( Clockwise staring from top left: Me, Glady, Jeane and Nyx)

We were the foursome in highschool. We were in different sections but we'd always hang out during recess, lunch and dismissal. We were one group in a larger group of friends. My highschool barkada had barkadas within the barkada as we were composed of girls from the Junior Year, guys from the Senior Year and younger girls from the Sophomore Year. In my high school, we were the only barkada with members from different levels. But these girls, these girls were the ones I hung out with. They are my bestfriends.

We all had partners. Glady and I loved to read books. Jeane and Nyx were seriously in love with pre- weirdo Michael Jackson. Nyx and I were the fashionistas of the group. Glady and Jeane were the brains. Nyx and I were the ones who walked fast while the other two were slow. That's why Nyx and I always walked together. We'd always walk infront of Jeane and Glady and when we'd look back to see where they are, we'd stop and wait for them to catch up. Then, we'd continue walking. The whole routine repeats until we get to our destination. Nyx and Jeane were the sociable ones with all their after school/ organization activities while Glady and I prefer to just hang out. Glady lived in Australia and Nyx is Australian (though, I think, born in the Philippines to a Filipina mother and Australian father). Glady and Jeane are more soft spoken while Nyx and I were the ones who would stand up for ourselves, and sometimes for Glady and Jeane. There were many things where each one of us were partners and had things in common.

In Senior year, Nyx decided not to finish high school and migrate to Australia with her father. She'd come during Christmas but we only get to see her once or twice during her two week stay. Before coming home this year, we haven't spoken to her in months!

We managed to meet up with her the night before leaving for Australia. It was amazing because it was as if she never left. We just picked up from where we left off two years ago when we last saw her. We had dinner at Blue Ginger, A and my new favorite restaurant, had dessert at Cheesecake Etc and drinks in Absinth where we bonded over the "I Never" game. We started at 9pm and ended at 3am. Fun is an understatement to describe the night.

PS. Nyx is currently taking law school. Aside from law school, she's got 4 jobs. Her regular job at the court, waitressing on weekends and I forgot the other two. She would have had 5 jobs but the 5th job laid her off because the company was closing down. Can you imagine being in law school and handling 5 jobs?! It's insane! We could barely manage 1 job. It's not because she works to let ends meet. She just wants to be productive. It really amazes me how people can manage their time like that.