A feast

So there we were, totally oblivious that we ended up right next to the basketball court, and boom, there's our five classmates that I accidentally dusted earlier. We had this awkward moment of staring, and I kinda got ready to throw a punch.

"Guys, chill out... Let's just forget about the fight. The guidance counselor said whoever starts a fight gets suspended," Bernard pipes up.

"It's cool, bro... Chris, sorry man, we got carried away too," Reynan adds.

"All good, man, sorry..."

"Yeah, man, forget about it..."

"Let's just head to the plaza..."

"... yeah, let's all go together..."

"It's nothing! Sorry, bro!"

-- a mix of words from Robin (Binoy), Jomel, Isaac, Howard, Jopet. And just like that, my crew grew bigger. I could feel the respect from my classmates growing bit by bit. We all decided to head to the plaza for lunch.

Magnolia clung to me again, but this time, I went full PDA mode. I held her hand, and our fingers intertwined. I don't know what it is, but holding hands back then was a big deal, full of mischief, and anyone who saw it would laugh, tease, and make a big fuss out of it.

When we reached the gate, my 'crew' expanded even more. Lacson's group was there. George and Tamondong, who I had a few drinks with when we skipped class, were there too. Almost all my male classmates and some of our female classmates were there, except Jennifer. And yep, everyone witnessed the hand-holding with Magnolia.

"Bro, let's head to the plaza again!", Lacson shouts.

"Yeah, let's all go, classmates! Let's bond!", George chimes in.

"LET'S GO!", Bernard yells.

"BONDING BONDING BONDING...."

"....PLAZA PLAZA PLAZA....", my male classmates cheer. Lacson, always the big spender, offered to cover the beer!

We were like a victorious army, convincing some girls to join us, which made Lacson even more generous. He really was a people person, and his generosity was genuine. When we got to the food stalls at the plaza, we probably occupied three stalls with wooden benches and a few monobloc chairs. Lacson was like, "Pick your food, classmates, I got this." He talked to the vendors and told them to just keep a tab, and he'd pay for it. He was the only one with a Sony Ericsson back then, with text messages on ISLACOM load, if you remember that. That's how vintage this era was. Whenever his mom called from abroad, we'd all turn our heads in class. Lacson was well-known among the stall owners. One time, I think he called using his cellphone, asking for money to be brought to him at the plaza while he was bonding with his classmates. Sure enough, a 'boy' arrived with an envelope full of money. Lots of small bills, from five pesos to one hundred pesos. He just stuffed the thick envelope into his single-strap bag right in front of him.