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di ko maisip ang title...
by wenz

Ewan ko ba, na-love at first sight ata sakin si gago. I was sophomore that time. Sya naman third year. I was with my friends. He was with his. Nakatambay kami sa cafeteria sa mall-mallan sa province namin. (Mall-mallan kase
nagpepretend lang siya na mall siya eh sa totoo lang naman, mas maliit pa siya kesa sa SM Cubao. And that’s the biggest we have there, so no choice.) We were tables apart. Five tables to be exact.

Ni hindi naman ako nagpapacute pero for some reason (is it the way I smile or the way I toss my hair? hehe, joke.) he noticed me. Yes, the guy with an ego-larger-than-life noticed me. We didn’t personally know each other but
because of the "smallness" of our town, everybody knew who’s who. We were familiar about his obnoxious reputation. Sa lakad pa lang, tangina, ang angas na.

He made one of his "alipores" approach our table. The alipores with his all-knowing, all-teasing smile handed me a folded tissue paper. So, ano to? Vocalista ba ko ng banda para bigyan nya ng request in a tissue paper? Kahit
papano nacurious naman kami at binuksan yung tissue.

"I wish to know your name…If you don’t like my attitude, slap me on the face." Homigaz! Feeling Bernadette Sembrano ang beauty ko kahit na wala pang Wish Ko Lang that time. Natawa na lang ako. At medyo nabilaukan na rin. I stole a glance of him. Ngingisi-ngisi pa na parang aso. Yuck. Ang feeling talaga. Nag walk-out na lang kami ng mga friends ko.

I thought I saw the last of him. Unluckily, hindi pa pala. I didn’t know if it was purely coincidental or talagang gumana lang ang stalker instinct niya. I found out that he was in the same youth camp as I was about to join. Talaga nga
naman ang fate, anlakas mang-asar kung minsan.

Ngak. Nauna pala siya maging member nitong youth org na ito! So, feeling naman niya I was the one stalking him. Oh please. For the love of Mystica. (Mystica?! I didn’t want to use God’s name in vain.)

Days went by. His presence tortured me. Ediba, in a person’s lifetime there will be that someone who represents the bane of your existence. Siguro sakin siya yun. Ugh. Kumukulo talaga ang dugo ko whenever I saw him. Ang yabang. Ang angas. Ang feeling. Big time jerk.

Theory ko noon middle child siya. Ang over naman kase kung magpapansin. There was this one time, still in the youth camp, when we were lining up for confession, he suddenly barged in and got ahead of me in the line. Aba’y kundi ba naman talagang @#%$!!!! Umusok na naman tenga ko. Humaba tuloy yung ipagkoconfess ko.

"Kapal talaga nung iba diyan. Singit-singit pa."

"Bakit ba ang taray-taray mo sakin? Inaano ba kita?"

"Eh antipatiko ka kase."

"Antipatiko?" Sabay tawa. Ugh, sarap ingudngod yung mukha nya sa pintuan ng confession box.

"Oo, antipatiko ka."

"Ikaw palang ang kauna-unahang babaeng nagsabi sakin ng ganyan." He said, with an irked tone in his voice.

"Eh ano ngayon?"

"Eh ano rin ngayon?"

Buti inawat na kami nung iba dun. Nakakahiya nga eh, on the way to confession, gumagawa pa ng kasalanan.

In fairness, I really enjoyed the camp. Except of course for those times that I had to see his face. With that oh-so-stupid smile.

After the camp, he started calling me at home. Shempre, tinarayan ko. Ang kapal kase, tumawag pa. Gusto daw makipag-friends. "Friends? Friends your face," I told him. But it turned out that "giving up" was not part of his vocabulary. Tumawag siya nang tumawag. At nagtaray ako nang nagtaray.

One time, one of his friends na friend ko din, told me that the jerk has changed a lot ever since I got into his life. Got into his life? Helllllooooo, bakit kami ba?! His friend explained that he has never been in-love with someone like this. Huh? I knew he was "making pa-cute" sakin pero I never knew he was capable of loving someone other than himself. At wala sa itsura niya yung magpapakamushy ha. "Uy, nagpapakabait na yun dahil sayo." Dagdag pa ng friend nya.

Okay, I admit. My heart softened a little. Kahit siraulo yun, nakakaflatter pa din naman. Haba tuloy ng hair ko. All this time tinatarayan ko siya, to think, wala naman talaga siyang ginagawa sakin. Yung pag-singit niya sa confession line na yung pinakamalaki niyang kasalanan tapos ganito na agad kalaki yung galit ko sa kanya. Maybe I was being too harsh on him. I mean, it’s not really his fault that he looks so fat-headed and conceited.

One night he called up again. I tried to be nice. He made some annoying remark about me being sick coz’ I’m never nice to him. I ignored it. Then he apologized. Alam daw niyang maangas daw siya kung minsan. Minsan? Duh. Try
always.

I don’t know kung nagtitrip lang ako that time or medyo tinamaan ako sa sinabi ng friend niya. I accepted his apology and said sorry myself. He made another joke. Baka daw I was not the real me, baka daw I was just a clone. This time,
natawa ko, hindi na ako naasar. That was the day we became friends.

And I’m so glad we did. As I got to know him more, his personality, his family, his friends, I realized that the image I painted of him in my mind is miles and miles away from what he really is. The disdainful facade of this young man was
just a cover-up for the pains of this sweet sensitive little boy. Lahat ng pinagdaanan niya sa buhay, sa pamilya, lahat naintindihan ko na. Naintindihan ko na kung bakit ganun ang personality niya at kung bakit lagi siyang namimisunderstand ng mga tao. Yes, he looks soooooooooooo mayabang but the truth is, he is one of the most modest people you could ever meet. And the most loving, most caring, most thoughtful…lahat na ata ng "most na positive" meron siya.

Sabi nila love comes when you least expect it. Totoo. Pero ako, I believe more on "love comes from people you least expect." I mean who could have ever thought that the antagonist of my life story would turn out to be the guy I want to forever love? Next week, we’ll be celebrating our anniversary. Our third year anniversary. Three years na kami. One year of which, magkalayo kami. I chose to study in UP Los Baños for college while he stayed in our province. Of course, sa three years na yun not everyday is a bed of roses, madami din kaming problema, lagi din kaming nag-aaway. More especially nung nakalayo kami. Sabi nung iba, long distance relationships never work. Pero para samin, kung mahal mo talaga, kahit gaano ka looooooong ang long distance relationship nyo, you’ll make it work.

Ewan ko ba. Kung siya love-at-first-sight, ako siguro hate-at-first-sight. But I’ll never regret the day I met him. My life has changed so much when he came. Bukod sa moral lesson na Don’t judge a book by its cover or a person with the way he walks, he has made me see life in a different outlook. Life has never been this beautiful until I fell in love with him.

** Love story ng best friend ko...pero i'm sure kung siya magsusulat eh hindi ganyan kabrutal...in fairness sa boyfriend nya, sobrang magkasundo kami and sobrang mali talaga mga first impressions namin sa kanya :)