vibrated kaya lumabas muna ako sa booth dahil mahina ang signal doon.

"Hello?" Napatingin ako sa mga nagsasayaw sa dance floor sa baba.