Last Saturday, I had the chance to once reunite with my old high school friends. I actually had no idea that they had such a plan, and that it is not in my personality to go out on Saturday nights, I felt that I had to be there. Not that I don't want to see them but there have been cases that high school friends' gathering like those always attract the same set of people, me included.
Anyway, it is supposed to be our way of celebrating 10 years after finishing high school. Man, those were the days. Well, it may not be like those big city schools or like those we see in movies but we certainly had our share of fun. Much of our time is spent talking and mimicking our teachers, copying assignments from each other, cramming for journalism and drafting...and the list goes on.
There are also those crazy afternoons of our version of a bull session; we call it "open forum." I still remembered how everyone's mouth dropped during one session wherein a classmate of ours told everybody that she is no longer a virgin. I have not heard such moment of silence since kindergarten, mind you. Not that it matters nowadays but back then, and in the province, it meant everything. Or how we held back our tears when another classmate's parents decided to move to another part of the country therefore she has to transfer schools as well.
Another fond memory that I do not want to let go of was the time when we were all sent to the guidance counselor's office for questioning. That was a day after our graduation. There was this brouhaha during the deliberation for valedictorian and at some point, most of us felt that the most if not the entire faculty turned against us. We had nowhere to go to and we felt betrayed. Being the little rebels that we were back then, we used the graduation ceremony as a venue to air out our dreams and frustrations. No, we did not have banners or placards, we are far more classy than that. Our classmates instead gave out fiery speeches using their flair for grammar, diction and good choice of words to show the people and the school that we do not deserve their crap. [I can still remember my mom talking about it with her friends the day after]. The entire class stood as we applauded our friends for what they did. The next day, all of us were called to the guidance office. The threatened to revoke our certificates and not issue good moral references to anyone of us. Well, they failed. Ten years later, many of us have already gone to reach our dreams and our detractors, they're still there.
Our class is no ordinary section in the Philippine system of secondary education. Back then we were referred to as the special science section and that teachers have high expectations from us. Some liked as and even called us cream of the crop, others if not most loathed and despised us thinking that we are a bunch of airheads who think we are always better than the rest of the school. Come to think of it, I do not understand that concept anymore, but back then, it was cool to be different and accorded with respect or a treatment a notch slightly higher than the rest of the school. We were a tight group of people who alway looked at each other's backs. And I would like to believe that we still do.
Last Saturday, we saw each other again. Not to relive those moments but to catch up on each others' stories. There have been many gatherings and reunions in the past but not like this one. Last Saturday, although only nine of the original 47 classmates came, I saw for the first time how time flew by. We are grown ups now and have more or less established names for ourselves already. The best thing that night is that although we acknowledged how we have all matured, we were grown ups who are confident enough to be high school kids again. At least for just one night.
