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Beep...
Beep... Beep...
Beep... Beep... Beep!!!
I awoke, today, on July 9th of 2016, to the loud sounds of my alarm clock. I looked out the window. The skies were bright and sunny; Perfect for the outing I have today with my friends. For the first time, I felt excited after hearing the annoying noises that my alarm clock makes; Excited to get out of my bed; Excited to exit this room and walk around the streets of Metro Manila.
I went straight to the shower; skipping breakfast, because there was no food in the fridge. The cold water rushes down my body, with some entering the small cuts on my arms. It was quite irritating and made me regret cutting myself a little bit.
I started to wear one of the Gorillaz band shirts in my closet with my favorite jacket on top of it; The same jacket I wear every day; The same jacket I use to conceal my wounds from the outside world. Alongside it, I wore a skirt and made sure it didn't look too short.
I checked our band group chat and greeted everyone with a good morning
"Damn, u seem excited for today dont u Tala?"
Ellie responded.
"Ya! like is der smthn wrong w you?" Nina remarked.
"Wtf girl? Chill out!" Kita said
"Mb but i mean u get what i mean right?" Nina said.
"She barely sends anything here at all" she continued.
A little bit more typing happened and it took a while for Kita to respond,
"ig ur right"
I get what they mean though. The last message that I sent was on June 30 when the election results came out. The discussion we had on the topic was so insane that I stepped in a few times.
In all of that thinking, I got lost from the conversation. I scrolled down a bit to see that they started discussing where we were gonna meet. They all decided that we would go by the bay side in Mall of Asia. I guess I was forced to tag along as they're already on their way there. That's fine though. My apartment is only two train stops away from there (so is Kita from hers).
I exited the building and walked off to the LRT station nearby. I dm'd Kita, asking if she was still at the station. I was met with no response. I walked up the stairs, sat on the chair and waited for a train to come. It took a while for something to come up but after a bit I felt a presence creeping up behind me.
"Peak a boo!" Kita shouted from behind.
That scared the living shit out of me. I chuckled a bit and said,
"Kita! Don't do that!..." followed up with a small heehee.
"Oh!? I thought you like it when I tease you!?" She said, poking my cheeks.
"Haha Jeez people might look at us hahaha" I said as the train arrived.
"Never mind that then! The train's here, we should get going." She said, as she patted my shoulder. We got on and put a tight grip on the hand rails as the train made its way to our destination.
The scenery out the window was beautiful. The graffiti on the walls, the people peeing on the streets, The pollution in the air, the homeless drinking from the uninhabitable waters of the nearby rivers. It was perfect. Perfect for the shit hole this country is. In the streets I saw little kids playing games, the police walked around THIS EARLY in the morning looking for people to apprehend for the use of drugs, the parents were walking around picking up scraps on the street to sell to junk shops. Sometimes I feel lucky that I have some leftover money from my family and a stable job to keep me alive and around today. Though calling it a job would be a tad bit questionable isn't it.
In my train of thought, Kita patted my shoulder again to remind me that the ACTUAL TRAIN I'm on has stopped, and that we were here. On our way off the station, we saw, and waved at, a stray black cat that just happened to be passing by. I thought it looked cute, so I hoped we'd see it again on our way back.
We passed by the various condominium residences that were around the place. Little properties that I can only dream of acquiring before the day I die. Afterwards, we crossed the street, passing the massive globe in the middle of the roundabout. Although I live near here, I barely go because I don't have any money or business to do so. A little more walking and I saw Nina and Ellie at the other side of the street waving at us. We crossed the street and greeted each other with hugs.
"Where'd you wanna go today?" Ellie asked.
That reminded me. I do not know where I wanted to go today. I acted on impulse last night due to how lonely I was.
"Oh- I- d- I- I just wanted to stroll around that's all. I don't usually go out that much."
"Yeah we can tell." Nina said.
Kita bumped her shoulder and said,
"Oh! I guess we can show you around."
"Yeah, Kita, my sister, and I usually go around here when we're bored." Ellie added.
"Oh, oh... That's cool" I said.
"Come on, let's go!" Ellie shouted as she led the way.
We went to play one of the carnival games, where you shoot a stack of cans to get a prize.
"Go ahead Tala!" Ellie said.
"I- I'm scared; I might miss a bunch." I told them.
"Come on! You can't be that bad, right?" Nina said.
I still hesitated to go, but when I looked to my right, I saw Kita nodded her head at me, urging me to go. I thought to myself,
Alright then... I got this,
As I grabbed a ball, aimed it, and lobbed it at the cans. Instead of hitting any of them, I accidentally hit the guy at the side, working in the concession stand. I panicked a bit and heard Ellie laughing to my left. Nina was trying to hold in her laughter. I just continued staring at them with that dead look on my face when Kita placed her hand on my shoulder, gently approached my ear, and told it,
"Don't worry, I'll hit it for you."
She grabbed a ball, and tossed it at the cans. All of them went tumbling down. The other two stopped laughing and were astonished at what Kita accomplished.
Ding ding! The bell went, signaling that we won a prize. We went to the prize counter to grab one.
"Grab one Tala!" Kita said.
I pannicked at choosing and said,
"Oh... I- I don't know what to choose."
Kita chuckled, pat my back, and said,
"Choose what you want!..."
I looked around at the different stuffed toys that were there, when I saw this one dolphin plushie.
"Oh... Oh, I think I like this one..." I said as I grabbed the toy.
Kita and Ellie started clapping modestly, as Nina started patting my back. I looked at them and started smiling a bit.
We walked off to our next attraction, as Kita saw the Ferris wheel, and said,
"Oh, yo, we should go up that!" While pointing at it.
The group looked back at me and noticed I started shaking.
"Oh Tala! Don't tell me you're afraid of heights?" Nina said.
"I- I, I!" Ellie grabbed me when I said that, saying,
"Come on Tala! Ferris wheels are cool! You won't even feel like you're up that high."
I gulped and decided that we should go.
I entered and sat right next to Kita. The doors were tied shut. The cabin went up and the girls started talking about the view. It wasn't long till they noticed that I just had my eyes shut.
"Tala? Come on, it isn't that bad!" Ellie said.
"Yeah, the view's amazing!" Kita added.
They kept telling me to open my eyes so much, that I caved and decided to do it. The sun rays entered my eyes, blinding me for several seconds before I saw the beautiful view. I was astonished by the look of the city, this high up in the sky. I was so focused on it, that I didn't even realize that Nina had her phone out and she was taking a groupfie. Everyone did their own cool pose, while I just looked at the camera with a hesitant grin on my face. When we checked the photo, it was beautiful. The view was as outstanding to look at; as if it was the real thing. All of our poses are cute too (excluding mine.) The cabin eventually went back down, and we got off.
"I'm hungry, we should eat!" Nina screamed at us.
"Let's eat at the café by the bayside." Kita said, raising her fist into the air. We all agreed and made our way there.
We sat outside at one of those tables with umbrellas (I don't know what they're called.) And the waiter gave us the menu. Nina, excited to eat, said,
"Food's on me girls! To be fair, I was the one who wanted to eat anyway."
"Nah, food's on me." A suspicious man said as he grabbed a chair and sat with us.
We looked at each other and panicked for a bit. Kita built up the courage to ask,
"Uh... Who are you?"
The man chuckled a bit, brought out a card, placed it on the table, and said,
"My name is Tony Panaligan, a music producer and band manager at Harana Records. I saw your performances at the pub last night. The energy, the delivery, the looks, and the talent were perfect. and I decided that I wanted LOVECORE to be the next big band we help out at the label."