Igniting a Heartbeat
 

I really, really, really, really, really, really like you

I Really Like You Carly Rae Jepsen
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"Happy Birthday sa isang bestie kong tirador ng senior high school!" 

 

 

 

Umalingaw-ngaw agad ang bunganga ni Irene the moment I entered sa private room ng family-owned coffee shop nila. It was my vacant time ngayon at saktong wala ding klase itong lukaret na'to kaya pinapa-punta niya kami dito. Bonding-bonding daw.

 

 

 

"Tangina mo talaga, Irene." I hissed as I sat prettily on her long cream couch atsaka kinuha ang cellphone mula sa bulsa para mai-text ang manliligaw ko– hehe manliligaw ko. Ang sarap naman pakinggan sa ears 'non– to ask her kung kamusta na ba siya and if she already had lunch na.

 

 

 

It's currently past two o'clock na din kasi ng hapon at konting tiis nalang bago kami ulit magkita mamaya sa party.

 

 

 

To: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

   Hey Baby, Good aftiee. Kumain ka na ba ng lunch mo?

 

 

 

I sent it and not after a second ay nag-reply din agad siya.

 

 

 

From: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

     Good afternoon din, Baby Rina ko. And yes, kakatapos ko lang kumain. Ikaw?

 

 

 

My heart felt like it's going to burst in happiness. Kinikilig talaga ako everytime she would reply back to me. Napaka-pogi typings kasi grr. Tas ngayon na nadagdagan pa ito ng sweetness kaya ang heaven lang sa pakiramdam.

 

 

 

I could only smile widely as I came up with a reply.

 

 

 

To: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

     Done na din po ako, kanina pa. But, I'm currently here ngayon sa coffee shop nila Irene and the rest were also coming din. Bonding time daw kasi hehe.

 

 

 

From: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

     Okiee, po. Enjoy lang kayo diyan ha. Saan nga pala 'yan

 

 

 

To: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

    Near BGC lang, Baby.

 

 

 

From: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

    Haha, okiee, Baby Rina ko. Enjoy your day! See you later <3

 

 

 

To: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

    I will! Enjoy your day din! Mwah mwah!
Ps. Catch my heart, please🥺. Here you go😙💨 💕

 

 

 

From: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

   HAHAHA. Okay, teka. 💕✋🤛 ✊🤜🤚💕🫀.  Ayan na, nasa puso ko na HAHAHAHA.

 

 

 

Oh my gosh.

 

 

 

I laughed loudly dahil sa kakornihan naming dalawa. Oh Leafy, what have I done? Nagiging corny na din ang baby ko ng dahil sakin haha. But I'm also glad na sinasabayan niya din ako sa mga trip ko.

 

 

 

To: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

    Omg HAHAHAHA.

 

 

 

From: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

  I tried hahaha😂

PS. IBALIK MO KAASTIGAN KO, RINA😤

 

 

 

To: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

  Eh, pano ba 'yan? Hindi kana astig pagdating sakin?

 

 

 

From: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

   Okay lang. Ikaw naman 'yan eh.

 

 

 

Gago. Ang galing naman magpakilig neto. Namumuro na'to kanina pa ha. Sarap hagkanin grr.

 

 

 

From: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

   Anyway, I gotta go na, Baby ko. Final practice na kami. Enjoy lang kayo diyan ha. Kasi mamaya, tayo naman ang mag-eenjoy sa gabi ;)

 

 

 

Hala!

 

 

 

Napasinghap ako at tinakpan ang bibig as I felt my cheeks turned into a tomato red. What the– Leafy, my goodness. Binasa ko pa ulit ang message niya and the same reaction emitted from me.

 

 

 

Pansin ko lang ha, kanina pa actually. That Leafy is becoming bolder. Aside kasi sa pagsasabay neto sa mga trip ko, ay sumasabay na din siya sa mga panlalandi ko sakanya, and honestly, I'm all up for it. Hihi.

 

 

 

From: My Baby Leafy🍃❤

   Jonks!😉 Mwah mwah! 💋💕

 

 

 

I squealed as I read her last reply while wailing my feet in the air at nagpagulong-gulong sa couch. Samantalang ang cellphone ko nama'y nakatungtong sa dibdib ko. Kung kanina, napipigilan ko pa ang kilig ko sa harapan ni Leafy, ngayon, hindi na talaga.

 

 

 

"Looks like gumana ang panlalandi mo kay Leafy." Natatawang sabi Irene as she looked at me amusedly from the other couch.

 

 

 

I stopped, then looked at her, smirking conceitedly. "Yup! Leafy is officially courting me now." I replied proudly kaya napangiwi siya.

 

 

 

"Kawawa naman ang batang 'yon. Nauto ng isang ate. Tsk tsk." I rolled my eyes nang umiling-iling pa ito while clicking her tongue. Then, she gasped, even putting a hand on , looking shocked. "Hala! Baka inuntog mo 'yun sa pader ha! Kaya nabagok at nainlab sayo." Dagdag nito.

 

 

 

"Gaga!" Obvious naman na inaasar niya'ko, and she was successful with it kaya agad akong kumuha ng tissue, crumpled it at inihagis sakanya.

 

 

 

"Oh, pikon!" Asar nito ulit and I rolled my eyes.

 

 

 

"I repeat, ang laki mo talagang tangina, Irene. Kapag ikaw talaga nain-love sa mas bata sayo, tatawanan talaga kita." Pagbabanta ko dito kaya napatawa siya, mocking me. 

 

 

 

Hindi naman nagkakalayo ang edad namin nila Gigi at Yeji sakanya. She's just two years older than us at 4th year na din sa kursong Architecture.

 

 

 

Same silang dalawa ni Jennie sa edad, but Jennie is taking up fashion designing instead. Meanwhile, Wendy was a year older than them and three years older than us.  Kumukuha naman ito ng kursong Law.

 

 

 

How did we all became friends though? Well, nagka-kilala kaming lahat sa isang concert ng Ex-Batallion– yes, Ex-B kasi their songs slaps, mga erp– dati and surprisingly, we all clicked agad.

 

 

 

And since then, naging tight-knit na ang samahan namin kahit na hindi kami magkaka-edad lahat. Kahit honorifics nga ay wala kasi ganyan kami ka-close.

 

 

 

"Sorry, but that's not gonna happen. Itaga mo pa sa bato." Confident nitong sabat at hinawi-hawi pa ang buhok. "Papakalbo pa'ko kapag nangyari 'yun, duh."

 

 

 

I smirked at what she stated. "Talaga lang ha. Ikontrata nga natin 'yan."

 

 

 

Kumuha ako ng isang intermediate pad mula sa bag ko at nagsimulang sumulat.

 

 

 

Contract:

'Magpapakalbo si Alodia Irene Duncan kapag siya ay nainlove sa mas bata sakanya. Signed and witnessed by Karina Ellyse Riego. Signed by Alodia Irene Duncan.
 

Failure to comply to the contract will received immense penalty such as Karina Ellyse Riego will receive P1,000,000 pesos from the contractee.'

 

 

 

I handed her the paper and she raised her brow bago sumulat ng sarili niyang clause sa papel. I looked at it and scoffed.

 

 

 

'Deadline is within 3 months. If Alodia Irene Duncan didn't fell inlove sa mas bata sakanya within those given time frame, Karina Ellyse Riego will pay the contractee the penalty price money instead.'

 

 

 

"ing deal." I took the paper as I signed it with my signature pagkatapos ay inilahad pabalik sakanya. Isang milyon lang naman 'yan. At pag nagkataon na manalo ako, it will be easy money. 

 

 

 

"Oh, pirmahan mo na." She scoffed at walang alinlangang pinirmahan ang papel.

 

 

 

Suddenly, a knocked on the door interrupted our bardagulang contract signing. Irene went to open it, at pumasok naman isa-isa sila Giselle, Yeji, Jennie at Wendy.

 

 

 

"Oh? Why are you all here? Hindi kayo welcome dito, no. Kaya shoo!" Pagtataboy nito sakanila pero inirapan lang siya pabalik ng mga ito. Especially Jennie na halos makita na yata ang kaputian ng mga mata niya sa the way nang pagkaka-irap nito. Nagmala-360° lang naman kasi ang ikot, haha.

 

 

 

"Excuse you, sino ka ba? Hindi ikaw ang pinunta namin dito no. Sampid." Jennie rebutted, crossing her arms while raising her left brow at tinignan pa talaga si Irene nang pataas-baba, trying to intimidate her.

 

 

 

I laughed. Ang entertaining talaga pag nagbabardagulan 'tong dalawang 'to.

 

 

 

Sa aming magka-kaibigan kasi, silang dalawa talaga ni Irene at Jennie ang mga maldita. Samantalang kami nina Giselle naman ay nafa-fall between mapang-asar. Yeji was the innocent one kasi galing pang ibang bansa and Wendy was the serious one out of the group. Our in-between.

 

 

 

"Pake ko ba sayo, Pangit?" Irene shot back at inirapan pa ang isa kaya ayan, Jennie was the first one to reach for Irene's hair para magsabunutan.

 

 

 

Hinayaan nalang namin sila kasi ganyan talaga mag-bonding ang dalawang baliw na 'yan. Too bad because Wendy intervented after a minute though.

 

 

 

My gaze then fell towards Giselle and Yeji na nakaupo sa isang couch habang nakakunot ang noo. And so, I went to them, curious as to why they look like pinagsuklaban ng langit at lupa.

 

 

 

"Bakit ganyan ang mga mukha niyo? Kaarawan na kaarawan ko pero nakabusangot kayo diyan." Umirap ako and force myself to sit right in the middle. Umungot pa sila pero umusod din naman.

 

 

 

"I don't intindi you, Rina." Yeji replied and I sighed. Papaduguin pa yata ang ilong ko. Bakit nga ba kasi namin kinaibigan ang isang 'to? Ipatapon ko nalang kaya ang Italyanang 'to pabalik sa bansa nila?

 

 

 

"Tagal mo na dito sa Pinas, Yeji. Parang awa mo na, matuto ka nang magsalita at umitindi ng Tagalog, pakiusap." She just gave me an innocent look kaya napatawa ako.

 

 

 

"I said, why are your faces like that? So gloomy. It's my birthday pa naman that's why you guys should be happy instead."

 

 

 

"Ahh." Was her only reply before pouting. "It's because of Jinjin kasi." Kumunot ang noo ko.

 

 

 

"Why? What about Ryujin?" I asked but she pouted even more at parang paiyak na ata. Luh, gago.

 

 

 

Natatarantang tumingin naman ako kay Gigi para humingi ng tulong.

 

 

 

"Hoy Gigi, ano ba kasing nangyari?" I asked.

 

 

 

Mukhang nakatunog naman ang dalawang babaeng baliw at si Wendy kaya pumunta agad sila sa side namin.

 

 

 

"What's the tea ngayon, sa tatlong miyembro ng 'Tirador ng Senior High School' club namin ha?" Irene asked, laughing kaya sabay-sabay kaming umirap na tatlo sakanya. Even Yeji knows this kasi 'yan palagi ang inaasar niya samin.

 

 

 

But soon, we laughed when we saw her kahitsurahan. Ang gulo-gulo na ng buhok niya, then I looked towards Jennie who also got the same style of hair.

 

 

 

"Pota ka talaga, Irene. Look what you did to my hair, ! Gosh, pina-salon ko pa 'to kanina!" Reklamo ni Jennie pero inirapan lang siya ng isa who was now fixing her own hair.

 

 

 

"Bakit? Bagay na bagay naman sayo ang buhok mo ngayon ah? Pang-bruhilda style 'yan."

 

 

 

"Pakyu ka talaga." Asik nito bago bumaling kay Wendy at nagpa-cute. "Babe, help me fix my hair, please." Wendy can only shook her head in return bago mag-comply sa request ng kasintahan.

 

 

 

"Pero what's the tea nga?" Irene urged and I looked towards Yeji and Gigi who only sighed simultaneously.

 

 

 

"Do you think na hindi talaga tayo bagay sa mga partners natin? Sa mga mas bata satin?" Gigi opened up kaya napa-taas naman ang kilay ko. It's obvious that she's pertaining to us three, nina Yeji.

 

 

 

But, where did she get the idea from?

 

 

 

"Why do you think so?"

 

 

 

"I don't know." She pouted, shrugging. "So, sinundo ako ni Yeji kanina diba sa SMU. Saktong papunta na'ko sa parking lot, when I saw Yizhou and her group. Magpa-practice yata sila for their PE performance task."

 

 

 

"And so? What's wrong with that?"

 

 

 

"Patapusin mo muna ako okay?" Umirap ito kay Irene. Dasurve.

 

 

 

"Tatanong lang eh."

 

 

 

"Anyway, to continue the story before I was cut–" She gave Irene a look. "'Yun nga, out of curiosity, iginayat ko si Yeji na sumama sakin to secretly watch for my babylove's final practice. They're dancing Cariñosa pala. And you know Cariñosa naman, it's a folk dance about sinaunang flirting and stuff."

 

 

 

Ah, yes. Leafy told me about that one. Na sasayaw sila ng Cariñosa, a folk dance, and that explains their Filipino traditional clothing costume.

 

 

 

"While watching, etong mga pabibong mga partners naman nila ay tini-take advantage ang pagsasayaw."

 

 

 

Doon na kumunot ang noo ko. Take advantage? Oh hell no. Sa partner ni Leafy, humanda talaga 'yun kapag makita ko lang na nagme-make move siya towards my girl.

 

 

 

"Nili-literal talaga ang meaning ng sayaw! Especially that Wonyoung ." Nagulat naman kami sa pagsigaw ni Gigi.

 

 

 

"Eh diba humingi na ng tawad sayo 'yun?"

 

 

 

"Yeah, she did. But it doesn't mean that she will not do it again. Especially kung inborn na talaga ang pagiging makati sa isang tao." I pursed my lips at her sudden roast for that Wonyoung girl.

 

 

 

"So saan naman napasok ang 'Do you think na hindi talaga tayo bagay sa mga partners natin? Sa mga mas bata satin?' na sabi mo?" Ang gaga talaga nito ni Irene nang-uudyok talaga.

 

 

 

"Well, I got insecure of course. I know na, wala naman dapat 'yun sakin pero habang nanonood, I still can't help but to look at them and thought that they look perfect for each other. Even I overheard the same from some of the students na nakikinood din. Lalo pa si Yizhuo na ang super charming non."

 

 

 

She sighed. "Napapa-wonder lang ako no. Na what if mahulog siya sa kaedad niya and would rather have a relationship without the instead."

 

 

 

"Ano bang pinagsasabi mo, Gigi?" Nakakunot-noong tanong ni Irene.

 

 

 

"I mean, I made the first move and all. Pano kung napipilitan lang siya or I don't know? Was forced because she's a kid nga." Napabuntong hininga siya. "I'm sorry, I'm blabbering. It's nothing, anyway. "

 

 

 

"It's not nothing and you're not blabbering. I understand na nagseselos ka. Given na yan kasi love mo ang tao. But sa last part nang sinabi mo, it's absurd kaya!" We all nodded, agreeing to Irene.

 

 

 

"Two years or three? Lang naman ang gap niyo teh, hindi naman malaki. At sa pa, mas maganda kaya na may sa relasyon noh– well based on my preference ha."