The Gay That Broke My Heart

Chapter 8

There were ten people at the corner of Eve’s house. Some of them are the same age as her, and the others are between their late twenties and forties. Half of them are holding light candles, and the other half are roses. And then, there was this guy who had a guitar in his hands. Czarina couldn’t quite understand what was happening. That was the first time she saw people gathering with candles and roses.

Leah immediately waves at them when she sees them approaching. She is holding a few stems of roses. “Hi!” Leah greeted. “I’m glad you’re all here. Angelo seems to be off. But anyway, here.” She handed each of them a stem of a rose, which Carlos gladly accepted. However, Czarina was still confused about what was happening but still took the rose. “C’mon, let’s go. It’s about to start.” Leah both took their hands and pulled them to go towards the crowd.

Curiosity got hold of her, and so she went closer to Carlos and whispered, “Why are we holding roses again? What’s going on?”

“Oh, is this your first time experiencing a province-style birthday?” Carlos asked. He looked so amused that Czarina didn’t have any idea what was about to happen.

“Honestly? Yep,” she shyly giggled.

“Well, it’s not really surprising to hear that. You’ve been in the city all your life. This must have been new to you,” he chuckled.

Czarina was stunned at his chuckle. It sounded so sexy in her ears, so manly. She wonders how nice it would have been to hear his laughter every day. Her daydreaming got cut off when Leah let go of their hand and turned to them.

“Is this the first time you have experienced a harana, Czarina?” she asked, smiling. Leah looked so excited about what was about to happen.

“Harana? Is someone going to court Eve? That’s why we are holding roses, and some are candles?”

Leah laughed heartily as if what Czarina just said was a joke. She even held her tummy as she laughed while slapping Carlos’ shoulder constantly. She seemed so happy that tears were starting to form at the corner of her eyes.

“Well, I’m glad I made you happy,” Czarina said flatly, almost wanting to roll her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Czarina. It’s just you’re so adorable.” She wiped the tears with both hands and looked at Czarina apologetically.

Carlos shook his head and stared at Czarina. He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled at her gently. “Don’t mind her, Czari. Leah is just weird today. We have a different version of Harana here. Well, kind of a night version for mañanita.”

“Wow, I feel like I’m in a totally different world. I definitely have no clue what you are all talking about,” Czarina replied, trying so hard to ignore the weird feeling she got when Carlos’ hand touched her shoulder. It just sent multiple shivers down her spine.

“Maybe it’s because it’s not being practiced in the city?” Leah shrugged, who finally stopped laughing. “That guy who’s holding a guitar? He will play it later. This is what we always do whenever someone close to us has a birthday. We serenade them, thus the harana thing. Normally, it's done at dawn, which is called mañanita. But since we do it at night, we call it harana. Sort of the serenading thing when a guy courted a girl in ancient times, but here, we also serenade someone who’s celebrating his or her birthday,” she added.

“Huh, that’s quite interesting,” Czarina commented.

After a few minutes, the group was already assembled in front of Eve’s house. They were outside their gate and the group started to sing different happy birthday songs—not the most common ones she usually hears whenever she attends a birthday party. This one is totally different. Simple, yet more appreciated. After a few songs, the wooden gate of Eve’s house opened. And there was Eve, smiling so widely at the crowd who were singing their hearts out for her. A couple more songs and it was done. One by one, people started to go towards Eve and gave her the lighted candles and roses. And Czarina did the same thing.

“Thanks for coming, Czarina,” Eve said, and then turned to the group. “Thank you, guys. I really appreciate it. C’mon in! We have some food prepared.”

The group cheered and went inside Eve’s house, which was led by Leah.

“No, thank you for inviting me,” Czarina said as they watched the people going in.

“No, it should be me who should be thanking you. I can invite you, but the decision will still be yours. You have the option not to show up, but you did.”

“Well, of course. She has no choice but to come with us. We picked her up, remember?” Carlos jokingly interrupted and then winked at her.

Czarina started to feel butterflies in her stomach again. She had to bite her lower lips to suppress the smile slowly escaping from her lips. Eve noticed Czarina’s reaction and teasingly pinched her waist the moment Carlos started walking and followed the group.

“I saw that. I can’t blame you. Carlos is really a great guy. But, you have to be careful. You have a lot of rivals when it comes to him.”

Czarina’s face immediately reddened. “Am I that obvious?”

“Don’t worry. It’s going to be our own little secret.” Eve winked and both of them giggled. She clung her right arm to Czarina’s left arm and gently dragged her inside the house.

Czarina felt like someone was watching her as she was following Eve's lead. And so, she looked around until she met the sharp brown eyes of Angelo. He was looking intently at her. It was the kind of look that was so intense that she couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. Her forehead creased, but Angelo just looked away and started walking in a different direction.

Okay... What the hell was that?

Eve’s house is just a simple bungalow made of concrete. There were a few pots of different flowers around it. Czarina was expecting it to be made of wood, just like how it is in the movies, but she was wrong.

Czarina realized that she had more to learn in the province. She has a feeling that her views about life in the province will totally change.