There’s a girl, a girl you used to know
Now she’s just a ghost
An apparition, a constant vision that you
just can’t let go.
I saw you from afar in that
lovely blue dress while entering the restaurant, which you earlier picked for us to
have dinner. You said that I will enjoy the shrimp soup with bean
sprouts, coriander, and minced pork. I waived my hand signaling where I was,
and you smiled sheepishly, the same smile that attracted me to you when we were
both sixteen.
You removed your scarf, and
held my hand. “Hey, how are you? I haven’t seen you for ages,” you said.
It was
a deliberate move for me. I never attended two of our high school gatherings,
and I only met our closest high school friends in Manila or in the province.
“I’m in a happy place,” I responded. “By the way, can
you just order for us? I’m not sure what’s best in this restaurant.”
***
We were both sixteen when I
told you that I liked you. I remembered it vividly. It was during our campaign for Student
Council officers. I was running for President and you were running for
Secretary.
I was the fat nerd in high school. I was never the cool kid. So when I told you that I liked you, I thought you will laugh. You
never said a word, and I was a bit devastated.
But everything changed when
you told me that nobody still asked you out for prom, which was quite funny and
peculiar, because you’re one of the prettiest girl in school. I then asked you
out if you could be my prom date, and you immediately said Yes.
In a weird twist of events, we were crowned Prom King and Queen during our Seniors’ Ball. When you rode my scooter in your long black dress, I thought I was the happiest guy that night. I am with the girl of my dreams, and we were looking at the horizon with so much happiness.
I kissed your cheek when I said goodnight after bringing you home. You said that you had a wonderful time. I even thought your Mom was eavesdropping the whole time.
***
“The soup is really good,” I said.
You gave me this grin: the same I-told-you-so that you so often gave when we were together.
“You’ve been here for 12
years. You don’t plan to go back to the Philippines?” I asked.
“Taiwan is pretty much home
for me. Even when we’re young, we always go here on summer.”
I then remembered how you
always disappeared during summer, and people would always ask you where you
went at the beginning of school year. You always said you had to go to Taiwan.
Taiwan seems like an imaginary place for us when we were kids. We only learned in second year high school that you had to go back to Taiwan every so often since your Dad is Taiwanese, and you have to maintain a certain time for residency.
“I was also able to take the licensure exams here for nurses after taking some night classes. That took me more than a year.”
***
I was pretty much devastated
when I learned that you had to leave the Philippines, and migrate to Taiwan. You
just passed the Nursing Board Exam, and I am contemplating of taking up law.
I even unabashedly asked you to choose our relationship, but you said that you can’t pretty much
go against your father. I cried the whole night. It was the weight of the whole world along with our dreams crashing before my very eyes.
***
“So how are you?” “Why haven’t
I heard anything from you from our classmates?” you casually inquired.
“I’m in a relationship. For
quite some time now,” I smiled. You
asked who the person was, and that I have to introduce her to you.
“Him. He is a guy,” I looked
directly into your eyes as if trying to pierce your soul.
The night even became lovelier with our stories, both funny and heartbreaking. We’re two old
***
At the door, just before we parted, I kissed your cheek. I said goodbye, and thanked you for meeting me.
“Oh, by the way, he is also a Virgo,” I said with a grin. We both laughed.
