ten years ago........

ten years ago.... at seventeen, i was on the verge of starting a new life in manila. i said goodbye to highschool (it was such a bittersweet moment, saying goodbye to CHST, the nuns & teachers, the corridors & ramps where we usually hang-out, the green  cafeteria table which we called ours since junior year, no more exchanging money for chits and standing in line just to buy a ham sandwich, no more waking up at 4a.m., no more school bus, no more catered lunches the menu never changes all  year long!) and hello to college life! here i come...CARPE DIEM!!!

living in manila with the sibs (without the parents) was so world's apart from my earlier sixteen years of existence. suddenly i was free to go where ever i wanted to, i could sleep late reading books (no more flashlight under the blanket), the allowance also soared because i had to eat out during lunch break and take care of random school fees, i met new friends, classes would start at 1pm and would usually end at 9pm, and in between those times, i had ample time to discover metro manila. the only thing that was not different, aside from the fact that i went to a catholic university and had to wear a uniform, was my higschool friends (the bitches suicides). we were all there...witnesses to a vow, like a mantra we told ourselves more than we recited our hail mary's, that we would go on to college, and make a difference.

we started out as a group when we were just thirteen, random freshmen meeting in various classrooms, it was the love of books and movies that bonded us all. some of us were never even classmates during our four year high school life, but still there was that thin thread that connected us to eachother. and ten years, later we are still together.

so where are we now? some are single, some engaged, some with plus one but still reading and watching together.

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