Page 20 of Chasing Mr. Prefect

“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 thatonetime 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.

“Nowthatis 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.