Everything Started on New Year's Eve

Jaxx

JAXX POV

A month after Chino’s birthday, it was Seb’s. Once again, we found ourselves playing in Camachile Sky. It was more crowded this time since kakatapos lang ng finals. We were on a roll, playing the last song on our second set. Everybody was up on their feet, head banging and playing air guitar or air drums. The atmosphere was that of a pleasant pandemonium of graduates and ex-examinees who were high on their choice of poison. Mine was definitely just music and adrenaline for now. m*******e can wait til after the show.

Chino was playing the bass for tonight, and for good reason. The playlist that Seb prepared was rather heavy, that even I was complaining. Buti na lang matatapos na ang second set. I felt like my arms were going to fall off. On the last 30 seconds, I was cursing Seb to hell. He continued to sing his lungs out.

“And in my mind now, I’ve been over this a thousand times..”

“Putang ina mo Seb!! I’m so f*****g tired!” my voice could hardly be heard from the guitars, drums, and the shouts of the crowd. But he was looking at me with glee in his eyes.

“But it’s almost over..”

“Malapit na daw sya, p’re!” Ace egged me; he had a mocking grin. I saw Chino throw his head back and laugh.

“Let’s talk ooooh….OH! oh oh oh oh, you don’t have to go oh oh oh oh”

I thought we were done, my left hand was already aching from too much banging but then Seb shifted from 5SOS to Led Zeppelin’s D’yer Mak’er.

“Hey! That’s supposed to be in the next set pa! Ano ba to?”

But no one was listening to my complaint anymore. Seb, being the manwhore that he was, was making love to the crowd using his most seductive rockstar voice. Chino had his eyes closed and was dancing to the beat. Bihirang makita si Chino dancing while playing the bass. It was a rarity to see Chino dancing, in general. So I continued to play instead. Lalong tumawa si Ace at Seb. f*****g bastards, pinagkaisahan nila ako ah!

 “You don’t have to go, oh oh oh oh! Oh, ooh Baby… Babbyyy I still love you so!

Oooohhh!!”

Oh thank f**k! Finally!

“Ah, puta, you made me come Jaxx. I love you, p’re!” Seb shouted on the mic while pointing at me, his chest heaving. The crowd roared in approval.

“Tarantado, Happy birthday, mother fucker!! Taaaang inaaaa!!” I stood up and shook my arms. Seb walked over and hugged me.

“Isa pa!!”

“More!!” the spectators screamed.

“Ayoko na! I quit!” I laughed and jogged off the stage. I literally broke one of the sticks after the 5SOS song and I haphazardly threw them on the floor. It was the second stick that night. Puta! I can’t even lift a beer to my mouth! f*****g Miguel Sebastian!

“Wooo! The best!” Chino sat beside Unicorn girl and wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt. Ace and Seb shortly followed and ordered a round of beer for everyone. We were seated with the college kids – Fratboy, Unicorn girl and their friends.

“f**k, Seb, I don’t think I can play another set. Go find yourselves another drummer.” I indolently told him. I slouched on the chair and dangled my arms limply at my sides, not making an attempt to move them at all.

“OA mo, di pwede!” He whined.

“Why? You’re great at the drums. Kaya mo na yan!”

“Oo, tama! Tapos si Cara na mag-bass ulit. Show us your musical agility, pare.” Chino goaded. He preferred playing rhythms over bass.

“Oo, coming out party mo na rin ‘to as a closet drummer” Ace said.

“Di pa ako ready mag ladlad, guys. I need more time.”

“Seb, I swear, I can hardly lift my arms. A phocomelic vagabond would have more success in playing All Star’s drum riff than me picking up anything right now.”

“Talaga lang ha? Wag mong inumin yang beer mo ha.” he challenged me.

“Who said I couldn’t drink beer without hands?” These guys have not seen my party trick, I reckon.

So I picked up a bottle with my mouth and took a few big gulps. Before I could plug the bottle with my tongue, some of the beer overflowed and froth started spilling out of the corners of my mouth like I was a rabid dog. The college boys and Ace howled and clapped, appreciating my cheap stunt. I carelessly replaced the beer on the table as bubbles continued to pour out. It soiled my shirt and jeans; there was beer on my jaw and some of it was still trickling down my face and neck.

“Aaaah! Beer is lifer!” I gave Seb a smug smile.

Rachel walked by the same time I was drinking. She stopped to appreciate the performance and clapped with the guys. Everybody laughed. Cara and Val gave me disgusted looks and grimaced at the mess I made, though they still laughed.

“You have beer all over you.” Rachel said, smiling, She took a wad of table napkins from the other table and offered them to me.

“I’d wipe the stuff myself, babe, but as it is, I can hardly lift my hands to do shit.” I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders, showing her that my arms were useless as of the moment.

“You’re disgusting.” She sighed and shook her head, still smiling.

She then divided the wad in her hand and, out of the blue, wiped my chin and neck. It wasn’t gentle or erotic, but I was too stunned to react. I instinctively jerked my head back a bit the first time the tissue made contact with my face but kept completely still thereafter. After a few quick swipes, she crumpled the used table napkins and placed them on our table. 

My eyes were glued to her face, trying to detect any emotion but her eyes were focused on my jaw and neck. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us as they tried to act normal but failed miserably: Chino almost let go of his bottle; Ace choked on the nuts he was eating and was coughing violently while Fratboy slapped his back roughly; Unicorn girl, who sat beside me, placed a hand over her mouth. I swear I heard her gasp. Seb’s eyes twinkled with mischief, his grin reached from ear to ear as he took a picture. Val’s eyes were round with surprise, her hand squeezed Cara’s knee. Cara’s face was unreadable.

“Well, that’s the best I can do. I’ll leave these here” waving the remaining clean table napkins slightly “kasi di mo pa tapos beer mo.” She gave everyone a polite smile and continued her way behind the counter.

 When she was beyond earshot, Seb leaned forward and said, “Jackstone, that was hot. Rawr!”

 The people on our table began clapping and teasing me. Sabay-sabay na silang nagsalita and I could hardly understand what they were saying. Everyone had his or her own opinion on how I should move forward – I should ask her out, I should ask her out NOW, I should flirt with her, I should call her – all crazy ideas came pouring out. Everyone was having fun pairing us up, everyone but Val and Cara.

 What’s up with them? Cara was fine just a few minutes ago. Did she have a problem with Rachel?

Ah, who cares? We were here to have fun and celebrate Seb’s birthday. I was in no mood to entertain pettiness or whatever girl problems they had with each other.

 Another fifteen more minutes passed and it was time for the third set Ace hand promised. Cara refused to play because she didn’t practice. Instead, the drummer of some other rising band offered to play with them. They discussed the songs in the list, making a few adjustments here and there to accommodate the change in the drummer. They dropped all of Green Skrambol’s original songs and just stuck to doing covers.

 Cara, Val, and the college kids stood in front of the stage to join the mob in drunken merriment. I was silently enjoying my beer when Other girl sat beside me and opened a conversation. It started with simple questions, like what I do for a living, how we started the band, and why we called one another by our last names.

 I told her that we still referred to them by the nicknames we coined for them, but we certainly won’t call them that to their faces, hopefully. She laughed that her nickname was “Other girl” because she was the ‘other girl’ in their group.

 “Ang unoriginal naman. I feel so ordinary.” She pouted. “Kahit man lang, oh I don’t know! What was I wearing then ba?”

 “I don’t know! I didn’t come up with the names. You should take your beef up with Seb and Cara.”

 “Speaking of Cara.. kayo ba? Or were you guys ever together?” she curiously asked, sipping her cocktail then looking at me straight to the eye. I was a bit surprised by her frankness, but more so with the question. What the hell was in her drink?

 “No, and no. Why?”

 “Just curious. Parang she was not happy nung pinunasan ka nung bartender e. Kilig na kilig kami but NR naman sya.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. I nodded. My feet were up on the chair across me and I had my hands on my lap, fingers intertwined with a beer at the center

 “I think she’s interested with Fratboy.” Aimlessly lifting a finger with my hand still on my lap. The guy was running his fingers through his hair, obviously trying to charm a chick with a sizable Yinyang tattoo at the base of her neck, right smack in the center of her back.

 “Quino? Oh jeez, I hope not!” I raised my eyebrow at her. “That guy is, uhmmmm..”

 “Let me guess. A playboy. A “fuckboy”. Paasa.” I rolled my eyes. Very stereotypical and judgemental description of men in general. All of those adjectives were overused they don’t make a valid description of a person anymore. I almost spilled my drink when I let go of it to do the air quotes. “Oh s**t. Sayang my beer.”

“Ano? ‘Sayang your beer’? What the hell! Like, why are you so conyo? Like, do you also may tusok the fishballs?” she said in an annoying “typical conyo kolehiyala” voice, flicking her hair for emphasis. She roared with laughter thereafter. What a d**k move. I laughed with her.

 “Shut up.”

 “Pikon talo” She laughed a little more.

 “Aaaanyway, so what’s wrong with Fratboy?”

 “I don’t think he is over his ex. Gaile, better known to you as Unicorn girl, is his step-cousin. She’s helping him forget about his ex kaya kahit sino na lang pinu-push nya kay Quino. Not sure if he is really interested or baka pang rebound lang. I dunno. Better tell your friend to steer clear from the guy until he’s moved on.”

 “So.. he’s not a player? He seems to be making the moves on YinYang over there” pointing out Fratboy throwing a flirtatious smile at the girl with a yinyang tattoo.

 “No. Friendly lang. I don’t think anything will happen with him and Yinyang after tonight, or maybe a couple of friendly dates. Ganun naman sya e. He’s a good guy; he just went a bit overboard nung na-in love, kaya ayan. Crashed and burned. And drowned. He was actually the dream boyfriend. Too bad he’s an idiot for love.” she laughed at the last part.

 I nodded silently. That kind of sounded like me. I think this kid might pass as younger me. As if reading my mind, Other girl spoke again.

 “You know, Dindo and I think you and Quino feel the same. Like same aura, similar habits. He also has grayish colored eyes.”

 “You and who?”

 “Adidas guy. Dude, you should really try to memorize our names, you know.” She rolled her eyes and placed the empty cocktail glass on the table.

 “Ah. That guy. You guys should just change your names. Mas madaling alalahanin e. Mas unique pa. Well, except your name.”

 “Whatever, gramps.” And with that, she stood up and joined the rest of the gang in front of the stage. I saw her whisper something to Adidas guy who hit her lightly at the back of her head causing her to laugh. He looked me and gave me a tentative wave. He put an arm around Other girl and they both moved to the other side of the stage where I could not see them. I was still smiling when I saw Cara looking at me.

 I raised my beer at her. She gave me a forced smile. She then walked out the bar a minute later with Val in tow.

 She seemed kind of off the entire night, actually. Maybe she’s really affected with Fratboy who is now seated with Yinyang, exchanging numbers. Or baka nag-iinarte lang na the guys did not push the issue na sya na ang mag bass, na hindi sya pinilit tumugtog.

 Or maybe she’s on her period. Women are so high-strung and emotional when they’re on their period. Every little thing is an issue. Whatever it is, I’m pretty confident that I was not the reason.

 I was having my own issues at the moment. I was about to study abroad and I was not sure if I was ready to leave the band or the comfortable life I have right now. This was what I was looking forward to, to have a good work-life balance. Now that I’ve attained it, I have to leave it again to study.

 I’ve always wanted to get an MBA at Wharton where my dad and older brother were both alumni. It’s not so much the degree, but it was the prospect of being with them, of having a family. Dad offered to pay for my masters but told me that I should pay for everything else. It wasn’t a problem for me. I had money, aside from the trust fund from him and another from Mamá. And even if I didn’t, Nick already offered me a job at his bar. Plus, I do own a company with Ace.

 I was not close with Nick, my half-brother. We had a seven-year gap and we’ve never met in person but when I asked for his assistance in my application, he was more than willing to help. It felt good to have someone helping me and kind of like looking after me, giving me tips and all. He even looked for my apartment.

 I already got accepted in UP -- University of Pennsylvania. I’ve only told the guys that’s why I’ve been encouraging Seb to play the drums. When I leave, they still want to continue playing as Green Skrambol that’s why Seb’s been pressured to learn our songs on drums, at least. I was just going with the flow. Chino will be graduating soon so he can continue to play with them.

 A lot of things can happen in two years. Maybe I’ll move to the States permanently. Maybe I’ll meet someone in there who’ll make me stay there permanently, though I’m not counting on it. Or at least I’m not counting on making anything permanent enough to move there. Ace and I still have a company to run here in the Philippines.

 The only solid reason I know right now that would probably make me move there is for family. But we’ll never know, right? Maybe I’ll just figure things out if and when I come back from Wharton.