Jewel

You and Andy are living together?

Since when??

Angel

Wait. As friends or...???

Nicole

Before you guys jump to any conclusions

Jewel

WE HAVE BEEN JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS SINCE HIGH SCHOOL

KAYO LANG ANG AYAW MAKISAMA

Babylene

Tama!!

Nicole

Well it's nothing like that

I just needed a roommate

And he needed a new place to rent

Jewel

CONVENIENTLY

Nicole

Nilalagyan nyo kasi ng malisya lahat e

This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you guys

Angel

Hanggang kelan sya dyan?

Nicole

Just until the situation gets better

Babylene

What if it never gets better?

Jewel

Huy wag naman!

Gusto ko pang ikasal nang hindi naka-mask!

Angel

😂

–

Niki knew that posting his picture with the cake she made would stir up some old rumors, but she was expecting her friends to be more mature about it. Hindi pa rin pala tapos sa panunudyo ang mga ito.

She posted his picture because she wanted to show off the cake. Andy was baking a few times a week, so she got interested. Since his birthday was coming up, she thought that she would try to make him a birthday cake. It was nothing fancy. Just a one-layer cake with a simple buttercream frosting.

Madaling-araw siyang nag-bake noon para ma-surprise si Andy. But the surprise was ruined when he woke up at past 3AM to pee. Still, he was amused that she was actually able to present him with a cake that was not falling apart.

The downside? Lasa raw room temperature butter yung frosting. And the cake was very dry.

"I'm sorry I don't have a gift for you this year. Alam mo na. Tight budget," she told him earlier.

"Are you kidding me? I've been asking you to learn how to cook. And you learned baking instead to make a cake for me."

"Are you gonna cry?" concerned niyang tanong nang mapansing nangingilid ang luha nito. Andy was quick to tilt his head upwards and blink the emerging tears away. It was just a moment. He got over it quickly... especially when he finally tasted the cake.

–

From: Andy

Labas ka. Dito na food.

To: Andy

Okiee

It was a few minutes until midnight. Ilang minuto na lang at matatapos na ang birthday nito. Pero may pahabol na midnight snack because Andy was on leave the following day and she was unemployed. They figured they would celebrate.

Bawal pa kasing mag-party. If it were a normal day, they would have invited some friends to come over. Or Andy would be celebrating his birthday with his family. Siguro hindi siya kasama because she would still have her job. Without the pandemic, there would be no reason to let her go.

"Mag-iinom ba tayo?" tanong ni Andy nang makalabas siya ng kwarto.

"Okay lang. May soju sa ref," sagot niya.

Andy nodded and took a few bottles out of the fridge. Wala siyang shotglass dahil hindi naman siya mahilig uminom, so they decided to just drink straight from the bottles. Andy laid the food they bought on the coffee table. Magmu-movie marathon sila habang nag-iinom.

Niki's hair was tied up in a messy bun. She was wearing an oversized shirt, which was a hand-me-down from Andy, and a pair of baggy sweatpants. Andy was wearing a plain white shirt and his favorite jersey shorts na faded na ang kulay at maluwag na ang garter sa dalas nitong isuot.

They were both wearing socks and their feet were folded under their butts in a criss-cross. Andy forwarded the movie to skip the intro. When the first scene came on screen, they clinked their bottles together and drank at the same time. Niki winced when the alcohol hit her throat. It had a clean taste, but it was still 19% alcohol. Nagsimula nang umikot ang paningin niya kahit kakainom pa lang.

"Isang bote lang ha," paalala niya kay Andy.

"Hina mo naman."

She ignored his remark and leaned forward to get the biggest piece of original fried chicken from the takeout box. She heard him groan when he saw what she went after. Alam kasi niyang iyon din ang gusto nitong kunin.

Iniabot niya iyon kay Andy. Niki smiled and said, "Happy birthday."

Andy pretended to show crying, complete with quivering lips and exaggerated sobs. He looked so stupid that Niki burst out laughing.

"You're such an idiot," she commented.

"I may not have real tears but I feel really touched. You never give the best part of anything to anyone," paliwanag nito sa kanya.

"I know. Don't get used to it." Niki picked the second best part of the chicken while he was already eating his. She may have given him the biggest part of the fried chicken but she wouldn't let him have all the best parts.

Niki took a swig of her alcohol before getting up and bringing back a Jenga set. Iniurong niya ang mga pagkain sa isang side ng lamesa saka niya ipinatong ang naka-assemble na Jenga blocks sa area na walang pagkain.

Andy quickly became interested. They both like Jenga, lalo na kapag nakainom at umiikot ang paningin nila pareho. Mas masayang maglaro.

The Jenga set she ordered was slightly different from the normal one. It was intended for gatherings. There were questions or instructions on each tile, the letters were hot stamped on them.

"Ikaw mauna since birthday mo pa," sabi niya rito.

"Okay." Andy rubbed his hands together before picking a tile to pull. "Hm."

"Read the question aloud and then answer it. Then, you can eat while I pick a tile."

"Hop like a kangaroo around the room," Andy read. Kumunot ang noo nito. "How do kangaroos hop again?"

"Uh... alam mo yung movie na Mr. Vampire? Pero instead na straight yung mga braso, naka-fold sya, parang T-rex."

Andy sighed.

"You'd have to drink if you don't want to do it," dagdag niya. "And you won't get to eat until you do the next thing or answer the next question."

Agad itong tumayo. He put his arm like she instructed and then hopped on his two feet around the room. She made him do a couple of laps before taking her turn.

"Ohhh it's a question," she said excitedly. "Who knows you the best?"

Nagkatinginan silang dalawa. Andy immediately pointed to himself. Nagkunwari naman si Niki na nag-iisip pa siya. Andy kept pointing to himself. "Don't lie. If you lie, you'll have to drink."

"I'm contemplating. It's between you and me. I'm inclined to choose me."

"I know you better than you know yourself," he said matter-of-factly.

Nagpangalumbaba si Niki. "Really? Like how?"

"You're a good cook. You just don't want to learn," sagot nito. "Your description of your 'ideal guy' hasn't changed since high school, so it means that you don't know what you really like. It's just a safe answer. You're afraid to date online because you're scared of either one of the two or both things happening: 1) your date not meeting the expectation you've built up in your head and 2) them being underwhelmed by you. And you're afraid to get married because you don't want to lose control over your own life."

Napanganga si Niki sa sagot nito.

"Want me to go on?"

"Okay. Fine. It's you. You know me best. Happy?"

Niki grunted and took a slice of pizza to munch on while it was Andy's turn. Nawala ang ngiti nito nang mabasa ang tanong. She waited for him to read it aloud, but he was hesitating. Inagaw niya ang Jenga tile para tingnan iyon. "What is your biggest regret?"

Sumandal si Andy sa upuan at nag-isip nang ilang segundo. She knew about his regrets, of course. He already told her a long time ago. He has some, so she was expecting it was one of those things. Bakit naman ito nahihirapang sumagot? It was not like she didn't know about them already.

She pulled at his hand when he was about to drink. "No drinking!"

He glared at her, but put his bottle down. Huminga ito nang malalim.

"My biggest regret is not admitting my feelings to this person when I had a chance."

Namilog ang mga mata ni Niki. Okay. This was something new. She didn't know about this. "Who is this person?"

He gave her a deadpan look. "That wasn't the question."

"It's a follow up question," she insisted. "Sino yan? Kaklase natin nung high school? Kaklase mo nung college? Co-worker?"

Andy stuck his tongue out. "Not gonna answer that," sabi nito.

Straight-forward itong tao. If he likes someone, he would tell them. Nakailang girlfriends na rin ito so he was not the type to not confess. Maybe something made him not to. Baka kasal na yung babae? O may boyfriend dati?

"Why didn't you tell her?" pang-iintriga niya.

Andy shrugged his shoulders. "Because the moment had passed."

"So you don't love her anymore?"

Andy shrugged again and drank his alcohol. He pointed to the Jenga set. "Your turn."

Niki groaned. "KJ," she muttered.