To Have and To Hold

Chapter 3: Realization

Ilang buwan na ang lumipas after Chris told me that he's proud of my progress. To be honest, I was proud of myself too-- who would have thought I could open doors for more friends, thanks to his influence.

Ngayon, its around September. It is the intramurals month-- something I'm bad at. All of the teams are busy looking for players, and everyday after class may tryouts. Chris wanted to play basketball, but since he's petite and he himself stated na hindi siya masyadong magaling for that sport, he decided na mag try out na lang sa volleyball-- one of our favorite sport naming dalawa.

"Hey, Carrie! We both love volleyball right? How about trying out for our team? Sige na, minsan lang ang intramurals na 'to," Chris requested. Nasa School Supplies kami sa Department Store ng SM Uptown para bumili ng mga materials for our projects, and a lot of cartolina for our intramurals "cheering" banner.

I shooked my head. "No, Chris. You know hindi naman ako magaling for sports diba? Marunong lang ako mag drawing, and mag d-drawing pa ako for our banner oh," I raised all the materials. "I volunteered for it, di ka ba proud?" I asked.

In all honesty, di naman talaga ako nag "volunteer". Chris just suggested sa class namin na ako ang mag d-draw dahil isa ako sa mga magaling mag drawing sa section namin. Alam naman yun ng mga classmates ko kasi nga nung nag introduce ako, sinali ko yung drawing as my hobbies. Aayaw sana ako, but our moderator told me that she would give me extra credits for this, and plus si unggoy nagmakaawa pa, I have no other choice but to agree, and to seal the deal.

He laughed hysterically. My brows furrowed, "Ba't ka natatawa diyan?"

"Hindi, nagulat lang ako. Di ko naman inexpect na you'll ask that. Of course, proud naman ako sayo. But you know, pagbigyan mo naman ako pagong. Di ako maglalaro if di ka magt-try out." He challenged.

"But ikaw yung isa sa mga pinakamagling na volleyball player sa batch natin! Why would you do that?" I asked him.

"Sige na Carrie, once lang 'to. Promise, kahit di ka na mag laro for next year basta maglaro ka lang ngayon," he pleaded. Mukha siyang aso na nagmamakaawa sa akin.

"Bakit mo ba ako pinapasali diyan? Di naman ako magaling talaga." pagpupumilit ko.

Natigilan siya. He was contemplating aboutsaying  something but inunahan ko agad siya sa tanong na,"May gusto ka ba sa batchmate nating player sa volleyball?"

God knows, I wish na sasagot siya na "huy, wala!" pero he said, "Meron, si Aly. Huy, bestfriends tayo diba? Alam kong close kayo ni Alyssa but please zip your mouth!!" may pa shush action pa.

I don't know, pero sumakit talaga yung puso ko. I don't know why I felt like this. Siguro talaga nasanay na ako na kasama siya and I can't imagine a day without him, or andyan nga siya pero may kasamang iba. 

I smiled at him. Sinabi ko nalang sa kanya na pag-iisipan ko yung request niya. Tinulungan niya ako sa pagbitbit ng mga materials for me to draw our banner. Sa paglapit niya, nagsimulang bumilis ang tibok ng puso ko.

Nilayo ko ang mga gamit and said, "ako na Chris, sa akin naman to eh."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Ako na, babae ka pa naman, dapat di ka nabibigatan," he argued.

I really like Chris' personality. Napaka gentleman in nature, napakabusilak ang puso. Tinutulungan yung feel niya kailangan ng tulong—physically or financially. May incident once noong Grade 5 pa kami na may isang matandang babae na lumapit samin upang humingi ng tulong. At first, we hesitated because we thought scam lang or something, but sinabi lang ni Chris na, "tulungan nalang natin ang Ale, kahit scam or hindi, kailangan niya ng tulong eh." Kaya yun, sinama namin siya sa bahay nina Chris, kinausap ng Mama niya yung ale, and binigyan nila ng kaunting groceries at tsaka pera para makapagsimula in her own.