Year 2009, the year after I graduated college. I was working as the assistant to the Barangay Secretary back then. Growing up, I never had a social life. I had some friends but it wasn't in our vocabulary to party. I'm not saying I was a saint though because I did have my drunken moments back in college days. I was also not the likable type. I never had a real suitor (the bring-me-to-dates kind), so I never really knew what real relationships were like back then.
On the summer of 2009, everything changed. I got so hooked up to this chat platform called MIRC and met two guys. The other one (let's call him Manny) was just a random guy I exchanged texts with when I got bored. The other one (let's call him Josh) became my first boyfriend. We first exchanged text messages and later stepped up the relationship ladder from being friends to dating. Josh and I dated for a month but I found out that he made me a mistress without me knowing. I just learned from a text message from his mom that his common law wife was looking for him. What was worse was that they had a baby on the way. That was such a huge bomb for me to take. However, despite everything that happened, I was still thankful because I learned a few lessons from that short lived relationship. I learned what my limitations were in terms of dating. I learned up to what extent I could tolerate. Most of all, I learned that my intuition was sharp and working (I actually had a hunch at the beginning of the relationship that he was bad news which turned out to be correct).
After the great revelation, Manny (the other random guy) sent me an invite to join this new trend called "text clan". I had absolutely no clue at first but since I was still fresh from a breakup and needed a diversion, I indulged. It turned out to be a fun way of meeting random people from my city, mostly teens. A clan was a group made up of teens who were sending group messages to one another and every once a week would have to meet (which they labeled "eye-ball").
On my first week, I didn't join the "eye-ball" because I barely knew anyone in the clan and I was actually the shy type. On my second week as a clan member, there was a newbie named McJeff. As the clan's SOP, I sent him a welcome text. We exchanged get-to-know-you texts after. Then came the weekend, time for the weekly eye-ball. I had to attend it or else I would get kicked out of the clan. So I asked a friend to accompany me to the clan's meeting place. I had difficulty locating the meeting place so the founder picked us up at my old University's entrance. When I saw her, she wasn't alone. She was with a guy. She introduced herself then she introduced the guy she was with. The guy was (you guessed right) McJeff.
So that was the very first time I met my husband2be. It was a very unconventional way to meet my h2b. Anyway, we met again a week after at the clan's co-founder's house. I just went there to give my contribution for the clan's planned beach outing on the 10th of May. By that time, McJeff and I were already getting close. We were exchanging text messages every now and then about the going-ons in our lives. However, McJeff was very shy. In fact, during that day at the co-founder's house, I was teasing him about something he shared to me and tried my best to engage him in a conversation, but he merely smiled at me. (I guess he was so mesmerized by my beauty that he couldn't utter a word in response. LOL).
The next time I saw him was at the beach a week after. I came late because I had to tell my mom lots of made-up story just so I could get out of the house. The funny thing was, during that time I was in a "mutual understanding" with another clan member (he was courting me that time and I somehow had mixed feelings for him). The actual reason I went to the beach was to meet that guy I had "MU" with. So, I really didn't give that much attention to McJeff at that time since I was still entertaining someone else. However, since I was already getting friendly with McJeff I was comfortable teasing him which he returned with huge grins and smiles.
After the beach outing, the 2 clan founders declared to dissolve the clan because they were busy with important life matters. The members left the group and the clan was closed. Even the "MU" guy stopped texting. However, there were still some group messages received once in a while from the members who didn't give up. Also, the friendships that were established during the duration of the clan was still intact.
McJeff and I maintained our communication lines open. We even became more close after the clan closed down. We messaged each other everyday. That was the time that I was beginning to feel something for him. I wasn't exactly sure what it was at first. I just really enjoyed texting him everyday. I would miss him if I didn't get a text from him and my smile would grow wide when I did. The next thing I knew, I already liked him very much. The funny thing was, I also felt like he was giving cautions to the wind. I felt like he was giving hints that he liked me too. We just really didn't get to clarify our feelings for each other because we were both too shy to put things out in the open.
A month passed since the closing down of the clan, I got super bored. I had no work that day because it was our country's Independence Day. It was a Friday and I wanted so much to go out and hangout some place else but home. So I sent McJeff a text saying I wanted to hangout at his place and he agreed. Honestly, I almost forgot how he looked like so I was pretty nervous. Plus the fact that I hadn't been anywhere near his neighborhood for years, I wasn't familiar with the place. I was afraid I'd get lost and drop off at the wrong stop.
After almost an hour ride, I finally arrived at our meeting place. We went to his house and that was where we put all our cards on the table and got honest with each other. While the rest of the Filipinos were commemorating the country's freedom, McJeff and I celebrated a different kind of freedom. The freedom of our feelings for each other.
And the rest, as they say, was history!
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