"Are you guys fighting?" Mom asks me as she looks between me and Isaiah.
I shake my head, still unable to form coherent thoughts in my head. The tension in the air is thick. My eyes meet Isaiah's, and Isaiah is frozen still, a horrified look on his face as he looks at my mom.
"We're not," Isaiah says as he fixes his gaze on me. "We were just playing, but we got scared because you suddenly came in and it shocked us. You can tell right now. But honestly, no, we're not really fighting."
"Oh, okay." My mom looks at me, and I nod my head at her, hoping that she'd buy the reason. It's half-truth anyway. We weren't really fighting. I believe we were doing something more intense than that. "Anyways, you two need to go down. We have to tell you something, and I think both of you might like it."
"Cool, we're going down." Isaiah responds. Mom leaves the room. Once the door is shut, Isaiah and I sigh in relief. "That was so close. We have to be careful next time, right? Fuck. I really thought Sarah caught us."
"Same thoughts," I sit on the bed. "God, Isaiah, we really have to talk about this."
"I know, but let's talk later, yeah?" I nod my head. "For now, let's hear what they have to tell us. I'm curious. Sarah seems excited to tell us something. But before we go down, I just need this."
Isaiah walks forward and kisses me deep on the lips, before pulling away and leaving the room. He throws me a smirk as I'm left speechless. I take a deep breath and smile, shaking my head. Isaiah has become a bit bolder ever since he became my boyfriend, and I'm happy to see that he doesn't pull back. As for me, I'm still scared. There's a fear inside me that my mom wouldn't like this at all. After all, she has known her son as straight her entire life, and on top of that, I'm in a relationship with Isaiah.
It's not supposed to happen. But here we are.
I head downstairs to meet up with my mom. Isaiah is already sitting on the stool, beside him is Bill, who is reading some news on his phone. Mom grabs a juice in the fridge and takes a seat beside Bill.
"We're going back," she just simply says.
"Huh?" I ask. I look at Isaiah and he just shrugs.
"Okay, so it's your lola's 80th birthday, of course, we can't miss that, can we?" Mom grins and I jump in excitement. "Right, but we have to talk whoever's in charge in your school because we have to know what would be the setup since you're going to miss it."
"I'm going to talk to them," Bill says as he stands up, walking over to the telephone in the living room. "They can send in the lessons and quizzes to their email address. It's not going to be a big deal. I'll handle this."
"Wait, are you really serious?" My eyes are hopeful.
"Yes! I'm excited as well." My mom drinks her juice and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, smiling brightly. The news finally sinks it to me, and mom rolls her eyes at me. Of course, I'm that excited. "It has just been a month since we arrived here, and now we're coming back. That was fast."
"I'm not complaining!" I grin.
"We're going to leave tomorrow, by the way."
"Are you serious?"
My mom nods. "It was such a short notice. Apparently, your aunt has been planning this for a long time but didn't bother telling us until today. And Bill had to look for his and Isaiah's visa to check if they were expired, but thank God it isn't. Our trip back is a surprise. No one is really expecting us there except your aunt."
"Okay, okay!" I say, too excited.
---
The next day, Isaiah and I head to school holding hands. The whole time, his hand is clasped on mine and not on the gear shift. When I try to take my hand away, he only tightens his hold on it and glares at me. We fall into a comfortable silence. I listen to the song playing on the radio, but not paying enough attention to the lyrics. Isaiah takes a different route, and my brows furrow.
"Come here," Isaiah murmurs as he keeps his eyes on the road.
"Why?" I look at him suspiciously.
"You forgot my good morning kiss,"
Isaiah smirks when he sees my reddening face. He keeps himself still and throws me a casual glance. I let out a sigh. I lean forward to kiss his cheek, but he turns his head quickly and our lips damp. Blushing as I push him playfully, Isaiah chuckles. God, his chuckle is deep. Isaiah, overall, stirs something inside me that I can't quite explain.
Looking at Isaiah now, I can't believe this guy has just turned my life upside down. There's something about Isaiah Parlin that keeps me in check, that keeps me wanting him more, and as each day passes by, that feeling goes stronger and stronger.
"Are you excited to go back to the Philippines?" he asks me.
I grin, nodding my head rapidly. "I am."
"I'm excited to see your home, too."
The sunlight shines on Isaiah's face, and I swear he looks like a Greek god waiting to be worshipped. His jaw is sharp, his cheeks are protruding, his lips glossy. I can also see how blue his eyes are. His blonde hair is tousled, never bothering to style it up. He notices me looking at him, and a smile plays on his lips as he shakes his head. This asshole knows that I'm openly ogling him, which is true.
I can't deny the fact that Isaiah Parlin is an attractive male specie. He could compete in a male pageant and there's a 90% that he'd take the trophy home. Once my cousins notice him, or the people in the Philippines start noticing him, he'd be an instant celebrity.
For some reason, there's a feeling in the pit of my stomach that makes me want to vomit. Of course, my cousins would notice him. Isaiah is a sight to behold, and my cousins are beautiful as fuck. They do model, and they're some sort of Instagram influencers. Even though Isaiah and my cousins haven't met yet, I'm sure they'd be all over him.
God, why can't I contain my jealousy?
It's not like Isaiah would court them or something. But of course, there's this fear that Isaiah might like them back because, you know, I still believe that he's confused and he's just doing this to discover a part of himself – which I'm also doing. But I know, deep in myself, that I really like Isaiah and I'd like to keep him as my boyfriend.
"What are you thinking?" he asks me, his voice deep as he glances at me.
"A lot," I respond, fiddling with my fingers. I can't shake off the jealousy I'm feeling, and then there's Jean and I remember how Isaiah's hand was on her back. "I'm just thinking of home, and that I'm finally going to meet my friends."
The lie tastes bitter on my tongue, and I wish I could tell him the truth that I'm jealous and somehow afraid to lose him over my pretty cousins who would definitely flirt with him. Isaiah squeezes my hand, and shows me his perfect smile that pulls my heart. There's a teeny, tiny gap between his middle teeth, but it looks attractive on him.
"Am I one of the things you're thinking about?"
Rolling my eyes, I push him playfully, but tell him the truth. "Yeah."
He hums, his thumb running circles at the back of my hand. He lifts my hand and kisses the back of it, and I blush at the action. Whenever he does things to me, I always blush, but I don't like him to stop those. I feel valued and liked. Isaiah turns right and shifts the gear, then a few minutes later, I can see the school coming into view as he drives forward. Throughout the ride, we've held hands. Isaiah winks at me and I laugh.
Come to think of it, two straight guys who suddenly got attracted to each other, I wonder if there are other similar cases. They must be so confused, just like that we have experienced. Though in our case, we've acted on it and later found out that we share mutual feelings.
Once we're in the school, I untangle my hand from his and Isaiah sighs. He looks at my hand for a moment before looking at me with sad eyes. My heart races at the look. Trust me, I long for the same thing. I want to hold his hand in public, but we're going to get questioned a lot and we're not prepared for that. I don't even know if we have to come out, or just let it be until people find out.
But here's the thing: I don't want people finding out.
My eyes scan the area, checking if there are people around us. Despite taking a different route, we've arrived early. There are a few cars parked, and there are no students near us. Though I can see them hanging out in the front entrance, but I doubt they could see us here.
I lean forward and kiss him on the lips, which leaves Isaiah shocked as he stares at me with wide eyes. I kiss his nose before climbing out and running away from him. For now, we have to settle to that. We have to hide our relationship until we're both ready to face the consequences of our actions.
Looking over my shoulder, I see Isaiah hiding a smile as he locks his car. I grin, entering the school premises. There are a few students chattering about guys, and I hear Dylan's name being mentioned. Some random girl – a girl with a black, pig-tailed hair – says that she had sex with Dylan and my eyes widen. It's definitely something that I shouldn't hear. God, how can they freely talk about their sex life without even getting shy? Is it because I'm too conservative, or are they too liberated?
Regardless, I know that sex is something that should be private and not to be bragged about. It's not some interesting topic that has to be discussed openly in a public place. I mean, I get that we tell our friends about our experiences but it has to be somewhere private. And looking at this girl, clearly, she doesn't give respect.
---
The news spread around that Dylan had sex with someone named Stephanie; she was the girl I've seen earlier near the locker area, and she was talking about how big Dylan was. Every path, every corner, and every room I go into, people are talking about it. Even the guys, which make me question their sexuality.
As far as I know, and based on my experience, usually guys talk about how lucky someone is to get in on with some sexy girl, but that's not the case here. They are actually talking about Dylan's penis and I feel uncomfortable. So uncomfortable. In fact, I'm so uncomfortable right now that I want to get out of here and head straight to the church before really, that's uncomfortable as fuck.
Heading straight to the cafeteria, as I pass through a couple of people, I hear them say about how Stephanie was able to seduce Dylan somehow and how she rode that dick – gross – until he bred her. I put my hands on my ears as I walk past them, grimacing and praying for their soul.
"Dude! That's gross!" I hear Kyle shout, and I see Isaiah with Jean.
I narrow my eyes at them, hoping that Isaiah would get the hint, but his eyes never meet mine until I queue in the line to get my food. Isaiah gets touchy with Jean, and I groan in frustration. The guy in front of me looks over his shoulder and frowns, and I mutter a sorry.
Today, they serve vegetable and I'm not here for it. I check the chips vendo, and head straight there rather than getting food. Vegetables are really not my thing. I buy a few chips like Ruffles and Cheetos, and head straight to my usual table. Isaiah hasn't still looked my way, and I'm hoping for him to look here because I want him to see how pissed I am that he gets touchy with Jean.
Someone takes a seat beside me, and when I look up, it's Dylan.
"Nice of you to join me," I tell him as I open the Cheetos.
"Why aren't you eating a real food?"
"You call that vegetable a real food?" Dylan raises a brow at me. "Dylan, I don't eat vegetable. My stomach only wants meat. Like chicken mean, or pork meat, sometimes a cow meat will do, but I do crave for kwek-kwek. Oh fuck."
"You forgot, didn't you?"
I nod my head sadly at him, pouting. "I was supposed to prepare yesterday, but I had to do something else and it slipped off my mind. Also, people are talking about you. And it's weird to hear your name being spoken by almost everyone."
"I know," Dylan sighs, rolling his eyes. "Stephanie was lying, though. I certainly didn't have sex with her. I don't know where she got that idea, maybe it was her dream, but we definitely didn't do it. I'm too busy taking care of my brother that I barely have time to look for women who peak my interest."
"Peak your interest, huh," I laugh.
"But I do want to try that with someone else just to confirm my suspicion," Dylan tells me as he eats the vegetable. It's quite slimy, and it reminds me of laing. It's a Filipino dish of shredded taro leaves that are cooked in coconut milk and spiced with chilli, garlic, ginger, and shrimp paste.
"To confirm your suspicion? Why, you like some girl?" I bump my shoulder onto his and Dylan rolls his eyes. "I suggest do it the Filipino way. Well, the old traditional Filipino way where the guy serenades the girl and her family. That's called akyat ng ligaw. It means to court someone."
"Hmm... interesting,"
"Oh, before I forgot to tell you," I put a hand on his shoulder and grin at him. "I'm going back to the Philippines later. So, you might not see me for a week or two. It's my grandma's 80th birthday and we have to be there."
"Videocalls then?"
"Yeah, sure, videocalls."
"And don't forget my souvenir, and kwek-kwek. Whatever that is."
I spend my lunch with Dylan, and Isaiah has never looked my way. He's too busy talking to Jean that he doesn't notice me glaring daggers at him. Jean's head is resting on Isaiah's shoulder and I lose my appetite to eat. Dylan tells me that he's going to the rest room, and since I need to pee as well, I tell him I'm coming with him.
We head to the restroom near the gym.
Dylan is still taking a piss while I'm washing my hands. After a minute, Dylan washes his hands as well and I thank God for that. I'm about to dry my hands with the towel when I slip, and Dylan is quick to catch me. Dylan places his hand at the back of my head as we both stumble down near the wall, and I internally thank Dylan because if it weren't for his hand, there'd be a nasty bump on my head. His face is closer to mine that I can practically feel his breath on my face, and I notice his eyes are green. His eyes remind me somehow the show I used to watch when I was a kid where four people guarded the elemental gems, and I loved the green gem because it was used to control water.
"Are you all right?" he rasps out as he looks at me worriedly.
I nod my head. "I am. Thank you, Dylan."
Then someone enters. Isaiah stops dead in his track as he sees me and Dylan tangled up, then an angry expression contorts on his face. Then he punches Dylan. And then both boys are fighting in front of me, and I think I might have shouted. Now, the students are checking the restroom trying to see what's going on.
I think I shout again.