Years Later
"I never had any friends later on, like the ones I had when I was twelve..."
- Stephen King, Stand by Me (1986)
How wretchedly true. You never quite outgrow a bond shared at the age where going out meant playing street games and riding the jeepney unmindful of everything else, where the opposite sex are funny and good-smelling species you have yet to discover, and money only meant what you would spend for video games and the occasional movie.
On the event of my best friend's birthday, we had a get-together last saturday and i saw faces i rarely see. We've all grown so much apart and somehow that night took us back to the days when we shared common interests and ideals.
That night for once, i resisted singing my flagship song. Nel was kind enough to refer my signature hit to an old barkada who showed up after a decade of invisibility. And true enough, he sang it better. Now i gotta go back singing "Silvertoes" by Parokya ni Edgar or "Regrets" by Fra Lippo Lippi...
The best friend, meanwhile, couldn't have painted a more happier face. Accustomed to celebrating his annual bash wallowing in the inevitable depression that accompanies his birthday, he was a picture of contentment. Plus, he might have had earned himself a girlfriend that night...
We spent the evening cracking each other up with stories about our individuals, ribbed at each other about old habits and facial features, and wrestled for the microphone. It was karaoke night, of course.
Memories came flooding back. The canteen episodes where we would all throw our coins at the center of the table (we sat ourselves at the table reserved for faculty members, UST High School never installed seats for students) and wait until the one without money would buy the junk food. How we went fashionable by removing our socks. How we spent afternoons in the billiard hall. How we would occupy the bathroom as a group, combing our hair, and muttering who would be our individual "girl." In between episodes, we even took time to study. And despite our madcap adventures, we pretty much managed to stay sane and graduate with no signs of deviancy - something we will display much later on to no one's surprise.
Anyway, years later and i have yet to see friends such as these people pictured. No i didn't deliberately blur the image: it came out that way, and i never bothered fixing it. I don't think visuals will be of much use to the rest of you.
In between stories, we toasted to the absent comrades, and shared in the hope that they will join us the next time around. And we pledged to see each other more often and be actively involved with each other's lives.
Here we were, 20 years after we first met -- definitely older, a couple of bucks richer, improved table manners, and a great deal wiser about the opposing species.
We do however, never outgrew a few things, the preference for the same hairdo, the insistence for the same fashion sense, the need to sing off-key the favorite songs we used to hum in class, and the boisterous intent to out-tell each other stories we all were part of.
Most importantly, we never outgrew each other.
Even years later.
- Stephen King, Stand by Me (1986)
How wretchedly true. You never quite outgrow a bond shared at the age where going out meant playing street games and riding the jeepney unmindful of everything else, where the opposite sex are funny and good-smelling species you have yet to discover, and money only meant what you would spend for video games and the occasional movie.
On the event of my best friend's birthday, we had a get-together last saturday and i saw faces i rarely see. We've all grown so much apart and somehow that night took us back to the days when we shared common interests and ideals.
That night for once, i resisted singing my flagship song. Nel was kind enough to refer my signature hit to an old barkada who showed up after a decade of invisibility. And true enough, he sang it better. Now i gotta go back singing "Silvertoes" by Parokya ni Edgar or "Regrets" by Fra Lippo Lippi...
The best friend, meanwhile, couldn't have painted a more happier face. Accustomed to celebrating his annual bash wallowing in the inevitable depression that accompanies his birthday, he was a picture of contentment. Plus, he might have had earned himself a girlfriend that night...
We spent the evening cracking each other up with stories about our individuals, ribbed at each other about old habits and facial features, and wrestled for the microphone. It was karaoke night, of course.
Memories came flooding back. The canteen episodes where we would all throw our coins at the center of the table (we sat ourselves at the table reserved for faculty members, UST High School never installed seats for students) and wait until the one without money would buy the junk food. How we went fashionable by removing our socks. How we spent afternoons in the billiard hall. How we would occupy the bathroom as a group, combing our hair, and muttering who would be our individual "girl." In between episodes, we even took time to study. And despite our madcap adventures, we pretty much managed to stay sane and graduate with no signs of deviancy - something we will display much later on to no one's surprise.
Anyway, years later and i have yet to see friends such as these people pictured. No i didn't deliberately blur the image: it came out that way, and i never bothered fixing it. I don't think visuals will be of much use to the rest of you.
In between stories, we toasted to the absent comrades, and shared in the hope that they will join us the next time around. And we pledged to see each other more often and be actively involved with each other's lives.
Here we were, 20 years after we first met -- definitely older, a couple of bucks richer, improved table manners, and a great deal wiser about the opposing species.
We do however, never outgrew a few things, the preference for the same hairdo, the insistence for the same fashion sense, the need to sing off-key the favorite songs we used to hum in class, and the boisterous intent to out-tell each other stories we all were part of.
Most importantly, we never outgrew each other.
Even years later.
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