TGIF!
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The author (second from left) at a party with her friends (Photo courtesy of Merle Lynn)
I have waited for this Friday night. It was the night of my cousin Marili’s class party in which Eddie’s band, the PsychoSonics, was playing. Like a typical lovestruck 17-year-old, I concocted situations in my mind about how I would bewitch him, enough to fall for me!
About a week ago, my heart had fluttered for this boyish, bespectacled clown. He and his friend, Fred, had come to our house to finalize arrangements for Marili’s class party. He was a college freshman from Ateneo, the all-male private Jesuit University in Quezon City. At the time, I was a first-year college student at St. Theresa’s College, a convent school in Manila whose girls were known for being conservative and studious.
The author (standing, fourth from left) studied at St. Theresa’s College in Manila (Photo courtesy of Merle Lynn)
I was attracted to Eddie during that meeting. He wasn’t handsome or debonair. He was funny, and I liked guys with a sense of humor. He had me cracking with laughter with every remark he made during our conversation, making fun of the nuns in our school. When he found out that we were born in the same hospital, two days apart, his face lit up, and quickly spouted, “Right! I remember you—you were the nursery bawler … but I didn’t mind your lungs, I decided then that you were cute!”
When they left, Marili said she had a crush on Eddie. As she said that, I felt a challenge, and we both decided which of us could “ensnare” him first. For a week, I had orchestrated some schemes in my mind about how to charm him on the night of the dance. Will he ever have the time to leave his drums to dance with me? Or even just talk to me? What if he already had a girlfriend? Marili was prettier and taller … but I stuck to my guns and felt confident about my spunk --and maybe my brains? Giddy with excitement, I would fall asleep every night, figuring out scenarios for Friday night …
For the most part, the dance was uneventful. To my chagrin, it was Fred’s attention I unwittingly captured. This pest- turned-suitor was cooing with words of love and affection, which only aggravated my mood. I knew that if Eddie found out that Fred liked me, he would steer clear of Fred’s path in trying to win my feelings. Every time Fred tried to dance with me, I turned in the other direction, pretending to be busy with something. But when he finally succeeded in cornering me, I warned him under my breath,” By midnight, I will turn into a mean and ugly witch if you do not stay away from me! If Eddie chooses to ignore me because you have claimed my time so much, you will pay for it for the rest of your life!” Marili noticed my consternation and called our foolish bet off. None of us was striking first base anyway. I think she had her eye on another Atenean.
Ed (leftmost) was the object of the author’s “ensnarement” (Photo courtesy of Ronie Nieva)
The other band now took their turn as Eddie’s group took a break to have snacks. This time I made sure my presence was felt as I checked to see if every one of the band members had enough to eat and drink. Of course, I doted on Eddie (there’s that old saying, after all … “The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!”) Well, would you believe it? He took my bait! He came up to me in his characteristic banter, and chided me about his friend Fred “being on cloud nine” and about this other guy (Jun) who was presently courting me. (Usual pick-up lines!)
”I thought the thumping came from the base of the other band. I then realized it was the beating of my tell-tale heart!”
It wasn’t exactly an interesting conversation, but at least we were talking! Then he “borrowed” my high-school class ring and pretended to check the name engraved inside. “Aha! It says Jun!” insinuating that I was going steady with that other guy. I coyly tried to seize my ring back—but he held on tightly to it, and slipped it in his right pinky. My heart skipped a bit. The guy was flirting with me! “Hey, I protested, that is my ring!” though, inside, my heart clung to my throat in delightful fury. Have I attracted him yet? I looked away when his eyes eyed me playfully. Mistaking my silence for annoyance, he took my left hand, and with ceremonial jest, fitted my ring into my finger. “With this ring I thee wed!” I thought the thumping came from the base of the other band. I then realized it was the beating of my tell-tale heart! The guy was trying to be charming, and I was completely enthralled …
The momentary spell was broken only by the actual reverberation of electric guitars, as his band members beckoned him to take his place with his drums.
I was floating in the air, my heartstrings vibrating into a crescendo.
TGIF! I fell in love that night!
The author wishes to thank Dexjordi Lyle Sison for her assistance in the photos.
Nanette Carreon-Ruhter writes from Honolulu. An international educator, she has taught English Literature and Writing in Manila, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Singapore. She enjoys visiting her sons and grandchildren in Shanghai and Philadelphia.
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