Our Story

March 21, 2003
Cor Jesu College, Digos City, Davao del Sur

Very few people finds romance in sarcasm. But when the time frame is too minute even for the quickest recipe for love, some just have to pull it off through banters.

Latecomers, like denim, are always in fashion. she noticed him through that. Fair-skinned and mestizo, in branded clothes.

“What the hell is he here for?” she muffled under her breath while eating on a sartin plate. they were in some unheard-of mountain, as rebels pretending to be students.

“Rage. Bansalan.” He offered a comrade’s hand to the glaring female on the other end of the table. She was in character in a batik top and a pair of tie-dyed pajamas. “Typical novice,” he thought, noting her diligence to show off.

“Rain. Iligan.” Instead of receiving his hand, she stood up and walked away.

♥

Later that night, while the group was having a candlelit plenary on the ill effects of the Visiting Forces Agreement, her phone beeped. It was a picture message of Kenshin from Samurai X, and below are the words:

“Labas ka muna saglit. usap tau.”

When she went out, he was already there, smoking.

“Ang easy mo pala.”

“Always been. but that does not mean i’m cheap.”

“Ows?” he handed her a cig.

“You can’t afford me,” she lit the cig using the Zippo on her pocket.

“Yung lighter mo, isang buwang bigas na yan ng mga mahihirap.”

“Anong problema mo?”

“Tinitingnan kita kanina. Kakatapos lng ng hapunan, ngumunguya ka na naman ng tsokolate. Sabihin mo nga sa’kin, ano yung nandun?” He pointed to an island of lights just below the hill.

“Slums. I’ve been there. Basic Mass Integration kahapon.”

“Alam mo ba bakit kulang ang kinakain nila? kasi sobra-sobra kinakain mo.”

for the first time in 24 hours, she looked at him straight in the eye. “Hoy lalakeng nagpapaaktibista pero anak naman ng kapitalista, wag mo ipamukha sa’kin ang mga bagay na yan. kasi laking hirap ako. hanggang ngayon mahirap ako.”

“Sori ha, hindi kasi halata,” his voice remained monotonous.

“Eto,” she held the Zippo on her palms. bigay to ng kamag-anak galing abroad. “Eto,” it was a bar of Kitkat, “binili ko sa terminal kasi mula ng naimbento ang tsokalateng ito, kanina ko lng natikman.”

“bakit mo pinaliliwanag sa’kin?”

“bakit mo’ko pinalabas dito?”

“dahil ba gusto mo’ko?”

“dahil ba mahal mo’ko?”

“you’ll just bleed.”

“tapos na ang congress bukas. alas singko, sa terminal, uwi na’ko ng Iligan” she stood up and walked out.

♥

the next day, at five in the afternoon, she found him there, right beside her, on a bus to Iligan.