Batch 04-05

I’m left here holding nothing but my memories and I don’t know if my memories are true. – Ally McBeal

Call me ungrateful or anything close to that but I never really returned to my high school after my graduation. Hell, my last day there was on the day of our graduation, and I never came back. I have always thought some of the things that happened to me there—especially during my senior year—had hurt me so much beyond repair that I never wanted to come back.

There was a point in time when I don’t remember anything about my last two years in high school, just the prom and the graduation. Nothing else in between. Every time a batch mate would message me and tell me something that he or she missed back in high school, I simply just couldn’t share the sentiment for I couldn’t remember both the feeling and the memory itself, and I hated myself for that. I cried myself to sleep for countless of nights during my first two years in college for I simply just couldn’t remember; I wanted to come back but I’m scared of what coming back would do to me.

And for some weird reason I felt the urge of writing something about the batch that took me in (I was a transferee), about the batch that made high school a bit more exciting and happy—and I wanted to tell them that no matter what, I wouldn’t want to have it otherwise.

I used to remember my first day in my new school as the day when I saw two of the most gorgeous guys ever in my life (that was before I met basketball and the players): Kevin and Caloy (not Caloy-college, okay? For clarity’s sake, I’d call Caloy-high school “Gian”). Kevin has the most wonderful smile, the killer smile, that Close Up smile. Gian was the soft-spoken guy who had girls woo over him for he was simply that: the perfect gentleman and the nicest guy, pero nasa loob ang kulo. Gian and Kev were part of these barkada (Most of them heartthrobs, class clowns, mga pasaway, and all that. Very nice blend, if you ask me.) that was most influential, and they had a girl-group counterpart that is equally flashy, beautiful and influential.

I was never a part of that group, but I’d like to think that I was at one point in time. Bianca and Leah (a.k.a. Meh) are the most fabulous girls that I’ve ever met, and I’ve always wished I had gotten close to them earlier. But of course we moved in different social circles, and I was more of a part of a floating barkada—either that or we had a barkada of our own. I never really got to know that. But if there is Jesy, you’d better be sure I’m there as well. She was my best friend, the same best friend I pushed away when he hurt me (see Three Days Ago)—or should I say, I hurt myself with him?

Koko, Anjelyn, Gia, Marian, Tasha, Lea, Lyn, Maita, Ellaine, Shylla, Rowel, Rachelle, Rhea, Avonne, Grace, Mica, Amanda, and Ed—one full house group. Lotsa fun and lotsa talk in this one. Missed them lots.

JD, Doc, Bry, Nero, Gian, Vince, John, Robbi (my promdate), Kevin, Tolits, Migs, Kitoy, Amboy, Nikko, Aron, Kester, Daniel, Erico, Christian and Jelo—collectively known as “Okokx.” There is one weird etymology to that word, and from what I know, it was derived from the sound of drinking beer, the ulk ulk sound you hear when you gulp down anything liquid. They loved to drink from what I know, and judging from the video JD or Nikko made in their very own Friendster account, their sponsor is Red Horse and Marlboro Red.

And then another boy group: Justin, Magalong, Ronnie, Owen, DJ, Hurgo, Jose Ong, JM, Jasper, Joey (ex-Okokx), AJ, Nowen, Nowie, Ian, Andren, Bonix, Ellison, Kenji, Victor and Sytu—most of the dudes in this group are either Senior Boy Scouts and math geniuses or just plainly genius. They’re the ones who usually stay behind in the classrooms to play chess while Okokx guys go down and eat their hearts out or go girl watching (If they are girls to watch. From what I remember, the only students who have lunch breaks at our slot were just us.) or make tambay outside the room playing a plethora of Parokya ni Edgar songs.

The Okokx girl counterpart group (they don’t drink and smoke like these guys do, they’re just one of the major groups in the batch): Bianca, Meh, G, DA, Bei, Pau, Khat, Tat, Dhi, Karen, Joyee, Karess, Nicka, Issa, Tasha, Tsarm.

And then there’s me and Jesy. We’re more like the floaters. We could go with either barkada, Koko’s or Bianca’s. Call us flexible.

In every batch there is an outcast. And in ours, it’s Daphne.

And then there are those in our batch that went away: Ruth, Andren and Aiko.

I hope I mentioned all 78 in our batch (not including the ones that “went away”—to the States mostly).

Missed them.

Dude, kelan ang reunion?

Swimming!