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Second-year in college.
Kirsten, Angelo, and Prix were with me at the school grounds. There were in-ground benches and a couple of round tables. Instead of swings and other stuff that could be found in a recreational area, the school ground was full of benches and tables conducive to studying.
Some of the seats were occupied by the students who chose to study here in the open instead of in the library. I would rather choose nature by my side than bookshelves and unreasonably cold air conditioning around. But most of the students who stay here are just making the most of their free time. Our university had an attached high school building. Sometimes you could see high school students loitering around the area, checking out the place, and perhaps some new faces for this will be their future university.
My friends and I were at the same spot which we called our hideout, though we were visible to the public. Prix named the place; we just agreed with him, who would care if we called this seat our hideout and not just a resting place? No one.
The point was we were fortunate enough to always find this area unoccupied whenever we'd plan to hang out here during free time. This semester, we all have one subject in which the three of us, including Rex, were enrolled and attending the same class. Although Kirsten and I were not in the same course as the other attending students of the class.
"Where's the chosen one by the way?" Prix asked, looking at the people around him for Rex Asis.
He called Asis The Chosen One for he was the teacher's pet as Prix coined the term. Asis had the knack of getting the heart of every faculty member whatever the subject they were teaching and the course they were handling. Indeed, he was a people person. He could have won the presidency if he had run for the school organization president.
"Probably out there with his girlfriend," Sten replied, flipping through her notebook.
"I don't think so," Angelo asserted.
He was also known as Fourth because he was the fourth Angelo Gabriel of the Manansala Family. He had a girlfriend, her name was Mitch. I don't like talking about them with anyone else. Don't get the wrong idea, I had no feelings for Angelo. It was just that I don't have a good relationship with his girl, in fact, including Prix, Asis, and of course Sten.
Fourth went on. "They weren't together anymore," he said nonchalantly, giving us the information we didn't know was true.
I looked up from the book I was reading. I just took one look at Fourth and I knew he was saying the truth. Prix had no say in the issue. He must have known something beforehand.
"First love isn't for our boy, I suppose," Prix said to Rex.
So, Asis got his first love, whoever this girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, whatever, was. I'd seen him with girls, but I couldn't tell who the girlfriend was. He didn't introduce the girl to us or perhaps he did, but with Prix and Fourth only. Girlfriends don't seem to like their boyfriends' girlfriends.
Prix and Fourth seemed bored by the absence of Rex in the group. Sten had one earphone in her ear while writing down something on her mini notebook. When Rex was missing in action, Prix and Fourth would just listen, nod, and give a piece of comment whenever Sten and I were having a tete-a-tete. But most of the time, they would have their kind of conversation, guys' thing as they said. Probably just about video games, pretty girls, and sports.
Whatever the topic was, and in any case, we were still treating one another as friends. Especially in this university, where students don't care about others unless you are part of their circle of close friends. Expanding your circle means occasionally going out with them, meeting with new students, joining organizations, and being popular on campus. One good example of popularity was to be an athlete, representing the school, join the pageants, and just be the beautiful version of yourself every day. One could easily name the pretty faces on our campus. I was not one of them, there wasn't much to look at me.
"She dumped Rex?" Sten asked, abashed with the news.
The two guys just nodded in agreement; they were not even sympathetic about their friend's failed relationship. Angelo had a girlfriend; the group didn't quite get along with his girlfriend. Probably because we just don't like her, while Prix was just hanging around with some girls from the engineering department. Single means happiness, as he said it.
"Whoever that girl was, she made the right decision," I said that out loud.
Then suddenly they were all staring at me. I was thinking out loud, that was supposed to be just a thought. Everyone at the table went silent.
"What?" I asked immediately, looking back at the book. "Did I say something awful?"
They didn't respond to my question. Gazing over them again, that's when I realized they were looking over elsewhere.
"What's with sci-fi stories? Do they have happy endings? Or just zombies devouring humans all the time?"
A voice to my left said. It'd send shivers down to my spine. I froze on my seat the moment a familiar perfume scent was caught in the air. Glancing sideways, I saw he was looking at the book I was reading. Pretending to be reading each line on the page. I couldn't look him directly in the eyes. It wasn't just his perfume scent that seemed familiar, I knew exactly who owned that voice.
"You two sure make a great picture," Prix started to tease.
We didn't mind if Prix was trying to pull our legs. I neither move from my seat nor utter a single word. I caught his gaze, he eyed me for a moment, then tossed his bag onto the seat reserved just for him. I thought he would continue to annoy me by staying that way by my side, but he moved away. His fine-looking, blemish-free face was inches away from my not so clear cheek. One wrong move could have led to the worst-case scenario.
I was watching him as he sat at the table, his back against everyone.
"Hey, Rex, you're supposed to take the seat and not the table," Kirsten pointed out. "You've occupied some of my working space," she added.
"Can you guys do me a favor?" was Rex's unconnected response to Sten's statement.
I looked back at my book. Where did I stop reading? I asked myself.
"What is it?" Prix and Angelo asked in chorus.
"Could you teach me how to play basketball?" Asis sounded sincere.
Then Sten burst out into laughter. "Don't tell me she left you for a varsity player?" she asked. "Who's it? Macatangay or Perez?"
Prix and Angelo both gave their share of laughter. I tried to hold back laughter, so I just smiled while reading the same page.
"How did you know that she broke up with me?" Asis asked Sten, flabbergasted. "And it is not about that, okay? I wanted to play, that's all."
Sten answered, "Well, thanks to our reliable sources. I can't divulge their names, it's very confidential."
Asis turned his gaze to Prix and Angelo, who started to act innocent. "That's supposed to be a secret, you guys."
"You didn't tell us to keep it between us," Prix reasoned out. "A week has passed. You should move on, chosen one. Move on. Cath's-"
"Don't mention that name." Asis cut Prix's statement off. He didn't proceed after that.
"Can't get over her?" Sten teased.
Sten and Prix shared mischievous smiles. Angelo was silent, but I could see in his eyes that he was enjoying the treatment Sten and Prix had been doing to Asis. Did he just refrain from saying the girl's name?
"Hey, Conde, stop smiling. Will you?" Asis said, annoyed about everyone's mockery.
"Why? The scene I'm reading makes me smile. Want to have a look?"
He stared at me. I stared back at him, smiling to exasperate him more.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you two would end up together," Angelo stated. "I agree with what Prix had said earlier. This guy can spot a picture-perfect pair."
Asis was the first to look at the other way. "That's gross, Fourth," he blurted out. "I won't date a bibliophile. They believe that all guys are like the fictional characters they admire. Sadly, they just exist in books."
I was watching him as he spoke. Looking over his shoulder, he told me, "My brother loves his books more than anyone else. You'll make a great pair," he said.
"I don't care who your brother is," I said. "I'm fine with my books and I don't want to associate myself with you."
Asis turned and looked me in the eye. He said, "I don't care about you, either. I'd rather get back with my ex-girlfriend than date a bibliophile like you."
I could glare at him with contempt, but I refused to do so. He didn't deserve much attention from me.
Fourth uttered in a singsong manner. "Never say never."
I looked at the three of them. Sten was smiling at us, resting her chin on hand. Prix was hunched forward in his seat, a Duchenne smile on his face. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying the show. Meanwhile, Angelo, who was in the mood to make fun of Asis and me, was slouching in his chair, showing off his affiliative smile.
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