4 Chapter 3

NAPUNO ng masasayang halakhak ang Beauty Salon. Nandito kaming magbabarkada kanina pang madaling araw. Friend ng mommy ni Miley ang may-ari ng salon, we rent this para kami ang e-priority ng mga make-up artists. This is the most awaited day of our lives. Ang araw kung saan masusuklian lahat ng paghihirap namin sa college. I looked at my wrist watch, it's 5:30 in the morning. 8:00 am ang ceremony.

"Next time na mag gaganito tayo, it should be a wedding day na", sabi ni Miley samin. Tumingin kami kay Anya, Kiyana at Miley. Sila kasi 'yong may jowa dito.

"Ah, basta ako. Walang boyfriend. Malayo pa ako sa usapang kasal", Charmaine said. Nag hands up ako at si Goldie.

"I seconded", sabi ni Goldie. Nag forwn face 'yong mga taken.

"Ang OA niyo. If I know kayo pa 'yong mauuna sa 'min", sabi ni Anya.

"We'll let you know guys 'pag nangyari na 'yon", sabi ko sabay tawa.

"But, seriously we'll never know. Maybe, nasa Amsterdam talaga ang ka forever ni Faith", sabi ni Miley. Napangiti ako sa sinabi ni Miley.

"Nah. Kung nandon man, hindi niya parin ito papansinin", sabi ni Kiyana. Napatingin kami sa kanya.

"Grabe naman, wala na ba akong karapatang mag ka lovelife?", tanong ko sa kanya.

"Try me. Siguradong ilulunod mo 'yang sarili mo sa write up mo. Gosh, nakikita ko na ang future mo. Workaholic ka na nga ngayon oh. Mas lalala pa 'yan. No time for boys", sabi niya.

Ang harsh naman non. But, it makes me think. What if, mangyayari nga yon? But kung darating, darating talaga. Why do I need to pressure myself over love life? My focus should be on how to make my father proud of me.

"Hello? Nag overthink ka na naman. Jino-joke lang kita 'no. 'Tsaka I'm sure may isang lalaki dyan na hindi papayag na tatandang dalaga ka lang. You're too beautiful for that", sabi sa 'kin ni Kiyana. Tumingin ako sa mga kaibigan ko. They are all smiling like an idiot at me.

"I'll miss you guys", sabi ko. I may not be lucky sa family ko but I'm lucky that I have them. Lahat sila nag cleared ng throat at tumingin sa salamin.

"OMG. Ayokong umiyak", sabi ni Charmaine.

"Me too", sabi ni Anya.

"Sayang 'yong make-up", sabi ni Goldie.

Then, isa-isa kaming nagtawanan. Sigh, after this day. I will never get to see these faces everyday again.

"AT OUR young age, people asked us what we want to become when we grow up. We answered doctor, teacher, pilot and in my case a princess....", I looked at my parents. Naaalala kaya nila? Maybe, 'cause I saw mom smiled and chuckled. Tinignan ko si papa. He's looking at me with a relaxed face.

Be happy, Faith. At least he's wearing that expression kaysa sa expressionless na lagi niyang pinapakita sayo.

"In high school, some of us lost our interest thinking who we want to become in the future. Probably, because highschool is the peak of our lives. In this time we make mistakes and sometimes doing it over again...", they all laughed. "Now that we already passed college and people considered us grown ups, they started to ask the same question that we heard when we were in elementary. Well, who knows?", my colleagues laughed and clapped their hands. "Nobody knows what future lies ahead of us. We have seen many students who took up education but ended up as an entrepreneur. Many doctor students who became teachers instead. These things might happen to all of us, but it doesn't matter. Your degree and your grades in college don't define your success. It's you, yourself, who will define your own success. This is the time to explore, find ourselves, make mistakes, fall in love...damihan niyo", my colleagues laughed. "Change your mind and change it over and over again because nothing in this world is permanent. Make mistakes so that you will learn from it. There will be many rooms for mistakes and for sure, there will also many rooms for improvements. By this, when someone asked us the same question again, it will help us not to guess of who we want to become anymore but this time? We'll already know....", I looked at everyone. They stood up and clapped their hands for me. My colleagues who are wearing their black gowns and togas but the best thing that they wore today are their smiles.

I wish you guys success and happiness.

The graduation ended up with picture takings. I'll miss those home works and exams. After taking a picture of my batchmates, friends, parents, and instructors, we went straight to our home. Nasa passenger seat ako. Tinitignan ko ang bouquet of tulips na binigay nila mama at papa sakin. I may be sometimes invisible to them but I can still feel that I, somehow, part of this family. I smiled at my thoughts.

"Congratulations", sabi sakin ni mama. "Napaka ganda ng speech mo. Naalala ko tuloy ang college life ko. Nakaka miss", she added. Papa chuckled. I looked at him. Minsan lang 'yan.

"Syempre, marami kang boyfriends back then", sabi ni papa sa kanya.

"Excuse me? Ikaw 'yong una at huli ko kaya", sabi ni mama. I smiled dahil sa inaasal nilang dalawa. Si papa siguro noon wala ding ibang girlfriend dahil he's so silent. A man with few words. Nakakatakot lapitan.

"So what's your plan after this?", nagulat ako sa biglang tanong ni papa. Tumingin ako sa kanya through the rearview mirror and I found out that he's looking at me. So yeah. Ako nga 'yong kinakausap niya.

"I have a meeting tomorrow sa publishing company. And I think I'm going to Amsterdam para gawin ang susunod kong libro", sabi ko sa kanya. "But the company still needs to talk about my plan kung papayagan nila ako", I added.

"Wala ka bang planong lumipat ng publishing company? How about sa US?", tanong niya.

"The Publishing Company that she is working here is huge. And the company is giving her big salary so it's okay", sabi ni mama. Tumango si Papa. He doesn't know because he never asked. At least now. Better late than never.

Nakarating kami sa bahay and they suggested na dito na ako mag dinner. They prepared something daw. I looked at my parents na magka holding hands and seems so in love to each other. How can they do that? Stay in love for almost a decade? They make me believe that forever really exist. Pagpasok ko sa bahay, isang lalaki ang nakatayo sa may hagdanan ang unang nakita ko. May hawak siyang bouquet of flowers. Lumapit ako sa kanya.

"Hi, happy graduation day. Congratulations", bati ni kuya sakin.

"Kailan ka pa nakarating? Naka uniform ka pa oh", sabi ko sa kanya. Suot-suot niya pa kasi ang uniform nila.

"Kanina lang. May gift ako nandon sa kwarto mo", sabi niya.

"Kain na muna tayo", sabi samin ni mama. This is the second time that she cooked for us.

Tinapik ni papa ang braso ni kuya. Nang makapunta kami sa dining area, nagulat ako sa dami ng handa. What is this?

"Kailan ka ba mag-aasawa?", bulong ko kay Kuya. He's 24 na kasi and I don't know kung may girlfriend siya.

"Ikaw? Kailan ka mag kakaboyfriend?", sabi niya. Isa pa 'to. Sarap patayin eh.

I looked at my family.

It is not perfect. Minsan warm, minsan cold. And today, we are warm. And I hope ganito nalang sana parati.