Chaotic Weeks: Ennui, Cavort, and Paybacks

As so the title says, my past few weeks have been quite uninteresting – and then frenzied. Yeah, I actually thought tedium would kill me. Then again, a very fugly incident happened which changed/ruined/devastated/destroyed/wrecked my beautiful yet insipid life.

I don’t quite remember when exactly it happened, but I can somehow recall events which transpired. I think it was early morning, say, few minutes past eight. My classmates and I were busily chatting about nonsense in the Computer Science Building. Anyway, a friend and classmate, Michael, was flaunting some debauched story about Tomoyo and Shaoran of Card Captor Sakura. I curiously read the print-outs he held. (It wasn’t only the fact that I was prying, but also because I was bored stiff.) Boy, was it… freakin’… SORDID! With shouts ringing in my ears and some seemingly spurious lecture on why I shouldn’t read the junk (since they reason it’d pollute me. Darlings, let me tell you that my mind is now so impure because of the besmirched thingies you’ve been letting me see!), I persistently read SOME parts of the friggin’ story. (I couldn’t believe how harshly ingenuous the statements were. I mean, couldn’t have the author/authoress made the… err, descriptions a bit subtle and abstruse?)

Then I was done. Unfortunately, I was bored rigid again.

From nowhere, Ronniel (I think it was him, I’m not sure) asked me a certain word’s definition (I think that’s what happened). I strained my brain to remember what it meant, but I guess I was amnesiac that time. I couldn’t recall shit. So I gazed around, searching for Michael to ask it to him. I was sure he’d know the word’s meaning.

Anyway, I couldn’t find him. I glanced at my left, and there was some guy standing there. His back was facing me, but I was certain it was Michael. Sneering in boredom, I pulled his un-tucked-in polo (is it what you call your uniforms, guys?) down like what I usually do to him and to my other guy classmates, parting my lips to ask him what Ronniel inquired.

Then my jaws fell when the lad turned to me.

Gaping at me was some guy I didn’t know! (A fourth year student, specifically.)

He was looking at me like I was some alien. I was staring at him the same way.

I froze there, staring at him, then grinned uncertainly. Uh-oh. “Uh… sorry.” Then I let go of his uniform (which I wrinkled pretty much, I suppose, since I held on to it for a while there, stunned) and hit my forehead using my hand. “I’m sorry! I just grabbed the wrong person! I didn’t mean it!”

Then I heard chuckling. I saw Ronniel laughing like a maniac as he clutched his stomach in AMUSEMENT! I pressed my lips tightly together and snapped. “Quit laughing! It’s all your fault, anyway!!”

But the guy wouldn’t stop. Damn.

It couldn’t get any worse. We already attracted the interest of some of my classmates, and the ever-probing ones began asking questions. I flashed Ronniel a look and clenched my teeth. “Shut the hell up!!”

~

And so that was it. Not so nice an experience.

I thought it was the end.

Unfortunately, not so.

~

Saturday, last week.

We had a practice for our Noli me Tangere play. We were tasked to arrive early in the morning, to fry ourselves using sun’s sizzling heat and radiation (it kills, but we just have to pretend we don’t know about that), and to friggin’ act like we’re skilled.

While I wasn’t included in a certain scene, I tried to concentrate on reading Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. I was reading the first chapter, and I couldn’t comprehend a thing. The heat was killing me. My mind was occupied by other thoughts, and Michael was indefatigably trying to ask about the part I was reading. I answered like a drunk.

Then I heard my name being called and afterwards, “Fuck you!”

I gazed up. I was pretty sure it came up above (not the Heavens, silly!). It turned out to be Rozelle, who was sitting on a tree’s branch just above my head. “What?” I asked, scowling.

What I actually heard was “Fuck you.” It didn’t sound so nice, did it?

She repeated it. “Matthew!” She grinned.

I was glad it wasn’t “fuck you!”, but now I raised my brows in confusion. Who the heck…? I didn’t know any Matthew. Besides, I thought, why would they say something about someone I don’t know?

I think Ronniel sniggered again, and it ticked me off. He reminded me of the event I aimed to forget.

“The guy whose uniform you pulled,” he explicated, “is Matthew.”

I smirked. “Shove it.” Then I resumed reading.

~

No, don’t think that was the worst possible incidence ever.

Here’s what happened last night.

~

I was using my YM (Yahoo! Messenger when Michael suddenly began to blare me with the beauty of the movie he and Neri watched. He was ranting, but I didn’t mind. I even got persuaded to watch it. Haha!

Anyway, I was again pissed as hell when he brought up the event and Matthew again.

Here’s our conversation.

Nuni (Michael):…saka ung 'come back with your shield, or with your head on it'

How About That: nice... i'll put that sa status ko... wait lang...

Nuni: and oh...

Nuni: andun ung boyfriend mu...

Nuni: c kuya matthew

Nuni: haahahahahaha]

How About That: sorry about that... where were we??

Nuni: c kuya matthew

How About That: darn it!!!

How About That: who told you that, sasapakin ko

Nuni: hehehehehehe

How About That: si ronniel nagsabi, no?

Nuni: yef... nung pumunta kming feati

How About That: nakita mo ba kung ano talagang nangyari nun??

Nuni: ung anu, tatawagin mu dapat ako tapos nahila mu ung uniform ni kuya

How About That: yeah. that was... SOOO nakakahiya. damn. kasi naman, paalis-alis ka pa, eh!!

Nuni: aba ako pa sinisi

How About That: eh... kasi naman, eh..

How About That: kainis kaya yun si ronniel. he was laughing like a freakin' maniac, and i was all red, not knowing how to friggin' quit holding on to that guy's uniform!

Nuni: developing feelings?

How About That: nah!! I'm IMMUNE!!

Nuni: riiight...

Imagine how rife gossips are?!

~

Here’s what happened TODAY. (Part 1)

~

Another practice for the Noli me Tangere play. Anyway, I arrived early, only one hour 35 minutes and 17 seconds late. (Hey, that was quite punctual of me. I mean, I could have purposely been late for two hours, but I wasn’t, right?)

Everything turned out fine, and when 12 o’clock came, my friends and I hit the fast food outlets near the place, and when we came back, I was to see Kathryn greeting me with a mischievous smile. “Hey there. So! You already have a boyfriend!”

I looked at her as if she had grown two heads. “No!” I protested. “What do you mean?”

“Matthew!!” she yelled.

I rolled my eyes. “Who told you that?” I snapped. She pointed to Michael.

“I didn’t do anything!” he said hastily, grinning.

“How could you tell her that?” I almost screamed, but I decided to lower my voice. “When did she learn about it?”

“A while ago.”

“How did you manage to bring it up?” I asked, ticked off.

“Neri and I were just discussing what happened to the movie we watched, and I happened to mention to Neri something like, ‘Hey, we saw How About That’s boyfriend in the movie house, right?’” (Hahaha! Thought I’d divulge my name? Think again, freaks!)

I grimaced. “You shouldn’t have told her that. You know it isn’t true.”

“Matthew!” Kathryn yelled.

It pissed me off.

If I lose my temper, these guys wouldn’t like it one a bit, I thought.

~

(Part 2)

We were almost done with the practice. Ronniel, the so-called director (serves you right, mister! Prima’s the director! -sticks tongue out-) began mumbling about beginning the last rehearsal. I jumped down and went to my position – so-called, nonexistent backstage. Before I could even gear up myself, Ronniel began with it

“Don’t worry, just think about Matthew and you’d be able to do it!” he said cheerfully.

I almost puked my guts out.

I glared at him. “Darn it! I told you to shut the hell up!!” I ranted.

He only chortled, pleased with himself. Everyone else was grinning or smiling with him.

And, darn, but I couldn’t help but join their laughter, too! I mean, it was side-splitting in a twisted sort of way.

~

Anyway, the last two weeks hadn’t been that atrocious. I did manage to laugh a bit – at our so-called director, Ronniel.

Just yesterday, Friday, we had to show our Filipino teacher our play. She wanted to judge it and critique some parts which required enhancement.

Ronniel, who has the role of Elias, had this scene in which he’d help Crisostomo Ibarra kill or – I think subdue – a crocodile. He was supposed to jump into nonexistent water – and this he did quite vigorously.

I was seated at the back, jaded. I’ve seen the scene so many times that I began to consider it to be clichéd. That’s when I noticed some of my classmates giggling.

“What happened?” I asked. “What’s the fuss about?”

I think Danielle who sat beside me answered. “Ronniel ripped his pants.”

Huh?

Now, that is something riotous. I gazed at Ronniel. He was scrutinizing his pants.

That’s when I saw it.

I began to chortle. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” I could see a big, nasty vertical cleave on his pants, the butt part (excuse me, guys). I even laughed harder when I saw his boxers – GREEN!! (Hey, at least it wasn’t a g-string! Hahahahaha!)

He hurriedly exited and checked on his pants, muttering curses under his breath. Everyone was amused, and that included me. He was standing a few inches from me, and I was laughing like a sicko.

Prima, one of the concerned beings (they’re so gracious!), turned to look at me. “Geez. Look at you,” she mumbled, flashing me an amused look. “You’re laughing so hard.”

And was I!

I was banging my fist against the chair’s desk, practically crying due to my extreme mirth.

“Do you have thread and needle?” Ronniel asked Neri in trepidation. Anyway, I think Prima went to our TLE (stitching) teacher and asked for thread and needle.

Ronniel seemed to be relieved, but his predicament wasn’t over yet. He had another scene coming up, and he couldn’t risk not appearing in front. So he grabbed a towel and set it in a way that it would cover the nasty slit on his pants. He showed up, dignified to be Elias.

I giggled while I looked at the towel. It attracted more attention that the rip on his pants. I could bet that people around him were saying, “My God, what’s he hiding in there?!”

Oh, what a laugh I had!

Anyway, the scene and the whole play ended, and Prima arrived. She handed Ronniel the sewing materials, and he instantaneously he grabbed it. Our teacher called us to step up to her. While I was on my way to her, I met Ronniel – who was on his way to the room’s corner to stitch his pants – and flashed him a grin.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

~How About That