HS Crushes, Mean Girls, and Recreating Malen's Logbook

*sinulat ni reta para sa narra yahoogroup, re-posted here without permission (and with minor editing of the details that are for Narras' eyes only hehe)


By now, everyone here has pretty much enjoyed the "dirt" that went around one rainy afternoon in Tanay. I mean a 100 or so email would be proof, right? Sixteen souls met that day, not quite the Sixty(?) we were accustomed with some 18 years ago. Then again, 16 people can always talk about the other 44---good stuff mostly with a dash of backstabbing every now and then :)

Ive been out sick since Sunday so I'm taking time now to write some stuff about what happened. As always, I'm not equipped to write short stuff so if you lack patience or is annoyed with my writing style, you can always read the 100 (and counting) emails posted by everybody else (pretty much choose your poison:).

The woman of the hour was Gem. Support came from Rydel and Don. The questions revolve around one singular theme--- your HS crush.

Some people gave honest answers, named names even if that person is actually in the group---what the heck, its been 18 years---some preferred the safe route, giving out names from other batches (would you believe, there is this so called gwapo batch), while some gave out safe answers. Curiously enough, one safe answer was Malen (probably because once in a young Narranians life, he has had a Malen episode so it's common place :). Still some chose not to answer (hiding behind the "Host" cloak, hehehe).

Lesson Learned: love remains magical 18 years later. While the heart has gathered dust and profusely bleeds for someone else, the HS crush has somehow saved a miniscule space, ready to erupt once triggered by fleeting but lasting memory. I guess it's like losing your virginity, the first thrust is always the most painful that's why you never forget:). And while some chose to remain quiet and pretend to be oblivious to what's going on, everyone present was able to connect the dots and come to their own conclusions. Postscript: Rydel is the ultimate hunk. Forget the Jeje's, the Arvin's, and the Percival's of this world---Rydel is the real deal (just ask the classmates:)

Another hot topic was the inter-class romance and then there were the this and that relationship. Unfortunately, none of these relationship moved beyond the gf-bf stage. There were "accusations" hurled here and there but the mood was jovial so it appeared more as fun than vengeful statements. I guess romance does move beyond HS quarters.

Lesson Learned: Love hurts but love heals. some of these failed romances ended as good friendship (or at least some of them are in speaking terms). Oh, please make sure to at least plant one kiss before the relationship ends so that the ex can't use this as a bullet when firing her gun (I'm not sure though if that was accurate, i think our friend was able to plant even one, guess she was just chiding him :)

Now comes "The Mean Girls", a.k.a. the popular people. Year after year, this has been passed from one Narra generation to another. In 89, there was the Cheryl led mean girls. 1990 marked the reign of the Cecilia and Barbara version. Two years later, we passed it to the TWIKS. Ours was undeniably the best. These people are pretty, popular, and often times "te-arts" girls. You have the Cardona girls, the Morong girls, the Binangonan girls, the Tanay girls but there can only be one Mean Girls group.

Lesson Learned: Mean Girls is just another label we learned from watching all those growing up movies (apparently, Bagets was just a fashion statement). Seriously, social "factions" are a fact of life. Without you knowing it and if you will just allow your life to flow as it is, you will fall into one or several categories. Mean Girls, Geeks, Outcast, Hunks, Jocks etc. For me it's all cool, anyway, it's just a label. Shitty things only happen if you allow them to happen and there is no way in hell that labels have something to do with what you will be in the future.

The infamous logbook is dead according to the owner, completely converted to carbon dioxide and water (assuming complete combustion:) plus some ash. Every now and then, we see posts trying to recall the contents. There were poems, love messages and what-have-yous. We all speculate about what it contains but without the hardcopy, everything is so f'ing debatable. I mean just who the hell is someone # 1, #2, and #3 for crying out loud?

The damn book is dead. It can never be recreated. Part of our history died but I guess some of it were really meant to be forgotten. Time machines aren't in vogue yet so for now, let's just be satisfied with whatever memory we have of our entries (or entries about us written by other people).

Lesson Learned: The mystery (and fun) lies with what you don't know (or what you cant remember). The loss of the logbook will forever maintain the mysteries of our high school life and will continue to fuel many interesting topics in future gatherings. Maybe its all for the better.

As a final note, its always a happy event everytime we meet up. Doesn't really matter if its two or 60. And while we have come to grips with the fact that we can never be whole again (a near impossibility i suppose), i reckon that in our hearts, there's always a special place for Narra.

Till next year:)

your friend for a lifetime,
reta