Time Travel Shit Prologue

September 14, 2019

“Excuse me.” I said as I squeezed through a large crowd of people milling about in the center of the large reception hall. The women were dressed in long yellow dresses of varying designs while the men wore barong tagalogs. Such was the preferred dress code of the pair from which this celebration was accredited to; a celebration of love and life-long commitment.

It took me a while to get to my destination as I slowly wove through the gathered crowd of invitees, surprised at how many people the celebrants were able to invite and how big the venue they were able to reserve was considering how expensive weddings can get in this day and age. It just goes to show how far the two were willing to go to make their newest milestone a truly memorable experience. Personally, I don’t care much for marriage, but I’m happy nevertheless for the two celebrants—of which one was a very close friend of mine.

Bruno Mars’ Rest of my Life played softly on the speakers. I smiled in amusement, remembering how my friend showed me a video he made of his girlfriend for their anniversary years before. He used the same song as the background music for that video. Perhaps that song held so much sentimental value that he decided to recycle it for his wedding reception.

A few more steps and I finally arrived to where I was planning on going: the center table where the bride and groom were supposed to be seated—except only the groom was there, chatting with his relatives while the bride was nowhere to be found. As soon as the conversation was over, I approached to congratulate the groom.

“Hey congrats, bro,” I said to him.

Brendan Uyguanco chuckled heartily. A wide smile appeared on his face, and I could see it was a genuine one. Who would’ve thought I’d be a witness to one of his most historic moments in life now that he’s married?

Brendan and I, we’ve been close friends ever since we met on the first day of fourth year high school. We’ve been through so many together: from lamenting broken hearts to celebrating birthdays. We’ve known each others deepest, darkest secrets. Though we may not always get to hang out together, our friendship endured.

The bride, Dianne, finally arrived and approached the two of us, clad in her pearly white wedding dress that trailed behind her as she walked and a glass of red wine in each hand. She handed both to Brendan and me with a smile.

“Well, well. Hello Mrs. Uyguanco.” I said. Dianne laughed in amusement.

“Maybe if you talked to girls, you’d have your own Mrs. Ubanan by now,” she teased.

The three of us laughed. “Hoy, walang personalan. That will come in time, don’t worry.”

I might have said that, but Dianne still had a point. Deep in my heart, I have always wanted to have a girlfriend. Unfortunately, I’ve never been successful. Technically though, I had one but it was more of a puppy love kind of relationship. I was immature back then and so was my view on love and relationships.

Now that I’m more mature (or at least, I believe I am), I can’t seem to get anyone interested romantically in me anymore. I mean, it gets me so frustrated because the moment my crushes know I like them, they start distancing themselves and acting like we’ve never been friends in the first place. It’s immature and annoying. Perhaps I had forgotten how to court someone too, who knows. Perhaps this generation’s dating practices just doesn’t agree with me.

I would almost consider myself as desperate, although not so much as to do something about it. In the end, it was my laziness and lack of motivation that was holding me back.

“Maybe if you stopped thinking about Justine and went with us to night parties, you’d finally get a girlfriend,” Brendan said. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time but you always decline because it’s late and ‘my mom will get mad’.”

Brendan said the last five words in a mocking tone and I laughed. Brendan was right and yet, his proposition wasn’t an easy one to accomplish. You know what they say: “First love never dies”. I’ve been like this for nine years. Who knows how much longer my feelings for her endures? I can be quite stubborn sometimes, if not obsessive.

“Hey, man, I get what you mean, but a part of me wants to give myself a break from all this romance bullshit and continue working on myself.” I told Brendan.

“Hey, that’s great. I understand. That’s a good thing to think about. I hope you really do work on yourself. You’ll find one someday, okay? Don’t worry about that. Hell, maybe that someone’s here, who knows?” Brendan said.

“Anyway, there’s this vintage photo booth I’d like you to see. Why don’t we check it out?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, why not?”

As Brendan was leading me towards the photo booth, Dianne’s parents called the both of them over to talk with some family friends. Left alone, I decided to check on the photo booth myself. I felt a little dejected when Brendan walked away. Despite them inviting me over to their wedding, I still feel sad that Brendan and I don’t get to hang out anymore like we used to back in school. Adulting caught up to him first while I’m still here trying my damnedest to run from it.

The photo booth seemed out of place as it sat at the corner of the large room, it’s dark brown finish contrasting with the white decor of the hall. No one seemed to be interested with it for the meantime.

I brushed away the curtain and peered inside. The blue-dyed leather seat was wide enough for two people to squeeze in. The coin slot was sat below the image of an angelic figure engraved on weathered metal. A foot above it was the camera.

I sat on the seat and pulled the curtains close. The tight space was illuminated by four light bulbs bolted to the four corners of the booth.

₱20 for 4 shots.

I inserted a 20-peso bill in the slot and waited as the machine swallowed the paper bill. The lights dimmed and I smiled, after which there was a snap, followed immediately by a flash. The angel engraving above the coin slot glowed softly. I tried to tilt my head in a different angle but I suddenly found myself getting sleepier for some reason. By the time the last shot was taken, I had somehow fallen asleep, a dull pain tugging at the back of my head.