story chapter 1

CHAPTER 1
STARTING THE MORNING


Narrator: It was a clear sunny Wednesday morning to start off my day. I was in my bedroom, barely waking up from such a longass night last night. After rolling my eyes, I looked closely at my I Home, and it read 8:35 am.

Jay: Ahh umaga pa ba? Akala ko 9 na.

Narrator: So I hopped off my bed and looked out the window through the closed curtains. It was sunny all right. So I grabbed a blue marker from the Snoopy can and marked off January 14 on my Lakers calendar with a check and a circle around it, just as I did with all the other dates of the month. Afterwards, I dropped the marker on the floor beside my bed, and fell back on the bed as I went back to sleep.

*

It was already 11:30 am as I headed to the bus stop at Braille Institute, Dale Ave. I carried nothing but my messenger bag and my art supply kit.

As I was standing there waiting for the bus to arrive, my phone rang of Bon Jovi’ “Living On a Prayer” song tune. I grabbed it outta my dark blue cargo jeans pocket and read the caller ID. It was my good friend Sarah Geronimo calling. But before answering the call, I looked over to my left shoulder as the next city bus was approaching the bus stop. Without hesitating, I quickly rejected the call, and as the bus made a complete stop, I hopped inside, showing the driver my school ID card for CSUF.

Jay: The bus pass is already included in here, so…

Bus driver: Oh, okay. (as I swipe the card, making sure it went through the system)

Narrator: Once the green light appeared and made a beep noise, I walked toward the middle section of the bus, looking around for available seats. There were none, not even a single one available. So I just clung to one of the poles in the bus as it started moving.

*

Out on the campus of UC Irvine, Sarah and her friends Jhayne, Alex, and Evanna, were walking down the school aisle. Sarah was holding her phone as she already folded it.

Jhayne: Girl, sino ba tinawagan mo? Baka yun shota mo na naman.

Sarah: Hindi si Jay yun novio ko. Ano kaba? Ang kulit mo naman.

Jhayne: Ay naku. Eh… bakit lagi mo siya tinawagan? Ano ibig sabihin yan?
Sarah: I tried calling him last night, pero tatlong beces na. Walang sagot. Di ko siya mag contact eh.

Alex: Baka busy siya.

Evanna: Siguro sa ibang babae. (as the rest of the girls “awww”ed at Sarah)

Jhayne: Kawawa naman, o?

Sarah: Hoy, tumigil na kayo! Pwede ba?

Alex: Pasenxa na, Sars. Di naming alam kung si Jay lang ang isang ibigang lalaki sa buhay mo eh.

Sarah: Oy… FYI meron akong mga guy friends sa buhay ko, noh? Wag ka mag alala.

Evanna: Ah ganun? Kaya ibigan mo lang sila dahil may girlfriend na silang lahat, at si Jay wala. (laughs as Alex and Jhayne laugh as well)

Narrator: Sarah shook her head and smiled without saying another word.

*

Meanwhile inside the bus, I was still hanging on to the pole waiting for an open seating. I looked around to see that three other passengers were also hanging on to the poles.

A minute later, the bus stopped, the doors opening for passengers to hop in and leave. As I was looking straight down the front door, the first three oncoming passengers were all adults, two of em’ white and around their 30’s and the third one a Hispanic dude ‘roun his early 20’s. Then came a fourth passenger who turned out to be a familiar Filipina!

She looked younger than me, first of all, but boy she was damn fine. As I was watching her walk down the aisle, she looked up at me and smiled. Once she passed by me, I continued watching her as she found an available seating in the second-to-last row. I was jealous as my mouth dropped open. She was sitting beside an elder white lady, her purse on her lap. I smiled at her, then turned away from her.