Note:  I changed the name of Andreia's friend Lois to Ellie. Si Lois yung running for valedictorian na friend niya. The character is actually after another Filipino Ambassador, @Fallenbabybubu and she chose for the character to be named Ellie. This chapter is also dedicated to her because I love Lana's List so much. 

Zeofied. <3

CHAPTER 3

"Hey..." I heard his smooth voice over the phone.

I exhaled and tried my best to not let him notice na umiiyak ako. "Hello."

"What's up?"

I wiped my tears and tried to smile para tunog cheerful sa phone. "Nothing much. You?"

"Been through hell and back," he replied.

"Poor baby." I laughed.

Then, his tone changed to something serious. "Drei, I'm sorry I wasn't able to call for the past three weeks. I've been really busy."

Halata naman sa boses niya yung pagod.

Reeve is being trained by his dad to take over their family business. He had a ton of responsibility on his shoulders. I know he promised that he'd call every day. But that was a boy's promise. He was no longer a boy but a man with responsibilities.

Naiintindihan ko naman na hindi pwedeng lagi kaming magkausap. Kahit ako man, busy din. Plus, there's the added fact na nagseselos si Mike sa kanya. There's also the eight-hour time difference between London and Manila to consider.

Pero...

Wow, three weeks na pala since we last talked? Ni hindi ko man lang napansin. But he did. And he even counted the days.

Pero kahit hindi ko alam gaano na katagal kaming hindi nag-usap, I knew one thing: he didn't greet me during my birthday. Tampo mode sana kaso he called when I was feeling so down and I just wanted to hear him talk about anything.

Sobrang ganda kasi ng boses niya.

Kahit ano pang topic niya, magsalita lang siya, masaya na ko. British accent eh. Nakakatunaw pakinggan. He also sings for me sometimes. May quality yung boses niya but he always sings off-key.

Sayang.

"What kept you busy?"

"Mom, Dad, and I went sailing off the coast of the Aegean Sea. No signal. Plus, it wasn't actually a vacation. Dad and I had to work a lot. I'm so sorry, Drei. But did you like my gifts?"

Gifts? Napakunot ang noo ko. Eh wala naming dumating!

"What gifts?"

"If Franz fucked up again, I'm going to wring his neck," he groaned.

Well, mukhang ganun na nga ang nangyari since wala talaga akong natanggap.

Franz is his cousin. He lived here in the Philippines but always went back to London every month. May vineyard and family nila Reeve sa may Scotland at sila ang exporter ng isa sa mga pinakamahal na wines sa buong mundo. Franz is sort of the liaison officer between their UK office and the office here in the Philippines.

When Christmas or my birthday was near, Reeve made it a point to give him my gifts and he would be the one to deliver it sa bahay. Mas mabilis daw kesa sa mga courier at hindi pa bubuksan at papakialaman ung package.

Franz was usually late pero not this late. Patapos na yung January eh.

"I'll call Franz later. Anyway, I hope it arrives soon and I hope you like my presents," he said in a cheerful tone. Parang bigla na lang nawala yung pagod sa boses niya. At dahil nakausap ko na siya, medyo gumaan na din yung loob ko.

"What did you get me?"

"Nope. Not going to say it and I'm not going to ruin the surprise."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

"Are you in school right now? I hope I didn't call at a bad time. So far, this is the only free time I'm going to get and I wanted to talk to you."

"Yes I'm at school but we're watching a game right now. Mike's playing."

I heard him sigh. When he spoke again, nawala na yung cheerfulness and the flat tone was back in its place. "Wish him luck for me."

Mike didn't like Reeve. We've established that. But I forgot to say that the feeling was mutual. Reeve also didn't like Mike. Hindi naman niya sinabi directly but I can really feel it. At nagseselos din naman si Mike sa kanya so parang quits lang sila.

"Okay," I replied. Then, there was that awkward silence.

Three weeks kaming hindi nag-usap. Dapat madami akong kwento, right? Pero hindi eh. Kahit na sobrang tagal na naming ginagawa to, andun pa din minsan yung awkward feeling. Malayo kasi si Reeve and I haven't seen him for a really long time.

Then we had these rules:

1. No Skype and no adding each other on Facebook or other social media sites so we won't see pics. Naniniwala kasi kami na we'll see each other again soon and we wanted that moment to be special.

2. As much as possible, no secrets.

Tuwing kausap ko si Reeve, in my mind's eye, I see the boy he once was. Madami kaming pictures before and all of it was posted by the wall near my bed. Yun ang huling time na nakita ko siya and hanggang ngayon yun pa din ang naiisip ko. Weird.

Pero several times, I found myself thinking na kung ano na kaya ang itsura niya ngayon? Sigurado ako na ang gwapo niya. Mestizo eh. Half british, ¼ Spanish tapos ¼ Filipino? Eh sigurado talagang gwapo yun.

One time pa nga, hindi ko napigilan sarili ko and I searched for him on Facebook. It was against the rules but I didn't care. Sobrang nacurious ako when he told me that a lot of girls were chasing him. Matagal na yun and I was just curious.

So I opened Facebook and hit search.

Reeve Taylor—no search results found.

Ugh, kakainis. It's either he used another name or he was one of those guys na walang Facebook. Dito lang naman ata sa Philippines super addicted ang mga tao sa Social Media sites.

The silence stretched on...

My friend Ellie took that as a cue to speak. She leaned forward near the phone. "Stop crying because of Mike, Drei!" she shouted. Her eyes flashed with triumph.

I pressed mute sa phone. "Ellie!"

She just smiled and shrugged. MC and Aubrey both raised their hands and gave Ellie two-thumbs up.

I removed my hand and heard Reeve's sharp intake of breath. "What did he do now?" tanong niya. "Nothing."

Hindi naman problema ni Reeve si Mike eh. Problema ko yun kasi boyfriend ko siya. And lalo lang hindi magugustuhan ni Reeve si Mike if all I tell him are our problems kasi kailangan ko ng makikinig at listening ear kung san ako pwedeng magvent.

But Reeve was the kind of guy who wanted to solve everything. Hindi siya kuntento na making lang. For sure, tatawagan nun si Mike tapos gulo nanaman.

Hay. Ang sakit lang sa ulo.

"Drei. Spit it out."

Well, here goes. Huminga muna ako ng malalim. When Reeve has his mind set on something, he doesn't stop until he gets what he wants.

"I think he's cheating on me."

"What?!"

Sobrang lakas ng boses niya muntik ko na mahulog yung phone. Buti na lang nakaupo ako at nasalo ng lap ko. My friends looked at me. Baka sa sobrang lakas eh narinig din nila. Baka lang naman.

"I'll talk to him, Drei." He said it in such a way na para siyang promise. Not a question but a solid promise. "When I come back to the Philippines, the first thing I'll do is punch his face. How can he cheat on the perfect girl?"

My heart stopped. Perfect girl? Amidst all the problems, his words made me smile. He's still the sweetest guy ever.

But sometimes, he said things that made me uncomfortable. I know we're friends pero kung makapagsalita siya minsan, it's as if there's something more. At ayoko naman umasa. First of all, it's stupid. It's an unwritten rule that you shouldn't fall in love with your best friend. Recipe for disaster yun!

Second...

We're not just several thousands of miles apart... We're worlds apart.

"Wag na, Reeve."

"No! Gago siya."

Alam ko sobrang inappropriate ng timing pero natawa ako. Nanlaki mata ko at natawa talaga ako. What he said actually sounded like gagow shuh.

"Did I say something funny?" tanong niya na may halong asar.

Pero tawa pa din ako ng tawa. Di ko talaga mapigilan eh!

Si Reeve kasi hindi gaanong marunong magTagalog. But he tried to learn. Kaso lang his Filipino yaya was the one who was teaching him. Bisaya un so Reeve knows a bit of Bisaya too. Tapos mas madami pa siyang alam na bad words.

A tagalog bad word said in his beautiful British accent? Hilarious and priceless.

"No. Don't mind me, sorry," I answered nung nakahinga na ako ulit.

"I don't know what I did but at least I got you to laugh," he admitted. Natunaw naman ako dun.

"Thanks, Reeve. You got me feeling better already."

"Still, I want you to tell me what he did. So I can say it to his face when I punch him."

Ang kulit talaga. I sighed. Then, I lifted my head. Narealize ko lang na nagsimula na pala yung game. Players were already scattered on the field and the ball was zigzagging across the grass. I saw Mike running towards the goal; his lean physique clearly on display.

The crowd loved him and they chanted his name.

"Drei?" Reeve called. "No secrets, remember?" Paalala niya.

"Sorry, got a bit distracted. Reeve, why don't we talk about this when I get home?"

"Fine, then. I'll call you and don't dare make up an excuse."

"Oo naman."

"Alright, bye for now."

"Bye, Reeve."

The crowd shouted and my friends jumped. Nagulat ako at muntik ko nanaman mailaglag yung phone ko. Hindi ko nakita yung nangyari but I saw the scoreboard change.

Our team did it! We scored a goal!

Mike had his fists up in the air and his teammates were clapping his back and giving him high-fives. The crowd also chanted his name louder. I clapped with the rest of them pero hindi pa din maalis sa isip ko yung nangyari kaninang umaga.

I turned my head and scanned the thick crowd who came here to watch. Nasaan kaya yung Valerie na yun?

While I was looking for her, Mike's eyes met mine from across the field. He shook his head and there was an so much anger in his features. He shook his head and turned away.

"Anong nangyari?" I asked my friends.

"Nakita ka niya. You were talking to Reeve and you were laughing," Ellie said.

Shoot. Patay.

Mike hated it when I'm talking to Reeve when he was there. Lalo na yung sa game. This happened before and pinag-awayan na namin to. It was a huge fight back then.

I bowed my head and placed my phone back in my bag.

Pero wait lang. Bakit ako pa din yung mag-aadjust eh siya nga itong nahuling may kasamang ibang babae? Bahala na! Mag-aaway din naman kami mamaya ni Mike because of what happened earlier. Dagdag na lang tong kausap ko nanaman si Reeve.

"Bayaan mo na yang boyfriend mong parang ewan. Let's just enjoy the game. Tapos after this, punta tayong mall. Bili tayong pizza and chips for later," MC said.

"Anong meron?"

Grabe. Di ko na talaga alam ano mga pangyayari sa mundo.

"Mamaya yung documentary about Rivendell! Ano ka ba, Drei?! How can you forget? Two weeks na natin tong hinihintay! Akala ko pa naman alam mo kasi suot mo pa yung Rivendell shirt mo o!"

Ay. Oo nga pala! Wala na talaga ako sa sarili ko. Die-hard fans talaga ng Rivendell sina MC, Ellie and Aubrey. I've never been into music much pero dahil sa kanila nahila na din ako.

"Sobrang sikat na nila pero masyado pa din silang mysterious," Aubrey said.

"Eh kasi naman sabi sa rumours, mga mayayaman daw sila tapos hobby lang nila yung music. I think they're trying to protect their identities para private pa din yung buhay nila," MC piped up.

"Sana may mga pictures sa documentaries! Sobra naman kasi yung pagtatago nila! Napakakonti ng pictures sa internet! Pero there are rumours din na magcoconcert na sila soon."

"Naku pag nagconcert yan dadami pa mga fans nila. Tapos mga wala namang alam tungkol sa kanila tapos yun pa ang mauuna sa VIP tickets. Yun pa ang mga iiyak at magpapainterview sa media. Ugh," Ellie said.

"Ah bahala sila. Basta kapag ang Rivendell nagconcert dito, magcacamping tayo sa ticket booth!" MC shouted.

"But Drei's family owns the largest malls and coliseums here. She can get us tickets. May backstage pass pa," Ellie pointed out.

"Iba pa din yung experience ng camping," MC said.

And after that we all laughed.

Mamaya ko na iisipin si Mike. Mamaya ko na papagurin ang sarili ko sa kakaisip what went wrong between us. Hindi naman kami ganito dati pero look at us now.

For now, I'll enjoy the game. Later, I'll watch the documentary and gush and fangirl with my friends. After that, I'll talk to Mike.

And after him... Reeve.

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