Love, Cali

Chapter One

“Go, Cali!” narinig kong sigaw ng makukulit kong mga kaibigan habang winawagay ang mga kamay nila para makita ko sila.

They have always been this supportive, hindi sila umaabsent sa kahit anong tournament na sasalihan ko..

I happily waved back my hand to them to let them know that I already saw them.

“Break a leg!” I heard my bestfriend Eidrian shouted from the bench. I just gave him a middle finger as a response to him.

Sa aming pitong mag-babarkada ako lang ang nag-iisang babae, silang anim puro lalake. Minsan napapagkamalan na akong tomboy dahil nahahawa ako sa kilos, pananalita at pagdamit nila. But it was totally fine with me.

I saw Eidrian waving my banner while shouting my name.

“Galingan mo, Calixsha, kung hindi ay isang buwan kang manlilibre!” sigaw nya habang tawa ng tawa.

I also laughed at his remarks. Talagang mapapasubo ako pag hindi ako nananalo dito. I looked at my friends who are happily laughing their asses off.

People think that I am a lesbian because I don’t have any friends except for my boy friends, yes kahit pa pinagchichismisan na akong tomboy sa mismong harap ko hindi ako kumikibo.

I just think that I don’t have to explain myself to people who doesn’t really matter to me.

Everytime I hear nasty things about me I didn’t let it get the best of me, pinapabayaan ko lang sila kasi gaya nga ng sabi ng daddy ko, he will only listen and believe when I was the one who will say things to him.

Even though I lost my mom when I was literally so young, I was lucky enough to have the best Daddy in the world. Kaya hindi din ako nagtataka kung bakit mahal na mahal sya ng mga nasasakupan nya, because my Dad is a great man. And I can really say that even though he raised me on his own, I never felt incomplete because his love was more than enough to make me feel complete.

I was back to my senses the moment I heard the whistle of the man in uniform which means that the race will start now.

I immediate stepped on the gas, I was at the fourth position in the race, I saw the third in the line not so far away from me and because of my adrenaline rush I stepped on the gas further wanting to get the third spot.

I was really close to getting the third spot when I suddenly lose control of my bike, my vision turned blurry and the next thing i knew is that I was already on the ground.

“Cali! Cali! Wake up!” sigaw ni Eidrian sa akin.

Naramdaman ko nalang na parang binubuhat ako, narinig ko yung mga boses ng mga kaibigan ko na nag-uusap sa likuran ko. Pinag-uusapan nila kung saang ospital ba ako dadalhin na hindi makakarating sa daddy ko yung aksidenteng nangyare. Kinakabahan sila pare-pareho kasi unlike Eidrian ngayon lang nila naexperience na naaksidente ako sa tournament.

Nong 12 years old ako yung unang aksidente na nangyare saken, hindi na yon naulit dahil talagang nag-ingat na ako.

Hapon na nung unti unti kong iminulat yung mga mata ko, nagising ako sa sinag ng araw na tumatama sa mukha ko.

Nakita ko si Eidrain na naka-higa sa couche at naglalaro sa cellphone nya habang naka-taas ang paa at nagmemeryenda pa.

Kita mo tong mokong nato, meryenda ko pa ata ang nilalantakan.

“Hey, isn’t that supposed to be mine?” I told him.

Gulat na gulat syang napatingin sa akin, mabilis nyang itinapon yung cellphone sa paa nya at saka kumaripas ng takbo palapit sa akin na parang isang taon kaming hindi nagkita.

 “Hey Cali, how are you feeling? Do you want me to call the doctors? Does it hurt anywhere?”

Pinalo nya yung braso ko nung nakita nyang pinipilit kong tumayo sa sarili ko.

“Hey! Careful!” he said and they helped me to sitdown.

“I am okay, what’s wrong?” I asked him, kasi ang weird ng itsura nya kala mo sya nang-uuto na hindi ko maaipaliwanag, para syang natatae na nauutot na ayaw matuloy! Nakaka umay!

“Why the hell do you look like that?!” I shouted at him.

Tinawanan nya lang ako at saka sya umupo sa tabi ng kama ko.

If you guys wonder kung bakit nakaka-upo tong mokong nato sa kama ko eh executive suite siguro ang kinuhang kwarto ng mga mokong na to dito sa ospital kaya ganito, para lang akong nasa hotel ang kaibihan lang may benda yung paa ko hehehe.

“I just want to make sure that you are really fine cause you aren’t talking. And when you shouted I knew right then that you are perfectly fine.” He said while laughing a little.

Tinulak ko sya ng kaunti para layuan nya ako kasi naiirita ako sa kaka-siksik nya sa akin. Psh! Parang bata!

“Ofcourse I am perfectly fine you dumb a*s! Can you please get down the bed?” I asked him and instead of following me he tucked himself more in my bed and even get my blanket.

Inirapan ko nalang sya ng malupet. Nakaka-asar naman tong lalake na to kagigising ko lang nang bwibwiset na!

“Alis na!” sigaw ko sa kanya para bumaba na sya ng kama ko.

 “I wanna stay here in your bed, what’s wrong with you? We use to share beds right? I just wanna make sure that you are really fine. Alam mo naman na pag nakatulog ako hindi mo ko magigising sa pasigaw sigaw lang, aba malay ko kung nangingisay ka na pala jan. Eh kung katabi mo ko? mararamdaman ko kung nangimgisay ka na!” sagot nya sakin at saka lalong isiniksik yung sarili nya sa kamay ko sabay nagtago pa sa kumot ko.

Hay nako!

“So whether you like it or not you can’t make me go away dude.” Eidrian said again argh ang kulit!

Eidrian has been my friend since I can remember, we’ve been each others best of friend since we were kids and we spent almost entire of our life together. His Dad is my Dad’s bestfriend so we basically grow up together.

Aside from my Dad, he is the only person who’m I consider special. I was lucky to have the best dad and best bestfiend in the whole world!