Friday, July 2
Jul. 2 Fri.
"Si Celine, eh! Ang manyak nang tingin sakin!" -steph
Friday, second of June, schoolyear 2004-2005.
...
My turn to be the day's prayer leader.
It was a lot more interesting than I thought...
Same went for my classmates, and Sir Eric.
...
But since Sir Eric was going to grade the spontaneous prayers of the prayer leaders, I had to make a good one for the start of the class, at least.
*sign of the cross*
"Lord, we thank You for this day,
May we welcome it with thankful hearts, and open arms...
Even if its really rainy, windy and very...cold.
Because we know that every day You grant us is another chance...
To live, to hope...to love.
Send us Your Holy Spirit, Lord, to guide us through our quiz.
You know very well that we did our best to study for this,
Now we ask You to please...
Do the rest.
Amen.
*sign of the cross*
I looked at Sir, and at least he didn't seem disappointed. We had our quiz - something about old English, and Beowulf. After scribbling the last descriptive adjective I could think of, Sir asked us to pass our papers. I didn't have time to think up a decent closing prayer...
But it had to be done. *shrugs* I'll just do it like I always pray.
Of course...it DID seem sort of new for the others.
...
*sign of the cross*
Dear Jesus...
That was a long quiz.
Most of us found it quite difficult, Lord.
But we studied for it,
And now we ask that You may grant us...
Our proper grades for our efforts,
Amen.
*sign of the cross*
...
By the first line, my classmates snapped up their heads, and suddenly became interested in hearing my prayer. They were stifling laughter all the while. I looked sideward at Sir Eric, and he was grinning like an idiot.
I learned later, that he was laughing as I prayed.
Hmph. I just pray that way, okay? I mean...if you're gonna talk to God, then TALK!
*laughs* Kaya nga close kami ni Lord, eh.
...
During the club try-outs, my berks and I were supposed to go to...erm... ehe... *inhale* Baking With Art... But it ended up with just me - and a couple more dozen other students. I sat with Ivy and her friends, and had a laugh the whole time. We were watching Sir Mitra make an apple pie. And may I say...he's damn good. He was kinda nervous, though, coz he wansn't expecting more than 15 people. Well...he didn't get 15 people...more like 15 times 3.
But before the pies were done, I had to go and get dressed early for the get-together at Steph's place after school. So I got my bag of clothes, and tried to look for my friends. I happened to be walking across the 1st floor corridor, when...
"ESTRADA!"
I turned and saw...the WB lot in one of the 2nd year classrooms. They were all looking at me, and laughing. Beija in particular, was laughing like a lunatic...more than usual. My eyes widened.
Me: "How'd you..."
Beija: "I know that slouch ANYWHERE!" *laughs*
Me: *slaps hand to forhead*
Them: "Yay, si Celine!!! Pasok ka!"
Ms. M: "How nice of you to join us, Celine, come in..."
Me: *enters room* "Nice to be back here..." *grins*
After a couple of introductions and hi-fives, I sat myself down, and was immediately asked by my sis where I've been.
"Trust me...you...do NOT wanna know..."
Her first guess? Baking with Art. I nodded slowly, with a faint "Yes...". That sent them all laughing their heads off, and Beija practically roaring with laughter. I covered my face in my hands. "Well...he's good at baking!" Erk...that sent them laughing even more. Anyway, for the sake of the newbies, Beija recited a piece from EMANON, submitted by Ate Nikita. Beija was kinda hesitant at reciting it in front of the class, and I thought I knew why.
Me: *points a finger at her* "Hoy...if that piece hurts you, don't read it!"
Her: *pauses* *looks at me sympathetically* "Actually, I'm afraid its gonna hurt YOU!"
Me: *blink* "Really? How...how can it?"
...
Well...it hurt, alright. But it was such a great piece nonetheless.
"Happily Ever After"
It was about the more serious side of fairy tales. On the more practical, real, and harsh angle of cute little kiddie stories about damsels in distress, tower prisons, evil step sisters, and prince charmings. Here were a couple of lines that...*twitch* hit me like a ton of bricks to the chest cavity.
"...people don't really pay attention to the torture the girl in the story has to go through - cooking and cleaning, being all alone in a tower, and going through all the despair and depression before Prince Charming comes along and saves her..."
"...sometimes, she has to wait so long, that she eventually loses HOPE. And when the time comes that he DOES come along and tries to save her, she's stunned and thinks: 'Why does he want to save me? Is he crazy?!' But he claims that he loves her, and really does try to save her..."
"But when he sees the dragon, he realizes that he can't fight it, and leaves her broken-hearted - hurt much more than when she started off..."
"It eventually gets harder for her to trust others again, because she got her heart broken..."
"She'd avoid all the guys who try to save her... Or maybe she kisses every prince charming that comes along...anything, until she gets her happily ever after."
But the one that hit me the most...
"...coz when she falls...she falls hard."
Ouch. Talk about hitting home. In the middle of it, I wanted to crawl into a hole and just die. *sigh* Well...I could just imagine how ate Nikita feels...
...
Going to Steph's place was fun. We had to ride in her bus, though, and we were so damn noisy - talking about everything, and nothing. When we were entering Pines City, Myka was - for some reason - laughing so hard, she couldn't breathe. We tried to ask her why, but all we could decipher from her, was: "Eto na... K-kumapit na kayo'ng mabuti... R-roller coaster taym!!!"
I think it was just Steph who got what she meant. But the moment we all realized what in the world she was talking about, it was too late. I could still remember it...one moment, I was looking through the windshield, at the road ahead. The next moment...there was no road.
My stomach felt all light and butterflies-y. I clutched the sides of my seat for dear life. We all gave out a faint "Oh SHEEEETTT!!!" before squealing like little girls. Roller coaster was an understatement.
Turns out, the road had a sudden plummet of about...85 degrees. It was like going down the side of a cliff, accelerating at around 50kph. When we finally reached level ground, we were all in shock. We looked back at the road we just passed, and were just staring blankly, our mouths still slightly open due to our screaming. A few awkward seconds later, we all burst into manic laughter.
Steph's house was nice. It had such a home-y atmosphere to it. And even though our house was roomy and spacioius...it lacked that home touch. I smiled. I liked this place. It was full of life everywhere. In the walls, the floor, and in the air. We lounged around Steph's room for a while, then watched Garfield the movie out in the sala.
We dressed up inside Steph's room. It was fun. Inna was combing Myka's hair, Nica and Anne were trying to see who was thinner, the rest were tinkering with the little things that were displayed, and I...I was just sitting on her bed, looking at them all. I dunno why, but...I had a knack for savoring these precious moments that everyone else takes for granted. I'd emboss every single detail onto my memories, and cherish them all my life. But when they were undressing, I didn't realize that I was still blankly staring. And it just so happened...I was staring at an undressing Steph.
Steph: *covers herself* "AAAAAHHH! Celine naman! Nahihiya ako sayo, eh!"
Me: *shakes head* "Wha-?"
Myka: "Ano ka ba, Steph, wag ka nang mahiya! Tayo-tayo lang naman, eh!"
Anne: "Oo nga, Steph, si Celine lang naman yan, eh. Babae rin naman siya, diba?"
(pause)
Us: *blink* "Oh..."
Me: "Erk..."
Steph: "Tama na nga! Basta, Celine, wag mo 'kong tingnan nang...basta."
Me: "Steph, friend naman kita, eh, its okay." *smiles*
Steph: *puts on shorts* *looks at me* "Celine naman, eh! Ang manyak ng tingin mo!!!"
Us: *laughs our heads off*
Me: *chuckles* "Seksi mo kasi, eh!" *laughs*
(pause)
Them: *eyes widen* *inches away from me*
Me: *blink* "I didn't mean it that way! I-I don't know where that came from!"
Steph: "ANO BAAAAAA!!!!"
...
At some point, I found myself quite nostalgic. I was playing with Steph's old toys - tiny dolls, wind-up machines, and Polly Pockets. Man...they were weirded out with me too. Especially when Inna said I looked CUTE - as I lay on my stomach on the rug, my hair in...*twitch* pigtails, and me making up stories while playing with the small dolls and polly pocket houses. We ate a couple slices of pineapple, and two different flavors of pizza.
After dinner-time, we proceeded with work. Nica and Anne were reviewing for geometry, Myka was trying to get Chemistry done, Inna was writing something for the SCAA, and Steph was researching for THE on the net. I was...well...lazy. Just tinkering with my cel, and recording my voice. I ended up with a recording of "Iris" sung by a rather low guy-like voice. They were wondering whose voice it was. When I said it was duh, me...they couldn't believe it. Heh. *Iba na talaga...kung mula sa puso ang pagkanta.*
When Steph was finished with her research, I decided to check out some blogs - since our computer broke down, and I couldn't use the net at home. I was feeling kinda weird then...maybe because of the song I recorded on my cel. For a few minutes, I didn't know what I was doing on the net... But when I came to my senses, I got to tag on my board, and send a couple of offline messages. I also downloaded some lyrics, hehehe.
...
When it was time for me to go home, I kissed them goodbye, and rode our car with my dad. My dad was sick then, and I was feeling kinda guilty that I was away with my friends when I was supposed to be taking care of him. I took his temperature, made him take his medicine, and tucked him in that night.
But as I crept under the covers, I whispered a prayer of thanks to God...for blessing me with such amazing friends. I sighed... Guilt was gnawing at my neck again... I felt as if I wasn't being such a good friend to them. But as I recalled the things that happened earlier...I smiled. I'll do my damn best for them no matter what.
...
I curled up in bed, tucked my cel on the pillow against my ear, and fell asleep to my own voice that sang...
Iris.
One of the saddest, most beautiful songs ever.
...