When We Happened

Chapter 11: Underwater

Chapter 11

Underwater

Yap and I are still staring at each other, the EDM music is now drowned out by the soft music in the pool area. The fairy lights and bright neon pool lights highlighted his hooded eyes, high cheekbones, and his lips.

Fuck. His lips...

Why am I staring at his lips?

"Guys!" Parehas kaming napatalon sa gulat nang biglang sumulpot sa gilid namin si Steve. "Hey, you can put your bag and phones in one of the guest rooms. May kwarto naman 'yang si Yap dito sa bahay namin."

Umatras si Yap sa akin and I just stupidly watched him grab my backpack from the picnic table. "Ako na magtatago, you stay here and get dry."

Tumango lang ako sa kanya habang pinapanood siyang umalis.

"Hey, Asher. Lika dali!" nagulat ako nang bigla akong hinila ni Steve pabalik sa loob ng bahay nila, sa may dining area kung may babaeng may hawak ng bote ng Black Label... at pinapainom niya ang isa sa mga kaibigan ni Steve na pinakilala niya kanina.

Yes, she's making him drink Black Label straight from the bottle. She's literally pouring the alcohol into his mouth as they count up to 5.

The girl saw us approach and immediately smiled at us. Steve wrapped his arms around her before kissing her beside the head.

"Asher, this is my girl, Margaret. Babe, this is Asher Flores. She saved my athletics career nung college and best friend din pala siya ni Yap."

Ohh, girlfriend ni Steve!

Her face lightened up even more. "Ohhh... she's the best friend," malakas nitong bulong kay Steve. Mukhang lasing na. Humarap ulit ito sa akin at nakipag-kamay. "Hi, Asher. It's nice to finally meet you! I'm Margaret, Steve's girlfriend. You can call me Mags!"

Oh, wow. Okay. Nicknames agad.

"Hello, nice to meet you, too, Mags. I'm glad na meron pa rin pa lang friends si Yap," nakangiti kong biro sa kanila. "If you need blackmail material against Yap, kilala niyo na kung sinong lalapitan."

"Anong blackmail-blackmail pinagsasabi mo diyan?"

Mags squealed and went for Yap, na nasa likuran ko na pala. Niyakap niya ito saglit bago hinampas sa braso. "Long time, no see, Yap! Buti nakapunta kayo!"

I looked at my best friend and saw him only wearing board shorts and his white shirt. Well, at least mukhang sasabayan niya na rin akong tumambay sa pool.

Muling sumingit si Steve, napapailing na lang sa likot ng girlfriend niya. "Since Yap's here now, we can proceed na. Naghahanap kami ng makakalaban sa beer pong. Are you guys game?"

"Sure!" mabilis kong sagot. Anything for a fun game. "Ano may wager ulit?"

Itinaas ni Steve ang hawak niyang bote. "Losing team gets to do Captain Morgan shots. Without a chaser!"

"Sus, easy!" sigaw ko pa sa kanya. Kahit hindi pa ako nakakainom ng Captain Morgan. Lakasan lang ng loob. Nandiyan naman si Yap para saluhin ako e.

Nagkatinginan kami ni Yap at napangisi pareho habang papunta sa isang mahabang table na may red solo cups. Nakaayos na rin ang formation ng mga ito for our beer pong match.

***

Napailing na lang si Steve sa girlfriend niyang inuubos ang last drink sa side nila, courtesy of yours truly. "Fuck. Bakit ba natin hinamon 'tong dalawa?" narinig kong tanong nito kay Mags. "Parehas varsities 'tong mga 'to."