Ash' POV

Matagal-tagal din akong umiyak na parang bata sa gitna ng kalye. Hindi na 'to acting this time ah, totoong iyak na 'to. Nakaka-inis naman kasi 'tong si Jake, palagi nalang sinasarili ang mga problema niya kahit na alam naman niya na pwede siyang lumapit sakin ano mang oras. Palagi nalang siyang nagpapanggap na ayos lang ang lahat pero hindi naman pala.

"Ash, lumalakas na 'yung ulan. Tara sa condo ko," aya ni Jake.

Tumango nalang ako. Come to think of it, first time ko makakapunta sa condo ni Jake. Wait, may condo siya? I... really don't know much about him.

.....

Naka-upo ako ngayon sa sofa habang nagmamasid-masid. This unit is quite spacious, wala nga lang masyadong mga gamit at furniture. So very Jake, basta may makaka-inan at mahihigaan siya ayos na.

"Ito T-shirt oh, magpalit ka muna sa kwarto ko."

"Okay." Pagka-abot ko ng damit sa kamay ni Jake ay agad akong pumasok sa kwarto niya.

"Wow." The bed is huge!

Then there it goes, I let my impulsiveness win by diving straight onto Jake's bed.

Wahh ang-fluffy ng bed. Shot, amoy Jake pa!  I can stay here forever.

"Oi! Sabi ko magpalit, hindi magpagulong-gulong sa kama ko."

Inirapan ko lang si Jake sa pagsusuplado niya.

"This picture... WHAHAHA ang bata pa natin dito."

"'Yan 'yung nag field trip tayo nung Junior High."

"I want a copy of this! Who took this photo, by the way?"

"Ah... well. I asked someone to secretly take photos of us... for memories." Bawat salita na binibitawan ni Jake ay pamula ng pamula ang mukha niya.

"WHAHAHAHAHA"

"'Wag mo kong tawanan!"

"Why can't I? You're so silly so I can't help it."

"Ah ganon?"

"Wait... ah! Jake WHAHAHAHA stop tickling me!" Saway ko pero 'di parin siya tumigil kaya gumanti nalang ako, tas gumanti siya, naggantihan nalang kami.

"WHAHAHA okay, tama na... ayoko na," pagsuko ko.

"Kala mo ah," pagmamayabang ni Jake.

Hmnp!

"I'm not seeing any photos of your parents. Now that I think about it, I never saw them before. Why are you not living with them, by the way?"

Usually, at this point ay babaguhin na ni Jake ang usapan, pero ngayon ay nakatahimik lang siya. Mayamaya pa ay humiga narin siya sa kama.

"'Cause there's no place in there for me."

"Jake..."

"You see, I have a younger brother. He's smart, kind, and full of talent. My parents are fond of him, and I guess that's the same for me. Though, soon, that fondness turned into enviousness. My brother is simply too dazzling, while me? I'm left in the sidelines, obscured and unnoticed. I'm not bad myself back then. I excel in class, I'm great at sports, and I obey all of my parents' commands. Those are not enough for my parents, though; but I didn't give up. I'm still a child back then, after all. A child craving for his parents' affection and acknowledgement. So one day, I joined some sort of a spoken poetry competition. I've joined countless of competitions with my parents never coming, but this time, they'll come and watch, why? Because my perfect brother will be competing as well."

Nagsisimula nang manginig ang boses ni Jake kaya hinawakan ko ang kamay niya para kahit papano ay kumalma siya. Lumingon naman siya sakin at ngumiti, then he continued his story.

"I came prepared that time, I'm confident that I'll do extremely well. I'm not even nervous at that time, all I can think of is  how my parents will finally notice and appreciate me. So when it was finally my turn, I excitedly climbed up the podium, then immediately started my spoken poetry that I dedicated to my parents."

"I started off well—great rather. I can see others' parents in awe of how good I recite, that only further boosted my confidence, pushing me to do even better. Everything is smooth and going well until... I finally landed my gaze on my parents' seats, only to see them chatting and laughing with my younger brother in between them, not giving my performance that I worked hard for them any sh*t. Seeing that, I froze, my mind turning blank. At the end, I placed one of the lowest as I failed to finish my spoken poetry.  I'm not the only one who did rather terribly, good for those who have parents that will comfort them. Because mine, you know what they said? What an embarassment! We shouldn't have come so early, tch! What a waste of time. HAHAHAHAHA how ironic. I did hundreds of things that they can praise for, but that one failure is the only one they chose to lay their eyes on. That day I learned. They are already the perfect, ideal family of three, there's no place left for me."

"....."

"Oh, ba't umiiyak ka nanaman?"

"Jake..." I want to comfort him, I want to say something nice but what can I say? Experiencing all those things as a child, no one could possibly understand how it felt. "Kaya ba ayaw mo parati umuwi sa inyo dati?" tanong ko."

"Yup, I feel suffocated every time I step foot in that house. Actually, I can't imagine how many times I'd thought that it would have been better for me to just end everything than—"

"Jake!"

"Easy easy. It's all in the past. Naka-move on na 'ko sa kanila, and it's all thanks to you, Ash."

"'W-Wag mo nga akong bolahin! Kung naka-move on kana, ba't ka naman naglasing ng ganon kanina? Wait, 'di ba sumakit ulo mo?"

"Hindi. I have a high alcohol tolerance, y'know?"

"Proud ka pa!" Kinurot ko nga.

"Ah! Hahaha... that b*tch."

"Who?"

"My mom, he wants to marry me to one of her business partners' daughter. Tch! What makes her think I'll comply?"

"Jake, if it comes to worst, itatago kita sa bahay namin."

"HAHAHAHAHA."

"'Di ako nagbibiro!"

.....

Jake's POV

Nakatitig ako ngayon sa natutulog na Ash sa kama ko. Kakatapos lang niyang umiyak. Pina kwento niya kasi sakin ang iba pang ganap sa buhay ko, at syempre kinwento ko lahat. Lahat ng hinanakit ko, kasama narin ang mga kahinaan ko. Madali lang pala, at mas nakakagaan pa ng loob kesa sa pag-inom ng alak.

Iba ka talaga Ash. Kung alam mo lang kung ilang beses na akong naililigtas ng mga ngiti mo, ng presensya mo. Ash...

"Mahal parin kita."