All Over Again

Chapter 16: Panic At The Disco

Venice POV

"Aren't you done with work yet? T-T"

"Well, I think I'm halfway done. Are you still nervous about going out with Nicole?"

"You know I'm only doing this because you told me not to get on her bad side!"

I stared at my reflection as I tried to put on my earrings, habang iniipit yung cellphone between my ear and my shoulder. Multitasking is the best! It's almost 9:00, and I can't believe I'm actually dressed up for this!

Ding! .. Dong! ..

"Oh my god, she's here. O_O"

"Okay, just relax. You've gone clubbing before. Just don't drink too much, do you understand?"

"Define "too much"."

I grabbed my clutch purse and ran palabas ng kwarto. Hindi pa naman ako nakakababa ng hagdan, naririnig ko na si mommy na kinakausap si Nicole..

She's really here.. T^T

"I gotta go, Jerwin."

"Okay. And Venice?!? Don't get in trouble."

"Do I look like a troublemaker?"

"Well.. I'm actually more concerned about the person you're with.... -___-

"What's that supposed to mean!?? O.O"

"Oh nothing! Have fun! Bye!"

"What?!? Jerwin?! Jerwin?!? Hello?!?"

Binabaan ako.. Bubwit na yun...

I walked over sa main hall kung saan nag-ppicturan ang nanay ko at si Nicole... O__O

"Uh... hello?"

"Oh Venice! Hi! Hold on, one last shot."

At one last shot talaga pati ang nanay ko, nakiki-pose dun sa camerang hawak niya.. O_O

Nagpapaka-teeny bop nanaman si mother..

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Ay nako, anak! Di mo naman sinabi na si Nicole Suarez pala ang kasama mo lumabas ngayon! *tingin kay Nicole* I'm a big fan of your mom's work!"

"Yep, my mom designs the hippest clothes around."

Model na anak...

Fashion Designer na nanay..

Baka ung tatay ang mananahi??

Kamusta naman ang familya... O_O

Ako: Anyyywaaayy.. Let's go, Nicole..

Hinila ko na si Nicole palabas ng bahay, bago pa man makahirit uhlet ang nanay ko ng isa pang photoshoot.. Hindi man halata, may pagka-vain din yang si mother. Dyan ko namana ang pagiging adik sa camera eh..

"Bye, tita!!"

I followed Nicole papunta dun sa black Toyota car nya.. All the while na nag-ffasten ako ng seatbelt, ay! isang nobena ang tumatakbo sa utak ko.

"Your mom is so much fun!"

"Ah ha ha.. Hey.. Are you sure we're not gonna wait for Jerwin?"

"Oh it's alright.. I'll be enough to fend off unwanted guys. "

Ha.. ha.. ha.. T-T

"Daaannnnn~ One more shot of Vodka please.."

T-T

Oh my golay..

This is like babysitting a drunk 24-year-old girl!! I can barely dance on the dance floor with her getting hit on by almost each and every crazy guy in the club! We've been here for about an hour and a half. And ever since dumating kami, sa bar kagad dumiretso si Nicole.. Kaya hello alcohol.

I have a new appreciation for Sheena, Kenny, and Anthony for all those times na sila ang nanghaltak sa'kin paalis sa dance floor tuwing may pasimpleng nananching at all those times na rin na pinipigilan nila ako tuwing nagiging best friends kami ng mga bartenders..

I followed Nicole to the bar again.. She seems pretty popular in this club.. Not that I should be surprised.. It's a high-end nightclub.. Only the most elite and the richest crowd goes here.. She's one of them.. Life of the party..

"Nicole, are you sure you should get another drink? You're drunk already.."

"Oh shush. I'm not drunk.. This is how I normally am."

You mean, you're normally loud, and giggly, and flirty, and hyper?

-___-

I ordered myself a virgin piña colada -- dahil mukhang mahirap na kung pareho pa kaming malasing.. Nicole, meanwhile, is very much in love with her little shot glass.. -__-

"You know, Venice, I'm soooooo glad Jerwin ended up with you instead of that slut Geena."

"Eh? Geena?"

She drinks from her glass again, and then poked the ice with the little stirrer.. Tinutunaw pa yata yung yelo para madagdagan ung iniinom niya.

"Oh yeah! I work with her often for magazine spreads or this and that.. I'm telling you, if I am not such a professional, I would have punched her face every time I see her."

Ha.. professional ha..

"Well, it was also a problem that Jerwin was so protective of his little whore."

"His little w***e?"

First friend is his little w***e? Ano??

Nicole drinks from her glass again. "Oh, what chu ma call that then, when she sleeps with him and they're not even together? Friends with benefits? It's the same thing. Jerwin was so obsessed with her, it's crazy!

"They -- sleep together? You mean, like..... O__O Uh... doing naughty things?"

She smiled. "Oh you can say it, you know? I'm not little miss innocent.. and yes, that's what they do.. or at least, that's what they used to do.. Maybe not anymore.. I mean, you're waaayyyy better than the beeeyaaattccchhh."

Astounded from everything na narinig ko, napatayo akong bigla; maybe to drag Nicole out of the club and make her tell me everything, or maybe to get rid of the nauseating feeling na nag-rrise up from my stomach..

Pero dahil sa pagka-careless ko, I accidentally knocked over my drink.. Ung katabi ko tuloy na babae, nagtitili nung natapunan ng piña colada ung dress nya.. For some reason, ung baso pa ang una kong pinagbalingan ng atensyon.. and then, tsaka ko lang kinuha ung towel na patakbong inabot sa'kin nung bartender..

I started to frantically wipe off the stain from her dress.. Parang bigla tuloy akong nahila pabalik sa here and now.

"I-I'm so sorry!"

"What were you doing?!? Ugh! How clumsy can you get?!?! And I just bought this dress too!"

She grabbed the towel from my hand and sya na mismo ung nagtatanggal ung mantsa. Though it's not getting her anywhere either..

"I'm really sorry.. I was.. I was just--"

I was just ano?

Shocked?

Irritated?

SHOCKED?

Jerwin lied to me and I know it's weird, considering ung foundation at history ng relationship namin but somehow, it kinda... hurts..

The girl suddenly faced me, and her hand stopped moving.. Lumapit sya sa mukha ko, as if trying to see me better.. What's her problem?

"You're that girl Jerwin Santos is currently dating, aren't you?"

"Uh, actually, it's fiancé.. We're done with the whole dating thing..."

"Ha.. Pathetic. Ano naman kaya ang iniisip nun at pumatol sya syo?"

Ay, may galit si ate!? Ang bitter! -__-

"--But then again, a no-talent guy like him needs all the publicity he can get. I'm not surprised he's stooped down this low para lang lokohin ang mga taong nag-ssupport sa kanya.. He just used his family's influence kaya naabot nya whatever it is na naabot nya.. He's such a third-rate---"

SLAP!

OoO

Oh my golay, I just slapped a stranger! And yung stranger pa na tinapunan ko na ng piña colada ung bago nyang dress!

"HOW DARE YOU?!?!"

Oh well, lubus-lubusin na natin ang pang-aaway..

"Don't talk about him that way! Jerwin is a talented performer and people love him because of the music he makes! Anong karapatan mo mang-degrade sa taong di mo naman kilala, ha?!? At sino ka ba?!?"

"You don't know who I am?!?"

Nicole, na kanina lang eh nanononood lang sa likod ko, suddenly stepped forward at gumitna sa'min nung girl na namumula na sa galit or dahil ba sinampal ko siya? O_O

Oh no.. Ganun ba kalakas yung pagkakasampal ko?!?

"Hiya, Angel.. Don't blame Venice for not recognizing you, she's not really a TV person. And really, you deserved that slap." Nicole said.

"Angel"?

They know each other?

"Your family really has a way of recruiting crazy people, huh?"

"Hey, listen.. I know you just got dumped by your cheap-ass boyfriend and movie offers aren't as great as they were back then.. I know you're really pitiable right now.. But you better watch your mouth, because I'm not gonna let you off talking crap about my family."

"Oh, should I be worried? What are you gonna do? Call the Mafia on me? Ask your grandfather to cancel my shows? See if I care! Ganyan naman ang pamilya mo eh. They take what they want, and when they don't need it anymore, they throw it away. Mga manggagamit!"

"Okay, that does it."

"Wait, Nicole, what are you--?!?" hindi ko na natuloy ang sasabihin ko nang---.

PUNCH!

OoO

She punched her!!!

She punched her right on the nose!!!

SHE.PUNCHED.HER!!!!

O___O

Oh my gawd her nose is bleeding!!!

"W-We should go.. We should really go. O__O" I said.

"I guess so. Nasira na ang mood ko."

Kakatalikod pa lang namin nang biglang nag-scream si very very angry girl sa likod namin and she ran towards Nicole and grabbed Nicole by the hair!

Next thing I knew they were going at it full force!

Nagsasabunutan, nagsasampalan, nagsisipaan.. Kulang na lang ung mud, may mud wrestling na.This is insane!!!

Dumating na rin sa wakas ung security to break up the fight.. Saludo ako sa mga security na gumitna sa wrestling match nung dalawa. Two of them pulled Angel and Nicole apart, and two more were trying to disperse the crowd that gathered. Pero full of adrenaline and alcohol ung systems nung dalawa! Hawak na nga sila nung dalawang mala-bundok na security, talagang nagpupumiglas pa!

Nicole: Let go of me!!! That girl needs another foot up her humongous butt!

Ako: Nicole! Tama na! Let's go!

Nicole: I am not going anywhere until I beat the pulp out of her!

Oh for crying out loud!

Angel: Then come here! Let go of me, you big baboon!

Ako: Let's just go.. T-T

Nicole: No!!!

-___-

Nicole: Heehee.. You know, Venice..

Ako: Yeah? -__-

Nicole: I didn't really plan for this to happen..

Ako: Oh I understand.. Who would plan to end up here, right? -__-

Nicole: Are you mad at me?

Ako: Too tired to be angry, really..

Nicole: Oh that's good. Promise, Venice, I didn't expect us to end the night in a jail cell.

Ako: And yet, here we are... T-T

Nicole: Well, you were the one who started it anyways..

Ako: Hey, you were the one who punched her.

Nicole: You slapped her first.

Nagkatinginan kami ni Nicole... and then we suddenly burst out laughing -- napatingin tuloy yung dalawa pang manong na nakakulong kasama namen.. Na-conscious kaming bigla, nanahimik kami..

Ako: Now that I think about it.. Kawawa naman pala si ate.. Natapunan na nga yung dress nya, nasampal na, nasuntok pa..

Nicole: I know! How can someone be so unlucky?

Nagkatinginan uhlet kami nung pareho naming naalala kung nasan kame: Detention jail cell dito sa police station..

We both let out a huge sigh..

Who would've thought na mag-sspend ako ng oras sa kulungan?! Nasaan na ba ung magppyansa sa'min? T_T