"Uh… okay," I nodded, "but we have to squeeze together. The bedding's too narrow." My head started spinning. How are we supposed to fit in here? At least Deli was thin, but me?

"Thank you so much! I'll get my pillow-," she said. The problem was there's no pillow.

"Uhm… ehe"

"…" I stared at her and fought my brow from twitching, "Fine. But don't complain about not having enough space."

"Never!"

…

We decided to sleep with our backs together. It was a bit uncomfortable because I couldn't toss and turn as I usually do back home.

It was an hour after lights out, but I could hear the girls talking and giggling. Some even had their flashlights out while some of them were singing.

"Can't sleep?" Deli asked.

"Yeah," I answered. Then, I felt her turn to my back.

"Let's talk then. How about it? Namamahay ata tayo," she laughed.

I turned to her. Our faces too close, but not enough to feel her breath on mine. "So, what now?"

"Uhm… why did you want to study here?" she asked.

"It was the nearest science high school. I wasn't able to take an exam at Pisay." Philippine Science High School. It was a dream of mine to study there. Not that I loved science, but I always felt I had to prove I was smart to an invisible crowd.

"Wow… Pisay," she whistled.

"How about you? Why didn't you go to Roque NHS?"

There was a long pause. I started getting nervous, her eyes were shut. Did I overstep? "Although Roque has the best volleyball team, I just…" she said, "well my mom… wanted me to become an engineer. So, here I am," she sighed and looked at me. I would never the look in her face as though she had fought a battle she knew she would never win. She smiled. "There's a saying that artists are the kids who survived. I believe athletes are too."

"Ohh…" I didn't know how to respond.

"Enough about me," she laughed it off, "how are you holding up in Ma'am Caliope's class? I know more about her pet dog, her neighbors, and how she gave birth to three kids than history."

"Oh god… you won't believe…"

We didn't stop telling stories, gossip, and sometimes class lectures. I even taught her a bit for the English exam while she explained in detail how to get into Ma'am Ria's good side. Everyone knew that our grades were on a roulette. Lucky is the person who even gets 94.

We talked.

We laughed.

We sang.

And when we saw the lightening sky from the windows, she started humming an old song I heard from the Sunday radio. 

"Aren't we going to sleep? There's an hour left," I told her.

She didn't answer.

…

My head rang as we trudged downstairs to the court. I did not know how we survived morning exercise and having breakfast in the crowded room. After eating, we were herded back to the covered court to listen to a bunch of guest speakers. What the heck is this for? A lecture?

The groups had to line up and sit down on the cemented gym court. Deli and I sat at the back to get a bit of sleep. I could stay awake better than her, so she sat behind me. Deli used my back to lean on and slept. It was already the second speaker when I started to nod off when one of the faci woke us up.

"Hey! Listen to the speakers. Eyes to the front." they yelled. I mumbled a sorry, but immediately went back to nodding off. I felt I was forgetting something important.

Fuck! After these hellish talks, was the math relay, and our team's ace was passed out on my shoulder.

"Deli. Deli. Deli," I poked her head, "Wake up, you still have a contest to compete." We were second to the last place. If we hadn't won the quiz bee, we would be certainly rock bottom on the scoreboard. I wasn't particularly worried about getting last place before, but I remembered the girls were gossiping last night that there was a punishment for the losing team.

"Mn. I know, I know," she yawned and rubbed her cheek on my shoulder, "Dun worry… We're going to win… Sure of it… mnnn."

I only hope.

Translation Notes

Namamahay - There's no direct translation to explain it in this context. Namamahay is when you are in a new environment that is not your home and your body is somewhat subconsciously uncomfortable. The best example is when you are at your friend's home and you badly need to take a dump. But when you do get to the toilet, it's not coming out. Here, Julie and Deli can't sleep in a place that's not their beds. 

ata - maybe

tayo - us