Chapter Five

Distance

I learned to hang out more with my other classmates. S'yempre kasama rin si Elias at ang pinsan niya.

My bodyguard also recognized Elias at kalaunan ay mukhang naging friends pa nga rin sila...

Kumunot na ang noo ko sa bodyguard ko. But I trust my dad for putting him in his position now to guard me.

He's also my driver and sometimes he would talk to Elias before he would drive me home. Dahil hinahatid din ako ni Elias madalas sa sasakyan namin kaya nagkikita rin sila ng bodyguard ko.

After all it's the same bodyguard I was with when I first met Elias at that time outside of the party place and he made me borrow his handkerchief. At nakita rin iyon noon ng bodyguard ko ang ginawa ni Elias para sa akin.

And Elias and I became like best friends over the years during our college days until we became seniors.

Hindi ko namamalayan na naging sobrang close ko na pala siya at naging mabuti na talagang kaming magkaibigan. And I was always comfortable with him.

"I will be going out to go to a bar tonight. Wala sina Mommy at Daddy, kaya pumunta na lang tayo doon..." I told my bodyguard.

And, yes, he's also Filipino din pala. Kaya siguro sila nagkakaintindihan din ni Elias dahil magkababayan din.

"Ma'am..." He looked a little bit hesitant or worried. Wala kasi ang parents ko at mukhang wala pa akong balak na magpaalam ngayon.

"Elias would be there, too." I said.

Gerald was throwing a birthday party for himself at a club and he invited me.

Nagbuntong-hininga ang bodyguard ko. "Okay, Ma'am. I trust your friend, too." He said.

I smiled at him and I got myself ready for the party. Isang oras pa akong pumili ng damit na susuutin ko. It's a bar. But I won't also wear too short clothes or something revealing. I was only in a club before when that happened years ago, and I also met Elias. Pero alam ko pa rin naman ang isusuot sa mga lugar na ganoon. But I just won't wear something too skin revealing. I won't be too comfortable with that, too.

But when I arrived at the party I saw how short Yelena's skirt was as she talked to Elias when I saw them together first.

"Aletheia." Nakita na rin ako ni Elias na dumating sa party ng pinsan niya at lumapit na rin siya agad sa akin.

At agad ko rin naamoy ang sobrang bango niya. Napangiti na lang ako. At nakaporma rin siya ngayon. O hindi lang din ako sanay sa ayos niya because I got used to his usual university boy style. Since palagi ay sa university lang din naman kami nagkikita. Kaya medyo bago pa sa akin ang ayos niya ngayong gabi rito sa party. Kasi hindi ko na rin talaga maalala kung ano ba iyong suot niya noong unang beses kaming nagkita na sa ganitong party rin noon.

"Elias, where's your cousin? I want to greet Gerald a happy birthday and give him my birthday present." I said.

Ngumiti sa akin si Elias at dinala na muna niya ako sa cousin niya. And I greeted Gerald and gave him my gift when I saw him.

After that, I told Elias that I will just have a bathroom break. And I saw Yelena there again...

Our encounters seem a little bit more private...

Tiningnan niya ang damit na suot ko ngayon. Okay naman ito. Hindi nga lang kasing ikli ng suot niya na dress.

Over the years I feel like Yelena had changed. Or she's always been like this, and this was her true self. When my first impression of her was that she's just all friendly and a good girl to everyone around her...

But to tell honestly, she's actually not that of a good girl that she always showed to the other people when she's talking to me...

And at first I only thought that maybe she still hates me for what I did to her back then.

But then I've talked to someone too and she said that it's the real Yelena Schneider...

"Hey, Ali! You're still here? Alexander is already looking for you." Another girl just went in the girls washroom here in the club.

And that someone I'm talking about who told me about Yelena, was this girl. Emma and I became friends since she's also Gerald's girlfriend. And we became close. I learned to trust a friend again because she's the realest girl I've known. Kapag may ayaw siya ay ayaw na niya talaga... At kapag sinabi naman niya na gusto niya ay totoong gusto niya.

Nakita na rin ni Emma si Yelena doon. Pero halos hindi niya lang din ito pinansin. Hinila na lang din niya ako paalis doon at iniwan lang namin na mag-isa si Yelena...

So what actually happened between the two of them in the past was back when they were still in high school. Yelena acted like the good girl that she was, and Emma received bashing from their schoolmates because Yelena just told everyone that Emma was bullying her... When Emma said that it never happened.

I realized that people have two sides. The good and the bad. And sometimes it's just hard to even try to make everyone good...

Emma and I went back together to where Elias and the others were.

And then the music became louder and the party was going to its highlights.

"This place is always loud." Elias said beside me.

Bumaling ako sa kaniya at ngumiti. "You don't like loud places, too?" I asked him.

Nakuha ko nang buo ang atensyon niya. "You don't, too?" He asked me as well.

And I just smilingly nodded at him.

So Elias and I, we ended up ditching half of Gerald's party. We'll just talk to him tomorrow and apologize for leaving his party. But he's still dear to us kahit pa umalis kami ng pinsan niya sa party niya na hindi na rin naman niya napansin dahil sa dami rin ng mga bisita niya. Our classmates and also Emma's classmates from the other course were all there.

And so Elias and I went to a more quiet and relaxed place. A cafe library that's still open for 24 hours.

And I enjoyed my time reading books there and sipping some coffee with Elias...

"Is it a good book?" Elias asked me.

"Yes, it is—" Pero natigilan na ako dahil pagbaling ko sa kaniya ay sobrang lapit na pala ng mga mukha namin sa isa't isa... "Elias..." I whispered...

Nagkatinginan din kami sa mga mata ng isa't isa...

Napalunok ako. And then Elias withdrew, too... Bahagya rin siyang napatikhim. At bahagyang nag-iwas ng tingin na binaling na lang niya sa libro naman niyang hawak.

"Uh, yes. It's a nice book..." I managed to say.

Tumango lang naman si Elias.

Sometimes we couldn't stop things from happening... Especially after I got more closer and closer to Elias each time that we're together...

And the distance that I tried to make for myself... was long gone now...

Because I feel like there was never really a distance between me and Elias.