“I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time."
- A. A. Milne
It was a rainy Saturday afternoon and I am to be found lazing around the couch, looking for the perfect position to not give myself a straining neck ache from reading a book. My usually silent cellphone suddenly blinked accompanied by its noisy and very annoying tone: I got a message, not from Heaven sadly. It was one of my best buds, Gio, who is basically the party vibes incarnate. He's inviting me to a roadtrip to nowhere. Literally nowhere with a bunch of his 'friends'. READ: people from his workplace, former college teammates, club-hopping buddies and even roommates! Being on my sabbatical on work for almost a year now after an accident I would rather not disclose to anyone, I accepted the invite despite the whining of my introvert self (it does have a point, though). "Great! It's about time you get over your mopping and to meet new people! I'll hook you up to some of my people if you want to. Haha. Will text the details. Take care!" was his reply.
I pack lightly because I've been used to travelling in my line of work. "A rucksack for a roadtrip to nowhere seems good enough", I told myself. I was startled from my musings over last-decision excuses to not join the trip when an unpleasant honk cut my speeding train of thoughts. Ugh, no more time for an excuse so my friend picked me up on my flat with his remodeled Volkswagen Bus brimming with people already. That bastard doesn't want me to feign sleep for even a second! With a heavy (and a very non-expectant) heart, I rode the vehicle with a shining (fake) smile and a rather ADHD-esque energy to match the already-high vibes inside the vehicle.
After the rowdy greetings, I settled to an empty seat by the window next to a rather nerdy and silent girl whom I haven't been introduced and she doesn't seem to fit my friend's kind of people - wild college football twins John behind the wheel and Kevin riding shotgun, both whooping like it was the good ol' college days; rakista Rona air guitaring another Aerosmith song oblivious to the the ultra-romantic couple Alfred and John making out in the back like they were inside a motel room; and my dear bastard friend by the window. This nerdy and silent girl was playing Quiz Up in her tablet while listening to Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 (it said so in her notifications bar). "Odd choices but taken separately are good", I thought. So I watched her play for an hour before I had the mistake of saying "Shit no!" a decibel louder when she answered 'Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore'. "I'm sorry, man, but it's Percival before Wulfric. Long live APWBD!" I said. I suddenly regretted broadcasting my geekiness and I blushed and uttered a squeaky apology. She smiled and said, "My bad. I've always fallen for that question. I should really remember that name in that prophecy. I'm Jay, by the way." I shook her hand and introduced with a shining (real) smile plastered all over my face. From that very moment, she wasn't the nerdy silent girl from before the start of the trip, she is now that awesome girl I'm sitting next to! The remainder of the trip was a bliss with all the talking about classic literature, listening to Paramore and Parokya ni Edgar songs and catching each other's eyes looking at the other. From a dull acceptance to a friend's roadtrip invitation to a great and awesome time that lies ahead was what I believe the trip would be. But I was wrong. So fucking wrong.
- end of Chapter 1 -
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