HAJ & SETCH (COMPLETED)

XV

The party went well. Greetings here, greetings there, greetings for Maria everywhere.

And this should be a fun and enjoyable party for her but she herself seems to be not happy at all.

After sa party, 10 o'clock pm, we decided nga mag sleep over sa suite ni Maria. Ni agree pud sya pero halata kaayong dili sya okay.

Naa sa shower room si Aemie. Margaux is outside with her husband. While Maria and I were in the terrace.

“You alright?” Pag start nakog conversation.

Nitando ras Maria ug ni inom sa iyang kape.

“About me and Haj..” nang hupaw ko. “We're not dating. Not at all”

I heard Maria deeply sigh. “How long did you two know each other?”

“A month and a half”

Niinom napud syas iyang kape. “How is he?”

Nabalaka ko kay basin naa koy masulti nga dili tama. I can clearly see nga ga care pa gihapon sya ni Haj.

Human sa iyang pag ingon ganiha nga ex niya si Haj, ni excuse na dayun sya. She left us without any explanation. Bisan si Haj, naka tulala ra.

Speaking of Haj. Aha na kaha to? Si Yaddi man to iyang kauban ganiha pa bisan pagka human sa party.

Maria cleared her throat that caught my whole attention.

“We're batchmates. Haj came from a wealthy family but not everyone knows that, it's his secret. Kami lang tulo ang nakabalo. Ako, si Haj, ug si East.”

My brows furrowed. Maria knows kuya East too?

“You probably didn't know and Aemie didn't also know nga kaila kos iyang kuya. Kaming tulo, batchmates mi way back middle school.” explain niya.

Right. Maria is the only one ahead from us. Maguwang sya namo ug tuig so probably dili kami iyang batchmates. And nagkaila mi katong college na mi, she's our senior.

“You mean, you're close with kuya East?”

Nitando si Maria. “Three of us were bestfriends.” natulala sya sa kawalan. “Not until I and Haj heard about what happened to East. He left the country, and that's the last time we heard about him. That affected our friendship. Then Haj slowly vanished. For how many years, I didn't hear anything from them. That's when they start becoming my ex... ex bestfriends. I kept it a secret and avoid friendship as long as I can. Until I met you guys, you are my bestfriends now.” she bit her lower lip and I saw tears in her eyes.

Maria is obviously hurt. I know how she treasure friendship. We treasure friendship so much, so much that it hurts if it got broken.

“Did you hated them?” I asked.

Nanglingo sya. “Nah. Actually I'm still waiting for them. But I know East would fail to come home.”

Someone hand Maria a tissue box. “I'm sorry about that. On behalf of kuya, I'm really sorry” Aemie joined us.

Ga sink in pas akong huna huna ang tanan nakong nabal'an karon lang, and it hurts seeing my friends cry.

Obviously, Aemie is crying too. She would always cry everytime maka dungog sya about sa iyang kuya.

“I loved them both because they treated me well way back highschool years. They're my first bestfriends.” Maria continue to cry. Gi alo na namo syang duha ni Aemie bisan ga hilak pud si Aemie.

“We're here na. Everything is going well” Aemie said.

“Thank you girls. And I'm sorry, Aem. I shouldn't mention your kuya”