"Happy Birthday Kel!"
-Levi
I just read the notification that night and didn't click on it as he might have seen that I read it. I opened the rest of the message the next day.
As he was saying, oo, puro lang ako seen. Pero di pa rin talaga ako makapaniwala that he still remembers my birthday and has greeted me for 7 years in a row now.
What's wrong with him? I already cut ties with everyone including him a long time ago but he still bothers to send me a message every year on my birthday. Isn't he supposed to forget me already?
Engr. Levi Bautista. 24. He's a licensed chemical engineer now. Batchmate ko nung college and we took the same classes for just 1 semester. Dalawa lang section ng chemical engineering department ng university namin kada year kaya kilala ng bawat estudyante ang bawat isa.
I first went to Beltran University and attended college there. It's a community college in Batangas that offers a huge number of courses but it's best known for offering several engineering courses. It is one of the top engineering schools that has a high passing rate and produces countless board topnotchers.
If you're curious about me and Levi? Well, I can't say that we're close. We belong to different cliques. I have my own barkada and he has his. But somehow we had an unusual relationship which I can't categorized if it's hatred, friendship, romance or just simple human compassion.
Una kong narinig pangalan niya noong 1st year college ako nang makuha ko ang test paper ko sa Algebra professor ko with a score of 49/50. He congratulated me and said I did well. Sayang daw at 'di ko na-perfect. It was careless of me, I admit it.
Note: Algebra is one of the subjects included in G.E. which is part of the engineering board exam.
He handles other classes too so my classmates asked if someone aced the test from another section. Sinabi niyang meron at isa sa mga 'yun ay si Levi Bautista. He's always been good at maths. Even if he didn't get the perfect score, he still gets the highest score.
I've always admired those who are good at math so when I heard his name, it was automatically saved in my mind. Kaya naman nagulat ako nung narinig ko uli ang pangalan niya sa club room ng department student council kung saan officer ako.
"Mukhang masaya na si Heaven. Nabati na siya ni Levi."
"Levi? That sounds familiar," Biglang sumagi ang pangalan niya sa isip ko pero hindi ako sigurado kaya nagdiretso na lang ako kay Heaven para batiin siya.
"Happy birthday, Heaven!" I hugged her while holding chocolate flowers which is my gift for her.
"Is this for me? Salamat Kel." Unlike me, she has a sweet tooth so she was delighted by my simple but thoughtful gift.
Si Heaven Cortes ay ka-officer ko at mayroon siyang crush kay Levi. She's a girl smaller than me and has dark skin. She has a long hair which she always ties in a half-pony tail and wears clear eyeglasses. She's a really good dancer too. That's how we both knew each other, we joined the dance cultural org and were also elected as student officers.
I saw her scrolling through her phone and smiling. Pinagtulungan kasi ng mga kaklase niya na kuhanan ng picture si Levi with a "Happy Birthday" banner for her. Good for her, she really has great friends. 
'Di ko alam kung anong itsura ng Levi na 'yon but I guess his looks are not bad if my friend has a crush on him. I was browsing on my feed when I saw the picture of him with the happy birthday banner but his face is covered. Pero kahit na gano'n, sobrang saya pa rin ng kaibigan ko.
I still didn't know his face but it turns out he actually uses the classroom next to mine during 5pm-7pm class. I attend night classes and so does he. Nang pababa ako ng hagdan para bumili ng kape sa vending machine sa 1st floor, I passed by their classroom and my classmate pointed him out to me.
I saw him. Nakikinig siya sa klase as expected of an honor student. I didn't really have big reactions and said "Ahh okay, siya pala yun." Now, I have an image of him whenever people quote his name.
Because I was kinda good at math too, I became close to our professor and I sometimes saw Levi talking with him. When there was a quiz bee for freshmen in the engineering department, my prof recommended me to participate too and as expected, I saw him there. And guess what? He easily grabbed one of the top 3 places in the competition.
Besides passing by each other on the hallway and seeing him on quiz bee competitions, we really haven't really had any real interaction and didn't talk with each other even once. I just heard of him through my friends who are scholars who teamed up with him on quiz bees. In short, he is just a friend of my friend and we are nothing but strangers.
However, during the last semester of 2nd year, I was one of the organizers of the university festival as I am part of the supreme student council. Isa sa mga events na hinawakan ko ay ang sudoku competition na ginanap sa aming library. Inaayos ko ang mga mesa at upuan na gagamitin ng mga kalahok ng isa-sa silang pumasok.
He walked through the door holding a sudoku book and pencil in his right hand. With his signature pink and purple backpack, I immediately spotted him standing on a slouch. His slightly curly hair looked fluffy to me and his long eyelashes were so beautiful, I was envious. What's wrong with me? Why do I find him attractive all of a sudden? I must be out of my mind or something.
"Ezekiel, pwede na silang pumasok 'di ba?" tanong sa 'kin ng ka-officer ko.
"Ah, Oo." sagot ko. "Everyone, you may now take your seats. We will begin in just a few minutes."
I recollected myself and began escorting the contestants to their seats. I was one of the hosts of the event and must also act as a timekeeper during the sudoku competition.
"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Ezekiel Eden Hernandez, auditor of the Supreme Student Council and I'm your host for this year's sudoku competition."
I used to be part of the highest governing body in our university which is the Supreme Student Council. I host events such as quiz bees, pageants, seminars and concerts at our university. I also used to do radio broadcasting and shoot promotional videos as part of my duties on the student council.
Anyways, without further ado, the competition started.
"There will be 3 rounds- easy, average and difficult. After you are given the sudoku puzzles, you will be given time to solve the problems but when time is up, you need to pass your papers to the ushers and usherettes beside you for checking. You will be given points if you solved the puzzle and none if you didn't. Understood?" tanong ko matapos ipaliwanag ang patakaran ng kompetisyon na ito.
"Yes," pagsang-ayon naman ng mga kalahok.
"Kung gano'n, let's start with puzzle number 1."
Sa paraan ng pagsasalita ko ay aakalain mong isang malaking kompetisyon ang nagaganap pero mas impormal ang paligsahan ito taliwas sa iniisip nyo. Pagkat una sa lahat, halos 1/3 lang ng library ang space na ginagamit namin.
Hindi rin ako naka-microphone kaya kinakailangan kong lakasan ang boses ko. Kaunti lang ang mga kasali sa kompetisyon na ito at apat lang kami na nangangasiwa. Ako na host at time keeper at tatlong taga-kuha ng papel tapos lahat kaming apat ay tulong-tulong sa pag-check ng sagot nila.
"Alright, finally, we're down to the last round-the difficult round. Everyone, good luck!" I said with a smile then my eyes naturally found where Levi's seat was and I saw a faint smile on his lips.
I think I saw him smile while talking with his friends before but why does it look sweet to me now?
Hindi naman siya ganoon ka-gwapo kung tutuusin pero kung pagmamasdan mo siya ng matagal ay mabibighani ka sa haba ng kanyang mga pilikmata. Wala rin siyang malalaking braso at payat siya tulad ko. Pero di tulad ko, matangkad siya at may height na 5'6 kaso nagmumukha siyang mas maliit kaysa sa totoo niyang height dahil lagi syang naka-kuba.
I watched him focus on solving the sudoku problem and I thought that hmm... He doesn't look bad at all.
...
"Kel! Kel!" paulit-ulit na tawag sa akin ng co-officer ko.
Huh?
"Oh,time'sup.Pencilsdown.Youmaynowpassyourpapers."
I said as I responded in impulse and talked swiftly without taking a single breath.
I didn't realize that time was up. So much for being a timekeeper.
I took a deep sigh.
Can time just stop even for a moment? It's the last question and he will leave this room after it.
How I wish but sadly time didn't stop, instead it was my heart that nearly stopped beating.
On the last question, the final 5 contestants pass their papers to me themselves. Levi is part of the final 5 so he walked toward me and also passed his paper. It's the shortest distance I've seen him up close and despite that I've managed not to freak out and calmly took his paper though inside my head I was SCREAMING.
I checked their papers and the winners were concluded. Levi finished 2nd place and finally the sudoku competition is over. The contestants also left the library including him.
The only ones in the room were 4 of us officers finishing up and the 1st place winner of the sudoku competition, Marco Villena, who is a close friend of mine. He's a total genius and currently the top one in the engineering department.
"Marco, congrats! Sabi ko na nga ba, pakiramdam ko na ang taas ng posibilidad na manalo ka nung nakita ko na kasali ka. Ang galing mo talaga," masigla kong pagbati kay Marco. I shook his hands to congratulate him.
"It was all by God's will. Di ako ang magaling, si Lord talaga. All praises belongs to him," humble na sagot sa'kin ni Marco. Itinuro niya ang daliri sa itaas at tumingala pa.
Bukod sa matalino ay maka-Diyos din si Marco na linggo-linggo ay 'di nakakalimutang sumamba. I became close with him because we're both scholars.
Kayumanggi ang balat niya at kaunti lang ang tangkad niya sa akin. He's approachable and the type to joke around so we clicked quickly.
"Bukod kay Lord ay 'di mo rin makakamit ang 1st place without your hard work. Sabi nga 'di ba, 'Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa'. Give enough credit to yourself even just a little bit. I congratulated you so a simple thank you is enough," pag-kumbinsi ko sa kanya.
"Thank you. Salamat," tugon ni Marco sabay tawa naming dalawa.
"Pero Kel, what's up with you during the difficult round? You were clearly spacing out. Sobrang pagod mo na ba? Lutang na lutang ka kanina," nag-aalalang tanong sa kin ni Marco.
"Huh? Ahh, siguro nga, pagod lang. Buong araw din akong paikot-ikot ng campus para tumulong sa mga events at medyo napuyat ako kagabi sa paghahanda ng mga gagamitin para sa kompetisyon na ito." Inikot-ikot ko ang mata sa paligid habang nagpapaliwanag at matapos ay pilit na tumawa.
"Yun lang ba ang dahilan?" pag-uusisi ni Marco na para bang nang-aasar ang tono.
"I saw how you look at Levi earlier. Do you like him? Ano to? Nag-checheat ka ba kay Gabriel?" pangungulit niya pa sa akin.
"Huh? Hindi ah. Tss. Wala akong gusto kay Levi but I admit that I kinda admire him."
"Ano? Wala kang gusto pero ina-admire mo? You're not making any sense."
"Wala akong gusto as in no romantic feelings involved but just pure admiration. Alam mo naman kung gaano ko nirerespeto at ina-admire kayong mga magaling sa pag-aaral 'di ba? Gano'n din ako kay Levi," paliwanag ko pero 'di ko maitatanggi sa sarili ko na I felt something today that I didn't have before.
"Sus, wag ka nga dyan. Parang 'di rin puro uno ang grades mo ha." Bigla naman akong siniko ni Marco.
"Uno? Grabe, di naman ganun kataas. Walang-wala pa rin ako sa inyo, Master." Siniko ko rin siya pabalik.
"Tsaka anong nag-checheat? Sa aming dalawa, baka si Gabriel pa ang mag-cheat. Ngayon pa nga lang, wala na syang hiya magbanggit ng ibang babae kahit na ako ang kasama nya. Pagsabihan mo nga 'yang kaibigan mo," nagsumbong ako kay Marco.
"Nag-away na naman ba kayo? Pinagseselos ka lang siguro no'n kasi nabanggit niya sa'kin na ang cute mo daw magselos. Hayaan mo, pagsasabihan ko si Gab na wag i-overdo. Alam mo naman kahit matalino rin 'yun, may pagka-dense 'yun pagdating sa babae.
Alam ko na! Dahil nanalo ako, gusto mo bang ilibre kita ng pagkain bago ka umuwi? Tara, kain tayo," aya ni Marco sa akin.
"Naku! Wag na, nakakahiya naman sa'yo. Busog pa pati ako." Tumanggi agad ako pero kung 'di ka naman ba papalarin ay ngayon pa biglang tumunog ang tiyan ko.
Ggggrhhh~
"Busog pala ha?" Natawa siya dahil sa narinig at matapos ay kinumbinsi ako na kumain kasama siya. "Dali na, it's also been a while since we last hung out."
"Sige, libre mo naman eh." Pumayag na rin ako sa huli at kinuha ang bag ko para sumama sa kanya.
"You can rant at me about Gab while we eat too. And catch up on each other since we haven't hung out for a while, dahil sa nalalapit na ECT (Engineering Classification Test)."
Engineering Classification test o kung tawagin ay E.C.T. Ito ay isang pagsusulit na ang layunin ay masuri kung anong uri ng major ng engineering ang swak para sa'yo. Ito ay kinukuha ng mga 2nd year engineering students bilang paghahanda sa pag-akyat nila sa 3rd year at magsimula ng kanilang Majors.
Lahat kasi ng pumapasok sa engineering department dito sa Beltran University ay nagsisimula muna bilang General Engineering students sa loob ng dalawang taon. Talagang masusi ang pagpili sa mga estudyante at ng klase ng engineering na pasok sa kakayahan nila.
As Marco and I walked to the cafeteria, he asked me if i finished answering the survey papers where we were asked what engineering major we wanted to take.
"Ano ang first choice mo? ME rin ba?"
"ME? Hindi. Chem Eng. ChE ang first choice ko."
"Hala, eh 'di magkaiba tayo ng major. Sayang naman. Magkaiba rin kayo ng major ni Gab. Hindi ba ME ang kukunin no'n?"
"Oo nga eh. Kapag nagkataon, mababawasan panahon na magkasama kami kapag nagsimula na tayong mag-major."
We ordered food and talked for almost an hour about our studies and love life. He was especially curious about the status of me and Gabriel.
Gabriel Arcanghel. He's a scholar like me and Marco. We met each other in a special class during summer before my 1st year of college started. We were all good friends but it was just about 6 months ago that we developed feelings for each other and we're now in an M.U. relationship.
It's complicated because we're not an official couple but we're slowly getting there and for now just enjoy the company of each other.
Because of that, I even pulled some strings using my power in the student council for us to be classmates this semester because it may be the last time we could be classmates before we became 3rd years and start our majors.
That's why I felt complicated earlier when I saw Levi in a different light. I don't want to be a cheater, you know. So let's just ignore those feelings.
***Present***
I can't believe I still vividly remember that time during the sudoku competition. He probably doesn't even remember how I foolishly smiled at him when he handed over his paper.
So how is he remembering me every year on my birthday? Well, it's probably because we were classmates during that next year and how we unexpectedly got close to each other but so many things happened that if I start reminiscing about all of them, I might write a whole novel.
"Ate Kel, are you really leaving already?" tanong sa kin ni Jake habang nag-iimpake ako ng mga gamit ko papuntang Maynila.
"Oo, be. Kailangan ni Ate mag-study to be able to get a job and earn money." Malungkot kong tugon kay Jake while I was patting his head.
It's Saturday, January 9. My vacation with my family is now over and I need to go to Manila now to attend Apex Review Center to study for the board exam starting this Monday.
I had a really fun time during my stay here and I don't want to leave either. I want to be woken up by my sweet little brother in the morning, eat my mom's homemade food and bicker with my other two ugly brothers everyday all year but it's time for me to bid them goodbye for a while.
"Lagi kang kumain ng tama sa oras ha. Marunong ka naman magluto kahit papaano kaya 'wag laging fast food kainin mo. Mag-text ka pagdating mo sa apartment mo, okay?" bilin sa'kin ni Mama. Payat kasi ako kaya nag-aalala si Mama na maging buto't balat na lang ako kung 'di ako kumain ng madami.
"Jake, iiwan ka na ni Ate Kel. Aww, iiyak na yan," pang-aasar ni Jasper sa bunso namin.
"Jasper, tumigil ka nga. Babalik din naman si Ate tsaka pwede naman tayong mag-videocall. Usap tayo lagi, okay? I'll miss you, baby." sinabi ko habang yakap at hinalikan ko sa noo si Jake. Ma-mi-miss ko talaga itong kapatid ko.
Tinulungan naman ako ni Jeremy na ilabas ang mga bitibitin ko at nilagay sa traysikel ni Papa.
"Ingat ka lagi ha. Magchat o tawag ka." Huling paalala sa kin ni Mama bago ako halikan sa pisngi.
I bid them my last goodbyes and Papa drove me to the terminal. With that concludes my stay in my hometown.
It was already 10 am when I reached the port and there was a long line of people getting their tickets.
Sa pag-aalala ko na baka maubusan ng ticket sa barkong byaheng pang-alas onse, dali-dali akong tumakbo para mauna sa pila. At sa pagmamadali ko, nabunggo ko ang lalaki sa unahan ko. Napaka-tangkad nya kumpara sa kin. Mukhang nasa 5'7 ang height nya. Napakainit pa ng sikat ng araw pero sana 'di uminit ang ulo niya sa'kin kaya naman pauli-uli akong humingi ng tawad sa kanya.
"Naku, Kuya, sorry, di ko sinasadya. Okay ka lang ba? Patawad po talaga!" pagmamakaawa ko habang magkalapat ang dalawang palad ko at pikit ang mga mata ko.
"Kel?..."
Huh? Tinawag niya ba ang pangalan ko? Pagkarinig ko sa kanya ay unti-unti kong minulat ang aking kanang mata at halos lumuwa ang dalawa kong mata nang makita ko na kung sino ang nasa harap ko.
"Kel! Ikaw nga! Ako to, si Ethan!" pagpapakilala niya sa akin sa tonong mas mataas ng kaunti sa natural niyang boses. Bakas sa mukha niya ang pagkamangha at saya na muli akong makita.
"Ethan?! Uh, I can't believe to see you again here." Ako naman, hindi rin ako makapaniwala na magtatagpo muli ang landas namin.
"Kaya nga. Wow! How long has it been? 5? 6 years? Long time, no see."
"Yeah, long time, no see."
Matapos ang anim na taon sa hindi na namang inaasahang pagkakataon, nakita ko ulit siya sa pier na ito.
Si Ethan Avanzado, ang first love ko.