#NewClassicNRO

Chapter 1
First Attempt

My hands were on my waist as I peered on the top row of the bookshelf. Letting out a deep sigh, I looked around to check if there's something I could use to get the book that I needed to borrow. But when I saw that no ladder nor stand was available to use, I hopelessly faced the shelf again.

Trying my best to reach the book, I stood on tiptoe. However, even though I did everything to make myself taller, the book was really out of my reach. It only grazed my fingertips and nothing more.

I started to feel annoyed and frustrated. I still had club activities in ten minutes. Hindi ako puwedeng ma-late. As one of the officers of the club, I had to be a good example to the other members. Inuna ko lang manghiram ng libro dito sa library dahil maaga itong nagsasara.

Since I had not much time left, I decided to take desperate measures. Tumingin muna ako sa paligid para makasiguradong walang librarian na nag-iikot. And when I saw that the coast was clear, I carefully stepped on the second row of the shelf.

I was breaking in cold sweats as I lifted myself up from the ground. My legs and hands were shaking. Makitid lamang ang natatapakan ng aking mga paa at ganoon na rin ang nakakapitan ng aking kamay bilang suporta. Alam kong kung hindi ako mag-iingat ay maaaring madulas ako at mahulog.

Unfortunately, I was already unstable but my right hand had to let go in order to reach the book above. It was already within my reach. Kaunti na lang at maaabot ko na.

"What book are you trying to get?"

A low voice from a guy startled me. I gasped, slipping from the shelf and losing my balance. I almost fell on the ground but a sturdy arm immediately caught me mid-air.

Mabilis akong napabaling sa sumalo sa akin. Mas lalo lamang akong nagulat nang makita ko kung sino 'yon.

It's Jeraiah!

His face was only a few centimetres away from me. I could totally feel his ragged breath on my cheek. The warmth of his chest spread over me as he held me tightly to save me from falling.

It was like a straight scene from a romantic movie where the leading man and leading lady met under the same circumstances. The man caught the woman while she was falling. Since that day, they would often meet out of fate. Then they will turn close friends until they finally fall in love with each other and become a couple.

My thoughts ran wild. The embarrassment brought a rush of heat to my cheeks. I averted my face while hoping that he didn't see me blushing. Mabilis akong tumayo nang maayos at inilayo ang sarili sa kanya na para bang nakuryente ako.

The deafening silence inside the library caused me to hear my heartbeat loud and clear. However, I knew it was impossible to tame my heart, especially when I was in front of my longtime crush.

The first time I noticed him was during the third club activity meeting when we were in first year. I joined the Young Directors Club which is the club for aspiring filmmakers like me.

"Please get your cameras or phones here inside the box." Our moderator, Mr. Esguerra, placed the box on top of the teacher's table.

Kanina ay kinolekta niya ang dala naming gadgets para sa activity. Gaya ng binilin niya sa amin sa group chat ay naghintay siya sa main gate para kuhanin ito sa amin. We weren't allowed to bring gadgets at school, but he already asked permission from the principal. Kaya nga lang, kailangan ay siya ang magtatago nito at gagamitin lamang sa club activity period pagkatapos ng mga klase.

Mabilis kong namataan ang aking kulay silver na digital camera. It was a gift from my parents during my grade school graduation. Alam kasi nila na hilig ko ang kumuha ng videos gamit ang aking cellphone kaya iyan ang naisip nilang regalo.

I loved using this digicam because it was light and compact. It also has better quality than my phone. Hindi man ito kamahalan at kakomplikado kagaya ng camera ng aking moderator at mayaman na mga kamiyembro, but it was exactly what I needed.

"Okay, so for our third meeting, I want you guys to film each club that I'm going to assign to you," Mr. Esguerra began explaining the activity that we would have today. "Bawat club ay dalawa ang i-aassign ko."

Lumapit si Mr. Esguerra sa kanyang lamesa at mayroong kinuhang papel. He began scanning the list, then he picked up his pencil and started crossing out something on the paper. Hula ko ay nilagyan niya ng marka ang tatlong absent.

Nilibot ko ang tingin ko sa loob ng silid. Hindi ganoon karamihan ang sumali sa club na ito. Sa buong high school ay bente mahigit lamang ang nagkainteres. Most students joined those clubs which are overhyped. Nabalitaan ko pa nga sa kaklase ko na nagtanggal pa raw ng mga miyembro sa basketball at volleyball club dahil sa sobrang daming sumali. Both gyms were overcrowded because of the overwhelming number of students.

"Okay... Listen, guys." Mr. Esguerra cleared his throat. "Sasabihin ko kung saang club kayo naka-assign."

I didn't pay attention to other names being called. I just waited until my name was finally mentioned.

"Escolano, Cloétte and Bautista, Nicolas."

Medyo napanguso ako dahil kahit tinama ko na siya noong unang meeting sa pagbigkas ng pangalan ko ay nagkamali pa rin siya.

"Acoustics Club."

The Acoustics Club are for those students who love playing instruments. As much as I could remember, during the club orientation, they were situated in the music room.

Napatango-tango na lamang ako at pinigilan ang sariling tumayo kaagad. Kating-kati na ako lumabas ng silid para makapagsimula na sa pagfi-film. I wished that our moderator could speak faster because he was taking too much time.

"Last club activity, I shared some tips on how to shoot inserts. I want all of you to make use of those techniques and include it on your film," Mr. Esguerra instructed us. "It's up to you to come up with the main concept of your short film. We will work on editing that for the whole quarter."

Ngayon na nagugustuhan ko ang kanyang mga sinasabi, kinuha ko ang aking notepad para isulat doon ang mga instructions niya. At the same time, my thoughts were already exploring different ideas inside my brain for the concept.

"I already asked permission from other club moderators about our activity, so you just have to do your thing," he assured us. "But make sure not to cause interruption to their activities. Just quietly film and take the shots you need."

After a few more instructions and reminders from our moderator, he finally let us off. We only had forty minutes left to film because he took twenty minutes just talking about the same things. Medyo iritado ako dahil isang oras lang ang mayroon kami tuwing club activity, but he wasn't sensitive with it.

"Excuse me! Sandali lang."

Nagmamadali ako sa paglalakad sa music room nang may biglang humablot sa aking braso. Sa gulat ay marahas kong binawi ang aking braso at napaatras sa lalaking biglang humarang sa akin.

But then, I recognized his face. He's one of the members of our club. Ang alam ko ay isa na siyang sophomore student. Kaunti lang naman kami kaya madaling matandaan ang kanyang mukha. Ang hindi ko nga lang matandaan ay ang kanyang pangalan.

"Sorry. Ikaw si Cloétte, 'di ba?" tanong niya sa akin.

He pronounced my name the same way our moderator did that's why I shook my head.

"Hindi," sabi ko at nanlaki ang kanyang mga mata saka napakamot sa batok.

"Hindi ba?" nahihiya at natatawa niyang sabi. "Sorry. Sa pagkakatanda ko kasi noong introduction ay ikaw 'yon."

Ngumuso ako. "Hindi Cloette ang basa sa pangalan ko," paliwanag ko. "Cloétte."

Noong una ay mukhang naguluhan siya sa akin, ngunit nang maintindihan niya ay napatango siya at tumawa. Nanatili naman akong diretsong nakatingin sa kanya.

"Ah! Cloétte pala! Sorry."

I shook my head. "Ayos lang," sabi ko na lang. "At saka Cloé na lang ang itawag mo sa akin."

He smiled wider. "I'm Nicolas. You can call me Nico, though," he introduced himself and showed me his DSLR camera. "Naka-assign din ako sa Acoustics Club. Sabay na tayo pumunta sa music room."

Nodding my head, I let the corners of my lips rose a bit. "Okay."

Kaya naman sabay kami ni Nico na naglakad patungo sa music room. Habang tinatahak ang hallway ay binabati siya ng iilang nakakasalubong namin. I think he's a bit popular because he's good looking.

Nico looks like those innocent boy-next-door characters I've seen on movies―neither super gorgeous nor ugly―just the average but still handsome. He's friendly and outgoing. He also seemed like the type of guy you could trust and depend on. No wonder he's acquainted to a lot of our schoolmates.

He led the way to the music room. It wasn't that far from our room, so we got there within three minutes.

Sa labas pa lang ay naririnig ko nang nagkakatuwaan ang mga Acoustics Club members. I could hear the faint sound of their instruments being played. Pamilyar din sa akin ang kantang tinutugtog nila.

Nico casually held the doorknob. He was about to open it when I stopped him, so he turned his head to face me. "Why?"

"Okay lang ba na basta-basta tayo pumasok sa loob?" nag-aalangan kong tanong sa kanya.

He chuckled and nodded. "Nagawa na namin 'to last year," sabi niya. "Don't worry. May permission naman na tayo. We can just greet their moderator quietly."

Since Nico has more experience than me, I just followed his lead. Gaya nga ng sinabi niya, pagkapasok namin sa room ay iilan lang ang estudyanteng nakapansin sa amin na agad ding bumalik sa panonood sa mga tumutugtog sa harapan. And when we met the eyes of the moderator, we just smiled and bowed our head a bit as a form of greeting.

Pagkatapos noon ay agad na kaming nagsimula ni Nico sa pagfifilm. I immediately got into the trance as I pressed the record button of my digicam. I kept in mind the main objective of our activity for today―filming inserts. And so, I shot all the instruments displayed inside the music room in different angles.

Nang matapos ay ngumuso ako at sinuyod ng tingin ang mga miyembro ng Acoustics Club. I was searching for a potential main character of my short film, while my camera just kept on rolling.

And at that moment, the room became rowdy when the members cheered for someone's name when their moderator asked who they wanted to perform next.

"Jeraiah!"

"Jeraiah Amirro!"

"Si Jirro po!"

"Oo nga! Go Jeraiah!"

While laughing, the guy they were cheering for stood up confidently from his chair. An idea sparked in my head as I focused the camera on him right away. I even zoomed in to get a better footage of his profile.

His aura and his looks reminded me of the handsome heartthrobs on teen romance movies where he's the type of popular guy on campus who could break hearts with just a snap of his fingers. Well, that was my first impression of him.

Lumipat ako sa ibang puwesto nang umakyat na siya sa mini stage. He grabbed the acoustic guitar from the stand before comfortably sitting on the wooden stool.

Because he's tall, one of his feet was on the floor while the other one was stepping on the stool's foot rest. He placed the waist of the guitar on his elevated thigh. And the moment he started playing, he suddenly looked like a different person to me.

He was biting his lower lip while his eyes were closed. The way his fingers shifted every time he changed chords and continuously plucking the strings amazed me.

I had seen a lot of people playing a guitar, but no one looked as passionate as him. He was like falling in love with music with the way he carefully played each chord to create a beautiful sound. He looked oblivious to his surroundings. It seemed as if he was inside this small world that he created for himself and his guitar.

The bad boy heartthrob impression was immediately replaced with fondness and adoration. He managed to catch my interest just by playing his guitar.

Until that day, I didn't see him around the campus. But after he caught my attention, I happened to keep on crossing paths with him.

I learned a lot of things about him. Akala ko dati ay mas matanda siya sa akin dahil sa kanyang katawan, tangkad at tindig. Kaya naman laking gulat ko nang malamang ka-edad ko lamang siya. He's just really popular because he plays instruments really good and he's also a flower boy.

But I was never close to him, even though it had been two years since I started having a crush on him. Hindi ko pa siya nagiging kaklase. Hindi ako nakakalapit sa kanya. Ngayon lang ito nangyari kaya hindi ako mapakali. I couldn't stop myself from staring at him while my heart was racing rapidly.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I just wanted to help you because you look like you're having a hard time."

"Uhm, a-ayos lang." Meydo nautal pa ako sa kaba at nerbiyos.

Jeraiah curled his lips upwards before he quickly glanced on top of the shelf. "Ano ang librong gusto mo?" tanong niya ulit sa akin at saka binalikan ako ng tingin. "I'll get it for you."

"Iyong kay Walter Murch sana," nag-aalangan ko pang sabi, nahihiya na magpatulong sa kanya.

He quickly scanned the top to search for the book I wanted to borrow. "In the Blink of an Eye?"

"Iyon nga," agap ko.

Jeraiah effortlessly pulled the book out from the shelf. Ni hindi niya kinailangang tumingkayad kagaya ko.

"Here you go," he said with a smile.

"Thank you," I replied and with my slightly trembling hands, I received the book from him.

"You're welcome," he courtly said.

"Jirro!"

We were suddenly interrupted by a girl's loud whisper. Mabilis naman iyong nilingon ni Jeraiah at tiningnan ko rin kung sino ang tumatawag sa kanya.

My fantasies were shattered like a mirror when I saw that it was Ivory. They're pretty close to each other that's why she could call him 'Jirro.' Kung nasaan si Jeraiah ay nandoon si Ivory. It was even rumored that they have a crush on each other. Apparently, they've known each other since they were kids. Magkaibigan ang kanilang mga magulang.

Just by thinking about their history, hundreds of novels and films about childhood best friends turned lovers ran through my head, making me lose hope and surrender from these unrequited feelings.

"Let's go. Nandoon na sina Anya at Brad. They're waiting for us," kaswal na pag-aya niya kay Jeraiah.

"Okay. One sec," Jeraiah briefly said then looked at me again. "Sorry ulit kanina uhm..." Binaba niya ang tingin sa aking I.D. kaya saglit din akong sumulyap doon. "Cloétte."

My lips parted in surprise when he pronounced my name correctly at his first attempt. He's the first person who got it right that he amazed me even more.

"See you around." He smiled for the last time before he turned his heel to leave with Ivory.

And just like that, the short film about a girl who hoped for something romantic between her and her longtime crush ended tragically.

But even though he just left with another girl, I found myself unconsciously smiling. I was over the moon just because he pronounced my name correctly.