Everything Started on New Year's Eve

Carnival

“Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat! Thank you!”

The lights were blinding and the crowd was deafening. We took a bow, disconnected our guitars, and slowly walked off stage. The Sunken Garden was filled with maybe a thousand teenagers and it was amazing! Despite the thunder and occasional drizzling during the event, everybody’s spirits were soaring high, cameras were flashing, cellphones up in the air recording our set while limbs were either waving or their fists pumping. The repeated shouts for an encore made my heart swell.

The UP Fair was yet the biggest concert we’ve performed in. We have been invited to several school fairs last December but this one takes the cake. To be performing on the same stage as several venerated rock bands like was a gargantuan achievement for me in this lifetime. We were just the opening act for the main bands but I felt that we were not worthy! But now, I think we’ve made a small, albeit indelible mark in the music scene.

“Putang ina, pare!! That was… that was, putang ina, mind-blowing!” Seb exclaimed, panting, trying to catch his breath. Still standing, he took off his guitar and gently placed the lower bout on his foot while holding on to the neck. He greedily chugged from his water bottle.

I sat on a chair and rested my guitar on my lap. “I can’t believe we just did that. It’s so surreal!”

Ace entered the tent with Jaxx behind him. Ace’s guitar was slung on his back and plastered on his face was a Cheshire grin, both his hands rested on his hips, he was also breathing heavily, black eyes twinkling, but he was speechless. This is the first time ever after that Ace was rendered speechless after a gig.

Jaxx had his hands free. He threw his drumsticks at the audience after the last encore, feeling one with the moment. He hooked his left arm around Ace’s neck and dragged him as they walked closer to Seb then he hooked his right arm around Seb’s neck. Ace pulled me up and hooked his left arm around my neck so we could all huddle. Sweaty heads together, Ace said a short prayer of gratitude before he let go and yelled, “Group hug!”

All three engulfed me in a pile of arms, legs, and chests, Ace hugging me from the front, Jaxx behind me, his arms reaching all the way to Ace’s shoulders, and Seb was at my right with his arms around Jaxx and Ace.

“Oh my god! Stop! Kadiri!!” I screamed, desperately trying to wedge my way out from the boys. Instead of letting go, Ace and Jaxx tightened their holds and began bouncing and chanting our band’s name, “Green Skrambol! Green Skrambol! Green Skrambooooool!! Woooooww!!!”

They all threw their arms up in the air, shaking and waving. I was standing in the middle, my arms across my chest, half-smiling, half-grimacing in disgust. These guys were my family. This past year, I’ve spent more than half the time with them, hanging out, practicing, playing gigs, drinking.. lahat na. They familiarized me with the world that I had “missed” being in medical school.

I was always aiming to be a Dean’s Lister to impress my mom so a lot of times, I would be studying. I kept the partying just a few rungs above the minimum because the last thing I needed was a hangover while taking an Anatomy moving exam.

Of course, they introduced me to a lot of the party drugs, cocktail mixes of various alcohols that only existed in frat houses and house parties. They’ve seen me high as a kite and they were there when I came crashing down. They showed me how to let loose yet still have control. They were masters of being party animals at night, but good, respectable, hard-working boys at day; they showed me how to balance my life and make my parents see me as a responsible adult, even though they don’t know half of the story.

I know I have changed, and I believe it was a good kind of change. I got to know myself more, I figured out my limits, I gained some courage to say “no” when I really did not want or agree to something. They made me accept myself and encouraged me to strive for improvement. I thought I had it all figured out when I was in college, but I guess college was just phase 1 of getting to know myself. I owed them so much of my soul-searching and self-finding. I loved this more worldly me. I am so lucky to have them in my life as my barkada, kababata, and jedi masters.

Mahal na mahal ko sila, pero jusko, nakakadiri pa rin na pagpunasan ng pawis ng ibang tao, family or otherwise, pwede ba! Walang kaibi-kaibigan pag dating sa hygiene!

 Jaxx threw me a towel while he was wiping his face and the rest of his torso with the shirt he just took off. I could not help but gawk at his subtle six-pack, his well-defined pecs, and his very toned arms. His shorts hung low on his hips and I blushed when I noticed the outline of his V-line. I closed my eyes and covered my face with the towel.

Lord, ilayo nyo po ako sa mapangtuksong katawan nitong demonyo kong kaibigan.

When I opened my eyes, Jaxx was walking towards me with a smirk on his face, boring his steel-gray eyes into mine as he slowly pulled down a new shirt over his head. Jaxx’s dad was an American with gray eyes at namana niya ito. His mom, on the other hand, was a Spanish mestiza with naturally brunette hair and deep brown eyes. He was a good mix of both – tall with a lean, muscular built, dark brown hair, angular jaw, and Grecian nose and steel gray irises with central heterochromia.

“It’s not polite to stare, Cara,” he whispered, his hot breath sending tingles down my spine. His lips lightly brushed against the shell of my ear and hindi ko napigilan sarili kong mapapikit at kiligin. He continued to walk past me to where Seb was.

Somewhere along the journey, I developed some feelings for Jaxx. I wanted him more than just a friend. And I have a feeling he knew it because he had become more teasing, like now. The egotistic asshole.

Ok fine, I had a slight crush on him since high school, but what I’m feeling right now is more than just a crush. I think I’m deeply infatuated with the guy but I completely denied this to everyone, including myself, because it’s embarrassing to be feeling this way with one of your closest guy friends at twenty-five, the same guy I’ve been crushing on for the past ten years. Dapat ngayon I should have either gotten over it or at least I should have done something about it already.

Pero di ko naman kayang mag “da moves” kay Jaxx, I’m not that type of girl. I’m a prude and I still believe in the notion that the guys should make the first move. I could not bring myself to be in a staring contest with him because my inflamed cheeks will give me away. Besides, Jaxx is a renowned cold-hearted hari ng pa-fall! Pano naman puso ko nyan?

Well, all three bandmates of mine – Seb, Ace, and Jaxx – were ladies’ men. They had a couple of groupies spread evenly among them even though we were not exactly mainstream or that popular. I was the female in the band and I had to deal with the catty comments ng mga desperada who wanted a piece of them.

No matter what, I tried to make things as platonic as possible, despite Jaxx’s flirty advances. But I was just a girl and he was just so damn hot!

“Oh, post-performance selfie na!” he said as he fixed his man bun. Seb attached his phone on the selfie-stick and Ace joined them.

“Cara tara na, ang bagal mo” Seb complained.

“Oo, wait lang. Sus, demanding.” I grumbled as I quickly fixed my ponytail and wiped my face and neck again.

“Ok, one, two, three, green!”

“Teka naka pikit ako, isa pa!” Ace demanded.

After another shot, si Seb naman ang nag reklamo. “Teka, di maganda angle. Taba ko tingnan.”

“What?? Since when did you care?” singhal ni Jaxx. “Take one last shot and that’s it. I want to watch the rest of the concert. Ang aarte ng mga putang ina.”

“O sige, last na to, one.. two… three..” just then, Jaxx placed his hand at the small of my back and slid it around my waist, his fingers landing on my pelvic bone, touching my skin just above the waistband of my jeans. My eyes grew wide with surprise and my smile faltered.

“Green!”

“Wait!!  Di ako ready!” I protested.

“Di na, tama na, wala na akong battery.” Seb teased and immediately stowed away his phone and the stick.

“Ang daya naman, e!”

“Well, you can’t have your way all the time, Cara. “ Jaxx smiled and exited the tent. Ace laughed heartily while I huffed in annoyance.

Midway through the rest of the concert, I checked my phone for messages from my bestfriend, Val. She also happened to be part of the band; she played the keyboards. Kaso lang kasi nagre-residency na sya ngayon kaya hindi na sya nakaka-jam with us. She was supposed to see us tonight pero ang sama daw ng traffic kaya hindi na sya tumuloy.

I kept my phone and re-immersed myself in the music and the festivities, singing my lungs out and jumping along. I noticed that there were some guys to my right who kept on stealing glances at me. At one point parang gusto nga lumapit nung isa but hindi sya makaporma kasi 6cyclemind was rocking my world away.

There was a 10-minute intermission after Imago finished their set. I was about to leave my spot somebody tapped me on my shoulder. When I looked to my right, I was surprised to see a Eurasian mestiza about my height, with a glittery unicorn face paint.

“Hi, ikaw yung bassist ng Green Skrambol, right?” unicorn girl asked me.

I know better though na yung boys lang ng Green Skrambol talaga ang habol nya. I bet she’s going to ask to pose with the band with the hopes of snagging one of the boy’s attention. I internally rolled my eyes. Sanay na ako rito so I know the drill. They’d ask me for a picture, then they’ll ask where the rest of the guys are, and then ask for a pic with them.

“Uh, yeah. How can I help you?” I smiled, expecting the next thing that’s going to come out of her mouth.

“Can my friends and I take a picture with you?” she asked excitedly. Eto na nga ba sabi ko e. Hay. Let’s get on with it.

“Yeah, sure!”

She called her friends over to where I was standing. Boys and girls alike surrounded me when Unicorn girl took the group-fie. They took multiple shots and may mga ibang hindi kasama sa group nila na nakisali hanggang sa dami nang sumali sa picture parang class picture na ang kinukuha namin.

Again, as I was expecting the next thing that she was going to ask, I started scanning the crowd for the boys.

“Uh, hi.” a friendly male voice asked. When I turned to the guy, it was that cute fraternity boy I was eyeing earlier, the one who wanted to approach me in the middle of 6cyclemind’s set. I knew he was a frat boy because he was wearing their shirt with the seal and Latin letters in bold.

I had been wary with these kinds of boys because of my ex-boyfriend but that had been almost a decade ago and I’ve moved on from him and that incident.

“Oh, hi. I was just looking for the guys, baka kasi she, or you guys would like to have a picture with them as well”

Fratboy looked at me and then at Unicorn girl. I saw Unicorn girl nudge Fratboy a little while giving him a “kaya mo yan!” look.

“Ah, well it’s alright if you don’t find them. We came over to say hi because, uh…I, uh” he stammered as he rubbed his eyebrow with a finger. “I wanted to meet you.” He finally said with a nervous smile.

Damn, he has perfect teeth! And damn, this nervous boy act is really charming my pants off.

Nagkatitigan kami, and I noticed he was sticking out his hand for a handshake. Did he just introduce himself? s**t di ko narinig pangalan nya!

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Sabi ko, you’re a very good bass player, and that I’m honored to meet you” he smiled broader this time.

“Thanks. I’m Cara, by the way,” I took his hand and shook it briefly, hoping he will mention his name again, but he didn’t. He was trying to hold a conversation with me, asking me trivial things and I answered him politely. I could see Unicorn girl behind him giving his other friends a thumbs-up sign.

“So, Cara.. I was wondering if, uh… if ok lang na…” he was stuttering. Alam kong nahihiya lang syang tanungin ako so I finished his question for him to put him out of his misery.

“Let me guess, you and your friends would like a pic with the rest of the band?” I smiled at him knowingly. Nanlaki mga mata nya at my question but shook his head.

“That would be nice, but that was not what I was going to ask you,” he let out a nervous chuckle. “I wanted to ask if ok lang na, uh, if I can have your number? I’d really like to hang out with you some time.”

“Huh?” my surprise must have shown in my face because Unicorn girl and their other friends began to laugh and cheer and pat Frat boy’s back. If he blushed, it was nowhere near how I resembled a tomato.

“Sh—sure. Give me your phone, I’ll put it in.” It was my turn to be nervous. But before Frat boy could hand me his phone, a heavy muscular arm was wrapped around my shoulder. The owner pulled me closer to his body as if staking his claim on me and making sure everyone knew it.

“Hey babe, what’s going on here? Are you enjoying the show?” Jaxx smiled at me and gave Fratboy an inauspicious glare.

At this, naningkit mga mata ni Fratboy while looking from Jaxx to me and then back to Jaxx. Maya-maya he nodded at Jaxx at binulsa na lang yung phone niya. Biglang ang awkward naming lahat.

But Unicorn girl, being miss congeniality, diffused the situation quickly by introducing herself to Jaxx and took the opportunity to ask for a picture with him as well. Everyone else was quick to join, including Fratboy who good-naturedly smiled but kept an arm’s distance from me.

Not long after, the next band already on stage ready to get started. We said our goodbyes and the group went back to their previous spot, with Frat boy looking a little dejected.

“What the hell was that all about, Jaxx?” I pushed his arm off my shoulder and faced him, my eyebrows knitted and cheeks puffed.

“What?” he asked with fake innocence.

“Anong ‘what’? You know exactly what I’m talking about! You can’t do this all the time Jaxx.”

“He’s an undergrad, Cars. Why does he need your number?”

“E ano naman yun sayo if he asks for my number? Or if I gave it to him, or to anybody I please? Lagi ka na lang ganyan e!” nagsimula na akong maglakad palayo sa kanya.

“I was just protecting you, Cara. These people, you don’t know their intentions and yet you’re giving away your number just like that.” Inis syang sumagot at hinarangan ako. Aba, may gana pang magalit si mister, ako naman yung na c**k-block nya!

“Well, I don’t need your protection Jaxx.” Emphasizing the word ‘protection’. “I can take care of myself as I have for the past hour na iniwan nyo ako mag-isa dito sa concert. Now, if you have nothing more to say, get out of my way.” I strode angrily past him giving his shoulder a hard shove as I walked away.

I could hear him call me a few times but his voice was drowned by the intro of “Manhid”. Hindi ko sya nilingon pa. To hell with you, Benedict Jackson. Makasagap ka sana ng herpes mamaya!