"sabi nila; okay lang na masaktan habang nagmamahal. Hindi lang naman love ang mararamdaman mo kapag ika'y umibig, may tuwa, galit, lungkot, at minsan panga'y takot. But that's what's exciting about it. You experience everything in one place, hindi mo na kailangang maghanap sa iba. At sabi rin nila kung mahal mo, pipiliin mo sa araw-araw"

I was about to text Tricia na I was here when I saw her running towards my car. She opened the door and stared at me. "Pasok ka"

She did as told and we sat there in silence. I glance at her from time to time.

I'm sorry I had to ruin our moment.

"I'm sorry," we said in unison.

Napangiti ako. She did the same actually. "Ikaw una," she said. "Sorry, I got carried away by my feelings. Na overwhelm ako" I said. She tries to force a smile, "I'm sorry din, biglaan yung pag-amin ko. Walang warning signs o ano. What happened was what I afraid of all along, what if hindi ka talaga bumalik, nawala na child hood best friend ko" I looked at her hand as she tries to grab mine. "You made me feel butterflies ever since nasa highschool pa tayo, I started to suspect na hindi talaga ako straight. Aside from the fact na scared ako sa reaction ni mama at papa noon, natakot rin akong mawala ka,"

"Sana hindi ako natakot, kasi along with the fear was me being a bully. Masyado kitang inaway at minaliit and what did you do? you stayed. And I took advantage of you staying, I abused your friendship, your trust. Sana hindi ko ginawa 'yon." she said.

"You know, nakakatawa pa rin kahit ginawa mo 'yon. Kasi kahit ilang beses mo na akong inaway, ilang beses kanang inilayo ng mga demonyo mong mga jowa, palagi kang bumabalik sa'kin. Marupok ka pala doc" she chuckled. "Oo nga noh, I always end up asking you out for coffee or barbeque pagkatapos ng school." we laughed while we slowly reminisce about the old days.

Kahit noon pa pala we always end up picking each other kahit ilang beses na naming pinilit ang mga sarili namin na lumayo sa isa't isa.

"I remember noon after school kapag sabay tayong uuwi, you always ask my mom to cook for us," I giggled. "Sarap kasi nang luto ni tita eh, hindi naman kasing galing ni mom si tita. Plus kapag si tita nagluluto that means dinner sa bahay 'nyo, more time with you." I said looking at her. Her smile was ear to ear, namumula na. "You taught me english and christian humanism tapos ako naman math and science for you"

"Bobo ko kasi sa math at physics eh, ikaw ang talino mo"

"Hilig mo talagang mambola y/n noh" we were cackling na at this point. All these memories na akala naming nabitawan na, hindi pa pala. We're healing and mending na. Everything starts to make sense, makakahinga na ako ng malalim.

I start the car, "hoy 'san mo ako dadalhin" she asked. "'Wag ka ngang mag-alala, ako na bahala. Text mo nalang si ate Aika na i'll take you somehwere muna." I wanted to take her to a place where a lot of good things happened, good things we experienced together.

We arrived at an empty lot, medyo sketchy siya so Tricia is nervous. "Are you trying to kidnap me ba?" natawa ako sa sinabi niya, ba't ko naman siya ki-kidnapin ang laki ng kain nito, wala naman akong pera.

"Hindi noh, medyo feeler ka," I said. "Labas ka nga, walang maraming tao dito" she did as toldd and went out. I opened the back of the car so we could have something to sit on. "Maliit na bahay 'to noon. "Payag ni Lola" tawag dito" her face brightened up, naalala niya na.

"Alam mo anong nangyari dito na hinding-hindi ko malilimutan?" I asked her. She shrugged, I let out a soft laugh "crush kita 'non, tapos dito tayo kumain habang nag study para sa physics exam natin. I remember na nagkaroon ka ng migraine kaya nag pahinga muna tayo," she laughed. "Na lutang na ata ako 'non"

"I remember binabaliktad mo ang mga words sa libro mo, tapos bigla mong sinabi; "ang mahal naman ng libro na ito". Then I replied with laham gaya ng may-ari, tapos sabi mo-"

"mahal mo mukha mo, at least mahal ako. Ikaw nga hindi" we said together, we burst out laughing after we said that together. "After that, you started calling me laham na. I tried to do the same with you pero inasar mo ako na walang originality yung sa'kin"

"Wala naman talaga"

"At least nag-effort akong mag tawag ng pet names diba"

"It's the thought that counts" she laughed. When I'm with her, I can never stop smiling or laughing. She makes me realize how lucky I am to be alive and how nice it is to exist. I never understood why it took us this long. Mga isang decada na siguro kaming gan'to ngayon pa kami napa-amin.

"y/n,"

"mhm?"

"Kung naging jowa kita noon, do you think we would've lasted?"

"di ako sure, do you think we would've lasted?"

"slight, we changed a lot kasi since the last time we talked and laughed this much. It seems like we missed a lot and changed a lot, pero di naman pala masyado"

"I don't think we changed at all, the way we dress and talk siguro pero si Tricia at si y/n pa rin tayo"

"True"

"Pero I don't think we would've lasted" she looked at me sadly. "We weren't the Tricia and y/n we are now before. If kaya natin today, it's because we're mentally and physically prepared for it na, perfect timing na siguro ngayon"

"What if naging jowa kita?" I looked at her then back to the empty space in front of us.

"Tinatanong mo na ba ako ng seryoso ngayon? " she nods. I shot her a smile grabbing her hand.

"Wait ka muna, we'll get there. Kaya mo bang mag-antay?" I asked her. She looked up to the sky before looking back at me. It took her a few minutes to respond pero she did.

"Sorry, nagtanong pa ako kay papa kung kaya ba. May butterfly sa buhok mo," she smiled looking at the butterfly in my hair before fully staring at me.

"Oo, I can wait"

malapit na po'ng matapos ang programma natin mga akla :>