The Way It Was - Abridged (Complete)

2

Now

Bumukas uli ang pinto at binalikan kami ni Richard. He was smiling. Nasa mga mata pa rin niya ang labis na lungkot pero may munting ngiti sa mga labi niya. He was also holding an old box. I remembered that box. Tana used to put photos and mementoes in there. She used to always carry a polaroid camera. She loved having polaroid pictures. My best friend was also the type who kept movie tickets and napkins with handwritten notes.

"Tana was sentimental," sabi ni Richard habang nauupo uli. Binuksan niya ang kahon at kaagad na napangiti nang makita ang mga abubot sa loob. He had to rifle through before he found a particular polaroid picture. He held it out to show us.

"Our first picture. All four of us."

Inabot ko iyon. It was our first picture together. Kinunan iyon pagkatapos namin sa open mic. She also had pictures of Roarke on stage.

Inilabas nga ni Richard ang larawan na iyon mula sa kahon at ibinigay kay Roarke. "How much do you think I will get if I auction that photo now? It's kind of rare. And historic, come to think of it."

Sumilay ang ngiti sa mga labi ni Roarke. My heart almost melted with that smile. He was nostalgic. "Singing in that open mic completely changed my life."

Tumango-tango si Richard. "True. You owe it all to me." He softly chuckled. "It was my idea because I wanted to impress the girls. You didn't want to sing, I registered your name against your will."

Sa open mic na iyon nakilala ni Roarke si Storm, ang naging daan para maging frontman siya ng bandang The Sleepwalkers.

Hindi ko mapigilang mapangiti habang pinagmamasdan ko ang larawan, ang mukha ng bawat isa sa amin. "We were babies," halos wala sa loob kong nasabi.

Richard held up another photo. "Baby Marianne." It was a photo of me sitting on my study chair. Sa palagay ko ay kuha iyon sa loob ng dorm namin ni Tana noong unang taon namin sa kolehiyo.

We had known each other since high school. Pareho kaming galing sa isang private school sa New York. We had different sets of close friends but we were friendly enough. Naging close talaga kami nang malaman namin na sa parehong university kami pupunta at parehong kukuha ng pre-med course. We made sure we'd be roommates.

After college, we went to the same medical school in Baltimore. We shared an apartment.

We were sisters.

Aabutin ko sana ang polaroid pero naunahan na ako ni Roarke. He looked at the picture with the softest smile on his face.

Gustong-gusto kong hablutin ang polaroid mula kay Roarke. I did not look my best in that picture. I looked tired from studying and my hair was wild and frizzy.

Aabutin ko na sana iyon pero narinig ko ang marahan na pagtawa ni Richard. He held up another photo. My eyes were immediately fixed on the photo.

It was a photo of me and Roarke. We were in bed and smooching. I remembered taking that photo of us. It was early in the morning and we were fooling around. We were pretty much crazy with each other that time. We were young and we were so in love.

That picture was mine. I had forgotten about it though. Hindi ako gaanong masinop sa mga gamit ko lalo na noong kabataan ko. Siguro ay naipit ang larawan sa isa sa mga libro ko. Gawain ko minsan iyon. Ginagawa kong bookmarks ang ilang larawan. I didn't bring my books with me when I left. I just left them all. Si Tana ang umasikaso ng mga iyon. Natagpuan siguro niya ang picture sa isa sa mga libro ko. Kaya siguro nasa box niya.

Pinagmasdan kami ni Richard. Pareho kaming nakatingin ni Roarke sa larawan na hawak niya. "This must be awkward. Let me just put it back." Ibinalik nga niya ang larawan sa kahon.