His Favorite Song (Completed)

Chapter 23

Enchanted
Taylor Swift
1:35 ──|────── 5:52
|◁          II          ▷|

PAUL

Time check: a quarter before 8. Parang 'di alintana kung lumalalim na ang gabi sa ingay na naririnig na namin galing sa audience. We're here at Damian U's open field. Nasa backstage pa lang kami pero yung hiyaw ng audience, napakalakas na. Mukhang nag-eenjoy sila sa Battle of the Bands.

I took a bottle of water and drank some to hydrate myself before performing. Naisip ko naman bigla yung nangyari kagabi. Halos 'di nga ako makatulog ng maayos kakaisip no'n. Baka nga hindi siya yung nahalikan ko at ibang tao pala 'yon. Pero, buo ang loob kong siya nga 'yon. Sh*t. I should've never done that. I was out of my mind at that time.

Ngayon, hinihiling ko na sana makita ko ulit siya. Sa kanya ko pa naman idededicate yung last song namin sa aming setlist.

"Hey," tawag sa akin ni Marco na nagpabalik sa wisyo ko. "You're daydreaming."

"Me?" turo ko sa sarili ko. "Di ah. Excited lang ako sa gagawin natin tonight."

"You're hoping na makita siya tonight, aren't you?" he asked. Nakalimutan ko saglit na parati ko nga palang kinukwento yung babae na nakilala ko no'ng gabing 'yon.

"Well, maybe," sagot ko kahit na totoo naman talaga na hinihiling ko na makita siya ulit. I do hope so. Kung hindi ko man siya makita, sana nasa audience siya ngayon.

He tapped my shoulder. "If it ever happens, don't get distracted. We're here for the prize, not for any girls to hit on," seryoso niyang sabi.

Bumalik naman siya sa upuan niya pagkatapos no'n. Doon ko narealize na masyado na ata siguro ako nababaliw kakaisip sa isang babae. Habol pala nila dito yung prize. Dapat 'di mawala sa isip ko ang lahat na nirehearse namin.

Lumapit naman sa amin si Nathan. "You guys, ready?" he asked and we nodded. We're ready.

Inaayos ko muna ang maskara ko, saka sumunod sa kanilang tatlo. We rehearsed our performance for almost a week, kaya sobrang ready na kami for tonight's show.

Focus, Paul, focus.

I grabbed my guitar and joined with them, waiting for the emcees to call our band.

"Thank you so much, Kaleidoscopes! And now, please help us welcome our next band, The Masquerade!" rinig naming sabi ng emcee kaya nagsimula na kaming umakyat sa hagdan at maglakad patungo sa gitna ng stage.

It just feels weird, dahil may nararamdaman akong kaba ngayon. The feeling is very unusual—it's like I've awakened all these butterflies in my stomach. It feels good, yet strange.

Nang nasa stage na kami ay sinalubong kaagad kami ng isang malaking spotlight at isang malakas na hiyawan ng audience. I was amazed after seeing how huge the crowd was tonight. Nasanay kasi kami na sa mga bar lang kami nagpapatugtog. Ngayon, andaming nanonood sa amin para magperform kami on-stage.

"Good evening, Damians!" bati ni Dan sa audience gamit ang mic na nagpahiyaw pa sa kanila. "We are the Masquerade, from Cailer University! It's an honor for us to be invited here to join tonight! Thank you very much..."

Habang nag-iintro muna si Dan ay pumwesto na kaming tatlo. Kita ko naman yung mga nagwawala sa front row. Nag-hi naman ako sa kanila at kinilig naman yung mga babae. Ginagala ko ang tingin ko nang may nasagi naman sa audience na mas nagpalala sa kabang nararamdaman ko ngayon.

Walang ilaw ang nakatuktok sa audience, pero nagre-reflect naman ang spotlight namin sa kanila, kay medyo naaninag ko kung sino ang nakita ko.

Ilang segundo akong nakatuktok sa kanya, hanggang sa tuluyan ng nakasalubong ang tingin namin. Hindi ko alam pero parang lumakas ang tibok ng puso ko.

Sa wakas, nakita ko rin siya.

"Three, two, one, let's go!"

Sa hudyat ni Dan ay nagsimula na kaming magpatugtog.

Una naming kinanta ay Mundo by IV of Spades. Dinig na dinig ko naman kung paano sumabay sa amin ang audience sa pagkanta ni Dan.

Sunod namang kanta sa setlist namin ay I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys. The song is very nostalgic kaya naman, napakanta ulit namin ang audience.

Pagkatapos ng kanta ay naghanda na ako sa susunod naming gagawin. Kagaya ng dati, ako ang kakanta sa nirequest ko sa setlist namin. Kaya, nagpalit kami ni Dan ng pwesto.

"And for our last song, siya ang kakanta para sa inyo. Okay lang guys?" tanong ni Dan sa audience, bago kami nagpalit. Isang malakas na yes ang narinig namin mula sa audience na ikinasaya ko.

Hinawakan ko ang mic saka nagsalita. "Sa huling kanta namin tonight, gusto ko sanang i-dedicate 'to sa isa sa mga audience dito ngayon..." sabi ko at nagsimula silang umingay.

"I just wanna say that I couldn't forget the night where I met her for the first time. Her face is literally stuck in my head. Her smile was the most genuine I've ever seen. And to think that I'm seeing her again tonight, I'm seeing sparks fly everywhere. This feeling that I have now is a feeling I'd never felt before. You are special to me because I was enchanted to meet you..."

Right after I ended my speech, I started to strum on my guitar. The moment that I started to strum, something in my mind started to give me some chills. Just a single thought of her makes my heart fluster in no time, and I kinda feel something is burning inside of me.

My eyes went back to her. There, I just saw her singing along with me. I stared at her for a moment, and then I smiled.

And she smiled too.

The crowd was silent, as if they didn't know the song or what, but they were still listening to every word I sang with the microphone until I reached the chorus.

After the chorus, we played the instrumental part before the bridge. Marco really did well with the guitar riffs, as well as Nathan's drumming skills. Everyone clapped before I could sing again.

I looked at her again, only to find out that she was now singing along with her eyes closed and hands on her chest.

Our eyes met again, but this time, it's like she's indirectly telling me to finish the song perfectly, and so, that's what I did.

I meant every word of it, from the outro part, hoping she'd realize I was singing the song for her. There, I just smiled as we finished the song very smoothly, and the crowd started to cheer again. Well, that's how we perform. Nothing's new, but tonight was very special.