Keep Your Hands To Yourself (ON HOLD)

Chapter 1: Moving in

"Huy ate, imik imik naman tayo jan. Sige, baka panis na laway mo," my sister, Jaja, laughs as she pokes my side. My feet keeps boucing up and down uncontrollably. I slap her hand away and shoot a glare on her direction. She just continues to laugh in return.

We're on our way to my new school, Ateneo de Manila University. I got recruited to join their women's volleyball team. Even though I would much rather stay with my family in Batangas, I just couldn't turn down the offer. It offered a full scholarship ride, dormitory with all my teammates, covered school fees, and allowance. Now, I just gotta deal with the homesickness I will definitely feel and just get on with my college life.

During the four-hour ride from Batangas to Ateneo, I only spoke a little. My hands are shaking, I'm just too nervous. All I was thinking before moving here were: Paano ako kakain? May  pagkain ba sa dorm? Makakatulog kaya ako ng maayos? Mabait kaya teammates ko? Sino kaya roommate ko? Sana mabait. Well, I'm really worried about my food the most, I needed to take care of my health, duh.

"Andito na tayo," my dad speaks up as we enter the gate of the university. We pass by the Blue Eagle Gym, that's probably where we would be having our trainings. To say that the campus is huge would be an understatement, it was enormous even. There were a lot of trees and wide fields, it looks really quiet and peaceful probably because there weren't much people around. I see a few pedestrians jog on the sidewalks. As we got further inside, the buildings for different classes start to appear. There aren't much students nor professors since there's still two weeks left before school starts. It wasn't hard to get around and look for our destination since we've been toured about a month ago, so it would only take a little time for me to get used on getting to my classes and back at the dorm and to manage not getting lost in this huge place. We rounded a corner and stopped in front of a building surrounded by a few trees, this must be the women's volleyball team's dorm.

I step out of the car, stretching my legs, my butt hurts from sitting too long. I look around, everything's nice and eerie quiet. There were a few trees and other dormitories in the street. I honestly could get use to something this calm.

My dad gets my luggage out of the trunk and I slung the backpack and duffel bag on my shoulders respectively. They were mumbling things about taking care of myself and not missing a meal, while I was busy thinking about not seeing my family everyday and how much I'll miss them. It's going to be hard to get used to not waking up to my mom's loud yelling telling us to get up and get ready for school, and my sister asking for a few more minutes. I'm gonna miss seeing their faces when I wake up in the morning and before I go to sleep at night. I'd still be talking to them on the phone, but it wouldn't be the same. Nevertheless, it's not like I'll be leaving the country, we could see each other every now and then. Without noticing, a single tear left my eye.

"Hala ate, bakit ka umiiyak? Ang OA mo naman, kala mo mangiibang bansa," Jaja jokes, earning a slap on the shoulder. "Aray naman! Kala mo nangiispike ng bola eh."

"Mukha ka namang bola," I stuck my tongue out until my mom told us to stop. They helped me set my things on the dorm lobby.

I turn around to my parents, my mom has tears forming in her eyes and I quickly approach to hug her. "Ma, kala ko ba walang iyakan?" Ay nauna na pala ako naiyak kanina.

She laughs, "Nagpapawis lang mata ko." We all laugh with her. "Basta anak, wag mo pababayaan sarili mo ah, kumain ka ng maayos. Pag ikaw pumayat, ibabalik kita agad agad sa Lipa!" she says sternly.

"Jhoana, magaral kang mabuti, wala munang magboboyfriend," my dad says in the same tone as my mom's, "o girlfriend," he continues, that earned a snicker from my sister. They knew about me being bisexual and were completely okay with it, that makes me glad.