Page 6 of Chasing Mr. Prefect
“Niiice, Magsaysay,” I said and he gave an exasperated sigh, as though saying‘Here we go again.’“Mukha kang tao today, ah. Anong meron?”
“Very funny, Vinnie. What happened to you yesterday?”
“You saw what happened. I don’t want to talk about it. Have you seen Cholo Valiente?”
“No. Yuck. Why are you even looking for him?” he asked. Gian was not a big fan either. Like me, he kept his grudge from childhood and he had yet to forgive Cholo, too.
“Noooo, wait. Is hesuspendingyou?”
I aimed a punch at his shoulder. “Why you little?—”
“Lavinia?”
As if on cue.Cholo.
He stepped right in between Gian and me, his eyes darting as though sizing us up.
“Hi,” I said, trying to be all proper, even attempting to smile as I remembered that my cum laude standing, Seoul trip, and entire future were on the line.
Gian put his fist against his mouth to suppress a loud snort. I raised both eyebrows at him.
“I’m out of here,” Gian said, holding his hands up in surrender. He then walked towards the bench where Liana and their friends were seated, leaving me and Cholo behind.
Cholo marched down the stairs and to the library with me following him.We’re having the meeting here? Jeez, why makeme climb at all?I kept my mouth shut as he proceeded to charm the librarian into handing him the discussion room key, his eyes turning into half-moons.
Wow. Who would have ever assumed such a smile belonged to a judgmental prick?
“Did you get to eat at all?” Cholo asked, opening the discussion room. It was empty and dark so he had to turn on all the lights. I had never set foot in this room before but I would see people holding their case presentation practice sessions and mock feasibility defenses here from time to time. I observed the walls and found soundproofing.
“No.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“It was too noisy and crowded. I didn’t even know there was free food until you told me.”
“Is this why you hadn’t attended anything since we got inducted as members?”
“Yep. People drain me. I think I joined the wrong club,” I said, taking one of the seats on the front table.
“You must’ve gotten food, at least. That’s one thing they do right.”
“To get food, I have to interact. Not worth the trouble, and I’m not that hungry,” I said and then I leaned forward as I watched Cholo write words in block letters on the white board:LOGISTICS,MARKETING,FINANCE,PROMOTIONS, andPUBLICITY /CREATIVES.
“You need to work on that. This group for Ephemere is made up of about 75% extroverts. What’s your MBTI?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You did complete the Career Assistance kit that the college launched this term, yes?” he pressed.
I nodded in reply. The College of Business launched its Career Assistance program that distributed kits with personalitytests for us to fill out, including MBTI, or the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator. This included brochures on what roles or jobs were a good fit for you depending on your results. Some of my classmates pointed out that the MBTI personality test was not as relevant anymore and was not supposed to be used as a personality measurement. The college said that was a valid point but stood their ground and argued that it was still a good gauge.
“For the org’s use, though, the chairpersons need it to balance out the group and know how to handle everyone. You did read it, right? You were on the last viewer list.”
“Fine. I’m ISTP-Turbulent. Temperament, Melancholic,” I said. “Wait. How come your name wasn’t on there?”
“Because it’s mostly for my use. You looked for me in there?” he asked, turning to face me with a cocky smile.
“Wooow, yuck,” I said, making a face.