30 Days with Fina

Day 14

30 Days with Fina by JellOfAllTrades
Chapter 14

There's got to be some kind of magic going on with me.

"Pano mo nga pala ulit ako napapayag dito?" I ask Fina.

"Tinanong lang kita tapos um-oo ka kaagad. Bakit, ayaw mo na?" She replied, looking up at me with worry etched on her pretty face.

"Hindi naman." I shrugged. "It's just somewhat weird na napapayag mo ulit akong magsimba."

I think I've mentioned it before that religion is something that my parents failed to drill into me. And here I am now, walking side by side with a girl I've only known for two weeks and she easily managed to make me attend mass for the second time.

"Hindi ka ba naniniwala sa Kanya?" Fina asked in the silence. I noticed she was a bit breathless so I slowed down. 

"Ayos ka lang?" I asked first. We could have taken a tricycle to the church but she thought it would be nice to walk the distance. I guess she wanted to talk to me because we won't have time until the mass ends later.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She waved off my worry. "Ano na?"

"Ano ulit yung tanong mo?"

"Kung hindi ka ba naniniwala sa Kanya?" She asked again.

"Hindi ko alam."

"Anong klaseng sagot yan?" She retorted.

"Anong klaseng tanong yan?" I replied.

She made a 'psh' sound and then pouted. "Hindi ka magaling na estudyante."

"Pano mo naman nalaman yan eh hindi naman kita teacher."

"Hindi nga, pero nagaral ako maging teacher for two years!" She justified and took two steps away from me. 

"The first two years of college is basically useless," I muttered.

"Anong sabi mo?!" Fina frowned, obviously annoyed. But she seriously looked like she didn't hear what I said.

I only smiled at her, knowing full well that my words would hurt her feelings. I've been extra careful with her lately, I realized. I always try and be nice to her because unlike me, she's not well off.

We reached St. Peter's church not long after. Fina seems to still be in a bad mood so I thought better of it than annoy her even more. I followed her through the crowd and found seats on the front left side of the church.

"Fina," I called her attention.

"Ano?"

"Galit ka?"

"Hindi,"

"Eh ba't nakasimangot ka sakin?" I pouted, trying to look a bit more pitying--which, of course, I was never really any good at. I always carried myself with pride, confidence, and dignity.

"Wag ka nalang maingay please? Magiistart na oh?" She jerked her chin to the altar and didn't say anything else as the choir had started to sing.

My grandparents are religious. My parents, a little bit. And my brothers and I are...let's just say we don't care. It's a receding trait that's bound to die off on our family, why would we even care about it?

I first got confused about religion when there are creationists who believe that the universe came from an act of divine creation and there are evolutionists that says we evolved from monkeys. Later on, I thought that it's all just bullshit. Why care about where we came from in the past when we can enjoy the present, right?