Tripper

We were four in the table. I was seated near the windows, while next to me sat master Centurion. Across our chair, just beyond the blue plastic buckets where the now empty bottles of San Mig Light were once placed sat the new couple. They were two male friends who have girlfriends, but decided to take a shot in having an affair. I wasn't surprised at all when Centurion told me the news. They had been constant text partners for the past two weeks. They also went out a couple of times, and they already confessed to our master their mutual like for each other. The only thing missing was formality.

Anyway, my head was swirling and I needed something to take the alcohol out of my system. The New Wave music spun by the DJ wasn't helping at all - it makes me want to throw up - especially when some artist made a falsetto sound. Inside the bathroom, while digestive remains were pouring forth liberally out of my throat, the music suddenly turned upbeat. Finally, we're getting house music. There's salvation for me after all.

I returned to my seat feeling much better. The lady next to our table was already raising her arms and her torso was already making ripple movements to follow the beat. Her slender, wavy motion caught my attention. She just triggered the clubber in me.

Within minutes I was already following her movements. My head was bouncing to the house music, my arms were half-raised and my torso was already making some ripple movements depending on how hard and tribal the beat was. We looked we silly definitely - drunk and dancing on our chairs. But this dancing, eventually made us notice one another even if we are, literally worlds apart.

"Tangina master, kung dance floor lang ito, kawawa tong tsik saken." Centurion was grinning while I bragged about my feats inside the club.

"Alam mo ang secret para maka-score eh dapat nagsasayaw ka na may libog sa katawan." Tactless, I was short of telling him that I try not to masturbate when I know that I'd be partying when night-time arrives.

So there. The upbeat music made me a little sober and a little bit hornier. The sudden adrenalin rush did the wonders, and since the new couples were secretly exchanging gestures of affirmation to each other - which made me a little jealous - I turned my attention to the lady who was now exchanging glances at me. It was fun to trip with the opposite sex, especially when you know that you're really flirting with a female and not a tranny.

Last night however was a different case. I wasn't just satisfied with just trading glances with someone.

I was willing to show my friends that even if my physical needs exclusively cater to males, I can pass out as a straight guy and can trip with a female.

And trip I did.

As the story goes, I stood up to pick an arm chair from an empty table not far from us. I placed just inches away from the dancing lady, who immediately acknowledged my presence by asking for a light. In fairness, she was quite beautiful when you look at her closer. She's a chinita with a skinny body and wore a black top last night.

"Okay ka pa?" She asked me, while leaning her head closer to mine.

"Yup ayos lang ako." I even made a thumbs up remark to reinforce my state of control.

"Uy crush ka nung isang kasama namin." As if I'd find her interesting. You, babe, already caught my attention.

We exchanged pleasantries and smoked together, while the rest of the boys kept looking at me. I'm not really sure if their reaction bordered on embarrassment, so I asked them never to bring up what happened the next time we see each other.

"Walang magpapaalala ng kahihiyan kong ito ha." I told Centurion after drinking my eight bottle of beer.

The flirting eventually ended up in a fluke. Though I learned that her name was Abby, (and I introduced myself as Mark) we didn't exchange numbers. I learned that no matter how I trip with ladies, it simply wouldn't work. So at 2 in the morning, the four of us guzzled our last bottle of beer and called it a night. After saying my farewell to Abby, I took the first cab who stopped beside me leaving Centurion and the couple to figure how to get home. I had this feeling that someone will go home in the morning with a sore butt.

The house music and the flirting with the tsik left me longing for more. Therefore, I decided to head to my favorite watering hall halfway across the city. It doesn't matter if I would come all the way from the highlands of Tandang Sora, so long as I will settle my score elsewhere, where the dance floor is a familiar territory.

So at 3 am, despite having to take a grueling forty-minute jeep ride from Agham Road to Julio Nakpil in Taft,

I found myself back in Malate.