A Brokenhearted Heartthrob's Guide To Moving On (A Girl's Guidebook #2.5)

Tip No. 1 - If It's Not Broken, Don't Fix It

The alarm clock beside my bed said it was past seven in the morning. Ayoko pa sana tumayo pero ngayon ang unang araw ng freshman year ko sa University of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and I was already late for my first class.

May ilang mga tao, katulad ng isa sa best friends ko, na sigurado akong hindi nakatulog dahil sa pagse-speculate ng mga mangyayari sa buong taon. Pero, kung ako ang tatanungin kung ano ang nararamdaman ko, I would just shrug and say something like, "Meh".

Wala sa plano ko ang mag-stay nang matagal dito sa Pilipinas. Masarap ang buhay ko sa New York and I wanted to convince my best friends Nate Vergara, Ken Cruz and Jay Espino na mas maganda para sa future ng banda namin na Heroes Not Zeroes kung babalik kami doon. But then, I knew they had their reasons for wanting to stay here kaya hindi na lang ako nagsasalita.

Jay's dad had a business deal at kinailangan niyang bumalik ng Pilipinas kasama ang buong pamilya niya. Nate wanted to get away from everything and was ready for a fresh start kaya, nang nag-propose si Jay na ituloy namin ang HNZ dito sa Pilipinas, um-oo agad siya. And, Ken? Well, Ken was following his heart. That sounded a bit gay but the guy was in love with a girl he met online who happened to be living in Manila kaya naman, bilang isang supportive na kaibigan, sumama na ako sa kanila.

I hadn't planned on going to college either. Kung hindi ako pinilit ng mga best friend ko at ni Tristan, ang manager ng banda namin na older brother din ni Ken, hindi ako mag-e-enroll. Well, technically, si Tristan ang nag-enroll sa aming apat but that's beside the point.

There used to be five of us. Dave Perez ang pangalan ng fifth member namin dati and we thought he was a nice guy. That was until he was caught sexing Zoey, Nate's first girlfriend.

Mayroong ironclad rule, unwritten and unspoken pero alam ito ng lahat, na hindi dapat pagnasahan ang girlfriend ng kaibigan mo. But, Dave? He thought he was above the rules. Well, I didn't really think he was that smart so maybe the douchebag fell asleep habang pinoproklama ang rule na iyon kaya hindi niya alam at tumuloy na lang sa pag-betray sa kaibigan niya.

Nate beat the shit out of him when he found out. I would too, kung ako ang nasa ganoong sitwasyon. But then, Dave didn't seem to learn his lesson. Huling balita kasi na narinig ko tungkol sa kanya, he stole someone else's girlfriend again.

The dude seems to have a fetish for girls who were already taken. I just can't understand why he would get turned on by a girl na pag-aari na ng iba. Hindi ba parang he's kissing or having sex with her boyfriend? Doesn't that make him gay?

My phone rang all of a sudden, snapping me out of my dazed state, at sinagot ko ito agad nang hindi na tinitingnan kung sino ang tumatawag.

"Hey, dick face, I'm at the door. Open up," ang sabi ng kaibigan ko na si Jay Espino. "'Wag mong sabihin na tulog ka pa rin, it's past seven na."

"I'm awake, asswipe," ang sagot ko sa kanya habang tinatanggal ang antok sa mga mata ko.

"Then, buksan mo na 'yung pinto, fart brain. Nate and Ken are already in school."

Tumayo na ako at naglakad papunta sa may entrance para pagbuksan siya ng pinto. I hit the end call on my phone bago ko siya kinausap ulit. "What are you doing here, man? We're not even going to the same building. Get to your classes and pick up some chicks if your bored. Inaantok pa 'ko, I can't deal with your crap right now."

Tinulak niya ang pinto at dumiretso na sa loob ng condo unit ko without even asking if he could come in. "Yeah, well, Tristan asked me to make sure you go to school so stop being a whiny little bitch and get your ass in the shower."

I knew my best friend meant well pero, in my opinion, masyado pang maaga para maging isang asshole at mag-deal sa mga asshole na katulad niya. Kaya naman, habang papunta ako sa banyo to take a shower, I shoved him across the wall and he fell flat on his ass dahil sa pagkagulat.

"Dude! What the fuck?" ang sigaw niya habang pinipilit niyang tumayo.

"Who's the whiny little bitch now, huh? Suck it!"

* * * * * * *

School wasn't fun at all kahit pa pinalibutan ako ng girls who claimed to be fans of Heroes Not Zeroes pero mukhang ang mukha at katawan ko ang talagang pakay nila. I tried to look like I was enjoying myself but, honestly, I was just bored to death. Kahit saan kasi ako magpunta, lalo na kapag kasama ko sina Jay, Nate at Ken, pinagkakaguluhan kami ng girls. Hindi sa ayoko sa girls o ayoko ng attention, gusto ko lang sana kasi ng respite from all of that at akala ko mabibigyan ako ng ganoon sa USLR. Hindi pala.

I wasn't in the mood for making new friends as well kaya buti na lang kaklase ko si Nate sa karamihan ng subjects ko. Iyon nga lang, isang class na lang ang naabutan ko nang nakarating na kami ni Jay sa school at hindi na kami nag-abot ni Nate dahil isa iyon sa subjects na hindi niya kinuha ngayong semester.

Palabas na ako ng College of Business para i-meet ang mga kaibigan ko sa studio na pag-aari ni Tristan when a girl suddenly bumped into me. Akala ko isa siya sa mga chick na nagkukunwaring innocent at weak para lang makalapit sa akin pero from the look of things, mukhang hindi niya ako kilala. Hindi kasi siya sumigaw nang nag-meet ang mga mata namin at hindi niya rin ako binigyan ng googly eyes kagaya ng ginagawa ng ibang mga babae sa paligid.

"Sorry po, kuya," she said bago niya pinulot ang bag niya na nalaglag at naglakad na palayo sa akin.

It was just a few seconds but my eyes were trained to give a girl a once-over. Maganda siya at may mahaba at straight na buhok. Sigurado ako na, bukod sa akin, may ilang mga lalake na sinusundan din siya ng tingin dahil she had a nice body.

Ito ang unang pagkakataon since sumikat ang HNZ sa Pilipinas na naka-meet ako ng isang babae na hindi pervert. Usually, girls would do anything just to feel me up and get me to sleep with them pero mukhang iba siya, whoever she was.

I was still staring at her when she tripped all of a sudden and she fell on her knees. Nagmadali akong pumunta sa kanya para sana tulungan siya pero tumayo na agad siya bago pa ako makalapit at nakita ko siyang tumawa dahil sa nangyari.

A girl who could laugh at her own expense was pretty rare at bigla na lang ako nagkaroon ng urge to get to know her. Susundan ko sana siya para magpakilala pero nahuli na naman ako ng HNZ fans at hindi na ako nakawala dahil pinalibutan agad nila ako.

I found myself smiling for real habang ine-entertain sila dahil sa mysterious girl na iyon. Maybe college isn't so bad after all, ang nasabi ko sa sarili ko.

If I knew then what I know now, I could say with utmost confidence that it was then that I first fell in love.