I was almost tempted with that.

     It looked so good….

     On me. Pahamak talaga si Ning.

     Bakit ba kasi nanghila pa siya sa sunnies?

     Ang pretty lang nung sunglasses na pinakita sa’kin ni Rid and as she said, it did look good on me. Pati sina Gi napasinghap nung tinawag sila ni Madrid to look at me.

     ‘Sabi sayo eh, bagay’ ….sana pati siya bagay nalang din sa’kin.

     Loh, calm yourself Catherine, katabi mo yung tao.

     Initially, our plan was to go up another floor to look at some stuff sa Silicon Valley habang si Rid naman ay pupunta ata ng Camerahaus or PC Express pero nung tinignan niya yung phone niya for the time, lahat kami nagulat na halos 4 pm na din pala, parang ambilis lang.

     So ayun, a quick decision was made, 2 or 3 more stops without going up anymore floors kaya we decided to hang out sa arcade then we’ll look for an ice cream or froyo shop before going back sa car.

     Undecided pa lahat pero ang alam ko ngayon is katabi ko si Madrid.

     At least I’m with her….

     ‘Having fun so far?’ we’re waiting for the other two as of the moment kasi they went to the bathroom to freshen up and other things.

     I didn’t feel like I needed to come with them and surprisingly si Rid din.

     Andami din niya kayang nainom na tubig kanina nung kumain kami since may sili yung nasubo niyang sisig from Gi. \

     She tore her eyes from her phone, looking directly at me while I was just smiling at her.

     ‘Yeah, better than I expected’

     ‘Expected?’ she pocketed her phone as soon as she replied to me. Green flag tbh.

     ‘I thought there would be a barrier since close na kayong tatlo pero,’ she cleared . ‘There was none ever since umalis tayo sa inyo’

     that’s good to know then.

     I easily saw the future nung nalaman nina Gi na I’ve been talking with Madrid for the past few weeks and they weren’t frisky with questions about her. Not until they knew na siya yung kasama ko nung nagpamedical ako which led us to this whole hang-out thing.

     They said they needed to know this Winter who was currently in the process of becoming friends with me, and I didn’t see any harm in that.

     They’re my closest afterall.

     ‘Kinabahan ka ba?’ I asked again. I like talking about those two with Madrid. I’m getting a glimpse of how she sees the other two and I can’t help but to be intrigued.

     ‘Saan?’ she asked back, giggling. ‘Dun sa dalawa’

     ‘Not exactly kaba….’ She came to a halt when her eyes landed by my waist. Bakit?

     I looked down as her hand went to my waist, her touch ghosting over my body before she forcefully pulled a loose thread from my pants.

     ‘Baka I was hopeful na it wouldn’t be awkward or anything’ she continued, throwing the thread into the air, letting it fall onto the ground. ‘Kaya it’s relieving na hindi ganun’

     ‘Masyado mo kasing iniisip ata’ sabi ko.

     ‘Hindi naman, naiilang lang at baka may mali akong magawa tapos,’ she scratched her cheek. ‘maturn off sila’

     Wait what? Maturn-off sila?

     Si Gi at Ning?

     ‘Pero you’re right, I don’t mind being friends with them.’ amin niya.

     Not giving me a chance to talk as the two we are talking about were now going to our direction. Winter met them halfway that left me with following her footsteps, a question in my mind, bakit naman niya naisip na ayaw niya maturn-off yung dalawa sa kaniya?

     Has she been wary of her movements?

     Gi linked her arm with Winter while I did the same with Ning. ‘So timezone or ano, what’s the other one?’ Gi trailed off. ‘WOF, worlds of fun.’ Ning answered. Busy sa phone.

     ‘Sino yan?’ I asked her. ‘Si Mama’ ahhh

     ‘Timezone nalang, may card ako’ sabi ni Rid. Parang lahat nalang ata meron siya.

     ‘Great, let’s go’

     Well, nabuo lang naman ang barkadahan namin dahil pare-pareho kaming go with the flow kaya I wasn’t surprised at how quick Gi agreed with the newbie.

     Seems like they’re all gonna be good friends after this. Again, that’s good to know.

     After maubos yung 400 na load na meron yung card ni Winter- which were a two sets of car races between the four of us, 3 games of basketball that they each played while I held Gi and Ning’s bags and the rest were spent with playing the scam claw machines that none of us managed to get a toy from. That was expected naman, we were all there for the fun.

     We asked for assistance to rent a karaoke room for an hour, I think, si Ning ang nakipag-usap eh, and sinagot na ni Gi yung fees kaya here we are. Sitting around a room overfilled with bright lights coming from a place I can’t seem to pinpoint.

     Madrid’s out right now din, she’s buying water from the counter kasi nasesense na daw niya na we’ll be needing them.

     I’m not doubting na she’s a regular here if ever she drops that info later.

     ‘Mauna na ko ha’ me and Gi nodded at Ning, sila lang naman ni Giselle ang mahilig kumanta between the three of us.

     Parang ako lang yung nagpapakalma ng mood kapag kailangan na at mga hardcore songs ang trip nitong dalawa.

     ‘Winter’s getting water, right?’ Giselle asked. ‘Yup, why?’ ‘Nauuhaw ako bigla’ I snorted.

     ‘Ang random mo talaga’ inirapan lang ako ni Gi.

     Her face looks weird- may binabalak to.

     ‘Said by the girl who suddenly befriended a person because-‘

     ‘Okay! Shut up!’ I cut her off. Delikado na baka biglang dumating ulit yung isa, edi nalaglag ako ganon?

     Parang others tong si Gi eh.

     I looked at Ning who was crouching down in front of the tv, hindi naman lumalagpas sa 5 to 6 numbers yung code ng song diba?

     ‘Anuna Ning, hirap na hirap?’

     ‘Naduduling ako dun sa numbers, chill down’ speaking of chill, bigla namang pumasok si Winter, pawisan. ‘Ayun!’ agad agad kumuha ng bottled water si Gi from her hold.

     ‘Thank you, Winter.’ she just smiled at her. We still haven’t found a common ground between this two pero as you can see, they’re getting there.

     After Ning gave us the song catalog back, me and Gi immediately started looking for the songs we liked, hindi pa rin kumakanta si Ning at chat ng chat sa kanya si Tita.

     ‘Gi?’ Madrid called out. Gi hummed in response while here I am just listening.

     ‘Diba 1 syllable lang nicknames niyo?' she nervously asked. 'Ning, Gi and Cat, baka pwede mo din 'ko isipan para isa lang din akin’

     Ay, good thinking Rid, mahilig gumawa ng nicknames ni Gi.

     ‘Ay good idea yan Insan’ oh diba same thoughts kami ni Ning.

     Giselle took her eyes off the song catalog, scanning Madrid who was just looking back at her. Her usual stoic expression radiating off of her face. ‘Winter….’ she trailed off. ‘What’s your other name?’

     ‘Madrid’ she quipped back.

     Bat ba nasa gitna nila ako, its lowkey starting to feel weird with them just looking at each other.

     ‘Madrid…. I think exclusive kay Cat yung Rid so,’ onti nalang sasabunutan ko na to eh, ayaw magbehave.

     I looked at her with a sarcasti