When Angel Met Joel

June 2008
…It was a fateful day in June, my first month or so at Iweb. I remember Atchie practically dragging me to the poolside area where the rest of the group was hanging out. It was a despedida party of some sort; there were food and yosi and alcohol – the works. They invited us to take a swig of alcoholic beverage. Isang shot lang daw sabi ni August. I was sleep-deprived and hungry, but I went ahead and downed a cup of… (I’m not sure if the drink was empi or grandma). I thought that was the end of that. I was in no mood for chitchat, heck, I was hungry and sleepy and they were a little too “loud”.

After the second cup of the alcoholic drink (and water as chaser, a practice I got from Lyka), I pulled Atchie to one side and begged her to go with me to the CR. I was practically barfing – I don’t want to do that in public. Once inside, I stuck my fingers in; then I was okay. We went back to tell them that we’re going, but for some reason, we were “forced” to stay. Forced, without much struggle, I guess. By then, I was already starting to enjoy myself. I guess Atchie was pretty much enjoying herself as well. We were talking and joking around with them, when one guy started to catch my attention. The guy’s name is Joel.

JOEL REGONDOLA a.k.a. SB
Joel is a rather short, thin and muscular type of guy. He has smooth and moreno skin. He has long lashes which made his beautiful, large eyes look very expressive. He wore his slightly-longish hair unadorned. And… he has dimples. He has a gorgeous smile and a heart-stopping gaze, an irresistible combination, really. A combination that is exclusively his. Heck, even meeting Chiz Escudero in person was no comparison.

Okay, so this Joel guy had a “magnetic pull” effect on me. I found myself peeping under my lashes, to see if I also had that effect on him. I caught him looking, (staring, really) more than once. I was about to let it go but then he looked at me again and said, “ang cute ng smile mo.”

I pretended not to hear but from that point on, I made it a point to smile at every single joke shared among the group. That was the idea: they laugh and I smile. Pretty stupid, huh? I realize that now, but back then, this pa-cute maneuver came naturally. The smile was supposed to keep the dimples on my cheeks on a semi-permanent basis. My cheeks were getting sore, really. Fortunately, the group broke up, and most of them went swimming. I remember sitting with Joel after he went for a swim, but I can’t remember what the conversation was all about. I went dizzy and I passed out.


I threw up like hell, blah-blah… I’ll keep the gory details to myself.

Anyway... that was how things started... =)