Page 54 of Chasing Mr. Prefect

“Your family’s awesome,” he told me as he threw himself on the sofa with his eyes closed.

“Yeah. Can’t believe I didn’t talk to them for years,” I said, laughing. “Wait. Antok ka na? You wanna see my terrace?”

“You have your own terrace? Rich kid talaga, o! Let me see,” he said so I pulled him off the sofa. He scratched his eyes with his knuckles and he looked so cute doing it that I almost forgot where we were going.

I opened my room and led him to the window—the same one where I found Melba many weeks ago—and opened the panelswide. There was a flat expanse of roof in front and I usually hung out here when it felt too stuffy inside my room. I squeezed myself through the window and tried to balance on the slightly uneven surface. Cholo, being taller, had a bit more difficulty with doing so but with some help he was able to get there with me too.

“I really don’t want to imagine how I’m supposed to get back in there later,” he complained, staring at the window with his hands on his hips.

I laughed my head off and pointed on the sloping roof just behind me. “You can take a shortcut over here if you like,” I said. “It goes straight to the laundry area and you can come in that way.”

“Where am I supposed to land?” he asked, leaning towards my spot as he tried to look. “Is that even safe?”

“Yeah, just remember to get a good grip on the sampayan when you land,” I said. Then I had an evil idea. “Hala!”

He jumped in his spot from the shock, almost losing his balance. I pulled him right back towards me just in time to keep him from falling.

“Vinnie!” he yelled and I had to cover his mouth because my family was supposed to be sleeping but he tapped my hand away.

I took a small, waterproof mat just below the window and laid it on the floor.

“You must have seen your face!” I said, much to his chagrin. “O, ayan. Have a seat.”

“Hindi mo na ako itutulak?”

“I’m still thinking about it,” I replied and then steered him down towards the mat using his shoulders so that he had no choice but to sit down. I took a seat beside him, feeling the cool wind against my skin. I watched the stars for a bit then closed my eyes and put my head on his shoulder.

“You seem sad.”

“No, I’m just sleepy,” I replied. I felt him lean his head towards mine and caught a whiff of Irish Spring.

“It won’t make you any less human, you know,” he told me. “Admitting you actually have emotions.”

“Excuse you, sir, I’ve actually been dealing with my emotions so much better these past few weeks,” I said defensively. “Also, gets mo na ‘yon, sometimes I don’t even need words to tell you whatever I’m feeling at the moment.”

“So we’re really close now, huh?” he teased.

“Sometimes, it’s scary. I pull a face and you already know what’s going on. Like what happened the other night at Gian’s house. I was so thankful that you were there and you just knew what to do. It’s a little funny thinking that now when months ago we don’t even acknowledge each other in class.”

“Mostly your fault, Ms. Fandom Master with more than five thousand followers.”

“Excuse you, Mr. Head Disciplinary Prefect and Accounting Mamaw. You weren’t so approachable either.”

He just laughed at that.

“But really, I’m grateful. Words aren’t my strong suit so having you around is like a miracle of sorts,” I said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Like, when I was younger, I would yell or whatever because I don’t usually feel listened to.” I frowned, still staring at the sky.

“Well, I do listen when you speak, Vinnie. Even more so when you don’t.”

“Aren’t you tired of me yet? All that anger and angst?”

“Nah. You’re a good person, just doing a good job of hiding it.”

“Tarantado.”