Resolutions

Here I am starting the new with stories of old. 

"I've never been married, never lived with anyone, am not dating as of now, and am glad I never married any of the men I dated," I said. 

With that, I swatted away numerous questions about my personal life, and we proceeded with more important updates.

I haven't been with any of my high school classmates since we graduated, save for a few accidental meet ups with a few over the past decades.

Gina is still small, as I remembered her. She sat a few seats away from me by virtue of our surnames. Hers is Felix, mine starts with a J.

"I remember you wanting to be in UP," says Lorena. I told her the only school I knew in high school was UP.  She was the most eager to see me, mostly because she sees my name in television shows when credits roll. 

"I've been married twice, the first one was a horrible eight-year stint. He spent my money cavorting with several women before I ended it when I got home from working abroad. I'm happy now," says Diane, who turned heads (and something else, pants down), when we were young.

"You've gained weight," says RJ, and proceeded to flirt with me after our quiet lunch at their house where her wife graciously served us food and drinks. I gave his wife lessons on what she should do if RJ fools around. He does, and the wife has grown indifferent to his philandering ways.

I failed to join our reunion on the 29th because I had to work. I spent Christmas and New Year's eve in a resort nearby with a friend's family. On New Year's day, I decided to drive a bit farther up north to meet up with them. 

We traded stories about other classmates. One particular story saddened me.

There was one good-looking jerk I had a bit of a crush on when we were in our junior year. Ferdie was our CAT commander, and he was every bit of an asshole. Good-looking, but an asshole just the same. Because of him, we had a tough time hanging on during initiation afternoons as he let loose his cabal of jerks on us, wannabe officers.

It involved lots of chili and other heinous barked commands inside a dirty toilet, not to mention the usual barbaric punishments done in public view.

Ferdie tried chasing Diane, and she promptly dropped him when she heard he was also after Jinky, and then Pia, and then...you get the drift.

Despite his faults, I thought Ferdie would make something grand of himself. His family is not impoverished like mine, and one of his brothers is a priest.

I looked Ferdie up via FB when I got home. He's barely recognizable. Gone are the things that made me think he'd be upwardly mobile; the gravitas, the charm, the confidence. 


Potentials like these are lost when one flirts with chemicals...and loses.