It might be an exaggeration, pero I was completely mesmerized sa performance ni Winter.

Her song choice,

Her guitar playing,

And yung boses niya..

Everything felt so raw and real. 

I wish I could rewind time just to see it again.

Malakas ang applause naming tatlo sa kanya and she immediately cracked a joke to hide her embarrassment.

“Thank you, Araneta!”

Ning even whistled at Winter. “Galing ng lola kong gitarista!” 

“Winter, you didn’t tell us na magaling ka din kumanta! She’s so talented, diba pre?” Giselle then side-eyed me out of nowhere.

“Yeah, that was a really nice performance!” I quickly added. 

“Thank you, thank you! Next time na lang yung autograph guys ha.” 

Agad na binaba ni Winter yung guitar niya and she placed it on top of its bag na nasa floor. 

I moved over to check her laptop pero hindi pa tapos ma-copy yung movies. We just continued to eat chips and chat about when she started playing the guitar.

“Hmm..Around grade 5 ata ako unang nag guitar.” She recalled before munching on a Lays chip.

“Tinuruan ako ng tita ko kasi meron siyang gitara, tapos pinapahiram niya ako ng Song Hits para mag practice. Super fan siya ng Eraserheads nung college.”

“Oh, so that explains the song!” sabi ni Giselle.

“Anong mga songs pa yung alam mo sa guitar?” I got curious bigla sa mga songs and bands na gusto ni Winter.

“Mostly mga OPM, saka mga alternative pop/rock.”

“Actually, dating member ng band si Winter nung high school during her emo phas- aray!” Ning suddenly caught a pillow on her face that Winter threw from above the bed.

Winter in a band? I guess it makes sense, pero yung emo phase niya got me more curious.

“Gagi! Anong emo phase sinasabi mo dya- hoy!!“ Binato pabalik ni Ning yung pillow sa mukha ni Winter but she was able to dodge it with her hands.

“Pillow fight pala ha!”

Amused lang kaming nanood ni Giselle sa short pillow fight nung dalawa. 

Winter was at an advantage dahil nasa taas siya ng bed but Ning gave the harder blows.

Mapapatayo na si Winter sa bed but she stopped when Ning got tired and just played dead. 

“Suko nako bes, sakit na ng braso ko!”

“Deserved!”

“Daya mo! Nasa taas ka kaya ng kama!”

Winter just shrugged and laughed.

These two are really like sisters. 

Giselle then grabbed the pillow that Winter left on top of Ning and fluffed it.

“So, tell us about this band of yours Winter! How and why did you become part of one?”

“Banda bandahan lang yun nung high school kami!” Winter dismissed na parang nahihiya siya sa topic.

I noticed Ning eyeing Winter like there’s something more about why she used to be in a band.

“Wag ka na mahiya, bes! Kwento mo na kasi!” 

“Yeah, tayo-tayo lang naman dito, Winter. Your secrets will be safe with us.” 

I just kept silent dahil gusto ko din malaman yung reason why. Winter seemed so adamant about it and it made all of us more eager to find out.

“Ayoko magkwento, nakakahiya!” She continued to refuse.

Ning grumbled and she quickly sat back up. “Okay, ako na lang magkukwento since alam ko din naman lahat.”

“Bahala kayo!” Winter hugged a pillow and buried her face on it.

Lumapit si Ning sa aming dalawa ni Giselle and readied herself sa pagkwento.

“Hindi kasi kami classmates ni Winter nung third year kaya napasama siya sa mga emo kids. Nalaman nila na marunong siyang mag guitar and nainvite siyang sumali sa band dahil kulang pa sila ng rhythm guitar.” Ning narrated.

“Ohh, that didn’t seem so bad! Pero how did Winter’s emo phase come about?” Giselle asked.

“Well, hindi naman talaga siya emo dati. Sa totoo lang parang patay na bata nga si Winter nung first year kami-”

“Hoy, narinig ko yun!”

“Ah I mean, tahimik lang kasi siya tapos puro school work lang inaatupag niya noon. Tapos ayun, naging emo siya nung third year kami kasi..” 

Nag pause si Ning and she looked at Winter as if asking for permission. Winter just nodded and buried her face again sa pillow.

“..Naging emo siya kasi...nag break sila nung first boyfriend niya..”

First boyfriend..

So that’s why..

“Tandang tanda ko pa yung gulat ko nung pumasok si Winter isang araw na may side bangs at eyeliner.” Ning almost bursted into laughter.

We heard a small muffled scream and saw Winter cringing with her whole body.

“If you don’t mind me asking, bakit sila nag break?” Giselle asked Ning the same question I had in mind. 

“Bes, gusto mo ikaw na sumagot?” 

“Ikaw na!”
 

Ning nodded and continued. “Nagka third party kasi. Nagkagusto sa ibang babae si Sung- I mean yung jowa niya habang sila pa. Ayun, nalaman ni Winter tapos hindi na niya kinausap at nakipagbreak na agad siya.”

Giselle scoffed in disbelief. “Wow, what a douchebag..”

“Ang lang diba?” 

Napatingin ako kay Winter and she doesn’t seem to be bothered by it anymore.

Nevertheless, learning that she ended up doing those things back then to cope, mukhang grabe yung naging effect sa kanya ng breakup that time. 

And I would assume the reason being, that it was her first relationship.

“Parang ang tahimik mo ata, Karina. Inaantok ka na?” Biglang tanong ni Ning.

“No, hindi pa naman. I’m still listening.”

“Anyway, let’s save these types of talks for another sleepover. Manood na tayo ng movies!” Tumayo si Giselle and got each of us a carton of Chuckie from the fridge.

“Parang mas okay yung pwesto natin na ganito para di masikip. Patong ko nalang sa upuan yung laptop ko.” Winter stood up and pulled a dining chair to place her computer.

We decided to watch horror movies muna before Ghibli movies so that we can end on a nice note. Winter told us na Scream yung unang movie namin na papanoorin which is something I’ve heard before. She mentioned that it’s a classic halloween movie lalo na for beginners.

After she hit play, mabilis siyang pumunta sa bed at dumapa sa tabi ko. I moved a few inches to the right to give her space and sat forward with my knees folded. 

Ning and Giselle are already comfy sa sofa bed beside us and pareho silang naka indian sit while watching.