HONEY

Ring ring!! My phone chirped loudly inside my pocket one fine morning. I hastily open the message and was surprised with what I read.

*Honey, sorry na! Asan ka ba?*

Huh? That’s weird. I’m single and my name is not Honey, another prankster alert. Oh well, I’ll just ignore that one. I’m already late for school and we’ll be having a quiz later.

I skipped breakfast and launched my way to school. As usual I was late but I was able to be on time for the quiz, sad to say I flunked again.

Then in the middle of our laboratory class my phone vibrated again. Okay, this is unusual. I don’t receive text messages this often and this early. Maybe this is an emergency from someone. Then I took my phone from my bag and read the message from an unknown sender.

*Honey, asan ka ba? Sorry na, alam kong may mali ako ikaw rin naman eh*

I’m already pissed at that moment.

This is awkward. I’m not in the mood to reply to this message. And I’m a guy! What the hell does this Honey-obsessed-lover want from me? Okay, this is just a message sent to the wrong guy. I’ll disregard this again.

And after that, I pressed the delete button and ignored the message again.

MESSAGE DELETED

I tried refocusing my self to the experiment given at hand to us. But still I’m very pissed that morning.

Evening when I arrived home my phone vibrated again, this time the Honey-obsessed-lover guy is trying to reach me through a call. I ended the phone call abruptly thinking “Let’s see to that. We’ll see who the prankster is now!”

Because I needed to wake up as early as I can, I always set my cellphone alarm at 4:00am to make way for my daily schedule. I’m a morning person, just so you know.

I prepared for a shut-eye and easily forgotten the infuriating call I got from Honey’s lover. “Oh well, another lovey-dovey quarrel. Maybe the guy on the other line is not a prankster at all, and he’s just depressed with their fight. As far as I’m concern, I’m just an innocent receiver of the weird message.” I tried convincing myself before hitting the sack.

And I fell asleep.

An hour passed and I found myself looking for my cellphone. It’s too early! Why is my alarm buzzing? Half awake, I felt a bulk of solid and recognize it as my phone. “Damn that Honey’s lover!”I almost shouted. Why is he still calling past midnight? The hell with that! So I decided to accept the call but didn’t answer it.

On the other line the guy was already sobbing as he tries to calm his self as he spoke these words.  

“Honey please, alam kong may mali ako at ako’y nagsisisi. Puwede naman nating kalimutan ang mga iyon eh. Magsimula tayo, nahihirapan na ako. Kung alam mo lang hindi ako makatulog dahil hindi pa tayo magkaayos. Honey, alam kong naririnig mo ako. Ano pa ba ang gagawin ko para mapatawad mo ako? Ano? Magpasagasa? Gagawin ko iyon basta mapatawad mo lang ako.”

I decided to answer the guy but before the words came out of my mouth, the other line went dead.

Click!

Okay, I’m already sleep-deprived, maybe this guy will stop now. And I doze effortlessly and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

“That’s my alarm already… but the call previously really made my eyes puffy. I need to get up and get going! It’s going to be a great day!” I started and went on with my morning rituals. But before making my bed one thing caught my attention. My inbox told me I have 20 missed calls and 30 new messages. And I was totally caught off guard from whom the caller and the sender was–the Honey guy.

 All the messages read like this:

*Honey, magpapakamatay ako! Wala ng saysay ang buhay ko dahil wala ka na! Akala ko mapapatawad mo ako at magiging maayos na ang lahat. Honey… sagutin mo na ang mga tawag ko. Honey, please.*

Yup, all 30 of it.

I can’t believe it. This guy is lunatic! This is madness! I tried calming myself. This is just a prank caller who wants to bother someone, probably me. He already has bothered my serenity and I’m not allowing him to just ruin my patience.

Ignore! Ignore! Ignore!

I decided not to attend my physics class with Ms. Gonzales that morning. After taking a bath, I’ve overslept and woke up late. My mom was already preparing my lunch when I got out from my room. I noticed that a flash report was airing, with headline: Sophomore student shots his girlfriend then his self.

I stood there shocked. “No this ain’t happening. It’s a coincidence I guess–just coincidence.

The anchorman with his monotonous tone didn’t do anything to calm me. “Dead on arrival ang isang high school student na pinangalanang si Daniel M. delos Reyes matapos magpakamatay nang barilin niya ang kanyang nobyang si Honey D. Mendoza sa tapat ng kanilang eskwelahan sa may Sampaloc Maynila. Sinasabing ang pinagugatan ng away ng magnobyo ay dahil sa selos. Tinangkang ayusin ni Daniel ang problema ngunit sa di inaasahang pangyayari ay napatay niya ang kanyang nobya."

Everything fits now, from the weird text messages and the calls... and HONEY.

And then everything went blurry…