against fortalejo ✦ lhs

74

“hello, ate kaila! i'm sean!” sean introduced himself enthusiastically, eyes couldn't be seen with how huge his smile is. “lagi kang nakekwento ni kuya gael!” what?

nanlaki kaagad yung mata ko, this kid! talagang humanda siya sakin, ieexpose pa yata ako?!

“bro, talagang napasama mo satin si kaila? you're not kidding?” bulong ni javier sakin habang nakatingin kay kaila na kausap yung mas mga bata. i shook my head, “she came here willingly.” nagkibit balikat ako at ngumisi lang.

para namang mga baliw na pinagpyestahan na ako ni jayden at javier. ang saya nung dalawa na parang sila yung nagpalaki sakin.

supposedly, only aqui and javier will watch the baseball game together but then we just decided to tag along. tutal libre naman ni javi yung tickets.

nakiayon naman yata sakin ang pagkakataon at swerte. napapayag ko si kaila na sumama para manood ng baseball game... ayun nga lang, i have to use aqui as an alibi. but in the first place, why is kaila so fixated about aqui? parang gusto niya na maging kami ni aqui, ang weird.

“tapos na?” tanong ni kaila kay aqui na nakaupo sa unahan namin, but aqui is still busy arguing with javier. lagi naman silang ganun, nothing new.

“hindi pa. may break na 2 minutes before the next inning.” ako na ang sumagot sa tanong ni kaila, since i'm also aware of the game despite not focusing on it. would you blame me? katabi ko si kaila ngayon... at hindi ko magawang i-alis yung tingin ko sa kaniya.

nilapit niya naman yung tenga niya sakin, “ha? ano?! di ko marinig!”

surrounded by people, mahirap nga magkarinigan dito sa stadium. lumapit na lang din ako kay kaila tsaka nilakasan ang boses para marinig niya. “sabi ko, hindi pa. break lang, pero may sunod pa.”

our faces are only a few inches away from eachother when the crowd went wild, including all of our friends. what the hell?

nakita ko nalang na nasa malaki kaming led screen ni kaila, and there's a huge heart shaped frame. the famous kiss cam. parang gusto kong makisigaw sa kanila.

here i am, having the best moment of my life. sitting next to my crush and we were featured in a kiss cam together. totoo ba 'to?

“kiss, kiss, kiss!” sigaw nila jayden, nilakihan sila ng mata ni kaila. habang ako, hindi alam kung anong gagawin, pinagpapawisan na lang ako sa kaba.

“go, kuya gael! omg!” sigaw ni sean habang tawa ng tawa naman sila soren.

shit. should i just confess my feelings? hindi ko alam kung ano bang naiisip ko. mas kinakabahan pa ako dito kesa sa mga quiz competitions na nasalihan ko.

“tangina... puta, putangina talaga.” rinig ko parin yung pagmumura ni kaila kahit sa sobrang ingay na dito. people were literally cheering for us to do it, but of course, i wouldn't dare.

hindi sa torpe ako! i just respect her. i know what consent it.

“kiss mo na, kuys!” bigla nalang akong tinulak ni nikon na katabi ko, muntikan na tuloy akong masubsob kay kaila. napagalitan ko kaagad si nikon, “nikon, bakit mo ako tinulak?” pero puro lang siya tawa at tinignan ako na parang gagawin niya ulit.

well, sana if itutulak niya ako, sana yung mas malakas para talagang masubsob ako kaila diba? ang weak kasi psh.

“ang kapal ng mukha mo! tangina, fortalejo! ang arte, puta! akala mo naman gusto kitang ikiss diyan? gago!” sigaw bigla ni kaila tsaka tumayo at umalis. nagulat lang ako.

lalong lumakas yung tawanan nila jayden. man, i just got rejected and the whole stadium witnessed it!

“akala yata ni ate kaila, ayaw mo siya halikan.” sabi ni nikon. sean then came to the rescue, panay flying kiss siya sa camera and i think most people think that was adorable.

thinking about all of the things that happened to us, paminsan hindi parin ako makapaniwala na sakin siya ngayon.

i've had a few girlfriends back then, it was impulsive and childish. hindi naman sa nag mature na ako ngayon, but i knew this was different. it'll be always different.

“this next song... it's for my favorite person.” sabi ko sa harap ng lahat, habang nandito kami sa stage nila jayden, soren at javier. we're performing on our prom night.

“kaila, thank you sa pag crush back sakin 7 months ago...” dahil sa sinabi ko, nagtawanan yung iba. pero madami din ang sumigaw dahil sa kilig.

nakatingin lang ako kay kaila, although she's standing there in the crowd with the dim lights, i could still see her rolling her eyes at me.

on my cue, we started playing our instruments. we practiced this overnight, we really tried hard for this event. just so we could all impress everyone, and hopefully our special someones.

“like paintings in the picture frame, it's only you i see right now in the century and i wonder if you see me.” i began to sang, low and deep. medyo kakaiba sa kung paano ako usually kumakanta. but still, it sounded great. ako pa ba?

“in another lifetime, i kissed your cheek and said that, i'd rather stay here by your side.” i looked down to my guitar as i continue to strum, fingers calmly shifted from one fret to another.

jayden joined me as the back vocal. mas malalim ang boses niya. “tonight is for the two of us. tonight is for the two of us.”

“when we lean closer in our seats, there's nothing but you and me.” nagsigawan ang mga tao -- mostly mga babae nung kumanta na si soren. “and you're totally astronomically.” jayden then sang, according to plan.

“brighter than the northern lights. you're in every color, in this star speckled sky.” i pour my heart out, tinaasan ko na ngayon kesa nung simula.

“and i just want you here with me...” i sang softly -- like telling it directly to kaila.

“and i just want you here with me.” javier sang with me. our voices blended well together.

“summer's the right time for making mistakes. i'm here at your place, when i shouldn't be.” jayden sang again, while still playing the drums.

it seems like everyone got used to the music. may mga couple na sumasayaw, nagvi-video samin, may mga sumasabay din sa kanta, may ilan na umiiyak at meron yung mga nanonood lang.

“summer's quite good for making you late. and making you wait, for a good thing.” i sang, hindi parin inaalis ang tingin kay kaila.

i'm the one who's performing, while she's there in the crowd surrounded by others. pero enjoy na enjoy ako habang pinapanood siya.

alam ko noon pa na hindi ko mapipigilan ang sarili ko na mahalin siya. i'm just lucky that she loved me back.

and even if she didn't, i know she'll still take a huge part of my life.

fin.