Late Nights With Eurydice

night one.

Cyrus

I had a dream last night, nabangga raw ako ng isang puting kotse. At habang papunta ng school ngayong umaga ay muntikan na nga akong mabangga ng puting kotse. Pero buhay pa naman ako ngayon. So hindi siya deja vu? 'What do you say to the god of death? Not today,' naalala ko lang sa Game of Thrones.

Sobrang bored ko lang talaga siguro kaya naman kung ano-ano na ang naiisip ko.

"Cyrus!" a very familiar voice called me.

"What's up bro?"

Si Clyde lang ang lagi kong kasama dito sa school. We've been friends since middle school. He's one of the 'cool kids', popular kumbaga. Siya rin ang ace ng basketball team. Kaya naman nadamay na rin siguro ako sa popularity niya. I don't have anything to offer, pero I'm still part of the 'circle', well, mainly because of him.

"Pupunta ka mamaya?" tanong niya. The party.

"Uhhh..." nag-iisip pa lang ako ng excuses, "hindi ako pwed---"

"Ano ka ba, kailangan mong pumunta. I know you broke up with her, pero you need to redeem yourself. Alam mo naman sasabihin ng iba kapag di ka pumunta." paliwanag niya.

"I'll go then." Para namang may magagawa ako.

"Sige kita na lang tayo dun mamaya." paalam niya.

See that's how the world inside of this school works. Lahat ng kilos mo, may sasabihin ang iba. My ex-girlfriend's party. Kapag hindi ako pumunta, ako ang talo. Ako ang takot humarap sa kanya. The hell with that. Pero para sa katahimikan ng mundo, sige pupunta ako.

[ The party ]

"Hi, welcome to this event. I know it hasn't been a month since that incident happened. And the school's been gloomy ever since that day and I am here to host this party so we can somehow forget some bad memories, and just live 'today'. So free to enjoy the food and enjoy the night."

Claps from people surrounded the house. Helena saw me and smirked.

As if I care enough to deal with her. I don't know what she's saying pero wala pang 1/8 ng batch namin ang bisita niya. Pili lang ang inimbitahan niya, most of them are part of the 'circle' so I don't think it will change a damn thing. At pano namin kaagad malilimutan ang nangyari? She's delusional.

"You're here!" bati sakin ni Clyde habang inaabutan ako ng baso. Yes, we drink.

"Pass muna ako bro. Aalis ako kagad, walang kasama si Aaliyah sa bahay," may excuse na ako ngayon. Sapat na siguro ang ilang minuto kong pags-stay dito.

"You sure? Dito ka muna." pilit niya. "Nag-kausap ba kayo?"

"Wala na kaming pag-uusapan."

"Uy wag ka namang ma-bad mood. She's the Queen now, imagine if you didn't break up with her then you'll be the King. Hahahaha," biro niya.

"Buti na lang," biro ko pabalik. Not half-meant. "Alis na ako," I told him as I walked away.

Helena's eyes and mine met for a second before I reached the door. She looked like she's gonna say something but didn't. I don't care anymore. She made a choice, and she didn't choose me. End of the story.

Eurydice was the original Queen. That was before she dropped out of school, before the incident happened. The title seems corny but its the real deal. The Queen controls the school and the students. It is an unwritten tradition.

Where is she now? I wonder. Everyone who has gone against her means a living hell. We're both in the circle pero iniwasan ko siya hangga't maaari. We're not in the same class so we don't have anything to talk about but she's cool with Clyde bringing me along.