Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

F ueled by my annoyance with Summer, I got extra determined to finish the poster draft that weekend. I did all of my homework that week in record time and went straight to making the stills after having dinner. I knew I would not be able to rest until I was satisfied with the final product.

At 2:30 a.m., my eyes were bloodshot, my head heavy from exhaustion, and my stomach was rumbling from hunger. I had this big craving for something savory and oily but there was nothing here of that sort. Well, at least, none that did not require cooking. Dad will not be back from Singapore till next week and Cris and Liana had gone on a trip with their side of the family. As I was all alone, had no idea how to cook, and did not have any intention to set the house on fire, I decided to just do a quick fast-food run.

The staff were having a chat when I came in. One of them smiled, laid out a tray, and waited for me to approach as I was a familiar face.

“Can I get a chicken nuggets meal, please,” I recited, staring at the menu overhead and computing how much it would total if I ordered everything I wanted. I checked my wallet and saw that I had enough. “Go large with the fries and coke and then add extra rice.”

“Would you like an apple pie with that?” the girl at the register prompted, remembering my usual order.

I just laughed despite myself and nodded. As the branch was empty, my favorite spot—a booth in the corner with softer seats—was free for me.

I took a good photo of all my food and captioned it on my Instagram story before posting it. I had just dug into my box of fries when my phone beeped, notifying me of a reply.

Cholo Valiente

Hoy! You’re outside?

No, I have a McDo branch in my living room.

Obviously.

Shaking my head, I watched three dots appear next to his name, probably to come up with a smart ass answer.

Cholo Valiente

Can I join you? I forgot to get groceries

I rolled my eyes at my phone screen.

It’s a free country. Chos.

I put my phone down and savored my meal. Ten minutes later, Cholo appeared at the entrance. He wore a different shirt now and his slippers were as worn-out as mine.

He smiled as he passed me then went straight for the counter, joining me when he got his food.

“Why are you still up?” I asked.

“Rizal term paper,” he replied, looking at his fries. “I forgot it was due at midnight. Then these other things. I won’t have time this weekend because of family errands.”

“Hala siya,” I said, trying to be sympathetic.

“You? Why are you still up?”

“I finished the new poster,” I replied. “Summer said something annoying. I couldn’t sleep until I got it right.”

“Can you show me?”

“Hala. Is this a work hangout?”

“Sorry. You don’t have to show me. I need to turn my chairperson mode off.”

“Yes, please. I want to relax.”

I opened my apple pie and munched on the crispy corners, leaning on the booth I was sitting on. I sat there and just relaxed while Cholo started on his chicken meal.

“Question,” he started. “Why do you pretend like you don’t remember me?”

I gave him a look, trying to gauge if he was teasing, but he was serious.

“My memories of you aren’t exactly great, you know,” I said. “Every time I see you, I get reminded of how you called me Maleficent one day and how it stuck. Did you forget I became the villain in every single school play after that?”

“Not at all. I remember a lot of stuff but not that. You haven’t forgiven me for that, have you? Even after you hit me about a thousand times with your Sailor Moon lunch box?”

“That’s very…specific.”

“How could I forget? You had a good aim. Your box always landed on my face.”

“I had a good reason. If your memory is as sharp as you say it is, you’d remember why.”

“I do. And I remember you had this exact same pikon face,” he said, smiling at me.

“Aba!” I said, gripping my fork as though to stab him. “You haven’t changed one bit. Masama pa rin ugali mo.”

“Wait, chill!” Cholo said, both palms up, eyes focused on my plastic fork. “Seriously, Lavinia Magdalene, that was a long time ago!”

“Yes, a long time ago, and you don’t even know how it went on in high school because you transferred. Off you went to Randall High in Katipunan, not knowing that Gian, Liana, and I had to deal with the names you christened us with until graduation.”

“That’s just my kuyas. I transferred to Xander in San Juan,” he said. “But I digress. Did it really go on that long?”

“Yes, your cruel legacy lived on. I was forever typecasted as a villain in high school and teachers disliked me for some reason. Gian and Liana were Squidward and Tinker Bell up until graduation!”

“What?” he said, looking a little remorseful.

My case was much milder than Gian and Liana’s—those names Cholo gave them were bad. Gian was called Squidward because he had a prominent nose while Liana was Tinker Bell because of that one time Cris forgot to pack her uniform after a Halloween costume thing and she was stuck wearing the Tinker Bell costume all day.

I would say Liana got over it pretty quickly, as she was probably the most level-headed person I knew, but Gian and I were not the most forgiving types.

“Sorry. I didn’t hear from anyone in grade school anymore so I had no idea. I wouldn’t be teasing you about it now otherwise,” Cholo said, and even if I was annoyed with him, I knew that was sincere. “If it makes you feel better, I got my karma in high school. They called me ‘sungki’ and I had to get braces. Year after that, I was ‘metal mouth’ and ‘brace face.’ Then my Kuyas call me Choleng in public!”

I made a face at him.“So was that why you kept offering to be my groupmate? And asking me to join your study groups? You were so annoying and you kept teasing me like we were close or something. You wanted me to recognize you, right? Did you expect me to go, ‘Hiiii kamusta, it’s been a while’ on you?”

“Hoy, grabe,” he protested. “I know I was annoying but it wasn’t that at all.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Okay, fine, I was teasing, just a tiny bit,” Cholo relented. “But I kept asking you to be a groupmate or to join the study groups to make up for my past actions. I was trying to be a friend, okay? I’m not trying to make you dislike me more than you already do.”

Friend , I repeated to myself. Now that he said that, I felt a little guilty for assuming the worst. But he used to be that arrogant kid who had the latest toys and showed them off in the classroom. He got extra cred with teachers for being super smart, and that amplified his kiddie ego. It was hard to imagine that little braggart wanting to be my friend.

Looking at him now, I saw that the swagger was gone, but the determination and thirst for academic achievement were still there.

“You haven’t changed one bit,” he commented, taking another sip off his coffee, and I realized he was probably comparing past me and current me just like I was doing with him. “You’re still just as cute when you get pikon.”

“Ha ha, you’re laying it on thick,” I said, waving my fork now. “You legit disliked me back then but I couldn’t figure out why. Bakit nga ulit?”

Cholo looked at the table and back at me, mouth still curled in a smile, but that did not reach his eyes. “You beat me in the Sustagen Quiz Bee.”

“Sus Ginoo santisima,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Was that it?”

“Yup,” he said, shaking his head. “That was the single worst day of my life. I couldn’t forgive you for that.”

“Exage,” I remarked, to which he laughed.

“Anyway, why do you eat here? Don’t you have food at home?” he asked, looking eager to change the subject as he took another sip off his cup.

“‘Di ko pwede kainin pagkain ng amo ko, magagalit ‘yun.”

Cholo roared in laughter and choked hard on his coffee. I watched in amusement as the liquid started coming out of his nose and it still looked scalding as I could see steam coming out of the top of the cup. I shook my head and handed him some tissues, which he gladly took.

“Now that is payback,” I said, folding my arms and taking some delight in his misery. “I guess we’re even now.”

Cholo glared at me and wiped his mouth and nose. His eyes were red and watery from so much coughing.

“Do you ever stop being mean?” he demanded.

I gave him my best smile. “Does the sun ever stop shining?” I replied sweetly.

“Ewan ko sa ‘yo!” he said, stealing the rest of my tissues.

I finished my food in peace and he insisted on walking me home after that. I felt a bit awkward at first because, duh, we were hardly friends before this, but I just let him be. I did think it would also be safer to have him around as it was nearly 5 a.m.

“Want to bet on the next Finance exam?” he asked, just after he pointed out his street, which was nearer to the fast-food joint than mine.

“Absolutely not. And you just had to pick my worst subject,” I scoffed. “Marketing na lang.”

“Asa ka. Patsy likes you more than me. I won’t stand a chance with 170.”

“It’s an exam, not a recitation. And it’s not like she favors me. Not my fault if I write better than you.”

“Oh, shut up, Vinnie. Just you wait.”

I stopped in my tracks and laughed.

“O, ano na naman?” he asked, pausing to give me an annoyed look.

“Cholo, that’s the first time you ever called me that!” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “It’s always ‘Lavinia,’ in varying states of annoyed, patronizing, or inconvenienced, but never ‘Vinnie.’ Are we close now?”

“Close? Tss. It just took some getting used to because you weren’t Vinnie in grade school. But everyone calls you that now so I guess I’ll… Wait, hold that thought, who came up with that nickname, anyway?”

“Gian did.”

“You’re that close?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

“We deny being friends to anyone who asks but we have each other’s backs. It’s because of you that we even ended up being friends.”

“Because of me?” Cholo said like I had insulted him.

“You and the rest of the class bullied us a lot so Gian and I bonded over that. I hated my name after being teased every day for it so he started calling me something else,” I told him, walking towards the general direction of my street.

“You know what? I think I’ll stick with Lavinia,” he said, making a face and following me.

“Alam mo, we should settle this once and for all. I’m game for a bet but let’s do 161.”

“Shit, Business Law?” he sputtered, which caught me by surprise as I wasn’t used to hearing him swear.

“Yeah, I mean, we both suck in that class.”

We both got floored by the professor the other day: we were talking about Ephemere in low voices and out of nowhere, Professor Villafranca asked me a question. I answered his question the best I could but he was not satisfied so he picked on Cholo next.

“We both suck in the class so you want a bet on it? So whoever gets the lower score wins?” Cholo asked me, and I made a face at him.

“This bet will motivate us both to study more and do better, given how it’s not our favorite subject.”

“Me? But I like 161.”

“Cholo, you use the class to talk to me about Ephemere. You hate it as much as I do.”

“Fine. I can never hide anything from you.”

“Here’s what we’ll do. If I get a higher score, you stop being a bully. Forever.”

“I’m a bully?” he asked, stopping in his tracks again for effect, which was convenient because we did have to stop as we reached my street.

“Yes!” I said with all conviction, folding my arms and taking the familiar steps towards my house. “If I win, you’ll stop calling me Lavinia and reminding me of my days as the perennial school play witch. You’ll stop being such an asshat towards me, too.”

“Excuse you, I’ve been nothing but nice to you the past few weeks.”

“Nice? Calling me a ‘piece of work’ every day is nice ?”

“What, it’s an endearment! Like how you call me prefect brat every chance you get,” he said indignantly. “Wait, so that wasn’t an endearment? You really think I’m a brat?”

“For it to be endearment, we have to be close.”

“But—you know what, fine. If I win, you’re not allowed to swear for one week.”

I gaped at him. It was my turn to get caught off-guard.

“No way,” I said. Cholo looked satisfied with himself as he grinned from ear to ear. “You were swearing just now, Prefect Brat!”

“Well, take it or leave it, Lavinia ,” he cooed, even inching closer to my face as he said it just to be annoying.

He smelled so good, though.

Wait, what? Lavinia, NO .

“Well, this is my house,” I said,taking the keys out of my pocket. “Shoo.”

“Wow, that’s how you say thank you?”

“Thank youuuu,” I said, rolling my eyes and doing a mock curtsy for full effect. “Okay na?”

“I give up,” Cholo said, shaking his head and throwing his hands towards the skies. He steered his bike towards the direction of where we came from and climbed on it. The way he turned around to look back at me made me notice his sharp jawline.

Gosh, that made me realize I needed sleep. I was starting to find him attractive.

“Good night, Lavinia,” he said, giving me a small smile that felt like a punch in the face. My tummy started feeling all funny.

I must have had way too many nuggets or something.

“Good night,” I said, hurrying with the lock in case the funny feeling in my tummy lingered. I also didn’t want to end up doing something ridiculous, like blush.

He waited until I got inside the house before he gave me a last wave and rode away. I got to my room feeling ready to go to bed when my phone beeped.

Cholo Valiente

I haven’t laughed that much in a long while. Thank you.

See you on Tuesday

I chuckled and fell asleep smiling.