'eraserheads anthology'

It has been a while since we last saw each other. Even though it was my best friend's debut, I did not expect to see you dressed quite formally in a black polo. I always had this picture of you in my mind: your not so long but unruly hair, your favorite red shirt, faded jeans and skate shoes. I thought you would have changed since the last time we were together.

“Karen!” you screamed. You hadn’t changed at all, you still wear that giddy smile of yours and you still say “appear!” at the end of almost every sentence. Not much has changed, except perhaps your hair which I think you can manage now.

It was still you who have been beside me since our sophomore year in high school. I can still remember how we formed our pseudo-band which is just actually a duo, the members being you and me. You were the one to teach me how to play the guitar (which I am very sorry I have forgotten now), and you were also the one to play songs for me to sing during idle hours in the classroom. I remember when you lent me your ever precious ‘Bigotilyo’ CD, and your copy of ‘Eraserheads Anthology’ which you bought at the first week of its release even though it wasn’t part of your budget. I remember the times when we just sit together and talk about everything, even nothing. With you I have laughed like there’s no tomorrow, we thought of the same things and sometimes even hit the same punch lines. You were always the person who would laugh off problems, the person who treats the world as his best friend, and the person who can laugh and smile in the face of life’s harshest realities. We shared our dreams, of you becoming a rock star, like Ely Buendia whom you worship and glorify… or becoming a nurse just because you saw a pair of white Vans skate shoes displayed at the department store, which you thought would look good on you when paired with crisp white uniform. I told you how I wanted to enter UP and discover what life has in store for me. You always remind me of your mantra: everything happens for a reason. I can still remember our special handshake which we always do whenever we see each other.

It’s still you whom I have been with three years ago. You haven’t changed at all. And what surprised me is the realization I had upon seeing you:

Nothing has changed. Including my feelings which I thought was long gone.*