ch. 63 - bumped!

CHAPTER 63
BUMPED!


Narrator: On my side of the story…

Sarah and I were heading to the entrance gate of California Adventure on a hot, partly cloudy afternoon. For the first time ever, I saw her wearing summer clothes – a black sleeveless top that fit her whole body, a pair of light brown shorts, and yellow flip flops. Her hair stood long and straight down. She also carried a black purse on her shoulder. Damn right she looked gorgeous!

Anyway, as we approached the gate, a pretty Filipina around her late 20’s, one wearing thick black-framed eye glasses and her hair long and straight like Sarah’s, smiled at us. Her name tag read LESLIE, no last name shown.

Leslie: Sarah!

Narrator: It was her friend all right.

Sarah: Uyy Lez!

Leslie: Tagal na hindi tayo mag kikita ever since high school!

Sarah: Alam ko, noh?

Leslie: Saan ka pumasok ngayon?

Sarah: UC Irvine.

Leslie: Wow, gandang school yan, o?

Sarah: Oo.

Leslie: Ganda mo ngayon, girl. (as Sarah smiles) Boyfriend mo ba yan? (referring to me)

Jay: We’re actually just friends. (laughing softly)

Leslie: Oh. Sorry.

Narrator: We looked at each other for a second, then back at Leslie.

Sarah: Wag ka maalala. Marami din na tinanong sakin ang ganyan dati.

Leslie: Oh really? Ako rin eh. Sa bagay, marami naman akong ibigang lalaki, so kung ng kikita ang mga girlfriends ko na may kasama akong lalaki, lagi sila mag tanong tungkol sa ganyan.

Sarah: Hindi talaga mawawala ang ganyang tanong.

Leslie: Oo nga, noh?

Sarah: O sige na. Pasok mo na kami, o?

Leslie: Sure sure. (handing us the blue entry tickets) Make your day happy sa the happiest place on earth. (grinning)

Sarah: (as she and I already enter the park) Di ba nga sa Disneyland lang ang may sinabi yun?

Leslie: Pwede rin sa ibang masayang lugar. (smiling)

Narrator: Sarah smiled back, and we moved ahead afterwards.

*

Meanwhile with Erich, Mel, and Joyce, as they were walking toward the kinesiology building…

Melissa: Sinabi ko pa sa supervisor ko kung ayaw mo na mag bibigay yun regular schedule ko, edi mag quit na ako.

Erich: Oo dapat.

Melissa: Eh yung problema ay lagi mag trade shift ang mga coworkers ko kaya hindi sila ng show up sa mga busy days.

Joyce: Oo nga, noh? Kaka inis talaga kaya lagi nakaroon ang mga layoffs.

Erich: Masama talagang economy ngayon, kaya ng layoff lahat ang mga kompanya.

Joyce: Yeah.

Melissa: Sige na, guys. Aalis na me.

Joyce: Ako rin.

Erich: O sige. Mel, kikita tayo mamiya, ah?

Melissa: Yeah. Okay, bye guys.

Joyce: Bye, Mel, Erich. (separating from each other)

Erich: (waving at them) Ingat.

Narrator: So Erich continued walking as she headed for the Engineering and Computer Science building.

As soon as she opened the front door, she quickly looked back, and suddenly bumped into a guy wearing a black, red, and dark green checkered polo shirt. Both of them fell on the floor, and the guy, who looked Filipino, got on his feet.

Filipino Guy: Ghee I’m sorry, Miss. I didn’t mean for this to happen. (as he sees Erich dusting off her messenger bag and long grey skirt with white patterned dots)

Erich: Don’t worry about it.

Narrator: As soon as the guy reached out his hand to her, she looked up at it, and grabbed it as he helped her up from the floor.

The guy immediately saw her face as it was standing pretty, her long hair straight down as she wore a light pink headband. It took him about a minute or two getting to know that face, and it seemed likely a sign her beauty caught his attention.

Erich: Thank you.

Filipino Guy: You’re welcome.

Narrator: Erich walked away as he moved past the guy. The guy kept his eyes on her, and he just completely stared at her walking down the hallway. He was definitely in love with her.