Chapter Text
Best listened with: Fill Her, With a Smile, and Minsan by Eraserheads.
The Antipolo air was crisp and fresh, and Joy couldn’t be happier. She was with her closest friends, Emman, AJ, and of course, Hector, as they took Hector’s new car that his dad gifted him for graduation for a spin to a road trip in Antipolo.
“Joy! Baka masabit ka diyan!” Hector was teasingly reprimanding her from the driver’s seat. Emman and AJ were at the back discussing their theses for some reason, but she could tell that their excitement was just as palpable as hers. They were excited to finally get into the world: Emman was planning to go work for the government, AJ was gonna go to some bigtime company, and Hector already landed an assistant director job for a new show at ABS-CBN.
Things were looking up for them, and Joy couldn’t be happier. After a while of driving, they eventually came to a small clearing. Hector parked the car to the side, and the four of them poured out of the car while he kept the headlights on.
“Ang ganda ng mga bituin oh…” Emman looked up wistfully at the sky, murmuring as he saw the sea of stars. “‘Di siya kasing dami pero parang nasa probinsya lang uli…”
“Huy,” AJ said, clapping his shoulder, “mamaya ka na matulala!” His laugh trailed off as he looked up at the sky with him. “Pero totoo, ang ganda nga…”
Hector looked up with them as well and smiled, then looked to the side and smiled wider. Joy didn’t notice it, though, since she was equally mesmerized by the sky. “Di ako makalabas masyado ng Maynila, wala masyadong bituin…” She felt the car beside her go down a bit, and when she looked she saw Hector already sat on the hood of the car. As their eyes met, Hector pat the seat to his right, motioning for her to sit beside him. Joy went back to looking up at the sky while she did, her jaw a bit agape. She felt it closed and surprisedly looked to her side as Hector giggled beside her.
“Uy, baka pumasok yung langaw diyan sa bibig mo,” Hector joked. Joy playfully slapped his shoulder, then went back to looking at the stars. “Grabe, sobrang ganda pala ng bituin sa gabi…”
“Oo,” Hector replied, “maganda nga.”
The moment sat for a bit between them, until the air was cut by Emman.
“Hoy Hector! Tulungan mo nga ako sa cooler dito! Ambigat!”
Joy giggled as she looked back, seeing both Emman and AJ struggle with taking the cooler from the trunk. Hector sighed, laughing as well. “Ano ba yan! Namamakla ba kayo diyan?”
As he said it, Joy quickly met eyes with AJ, who himself had his eyes wide. She gave a discreet thumbs up and winked at him, trying to give reassurance. After all, he was gonna come out tonight to the other two, something he’d been nervous about for weeks.
“Ano ba yan,” Joy huffed at him then, “si Hector at Emman yan! Kung may tatanggap sayo sila yon.”
After a small while, Hector managed to carry the cooler to the side of the car and set it down, taking out a beer and a 20 peso bill. “Oh, eto, tignan niyo.” He rolled up the bill and folded it in half and put his thumb a little bit below the cap. He took the folded bill and proceeded to pop the cap off, much to Joy’s amusement and Emman’s smugness.
“Kakabar mo yan eh,” he chided playfully. “Kanino ka ba nagpapapogi dito, ah? Baka ikaw magkasakit inom mo!”
Hector gasped, a look of exaggerated offense on his face “Uy, parang unang beer ko palang to this week! Tsaka meron tayong sine-celebrate diba!” He brought the others together, huddling them. “Gagraduate na tayo, man!”
Emman quickly bent down, and got a beer of his own. “Cheers tayo diyan,” he exclaimed while raising the bottle up. At this, AJ and Joy quickly followed suit and raised their own bottles in the air. “Cheers!”
The friends clinked their bottles together and opened them, each of them partaking on their own. Joy visibly recoiled, sticking her tongue out. “Ewww…ayon pala lasa ng beer? Bakit andaming tao na mahilig uminom neto?”
“Yan ang ating tinawatag na acquired taste , binibini,” Hector smugly replied. “Masasanay ka din diyan."
Joy gave him an incredulous look and tapped his chest. “Acquired acquired ka pa diyan, ang sabihin mo lasinggero ka!”
Hector gave another look of offense, and the two of them started to argue playfully. AJ and Emman looked at each other and took the cue, as Emman went back into the car and turned the cassette player on with the mix they prepared just for this moment. Just then, Eraserhead’s Fill Her filled the night air. Hector looked back at Emman in the driver’s seat, who in turn gave him a thumbs up.
Hector scoffed at him and looked back to sheepish, blushing Joy. He felt his own cheeks redden and warm, as he himself was at a loss of words. "Uh, uhm, so, Joy," he finally choked out after a few moments of awkward silence as the song started to die down. "I, uh... honestly it's better if I showed you." Hector went to the backseat and opened it, taking out his guitar. He cleared his throat, adjusting the guitar in his arms and started playing Eraserheads' With a Smile to Joy in tandem with the cassette player while walking back to her side.
Joy beamed brightly at him, as Emman and AJ enjoyed the love story in front of them with their drinks.
Hector continued singing, and started vocalizing as the song did. After a while, Joy joined him and started singing along with him as the song faded. Emman paused the player to stop the next song, as Joy and Hector gazed at each other, entranced.
"So, uh, Joy, it's been three years na since we've known each other and...I'm so lucky na nakilala kita. I've never met anyone na kasing bait, compassionate, caring, or kasaya na kasama na tulad mo." Hector cleared his throat again. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...Joy Manawari, pwede ka bang ligawan?"
"Kung sinabi kong oo," Joy said coyly, "babayarin mo na ba utang mo kay Tiya Dely?"
Hector scoffed again, a smirk on his face. "Oo naman! Ako pa. Siyempre di ako pwede magpaalam sa kanya ng may utang, diba?"
Joy beamed. "Edi oo. Pwede mo 'ko ligawan."
"YIEEEEEEEEEE" Both AJ and Emman rushed out of the car to the other two sides, with Emman poking Hector's.
Hector yelped. "Anuba nakakakiliti ah--"
"Ang lalandi niyo ah!" Emman teased them with his signature gummy grin. "Akalain kong rootbeer imbes na beer iniinom ko sa sobrang sweet niyo eh."
The four of them chuckled with each other, as Joy looked up and let out a gasp. "Uy ...may mga shooting star!" The other three looked up as well, and across the star-strewn sky were large streaks hurtling across it. They all gazed mesmerized upon the celestial canvas, feeling the dreams inside them come alive at this fantastic moment.
"Kailangan dapat may wish pag may shooting star," AJ said in a low whisper. "Wish ko...makakuha ng magandang posisyon sa kumpanya isang araw."
"Sana…" Hector started, "...makasulat at makadirect ng film na mananalo sa Cannes pati sa Oscars."
"Ang gusto ko...makatulong sa at makaangat ng mga masang nagdurusa." Emman felt a sigh escape his lips.
Joy continued smiling, watching the stars scatter across the sky. "Ang wish ko…" Joy took her arms and squeezed the three others in her arms. "...na ganito tayo lagi. Na walang magbabago, at magkaibigan parin tayo."
The boys chuckled and went into a hug with Joy.
Joy piped up. "Mahal na mahal ko kayong lahat, 'lamnyo yon?"
"Oo naman," Emman replied, "kahit kailan di rinbmagbabago pagmamahal namin sayo, Joy."
As they pulled away from the hug, it was then that AJ's cleared his throat now. "Ano yon, AJ?" Hector asked.
The former hesitated for a bit before glancing at Joy, who quickly gave him a nod.
"So. Sinabi ko no'ng isang linggo aaminin ko sa inyo pagdating ng graduation kaya ito. Bakla ako."
A few uncomfortable seconds passed for AJ, until he felt his anxieties wash away in three words.
"Sure," said Hector.
Emman nodded enthusiastically. "Sige lang!"
"Dude, it's still you naman," Hector reassured, with a sly grin on his face. "It doesn't change kahit napopogian ka sa amin." As if on cue, both Hector and Emman went into a papogi pose.
"HOY, 'di porke bakla ako napopogian na ako sa inyo, noh!"
"Naiintindihan ko naman, AJ," Hector continued as he started to lean onto the car like he was its model.
"Oo AJ," Emman followed-up, continuing to pose. "Kaso...na kay Maylene ng ang puso ko, kapatid. Pasensya."
AJ gently tapped Hector and Emman on their shoulder. "Chaka niyo namang dalawa," he said. “‘Di bale naman na chaka kayo, masaya parin akong nagiging kaibigan kayo.”
“Same here!” Emman exclaimed, raising up his bottle again.
“Same here,” Hector followed suit, raising his own and going back into the car to turn the music back on, Eraserhead’s Minsan starting to play as he did. Hector rested on the top of his car’s door, taking another sip of his beer. “You know, I hope we can still have nights like this, na magkakasama tayo na nagrerelax…nagchichill lang…walang nangiistorbo sa ati–”
“Hoy! Kayong mga bata!” The four of them snapped their necks to see a barangay tanod waving a flashlight at them, a stick in his other hand. “Bawal tumambay dito!”
“Ah, sorry po!” Hector immediately finished the beer he had and put it in the plastic they brought with them for garbage. He went into the driver’s seat and started up the car, motioning to Emman to get the cooler back into the trunk.
AJ, Emman and Joy sheepishly bowed and apologized to the tanod as well, entering the car as they did. The tanod simply tapped his foot exasperatedly on the ground as he waited for them to peel off. “Mga bata nga naman talaga ngayon…” he murmured under his breath. “Magpasalamat kayo ako nakahanap sayo dito at hindi kung sino-sino,” he said in a reprimanding tone. Hector scoffed. “What’s the worst that could have happened? Parang tayo lang naman nandito.” He put the car into first gear and started the engine, and waved goodbye at the tanod.
“Mag-ingat ka ng pagmaneho, iho,” the tanod said, “lalo nang mukhang nakainom ka!”
“Opo, ser,” Hector replied in a semi-serious tone. The four of them got on the road and started to peel off. On their way back to the dorm, they all continued singing along to the Eraserheads mixtape. The night was young, and the friends were hopeful for the future.