She was glancing at me sideways with her eyes almost covered by her newly rebonded bangs but looked away before I caught it. She then took out her fancy notebook from her even fancier bag and tore out a piece of paper. She wrote something on the scrap and slid it to my desk.
I tried catching her eyes again but as always for the past two weeks since we returned from the Christmas vacation she wouldn't look at me. Ing-ana jud siguro nang bag-ong rebond no, maglisod ug lingi.
I picked up the folded paper and the smooth texture grazed my small and innocent hand. I held it to my eyes and read the loopy note written to it. It said, "I will break our promise." I looked at it one more time, trying to digest the word but I couldn't understand it. I looked at her and said, "Wa ko kasabot."
Finally, after weeks of avoiding it, she met my eyes and seriously said, "Diba nag promise ta nga di mag uyab-uyab hantod mahuman ug college, i break nako. Sugton na nako si Georgie."
Staring at her pale face and pink lips, I didn't understand what she was talking about. I didn't remember promising anything to anyone. So, I thought back to last year and recounted moments in the front yard of our school where we usually did our chismis sesh, and after a minute that felt like an eternity, I finally got it.
Flashback to the start of our 2nd year in high school, we informally promised each other not to have a boyfriend until we graduated from college. And I mean with we, was she, our other friend and I. We did it unceremoniously after she shared that her Mom wanted her to do so, or else, she would be dragged around using their red multi-cab, or worse ihikot daw sya's ilang 'Sambag' unya paasuhan.
I wasn't serious when I made that pact with them. I didn't even remember it until she passed that note. So, I said, "Okay ra uy."
But when I went home that night, I thought about what happened while watching the moon that I claimed my own. I had a silent conversation with God and innocently promised Him the promise I made with those friends saying "The two of them would break the vow, but I'm deciding now that I won't. I wasn't serious when I did it with them but I'm serious now. I know this promise is strong because it's between you and me. Remember, you said you are almighty."
Spoiler: My friend and Georgie only lasted for over a year. The relationship that started with two buds of red roses picked from the school garden ended in a two-paged break-up letter.
Meanwhile, after 7 years, I fulfilled THE VOW not with my friends but with the Almighty one. Proving that He is really as mighty as He claimed to be when I was just a naive 13-year-old girl.
At the age of 20, after keeping the promise perfectly, I made a new one. This time with no moon I claimed my own but with a simple secondhand-golden ring on my finger.
This time I'm fully aware of what I'm committing to. It's not made because someone broke the original promise but because of His promise.
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