It turned out that they had everything taken cared of months before my parents' left for abroad. They had fixed my cousin's old room for my own private use. Had all of my things moved from the city to the province. And got me enrolled in a school a distance away from my aunt's house.
My mom then kept on telling me that it was the wisest option they had that time. But the truth is, no one else dared to take care of me but my aunt alone. With plenty of choices in my hand, there's no other way out but to follow my parent's decision: to live with my aunt's family and to continue my education there.
Ateneo de Bundok University, School Year 1995-1996
The first lesson I learned on my first day at my new school is to never put your expectations too high. The disappointments may come a little devastating for you.
I don't know if it's true for all but as a young city brat I already have developed sensitivity on several issues such as security and health. And seeing the look of my new school, the rusty open gate that welcomes all and the filthy kids running all over the place, one thing came into mind. Am I at the right place, I asked myself.
Just like what I did in my old school, I flaunted my homosexuality. Always coming to class smelling good, with a well pressed uniform and a neatly combed hair. While all the boys were playing under sun, I would prefer to stay inside the room to tidy my desk. I was a big hit with my girl classmates. They would always follow me around with their unending questions 'bout how it was living in a big city.
Weird, but I started to like my new student life. Who would not? The spotlight was on me.
Boy meets Boy
Remember F.L.A.M.E.S? That popular noontime teen show back in the 90's. Whoever was the creative genius behind that show, a great thanks to you.
No, I was not part of that show. But it pressured millions of young elementary school children to find among themselves a love team. There is even a game devised for one to find that 'perfect match', a sort of LOVE CALCULATOR.
The game's easy to play. In one of the pages of your SIBIKA at Kultura book, write in your name and your partner's name. Cross out all similar letters that can be found in both your names. Tally each crossed out letters. Use the result to identify the corresponding meaning in the word F.L.A.M.E.S. But thanks to technology, the game can be played online already.
I was not a big fan of the game not until my fat girl seatmate wrote my name and this boy's name on the board for everyone to see. The game was done and according to the result, we would have a happy M-arriage. And that boy became my property.
Wendell was the alpha male of the class. Compared with my other male classmates he has better looks and his brain nerves more aligned. In short, he was the best guy the class can offer.
That time, I was really not sure if he sincerely liked me, or was he just polite enough to play the rules of the game. Whenever the class would tease us, he would just return this very cute smile and slowly turn his head towards me. Cloud nine.
Well, nothing sexual really happened between the two us. Just some sweet moments together when he walked me home a couple of times. And I could still remember that unexplainable feeling when would always volunteer to help me whenever my homeroom teacher would give me tasks. Too bad, I was too young then to know the entrancing possibilities.
The setup continued for quite some time until it faded out together with the popularity of the game. Four years came to fast and I have to move back to the city for high school after graduation. The last time I saw Wendall was during our graduation and after that I lost contact with all my classmates including him.
Fast Forward 9 Years
One time, I was online trying to finish my thesis paper for college when I received a message containing a link to a social networking site popularly known as Friendster. The link directed me to a personal account which belongs to none other than my old time crush, Wendell.
I learned through our exchanged of messages online that he also moved out of the province after grade school graduation. He went to a school in a town an hour away from mine. Unfortunately, though he knew that I moved back to the city come high school, he didn't have the resources to reach me. He was busy with school and came only to the city a few times. He told me that during one of his visits a few years back, he met my younger brother in a mall and handed a paper containing his contact details. When I asked my brother about it, he thought that it was not that important and he had the note misplaced somewhere. Blood Pressure rising.
Just last Christmas break, I gave my aunt a visit for a few days. When it was time for me to return to the university, I decided to take the bus instead of bothering my uncle to drive me to the city. I was lucky that I was able to catch the first bus out. I climbed up the bus and spotted a seat in the middle part of the bus. When I was about to take my seat, I suddenly heard someone calling out my name. When I looked down, it was Wendell. He was seated just across the aisle.
We gave each other the casual 'hi' and 'hello'. He was with his family and they were on their way the city to attend a wedding. Shy at first but gradually letting each other catch up with the nine years of no news about each other. With all our chit-chats the three hour ride was the shortest ever.
After that incident, whenever he would come to the city, we would always see each other for dinner. On one occasion, he introduced me to his friends and also to his girlfriend. I don't know if they knew 'bout how our (me and wendell) arrangement was back in grade school. But I'm sincerely happy that I got the chance to meet Wendell after so many years.
Still, nothing sexual happened between the two of us. Perhaps, we're better off being friends. One time, when I asked him about how we were during grade school, he just kept quiet for about a minute or two then turned his head towards me and gave me his signature smile - like a time machine.
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