Friendships make one's life more purposeful. They say you attract what you are, and that saying also applies to friends. Kung ikaw ang tipo ng tao na mahilig uminom, malaki ang chansang maging malapit ka rin sa mga taong mahilig uminom. Kung mahilig ka naman magbasa, mas magkakaintindihan kayo ng mga taong mahilig din magbasa. It's simple, really. You relate more to people on a similar wavelength with you. The shared experience of having the same interest brings you guys closer and before you know it, you've already formed attachments with these people. 

A simple meeting in a bar becomes a run-of-the-mill barkada inuman every weekend night. 

A simple meeting in a bookstore could lead to forming a book club a month from now. 

It's unbelievable how unexpected meetings become the key to an everlasting relationship. People who were once strangers are now constants you have difficulty imagining out of your life. It's surprising how life sequences things in people's lives. People make their own choices, but it's baffling how these decisions correlate with other people and experiences meant to be in their lives. What a rollercoaster of events if you're willing to enjoy the ride. 

Hindi ganoon ang takbo ng mga bagay para kay Sadelle. She doesn't like interruptions. Changes are a nightmare for her. She would be more than willing if she could go with what's already proven and tested. Nakakairita and mga tao. Kahit na hindi mo sila lapitan, napapaligiran ka na nila. Why torment yourself more with the act of interacting? It's not a school project; teamwork and cooperation aren't graded in real life. You don't have to go out of your way to befriend more people. Not to say she's shunned herself out of the natural world, but it's already as crowded as it could be as a population. Sa personal niyang buhay, limitado lang ang pupuwedeng maging parte nito. 

"Sang, will you just go with me? Hindi ka naman mamamatay kapag pumunta ka ng book cafe. It's not like I'm ordering you to buy the books or something. You're just accompanying me," Lizzy, Sadelle's best friend, snapped her out of her small, make-believe and judgmental thoughts. 

The two girls are at the foot of the book cafe's entrance. It isn't a big book cafe, granted that this is still the owners' first branch. Lizzy actually wanted to check this new cafe mainly because of three things: first, it's a local bookstore. Second, it also has a cafe inside. Finally, the owners were published in their local newspaper. Apparently, three women manage this book cafe and they're all best friends. It created a buzz in their small lively town and people were excited about when the book cafe would open.

Sadelle fought the urge to roll her eyes, but failed at trying not to furrow her brows at Lizzy. "Yeah, yeah..." she answered, as if cutting to another long episode of them bickering. 

Lizzy gave a small smile, ignoring the uncalled for attitude her best friend gave her. She pulled her by the arm before going inside. "Tara na, hanggang 7PM lang sila. We only have thirty minutes left."

Lizzy and Sadelle have been best friends for a long time. Kilalang-kilala nila ang isa't isa. They're the complete opposite of one another, and yet they mesh well with each other. They're like Tom and Jerry, if Tom was this anti-social, overcritical, and indifferent cat whilst Jerry was everyone's favorite mouse who holds a lot of opinions, is strong-willed, and is generally seen as an altruist. Mula junior high school pa lang ay naging magkaibigan na ang dalawa at hindi na nahiwalay sa isa't isa. They've had countless sleepovers in each other's houses and are known by each other's parents. Kulang na lang ay maging mag-kapatid sila. Sadelle's not the type who likes to interact with people but Lizzy is the antidote for that and she's quite literally the only person Sadelle genuinely enjoys spending time with. Lizzy, on the other hand, is what you call a crowd-favorite - the apple of everyone's eye. She understands Sadelle best. It seems they've been born in this world to meet and be part of each other's lives. 

"Sang, it's so pretty!" Lizzy gushed as her eyes wandered at the whole cafe. Her eyes twinkled with joy as if she's seen paradise on earth for the first time and was blessed with the privilege to live in it.  Her protruding cheekbones gave away the smile of an undeniable evidence to the satisfaction the entirety of this cafe gave her. 

Sadelle scanned her vision around. To be fair, she does think the place is clean but nothing extraordinary. Hindi niya tuloy maintindihan 'tong kasiyahan ng kaibigan niyang aakalain mong nanalo sa lotto. The book cafe, from the outside, has a small floor terrace and is a bit elevated with two small staircases. Two cream-colored stone walls are supporting the extending roof of the floor terrace. 

By the entrance, you'd see a folding chalkboard with the following words written: 

Welcome to AC² Book Cafe! 

Want to read or buy a book?
Feeling hungry and thirsty?
Want to do both of them at the same time?

Here at ABC, we got you covered like 123!

P.S. Our soft opening is good for 1 whole week. If you buy a book and order in our cafe, you get a 10% discount. All books have a 20% discount on our soft opening.

There are also some outdoor plants scattered aesthetically within the entrance. Two wall sconces are on either side of their transparent sliding door. The door was halfway-open as there were still customers inside the place. A two-seater, high wood coffee table is placed just a few steps away from the chalkboard with a small cabinet beside it, along with one picture frame concerning a certain quote about hardwork and white lilies in a vase. 

On the inside, the whole interior of the book cafe screamed of feeling warm and comfortable. It was a mixture of earthy colors. Right upon entering, you'll be welcomed by the wondrous book shelves with different genre classifications to it on your left, and another section still filled with books to your right. There seems to be a passageway behind the bookshelves on the left side and some noises can be heard from the inside. That must be where the cafe is. 

A wooden ladder is resting on one of the shelves from the left side. In the center part of the book cafe, a medium sized wooden table is placed with books filling it. As Lizzy and Sadelle walked to the right side of the book cafe, they saw one medium-sized horizontal table with three stools in front of them. One of the stools was occupied by a guy customer. Half a meter away from it are two book shelves facing one another. Then, still in the same space but an ample length away is a four-seater wood coffee table. There's another shelf behind it and a small souvenir section on the left side just in front of the wall behind it.  

Going back to the center space, in front of it is the cashier and reception area which is being manned by one woman seemingly in her early to mid-20s. Beside the table, centered between the four-seater wood coffee table and single stools is another circular souvenir rack. The place doesn't seem too crowded even with this kind of design. There is still space to walk around. Towards the cashier area, the counter is designed with rows in front as there are still books displayed in each of the rows. On top of the counter, there is almost an empty space with a tipping jar towards the edge of the counter. 

"Good evening! Welcome to AC² Book Cafe! Here at ABC, we got you covered like 123." The woman behind the counter greeted as she beamed at them. "My name is Denise. I am the book cafe's clerk and cashier po. If you guys want to check out the cafe, it's that way po," she added as she pointed to the passageway in front of her, the one behind the bookshelves on the left side of the entrance. 

There are actually two passageways behind the counter. The left one is heading to the cafe, and the right one seems to be their storage room. A door is somewhere in the middle of the passageway with a signage on top of it saying Restroom. 

"Thank you," Lizzy replies as she nods her head a little at the clerk. She's still holding Sadelle's arm and giving her a sideways glance. "Sang, let's check it out muna." 

Lizzy pulls Sadelle to the direction of the cafe and once they enter Lizzy lets go of her grip of Sadelle's arm. "Grabe, Sang. Ang ganda!" anito sa kaibigan, pinipigilang lumakas ang boses kahit halatang namamangha sa kabuoan ng lugar. 

"Ling, it's a cafe. It's just tables and chairs. We have plenty of other cafes here in Cagayan de Oro," pambabasag ni Sadelle sa kamanghaan ng kaibigan habang nakataas ang kilay nito kaharap ang likod ng kaibigan niya. 

There aren't a lot of people in the cafe as not all seats are taken. There's probably around less than ten people in the store. Mukhang nagkataong hindi ganoon karami ang mga tao sa oras ng pagpunta nila Lizzy at Sadelle. From the right-most side is the working area along with the following: the counter and the two display cabinets in front. While the baking machine, coffee maker, blending machine, and other stuff relevant to making their food and drinks are at the back. There are around three staff people working there at the moment. 

Close to the window table on the left side are two four-seater wood coffee tables and the two-seater tables are scattered strategically whilst giving enough space to walk on and for each customer to have their own privacy. In the middle part lies one six-seater coffee table directly facing the counter in between the two display cabinets. They've maintained empty spaces at the edges of the cafe. For the right side, there were a few artistic designs which consisted of an easel, a small mat below and some square frames close to it. There was an unfinished painting of nature painted. It was almost done except that the trees behind the river weren't finished yet. Parallel to it is a collection of clay pots ranging from different sizes from big to small ones. 

There were also a few paintings plastered on the side walls. The menu is plastered on top of the baking machine. Moving on, on the left side with the window glass area of the cafe, only indoor plants are placed on both edges. The lighting in the whole book cafe is bright, but not blinding to the eye. It's bright enough not to seem too dark inside but not that bright to cause an eyesore. 

Lizzy faced Sadelle sideways. "Can you not be pilosopo right now? You know what I mean..." she reasoned out as she scanned her vision around the cafe again. "Balik tayo d'on sa kabila, I want to buy a book and tambay here for a while," pushing Sadelle to the other side of the book cafe, Lizzy grinned at her best friend.

It seems Lizzy found another place she'd love to spend her free time with while school's not yet so hectic. It's the second week of October. Their midterm examinations just finished last week. 

Sadelle turned her back on Lizzy and started walking back to the other part of the side of the book cafe. Her footsteps felt like they were chained to huge balls of metal that drained the strength out of her so Lizzy had to push her a little more. 

"Why do we still have to tambay? We only have..." Sadelle brings her phone out of her pocket to see what time it is. "Around 22 minutes of free time left. Baka matagalan pa tayo," she complained. 

She sensed Lizzy shaking her head behind. "Kaya 'yan. Besides, there's not a lot of customers right now. We're suwerte! So, hurry up!"

Once they reached the other side of the book cafe, Lizzy went ahead of Sadelle and went to the Filipino Literature section of one of the bookshelves on the left side. She was immediately scanning her vision from the tons of books displayed in the book cafe. 

"This is so perfect, Sang. I've been itching to buy the book of one of the owners here..." Lizzy shared it with Sadelle, but it felt more like she was talking on her own as her eyes never left looking at the books. "Where is it again?"

Bored as she could ever be, Sadelle let out a sigh as she unlocked her phone and started playing a puzzle game. "What book?" disinterest was evident in her tone. 

"Remember?" Lizzy queried, giving her a quick glance as if her saying that word would instantly make Sadelle remember what she said. "When I shared sa'yo about the three owners na 'to in the newspaper. Well, actually one owner lang talaga. Tapos the two other best friends ng owner, parang they co-manage it with her. The other one's the financial operator and then another one's an author. I'm looking for that author's book..." 

"Ah, yeah..." Sadelle answered, her mind not present in their current conversation as she continues playing her game.

Someone cleared her throat behind them. Pasimpleng ibinalik ulit ni Sadelle ang cellphone sa kanyang bulsa. Sabay na napalingon ang dalawa at nakitang may babaeng nakatingin sa kanila. It seems as if she came from the storage room earlier. "Good evening," her serene tone sounding like a lullaby as she gave them a pleasant smile. "May I help you girls? May hinahanap ba kayong libro?"

The woman was dressed in a smart casual outfit. She seems to be someone of Caucasian descent. 

Lizzy answered. "Oh!" it was as if she realized something. "You're the owner po, right?"

"Yes, I am. My name's Alleia..." the girl answered, her kind smile never leaving her face. 

"May I ask help po, Miss Alleia? Nasaan po rito yung book ni Miss Cariella Montevista?"

The older woman smiled at these two college girls and led them to another shelf on the opposite side. Even if the book was stacked along with other books, there was a significant space between them. The following categorization can be read under the book: Resident Author.

"Oh, yes. It's this one po. Thank you!" Lizzy thanked the owner as she saw the book. 

The owner replied. "If you're buying it, please head to the counter. This is a model copy kasi, yung mga binebenta naming copies ay nasa storage room." 

After their conversation, the owner excused herself and talked to the store clerk and cashier. Mukhang may binilin yata siya rito at tumatango ang babae. Pagkatapos ng kanilang pag-uusap, lumabas siya ng book cafe. 

"Ling, are you buying it?" hindi na nakatiis sa inip si Sadelle at tinanong ang may hawak ng librong si Lizzy. 

Lizzy switched her stare from reading the story description at the back to Sadelle's direction. "Yup. Alam mo, Sang, I've read a few reviews about this book d'on sa mga nag-pre order nito at naunang magbasa. It was sooo good daw. Very emotional and raw. The readers were in awe of the bond of the three of them. I can't wait to read it!" 

Sadelle couldn't help but let a bitter sound out of her mouth. "Come on, Ling. It's just a book, nagkataon lang na ang author, e, isa sa mga nagma-manage nitong book cafe which is also owned by her best friend and another best friend of theirs who handles the finances here. Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. Okay. They're three best friends who have a business together. What's new? Other businesses even have family members doing it together." 

As if her patience had run thin, Lizzy put the book back on the shelf and looked at Sadelle. This isn't the first time Lizzy got annoyed at Sadelle's comments. The latter has the tendency to think that people are pretentious. Para kay Sadelle kung hindi peke ang ibang tao, madalas naman ay mabababaw naman sila. It's always been an issue other people have of Sadelle. They say she's someone who thinks she's better than others and has an indifferent attitude just because she easily gets annoyed at other people. This usually led to Lizzy doing damage control for her best friend. 

She would defend Sadelle countless of times and explain that it just takes time to know who she is as a person. Most people like Lizzy, they think she's a joy to be around with. People make efforts to befriend her. They usually ask why she's friends with Sadelle when they're so different but Lizzy always says Sadelle understands her best. 

Maybe...she's finally done making reasons for her best friend. Ngayon, ayaw niya na lokohin sarili niya. Matagal niya na 'tong iniisip kahit ayaw niyang tanggapin. Her best friend is a bad friend. Mas nagbibigay pa si Lizzy sa pagkakaibigan nilang ito kesa kay Sadelle. It's not that she's counting all the things she did...but she finally accepted the truth. 

That's not how you treat a friend. This is your best friend of almost six years and yet, it seems as if she's being treated like a second choice. Para bang hindi ito nagkukusang iparamdam sa kanyang matalik siya nitong kaibigan. 

"Okay." With all things running in her mind, this was the only thing Lizzy was able to answer before she headed to the counter and told the cashier she's going to buy the book. 

After getting the paper bag with the book inside, Lizzy uttered her gratitude to the cashier before walking ahead of Sadelle to the entrance. Sadelle, a bit weirded out by her best friend's behavior, followed behind. 

Once they reached the door, Lizzy couldn't hold it in and turned to face Sadelle. Her eyes held back tears from falling. "Alam mo..." her voice was a bit groggy, but the former tried her best not to let herself cry in a cafe. "I always catered myself to you. You're my best friend and I really, really hate what I'm about to do now. However, I'd hate myself more if I didn't do this." 

Sadelle's eyes widened a bit. Naguguluhan pa rin siya sa nangyayari. Hindi niya naiintindihan kung ano ba ang ginawa niya kay Lizzy. 

"I don't want you as my friend anymore. Huwag na tayong mag-usap kahit kailan." Lizzy said with finality as she turned her back from Sadelle and walked out of the book cafe. 

Shocked, Sadelle was left standing near the entrance. For a few seconds, she had no idea what to do not until she realized there were two girls, close to her age, watching them earlier. Nakaupo sila doon sa nag-iisang two-seater coffee table sa floor terrace ng book cafe. The two girls still kept on staring at her. It was as if they were even surprised by the scene they had just seen. 

Slowly, realization came to hit Sadelle and it hit her hard. Sa sobrang lakas ng tama nito, bigla siyang nakaramdam ng hiya sa dalawang babaeng hindi niya naman kakilala. Usually, Sadelle doesn't really care about what other people think about her. She thinks other people's opinions of her are irrelevant. They can't even fix their own lives and they're going to comment on hers. She thinks it's ridiculous. Try fixing your own lives first and see if you still afford to have free time to give unnecessary comments to other people because of how many things about you need dire fixing. 

This time is different. The foreign and painful feeling of embarrassment, hurt, and even betrayal all came to her at this moment. She turned back and saw the woman at the counter looking at her. Upon realizing this, the woman avoided Sadelle's stare and went to the storage room at the back. It was as if she was allowing Sadelle the privacy not to be more embarrassed even if they're in a public place. 

Hindi alam ni Sadelle ano ang gagawin. Maraming naglalaro sa isip niya. Mahuhuli na siya sa klase niya kapag nagtagal pa siya rito. Sa ibang banda, tila hindi niya kaya lumabas ng cafe. She also feels this pain in her heart that she can't seem to wither away. It's like everything's going in shambles. Like a clueless kid, she doesn't know where to go in the seemingly small space she's in. Pakiramdam niya'y kada segundo ay lumiliit ang cafe at parang naiipit siya rito. 

It's suffocating her. She doesn't know what to do, but she needs to do something. 

As if under a trance, she saw herself in front of the counter looking at the books stacked on the rows. She tried to pretend to read the titles but all the words seem to be jumbling in front of her. 

"Get it together," Sadelle whispers to herself as she gulps and takes one deep breath before pretending to look at the books again. 

This seems to have worked quite a bit as things started to make a little sense. She kept on pretending to read the book titles even if she doesn't know why she's doing it. She read the classification placed at one of the rows: Secondhand Books. 

"Yes, Ma'am, how may I help you po?" tanong ng babae pagbalik nito sa counter. Magkatulad na nagulat si Sadelle at ang babae sa isa't isa. 

Si Sadelle, nagulat dahil hindi narinig ang pagbalik ng babae sa counter. At ang babae, gulat dahil nag-aabang sa counter si Sadelle. 

"Uh," Sadelle couldn't think of anything else to do and so her hand grabbed the first book she saw and showed it to the cashier. "How much is this?" 

The cashier checked the back of the book and couldn't see any price. She went out of the counter and checked the other books and saw price tags at the back. Her brows creased in confusion. "Teka lang po, Ma'am, ah..." she informed Sadelle as she went inside the storage room while still holding the book. 

Sadelle nodded as she stood in front of the counter waiting. 

After about a minute or so, the woman came back with a confused expression. "Pasensya na po, Ma'am, sinisigurado ko po kasi ang price nitong libro. Soft opening pa po kasi, medyo nalilito pa po talaga ako sa mga trabahong gagawin. Five days ago lang po kasi nagbukas ang book cafe..." she continued searching for anything that might give her an idea of how much the book is and even tried calling someone, but no one was answering. 

She smiled at Sadelle afterwards. "Uh...Ma'am, same prices po kasi ang nakita ko sa mga libro dito sa harap ng counter. Ito lang po ang librong hindi ko nakitaan ng price. Baka nakaligtaan lang po 'to. 100 pesos po presyo. Pero, with discount 80 pesos na lang po, Ma'am."

Still feeling overwhelmed by everything that happened within the last few minutes, Sadelle was just able to nod lightly and hand the woman the exact amount for the book. 

The cashier thanked her and accepted the payment. "Ibabalot ko pa po ba, Ma'am?" 

"No, thanks," Sadelle answered and took the book and receipt from the cashier. 

Goodness. She bought a book without checking what it is about. She doesn't even know the title, and as if on cue, her eyes went down to the book's title and read Opposite Mirrors.  

That's all there was to the book. No fancy designs or anything. Just a plain black background with the title Opposite Mirrors in white-colored font on it. She turned it back and saw no description. Not even any reviews. The only thing written at the back was the year it was written which was this year. Great. From the looks of it, she bought a useless book. 

She turned around and rolled her eyes when she saw a guy entering the shop. Nagkataon pang nairapan niya ang lalaki kahit hindi naman niya sinasadya. Hindi naman siya pinansin nito at saglit na napunta ang tingin sa librong hawak niya. 

He seemed to stop for a split moment before giving her a second look of surprise. She ignored this and left the cafe. She took her phone out and saw that it was three minutes to 7 P.M.

Sadelle walked her way back to school for her evening class, fully knowing she'd be late tonight. 

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