I wanted to hold you
I wanted to make it go away
I wanted to know you
I wanted to make your everything, all right....

Cry by Mandy Moore

Gerald stared at his bowl of cereal. He started thinking about the events of last night, meeting Kim and spending time with her. He couldn’t help but remember the feel of her soft lips against his cheeks.

“I’m definitely turning into a very cheesy person.” He said out loud. “Nasobrahan ata ako sa pag-acting ko ah.”

“Hoy! Sinong kausap mo diyan?” Matt sat beside him. He grabbed the cereal box and started pouring it into a bowl.

“Wala, nag-iisip lang. Musta naman ang date niyo ni Melissa after dinner?” asked Gerald.

“Awesome pare. Melissa is such a great girl. Super sayang kasama. We’re going out again this afternoon.” Matt said.

“This afternoon? But Kim was telling me that she and Melissa have plans to go to the mall today?”

Matt looked at Gerald. “Pati schedule ni Kim alam mo na rin?” Gerald gave him a frown. Matt continued on, “Yeah, Melissa did say that they have plans to go to the mall pero sabi niya reschedule na lang daw nila ni Kim yun. Sabi niya papayag naman daw si Kim. Matt paused as he placed the food into his mouth and started chewing. “Pero seriously pare, mukhang natamaan ka ata kay Kim kagabi ah? Yung titig mo sa kanya kagabi, kung ice cream lang siya matagal na sana siyang natunaw.”

“I don’t know pare. She’s different. It makes me smile to see her smile. And I don’t know, she’s so pretty. I can’t help but stare at her. Gets mo?” he explained.

“Sus, ganyan din ako kay Melissa.” Matt answered. “Pero dude, you have a big problem. Hindi ako nagsisinungaling nung sinabi kong she hates guys. Totoo yun.”

“Can you tell me what happened? Ano bang nangyari to make her hate guys like that? To make her scared to be in a relationship?”

“Ang nakuwento lang sa akin ni Melissa eh she was supposed to get married when she was 18. Alam mo na, chinese di ba? So pinagkasundo siya. Ang pagkakaiba lang, she really did love the guy na ipinagkasundo sa kanya. Pero di natuloy yung kasal. Nag-cheat ata yung lalake before their wedding. Siyempre masasaktan ka pag ganoon di ba?”

“That guy is stupid to ever let go her go.” said Gerald. He looked at Matt, “I want to ask her out. Gusto ko siyang ligawan. I don’t care how long it takes. I really, really like her pare.

“Ang tanong, will she let you in to her life? Kagabi nag-click kayo pero dahil akala niya you’re gay. Ano? Sasabihin mo sa kanya ang totoo?”

“Oo, ayokong magsinungaling. Ayokong tumulad dun sa lalakeng nanloko sa kanya.” Gerald admitted. He grabbed his cellphone and started dialing.

Kim just finished washing the dishes when she heard her cellphone ringing. She wiped her hands and ran to answer her phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Kim? Si Gerald ‘to” said the person from the other line.

Kim was surprised to hear from Gerald. “Oh! Gerald? Musta? Bakit ka tumawag?”

“Well, nakausap ko kasi si Matt. He said that him and Melissa made plans for this afternoon. Eh naalala ko you were suppose to go with Melissa to the mall today.”

“Ha? Talaga yang Melissa na yan! Nakahanap lang ng boyfriend kinalimutan na ako! Today is my only free time pa naman.”

“Well, kung gusto mo, ako na lang ang sasama sa’yo” Gerald suggested.

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“Nope.”

“Sige! I’d really appreciate it. Tagal ko na kasing di nakapag-shopping.” said Kim.

“Good. It’s settled then. I’ll pick you up at say... 11:00? We can have lunch together as well.”

“Sure thing!” Kim exclaimed.

“Also, I want to talk to you about something.” Gerald added.

“What about?” asked Kim.

“I’ll tell you later okay?”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

Kim hang up the phone with a huge smile on her face. She was too caught up with her own little world that she didn’t see Melissa come out of her room.

“Hoy! Anong nginingiti-ngiti mo diyan? Para kang nasisiraan.” Melissa commented.

Kim gave Melissa her most annoyed look and said, “Paki mo? By the way, kailan mo sasabihing cancel ang ating malling today? Ha? Ha? Ha?” She pointed her finger at Melissa.

“Paano mo nalaman?” Melissa asked. “Sinong nagsabi sa iyo?”

Kim pointed at Melissa’s ears “May tenga ang lupa, may mata ang dingding at mahaba ang dila ng balita.” she said.

“Huh? Narinig ko na yan sa isang teleserye ah? Teka, teka.. Bakit parang hindi ka ata galit?”

“Hoy, sinong nagsabing hindi ako galit? Ni hindi mo man lang sinabi sa akin na di na pala tayo matutuloy.” Kim crossed her arms. “Buti na lang sinabi ni Gerald” she mumbled.

“Ahhhh... Kaya pala hindi ka galit! Kasi naka-usap mo si Ger-Ger.. You know best, kala mo di ko napansin, pero yung ngiti mo kagabi abot na hanggang tenga mo.Wala ka bang stiff cheeks?” Melissa teased.

“Stiff cheeks? Meron ba nun! Saka, hindi noh. Nakakatawa lang talaga si Gerald.”

“Nakakatawa lang talaga si Gerald.” Melissa copied Kim. “Naku sister, if I didn’t know better, I would say you have a crush on him.”

“Crush ka diyan. Tignan mong bading yun eh! Paano ako magkaka-crush dun.. Masaya lang talaga siyang kasama.” Kim explained.

“Kahit pa bading yun, lalake pa rin siya.” Melissa added.

“No, sisters nga daw kami di ba? Teka nga, bahala ka na nga diyan. Pinagpalit mo lang ako sa isang lalake! Makapag-handa na nga!”

“At ikaw naman, pinagpalit mo sa isang bakla!” shouted Melissa as Kim was walking towards the bathroom.

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“Sasabihin mo na kay Kim ngayon?!”

Gerald put on his t-shirt. “Yeah, I don’t want to keep this secret longer. The sooner she knows, the lesser she’ll be hurt di ba?”

“Ewan ko pare...”

“Bahala na, sige. Aalis na ako.” Gerald grabbed his car keys and left.

“Good luck!” Matt shouted.

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Gerald is nervous. His palms are sweating and he glanced down at his hands to see that it’s shaking. He took a deep breath and got out of the car. As soon as he closed the door, he saw Kim step outside the house with a big smile.

‘Great,” he thought. ‘Now I’m gonna be the one who ruins her day.”

“Hey Gerald! Kamusta?” Kim waved her hand.

“Ayos lang, ready ka na?” Gerald asked.

Kim nodded. “Yup! Ready to shop!” she said.

Gerald opened the door for her and helped her get in. As soon as Gerald got inside the car Kim asked him, “So... What were you gonna say?”

“Uhhmmm.. Can I ask you a question first?” he said as he started the car. “It’s a little personal and you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.”

Kim gave him a questioning look. “Okay, what is it?”

“Bakit galit ka sa mga lalake? Bakit ayaw mong magka-boyfriend? I mean, I know you think they’re all players and liars pero what’s the real reason?” Gerald looked at Kim and saw how her face fall. “If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay with me.”

“No, it’s okay. I really feel like I can tell you everything. Isn’t that weird? I only met you yesterday pero I feel like we’ve known each other for so long. Super at ease talaga ako when I’m with you.” she gave Gerald a smile.

“I know what you mean.” Gerald smiled back.

“Magkababata kami,” Kim started. “Magkaibigan yung parents namin so we’ve known each other since we were kids. Nung nasa high school kami, I started noticing him more. Tapos na-develop ata sa puppy love. Second year ako nun tapos siya 3rd year.” she laughed sarcastically. “Niligawan niya ako and alam mo naman, nagpakipot pa ako so after a year ko pa siya sinagot. After graduation, sinabi ng parents namin na pinagkasundo pala nila kami sa isa’t isa and they said that they’re planning our wedding sa 18th birthday ko. We were together for almost 3 years and I remember thinking I could never be happier.” Gerald started to see tears forming on Kim eyes. She continued, “Since magka-iba kami ng university, minsan ko lang siya makita. I planned a surprise nung birthday niya, so maaga pa lang nagpunta na ako sa dorm niya.” Kim couldn’t contain her sniffling. “Pagbukas ko nung pinto, I saw him, with a girl in bed.”

By now, Kim couldn’t even talk. Gerald stopped the car and went to console Kim. He put his arms around her patted her back. He can not believe what that jerk did to her. How can he hurt someone like Kim? “It’s gonna be okay babe,” he said. “I’m here for you.”

“I thought.. hic.. that he loves me.. hic..yun pala, he loves every girl.” Gerald kept consoling Kim and Kim just stayed on Gerald arms. “After that, I learned that he’s been cheating ever since we started going out. Sabi niya, I’m a boring girl daw. Walang kwenta.” she said as she continued crying.

“Iiyak mo lang..” he said.

Gerald doesn’t know how long it has been since she started crying but he noticed that she has stopped. He placed his hands on her arms and let her face him. “Are you okay now? I’m really sorry that I asked you about this.” Gerald said sincerely.

Kim gave him a small smile. “It’s okay. I feel better now. Siguro kailangan ko lang talagang iiyak ng husto. Thanks ha. I’m never like this with anyone. Kay Melissa lang. Sorry..”

“Don’t worry about it. Ako naman ang may kasalanan eh.. “ said Gerald.

“Ayan, now you know the reason why I hate guys. They’re all the same. Ayoko ng masaktan.” she wiped the last tears on her face, “I’m never, ever going to go through that again.”

“But Kim, I don’t think they’re all like that..” Gerald started but Kim cut him off.

“I already decided that I’m never going to associate with them. I don’t even want to be friends with any of them. I hate them. I hate them.”

“But Ki-“

“Can we stop talking about it?” she asked. “Please?”

“Okay.” Gerald gave up.. He started the engine again.

“You still haven’t told me what you were going to say.” Kim looked at Gerald.

Will Gerald tell Kim the truth?
Or will he continue pretending?