It’s early morning and I can finally write what I’ve been thinking about lately - and it’s isn’t something I come across very often. Four weeks have passed from the day of the incident yet until now I still haven’t completely gotten over with what happened.
I learned of the news on the first of November, sometime before the modem went berserk on our households that left us deprived of WiFi for a week. I was lying on my bed with my eyes fixed at the ceiling when my phone buzzed to a Viber notification from Chini.
“Candice,” she messaged me. I typed back, “Yo what’s up?”
Chini took a little while for her to respond so I went back to the article I was reading. About thirty seconds later, I got a response.
The response, mind you, got me all sorts of emotions existent in this world.
“Wala na si Bonca,” Chini responded with a sad emoji.
Numbness arose in my veins. Everything felt like they disappeared into thin air. Time froze. I just couldn’t believe it.
“Are you serious?” I asked Chini. She replied back, “Oo =(((((”
Speechless over what I’ve learned, I swiftly logged in to Twitter to check if any of my batchmates and schoolmates tweeted about it. True to word, I was greeted by an overflowing stream of recollections and condolences.
Then it hit me: Bianca, also known to many as Bonca, is gone. My grade school classmate and one of the most beloved batchmates went way ahead of her time.
The following morning, I immediately logged in to Facebook to see friends liking and sharing Bianca’s debut photos from 2012 apart from the overflowing amount of tributes pouring in my news feed. The only question clouded on my mind all this time was, “Why?”
Simultaneously, all memories I’ve had of her flooded my mind, throttling back to 2005 - the time we were assigned to the same section and would remain so for the next two years. Up until now I still remember these little things: our group dancing to “Para Sa’Yo” by Parokya ni Edgar for our Music class in fifth grade, her group dancing to “YMCA” in front of the sixth grade batch, her hosting skills on full display on several occasions in senior year (Bandfest and Seniors Night in 2011 I believe), her ability to make everyone smile with her sunny personality each day in school, all the life and love advice she gave me, her dreams of becoming the Tyra Banks, the speech she gave in sixth grade English class wherein she revealed her parents wanted to name her “Dimas” for unfathomable reasons and so much more.
Bianca was among the girls you’d be enchanted with. When we first got acquainted with each other not only as classmates but also as clubmates in SINAG Creative Writing, one thing that struck me about her was how brilliantly her confidence emanated. Never once did she ever shy away from standing up for what she believed in. Never once did she ever falter in speaking out about certain issues with fearlessness. Also, Bianca was a more than just her stunning, mannequin-like features. She was intelligent, outgoing and a girl of many talents with her dancing, debating and hosting prowess.
Bianca was among the people who showed me the real world when I was struggling to leap from Barbies to Friendster in fifth and sixth grade. Even though admittedly we weren’t super close, she taught me to shed my childish ways and become a more mature person apart from being more poised and less gawky. If it weren’t for her among others, my awareness level on adolescent relationships would have stagnated below zero level. Looking back at all those times I hung out with her group and those stories we exchanged to each other, life would have turned out differently if not for meeting her.
As I write this, I can picture Bianca watching over us from heaven. I wish I wrote this piece sooner but due to unforeseen circumstances wasn’t able to do so. Nevertheless, I am more than to relieved to talk about my fondest memories of her in the form of words.
Thank you so much Bianca for everything. We love you and will never forget you. May you rest in peace with God and the angels above.
