So I was on the jeepney on the way home this morning when I found myself sitting beside three high school girls, and someone's younger sister, from a nearby public school. One girl, with long lashes and pretty doe eyes, is gabbing away about boys -- about 4 or 5 of them, I can't keep up with the names, "Si Elmo, cute naman si Elmo ah!" "Sasama yun sina Richard, atsaka si Bien!" -- and her crush, Joseph.
She's sitting beside her plain-looking friend (these pretty girls, they're always sitting beside their plain-looking friends), who is also yapping away about how she (Plain Jane) told Joseph that Doe Eyes has a crush on him.
"Ano sabi mo?" asks Doe Eyes.
"Basta sabi ko six letters, sabi nya sino na nga, sabi ko basta ganun, tapos ang kulit e di sinabi ko na lang," says Plain Jane.
"Ano sabi nya? Baka naman di na nya ako pansinin," Doe Eyes shrieks into the full jeepney. "Basta sabi ko parang wala lang, parang di nya alam, ganun."
"Basta ha, parang walang nagbago dapat," Doe Eyes is beside herself in glee.
She is obviously the pivot point of this little group.
She looks at the younger sister, "Charlotte (this is the first time I have actually heard of a Filipina having the name Charlotte) ha! Baka naman bukas alam na yan ng buong bayan!" Charlotte (or maybe Sharlot) giggles.
She then proceeds to tell them about how nice Joseph is to her, "Di ba narinig mo naman kanina," she prods the third girl, the one who hasn't spoken a word yet, "Nung nanghiram ako ng bolpen sabi niya, 'Eto o gamitin mo', ang bait bait, lagi ako pinapansin."
And then something amazing happens: third girl, let's call her The Quiet One, looks wistfully down the corridor of the jeepney, out into the world. I recognize the look instantly: she's in love with Joseph, whoever he is. Probably the school jock. She mumbles something in agreement with Doe Eyes on the fine qualities of this Joseph person, and then she looks away, out, far from the egoistic ramblings, the subtle assurance of her homeliness, the heartbreak, and I know that look, I've seen it a million times, about 80% of those when I was in high school myself. Sometimes I was Doe Eyes, sometimes Plain Jane, but more often than not, I was the looker myself, I was The Quiet One.
And I recognize how much that stings, how cruel it always is; you're always friends with the pretty girl who gets all the boys. Even though you're much more intelligent, or much more fun in terms of conversation. And the Josephs never see you, and the Doe Eyes always make it hurt a little more by getting you to agree that the Josephs are cute and sweet as hell.
But it's not Doe Eyes' fault; you can't chastize her for not being sensitive enough, or just for being unbelievably dense. I too have been lost in clouds of my own making because of a borrowed pen, or the way my crush said hi to me that day. Once I found a chewed-down pencil in Physics class with my name on it (my name!) and that was enough to get me on a high for weeks. When I found out who "accidentally" left it behind, I was even more elated; he later became a boyfriend.
Having a crush was much more fun during high school; and now that it's been a decade, I find myself regressing back to the days when a smile was a smile, and it was good. College and the few years after were the times when inhibition was the trend, and misinterpretation was more the norm than the aberration, given that a smile could be interpreted in any number of ways, most of them unpleasant. Now that I have been in a stable relationship for a few years, when I see someone attractive I don't feel the urge to assert myself, but if he smiles, I smile, and it's all good. And that's it, end of story.
I guess the moral of my story is that high school never changes; there will always be Doe Eyes, and Plain Janes, and The Quiet Ones, and Josephs. And they will always have roles to play. And then everyone graduates and grows up and becomes a little cynical, and then decides to let it all play out as it should, because in the end that's how things work, and everything works out for the best.
from peyups.com titled High School Never Changes
come to think of it, most of us (if not all of us) have gone through this stage. im not bragging but back in my high school days, i can say that i am the DOE EYES, im one of the glamour boys of our school then. somehow there was also regret on my part eventhough im one of the popular personalities in school. I was not recognized with what i know but with how i look. im just an average kid when it comes to academics. anyways, bottomline is i had so much fun when i was in high school. :)
parang nung high school pag nagmahal ka totoong totoo, parang sya na ang buhay mo at damang dama mo pag magkasama kayo, magkahawak kamay, kakain ng sabay....tapos nun pag tumuntong ng college at nagsisimula ng magka idea sa sex, the overflowing love you once shared with your gf will soon transform into lust....right after the first time you did it, the love is now lost forever. eventually it will become confusing, if the feeling you have for your significant other is actually love or lust.
