All My Life

01

It was a very cliché highschool sweethearts love story.

PAULINE AND RAVEN started during their first year in high school– actually no, it goes way before that.

Having lived in the same community (at ang syudad na pinapalooban nila ay hindi rin naman ganon kalaki), they've been within arms reach since they started thinking on their own. 

They're schoolmates since elementary school. They've seen each other a lot during their younger days. They know each other's faces. Kapag kinuwento ang isa sa isa, mapapa-"ah oo, nakikita ko nga 'yon".

They're not friends, not acquaintances, but they can't directly refer to each other as a stranger. Familiar lang.

Suki si Pauline ng poster-making contest, kaya naman lagi siyang nakikita ni Raven noon dahil kasali naman ito sa mga quiz bee.

Nagkikita rin sila sa canteen, tuwing may periodic exam nga lang. Pang-umaga kasi palagi si Raven, pang-hapon naman si Pau. Magkalapit lang ang apelyido nila kaya naman magkasama rin sila sa isang test hall nung nag-NAT nung grade 6.

They've talked a little nung nagkatabi sila isang araw sa MTAP and at one point, sinigaw din ni Pau ang pangalan ni Raven de Asis sa liga, pero para nga lang sa kaibigan niyang may crush dito.

There was a lot of moments where they could've known each other better nung elementary, hindi lang talaga laging natutuloy.

Kaya naman nang napunta sila sa iisang section nung high school, at napagtripan gawing muse at escort, it didn't take them long to see each other in a better light.

They were friends. Very close friends. Magkatabi sila ng upuan noon sa classroom dahil nga pinag-partner sila. Laging nakakantyawan at pinagtitripan, but Pau never believed the teasing from everyone at the same class.

Hindi naman kasi si Raven yung tipong magkakagusto sa kanya—or at least that's what she thought. Palagi kasing kapag tinatanong niya ang lalaki kung totoo ba yung inaasar nila na crush niya si Pauline, mas grabe pa siya sa nagpupugas na aso kung umiling.

May manliligaw rin siya 'non na gusto niya na, naghihintay lang ng ilan pang linggo bago sagutin. Pogi 'yon at matalino. Galing ng section 1 at nagte-take pa ng special mandarin classes na pang section lang talaga nila. That's who she thought she's gonna be with, she liked Richard very much.

Kaya naman hindi niya rin alam kung bakit nung brigada bago sila mag second year, ang dali niya na lang bitawan si Richard nang sabihan siya ni Raven na gusto nitong manligaw.

Naglilinis sila 'non ng tagong storage room sa gitna ng dalawang connected classrooms. Ewan niya ba, lahat daw ay takot na maglinis doon kaya silang dalawa na lang at "kaya na nila". She shrugged. She doesn't mind. All she does is sweep, Raven takes all the hard work like wiping the dusty shelves clean, taking the cobwebs off the roof, and mopping the floor.

"Paupau. . ."

God knows how she hates that corny nickname. She rolled her eyes before looking at him.

"Sinagot mo na ba 'yon si 'Chard?" tanong nito.

Her frown turned into a smile. Mabilis siyang umiling at tumawa.

"Ligaw pa din. Di pa approve ni mommy. Konti pa daw." sagot niya. Tumango lang ang kausap niya at nagpatuloy sa pagtanggal ng agiw.

"Kilala naman ako ng Mommy mo, 'no?" he then asked. Her forehead creased at the question. Kilala nga si Raven ng mommy niya pero so what? And she asked exactly that.

"Wala lang. Naalala ko lang na nagkita na kami dati. Tanda kaya niya ako?"

"Paanong hindi 'eh pinilit mong maghugas ng pinggan sa bahay? Tuwang tuwa sa'yo 'yun, kinausap ka nga buong oras na nasa lababo ka." she said with a laugh. She remembered it clearly. Groupings 'yon at si Raven ang natalo sa lahat ng ka-group nila kaya siya ang nautusan mag-urong.