Page 25 of Chasing Mr. Prefect

“Bait ni Lavinia pag tulog, oh,” said a voice I would recognize from anywhere.

“I have my eyes closed but I could hear you, Prefect Brat.”

“Lagooooot,” said other people’s voices.

I raised one eye open and laughed, seeing Cholo covering his mouth and putting on a scared expression. He tiptoed and took a seat beside me while our other orgmates screeched ‘Uuuuuy!’

“Che!” I said, pretending to be offended but smiling.

“What did you answer for item 5?” Cholo asked me.

“I didn’t get there. I guessed items 4 and 5 and called it a day,” I replied.

Cholo laughed, edging closer towards me. “Seryoso ka? ‘Di nga?”

“Did you really think I submitted early because I found it easy?” I demanded. “Anyway. No talking about 142. I’m trying to sustain my life force before going home.”

“You look like you need a ride. You want to come with me?”

“Huh? Are you going South today?”

“Yup. Long weekend, eh,” Cholo said. “If you’re ready, we can go now. Iwas traffic.”

“Who am I to say no to legroom?” I said, remembering his comment from the other day. I stood up and followed him to the parking lot, relieved that I did not have to commute home.

“Nice car,”I said after we made it out of EDSA. I tried not to talk too much to let him focus on the wheel as the traffic was already building up.

“Are you comfortable?” he asked, putting the back of his hand in front of the aircon vent. “Is it too cold?”

“That’s fine. I like cold,” I said. “Thanks for offering.”

“No probs,” he replied, stopping at a traffic light.

I caught him sneak a quick look at me. “Tinitingin-tingin mo diyan?”

“I was wondering how you are but I didn’t want to ask in case you didn’t want to talk about it.”

I raised an eyebrow and he turned towards the road again. I folded my arms and leaned back against the seat. “Did you hear much?”

“Not really. I heard Juliana ask something and then hung up. It didn’t feel right to listen in.”

“Ah.”

I closed my eyes and once more, the looks on my family’s faces flashed like someone had pasted a high-resolution photo over my eyes. Heaving a deep breath, I decided it would not do me any harm talking to Cholo about it.

“Liana said she wanted us to be friends again,” I said, opening my eyes again and staring at the spotless glove compartment surface.

“What did you say?”

“I said surprising me with a strange doll in the middle of the night wouldn’t help with that,” I joked but Cholo saw right through that.

“I understand it’s annoying. Who’d want to find a doll in their room at midnight?” he said.

“True. But I should have been kinder.”

“Title of your autobiography.”

“Shutup,” I replied and burst out laughing. “Kakayamot ‘to kausap.”