Closeted freshman student, Aries Buan, falls in love with his senior after getting partnered with him during their freshman orientation. Afraid to admit his feelings, he kept his emotion in check and watched his first love from afar, swearing to him...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. Happy Birthday to you. Happy birthday, happy birthday...happy birthday to you," the guests sang at the same time, clapping their hands as Aunty Ana blew the candles on another one of her cakes.
I was standing alone in the corner with a cold bottle of beer in my hand. I was alone because all my friends decided to leave me, which was fine since I wasn't the type to worry about trivial things.
Arthur was forced to join his cousins, so he got dragged away before I could even say anything. Justin had to leave first because a senior of his invited him to a bar and told him he was with a couple of female freshmen students from a different department. Of course, knowing Justin, he physically couldn't decline the offer and left without any second thought. Vicki, on the other hand, left right after Aunty Ana blew her first cake since her mom started calling her nonstop as soon as 9:00 PM struck. You might as well call her Cinderella with a much stricter godmother.
Now I don't know why I'm still here, and to be honest, heading back home should be the most logical thing to do. But I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay here, in a place where I could steal glances at him.
Well, that would have been a great reason, but Aries was also nowhere to be found. I think I saw him with his father earlier, and then they just disappeared somewhere.
"Isn't it a little depressing to be drinking alone?" Someone suddenly asked, making me turn my head to see Apollo, the oldest of the Buan siblings, approaching me with a bottle of beer for himself. "Domingo, right?" He then asked, and like a kid being asked by a total stranger, I swallowed the lump in my throat and awkwardly nodded my head.
Apo stood beside me and then showed me his drink, so I lifted my beer up so we could clank our bottles together. The two of us stood there, silently drinking as we watched the other guests enjoy the party.
"I apologize if Arthur had to leave you alone like this. Our cousins can be a little persistent, and Arthur's not the type to hang out with them besides family parties. My wife's also with the other wives, probably dissing us husbands for always working," he said with a chuckle, making me laugh. Not because of the joke he made about the wives, but because I found it funny how someone like Apo ended up alone like I was in his own house.
"By the way, how's Arthur doing in school? Are you in the same major?"
"No, I'm in the English Department, but Art's been great in the classes we're in together."
"Oh, English? You're like Aries's old friend. What was his name again? I think it was—"
"Blaine," I finished for him, instantly making Apo smile and nod his head to confirm it.
"Yeah, that's right. Blaine de la Cruz, that's the one," Apo said with a bright smile before taking a sip of his drink. "Aries brought that guy here a couple of times, and my mom almost adopted him because of how nice he was to the family. He was a handsome kid and a real charmer. I'm glad he's in the States now with his wife. Heard he has a kid now, too," Apo says with a smile, which somehow made me feel a little jealous. To be spoken so highly like that by Aries's brother feels a little degrading. I bet they'd ask Arthur to stop making friends with me the moment they find out I'm a table employee at a gay bar.
