Happily Ever After

I read a sleazy paperback romance novel.. and I liked it.

Like every other day lately, I woke up with a headache and an ear throbbing from hearing my mother's screams as she woke me up. But unlike any other day, we were scheduled to go to a swimming pool for a little summer swim.

To cut the story short, the only part of me that got wet was my feet--and that was from a faucet and not a pool, as I didn't really feel like sharing water with other people. And as I laid down on the hammock that I had set up besides the resort cottage we rented, I did something I never thought I would in a thousand years--I read a cheesy paperback novel.

Yes, I know that its quite strange that after having watched a cheesy flick a few nights ago I would go overboard and read a cheap paperback novel. And no, it's not those novels from foreign authors and prestigious publishing houses; its a "pocketbook" you always see being read by the more "earthly" folks here in the Philippines.

To be honest, I really enjoyed it. Well, I must admit that I am easily swayed into funny emotions, so I wouldn't come as a surprised that I had "kilig" moments while reading the pocketbook (yes, it's funny.. I bet that I would also laugh at the sight of myself).

The story was so simple you've probably heard it a thousand times before: a college student who writes cheesy pocketbook novels falls in love with the rockista campus hearthrob who, unsurprisingly, doesn't believe in true love.

But what really sets this story apart from other similar stories is the fact that I liked it.

Yes, I really liked it. Although the characters needed tweaking and some parts of the story were very, very, very predictable, the conversations and the ideas were quite interesting. I found myself just smiling at the cheesy points and I guess I was really into the whole story.

The real deal here is that I never realized that a cheap paperback can actually bring me so much fun. Okay, so there were a few things I wish the writer could have done to make the story more interesting and more unpredictable but even with that raw of a material, I still had a good time reading it.

And oh, a word to all those aspiring writers out there: please make plot clues more subtle! It's frustrating for many people when they read something and know in an instant that that something will eventually become the story's twist. Man, I hate stuff like that...