My grade school years and first year high school were spent in CSA before Mom dragged me to Assumption to start my sophomore year. Paano kasi, the mother of my chinese boyfriend then had the gall to call my mother and accuse me of encouraging her son's obsession with me (in other words, kerengkeng daw ako). Apparently, at a very young age, I had the power and capacity to make this boy turn his back on his family, all in the name of love (can you say o-ay si chinese mommy). My mom was so traumatized by this incident that it finally convinced her to take me to an all girls school (her beloved alma mater) and away from my puppy love. Well, it worked. Me and chinese boy called it quits soon after but by then, I was stuck in San Lorenzo. The move had taken away the only friends I knew and everything that was familiar to me since I was 4 years old when I started kinder at CSA. At 13, I had to start over in this school where nobody knew me. As far as they were concerned, I was an outsider and it would take awhile before I would be taken in as their own.
For the first few weeks, nobody spoke to me. I didn't make things easier for myself also since I wasn't making any effort to be friendly with anyone. It also didn't help that I had long nails painted lavender and my bangs standing 3 inches high (uso eh). Feeling ko, superior ako. If you wanted to be friends with me, fine, I'll talk to you. But I won't make the first move! Yabang ko noh? Pero after school everyday, I would go to my room and cry because I was so miserable. I felt so alone talaga.
Mariel Illusorio was the first girl to approach me in AC. Our mothers knew one another and I guess she and her friends were just extremely charitable. They were so nice and I owe my sanity to them. If not for their friendship, I think I would have grovelled and begged my mom to send me back to CSA after the first month. It was that bad.
Months passed and I would eventually cross paths with a giddy, cheerful and scrawny girl named Anna I. Anna became my seatmate and she was just so eager to be friends with me. Akala ko it was because of my pleasing personality....yun pala, gusto lang niya ng contact for all the CSA boys I knew. Anna was extremely accommodating. She introduced me to all her friends and then her friends introduced me to more. This would be the start of a beautiful friendship. AC finally felt like home.
AC introduced me to some of my dearest and closest friends. Among them are friends from the Breakfast Club. The BC was comprised of 15 girls from Section 6....Me, Anna I, Renee, Cecile, Isha, Reggie, Cherry, Rochelle, Ana J, Lia, Daph, Sylvia, Ria, Bess and Nicole. We were the 15 girls who cleaned the dishes after breakfast during our 1-week retreat at Baguio. Thus, the name. After dishwashing duties, 15 of us would head on over to the batcave to have a 'stick' before heading back to the retreat house. We were good convent girls, obvious ba? Anyway, that grouping led to more than 19 years of friendship now. Even if we all have other circle of friends and some we have lost touch with already, we are still bonded by this experience. I'd like to think that we will continue to maintain this friendship for the years to come.
In the picture above (from left to right): Cecile-my one time ex future sister in law, Anna I-loyal and dependable, me, Rochelle-kind soul/kindred spirit, Ana J-shared experiences from grade school to law school, Renee-trustworthy and generous and Lia-the other half of the wonder twins (both of whom are my dear friends). I enjoyed your company so much! Looking forward to our next reunion.
More pictures at my Multiply account.
