Why I Have To

Chapter 25

September 21, 2011

The ice on my beer has completely melted by the time Batchi sat with me on the far end corner of the pub.

"Tagal mo," I said irritably as I opened another bottle of beer, one for her and another one for me.

"Pasensya na Tsong, biglaan ka kasi magyaya eh."

She took her jacket off and signaled the waiter for another bucket of ice, she linked her hands on top of the table in a very business-like manner and said, "spill."

"We fought."

"Trouble in paradise naman pala kaya nagyaya. Oh, bakit naman?"

"Sinundo ko kasi siya sa work," I said looking down, avoiding her eyes.

She gave me a confused look and took a swig from her drink, saying, "ano naman nakakagalit dun?"

"Because she told me not to, simula nung may pasok na as much as possible ayaw niyang inaabala niya ko sa pagsundo sakanya, may practice kasi kami dapat sa orchestra kanina kaya sabi niya siya na daw bahala umuwi."

"Yun lang?" she asked, bewildered.

I told Jade that practice was cancelled because the music room was not available tonight, that's why I was able to fetch her.

She didn't believe me.

What made matters worse is that she got a call yesterday from Gab saying that her father has been taking all his anger out on Paul. Instead of both of them, Paul's getting all the blame, that's why she's been in a really foul mood.

I was also having a bad day. We had a big argument in the car and now she's over at Cathleen's, probably doing the same thing I'm doing now with Batchi.

Put two women who's in a really foul mood together is indeed deadly.

"Parehong mainit lang siguro ulo namin kaya nagkasagutan," I excused.

Batchi stared at me intently while I was playing with my food— as if she's trying to read me.

"Tsong, hindi naman sa ano ha, pero kasi ilang buwan ka narin di nagpaparamdam samin tapos makikipagkita ka sakin bigla bigla ng dahil lang sa pareho kayong may PMS? Di naman ito ang first LQ niyo, diba? So tell me, ano ba talaga ang reason kung bakit mo ko pinapunta?"

Busted.

I sighed and took the stack of envelopes in my bag and handed it to Batchi.

My dirty little secret.

"I got the last one this morning," I explained.

She read page after page of my rejection letters from the universities, and for the first time in weeks, it felt like somebody's helping me to carry the weight on my shoulders.

"Anong nangyari? Kilala kita at alam ko kung gaano ka kagaling, imposibleng ni isa dito eh hindi ka tanggapin. What's really going on, Althea?"

Althea. She called me by my first name which means that she's not taking any bullshit excuse from me anymore. She means business.

"I got cut from the orchestra because I missed a lot of practices... and I got a failing grade," I said embarrassedly.

"And why were you not able to attend your practices? Dahil ba nagpupumilit kang maging mega personal assistant niya?"

I admit, I've failed to attend to my responsibilities because I always prioritize Jade first. I got so used to doing all those things for her that I started to neglect my studies.