Why I Have To

Chapter 11

Author's Note: Most of their lines will be in Tagalog... So yeah.

August 28, 2009

"Bili na rin kayo ng ice bago kayo umakyat. Okay... Sige... Pasok nalang kayo. Ingat." Jade said as she ended the call.

"Sino yun?" I asked.

"Si David, he's on his way here. He brought a friend daw." Jade said as she sets up the bottles of beer in bowling-pin formation.

We invited our friends over for a celebratory drink because our grades came out and Jade was included in the dean's list.

I am not surprised at all but I am still very proud of her. Always.

I removed Batchi's feet off the coffee table and placed a bowl of chips and took the remote control from her greedy hands. She frowned at me and took the bowl from the table and handed it to Abby.

"Mahal, kain ka muna oh." She said.

Finally, after months of courting her— Abby finally said yes. I am so happy for my best friend to finally have someone special in her life.

The door opened widely and in came David with a voluptuous girl wearing a tight mini skirt in tow and a bag of ice on his other arm.

"Hi guys, this is Wila. She's an intern in my dad's company. Wila, meet everybody." He said and he introduced us individually, then we settled in the dining area to eat our dinner.

Wila is loud. She's tactless and assertive. Her words were a bit harsh but never offensive— just funny. We didn't mind though. We actually like her.

I could tell that David has something going on with her, and I think that the feeling is mutual.

As soon as we finished our dinner, we went to the balcony with our beer bottles and started our drinking session. After endless 'cheers' for every good thing that happened to us, Batchi forced me to bring out my guitar and sing for them.

All of them agreed with her, especially Jade, so as usual, I surrendered.

As I started my song, Jade took her phone out and recorded me while singing like she always does. Kind of like a stage mother. Even though it's embarrassing— I let her...

Because with her, I could never win.

I feel like a kid with a teenage crush on a school date
I feel like a lead-in Romeo and Juliet. Yeah -
I'm a little bit dizzy I'm a little bit scared.
I guess I never felt this much aware that I love her I'm hoping that I never recover.
Cause she's good for me, and it would really make me happy
To never let her slip away.

As I sang my own version of Andrew Gold's Never Let Her Slip Away, Jade kissed my cheeks in front of everyone. I was so startled that I forgot the next lyrics of the song.

I looked at Jade with questioning eyes and she just stared at me with a playful grin on her face— as if mocking me to go on. But I couldn't.

"Yun naman oh!!! Lakas talaga maka-pogi ni, tsong!!! Matinik sa chicks!!!" Batchi teased while they all laughed.

"Ang malisyoso niyo, wag niyo nga bigyan ng meaning. Nagagalingan lang kasi ako sakanya. Diba Althea?" Jade said as her cheeks blushed when she realized that her actions backfired on her.

Wag bigyan ng meaning.

I was hurt with what she said but I masked my pain and said, "Oo nga, mga utak niyo talaga kahit kailan!"

Batchi saw our reactions and gave me a mischievous glint.

"Defensive. Okay, fine. Sabi niyo eh! Pero alam mo Jade, ang daming nagkakandarapa kay Althea noong highschool dahil ang galing niya tumugtog. Babae man o lalaki." Batchi said, obviously trying to stir something up.