Terrence’s Point of View

"Terrence!" my mother screamed at the top of her lungs. The last syllable of my name was even prolonged. "Lyra is already here! You really like making others wait for you, that's not a good trait!" she added. It's evident in her voice that she's kind of irritated, and I couldn't blame her because she's been asking me to take a bath and fix my things an hour ago, but I did not obey her.

While still shirtless and trying to move faster, I accidently bumped into my drawer and my plastic bottled perfume fell on the floor. I just ignored it as I already have the other perfume that I prefer more in my bag. I could feel my sweat dripping as I was wearing my Converse shoes, and I just ignored it as I could wipe them all off after I wore my shoes. It's a good thing that I did not wear a shirt while procrastinating because it's too hot in my room and my shirt would probably smell sweaty if I did.

After tying the laces of my shoes, I damped the white towel that I used earlier when I took a bath to wipe off all the sweat that I have on my face, neck, underarm, back, and even on my legs. Yup, that's how hot it is here in my room! Well, what could I expect here in the Philippines, a country where summer is always around?

"You're such an early bird! Excited much?" I raised my brows at Lyra as I finally walked out of my room. She's casually sitting at our light blue couch while trying to play with my younger sister, Thalia, and while also eyeing my mother who's cooking something at the kitchen.

Based on what I'm currently smelling, my mother's cooking Adobo.

The thought of that Adobo just made me realize that I'm hungry. I also just realized by now that the last meal that I ate was already four hours ago, so it's reasonable that my stomach is rumbling now. Unfortunately, I think I wouldn't be able to eat before we go because it's already 4:25PM, and my friends and I agreed to meet up at the bus' waiting shed by 4:30PM. The waiting shed is just a two-minute walk away from our house, so I'm optimistic that Ly and I would be there on time.

"I'm not an early bird, you're just always late, baks!" Ly says while rolling her eyes at me.

When she called me 'baks,' I intently pinched her stomach and widen my eyes at her. 'Baks' means gay, and my mother should not hear it! Not anyone in this family!

Ly shook her head while scratching it, and whispered 'sorry.' She even bit her lower lip, probably because of the sudden guilt that she felt. I could not blame her for what she just called me as we always call each other that in our casual conversation, I know she didn't mean it.

My mother seemed to not have heard what she just called me, so I just acted normally.

"Ma, we'll leave now..." Right after I said that, Mama turned off the stove and offered us to bring the food that she just finished cooking.

"Wait, 'nak..." She always calls me 'nak' even if she is not my real mother... and it always touches my heart. Yup, she's just my stepmother. "You should bring food and eat on the bus, I know you haven't eaten since four hours ago," she said as she was getting a lock and lock food container on our kitchen countertops.

I know I couldn't say 'no' to her, so I just let her do what she wanted.

"Is that Adobo, Tita?" Ly curiously asked. I looked at her and saw that she just asked Mama so that Mama would give her food too. Same old Lyra— the one who always craves for my Mama's cooking.

I laughed and shook my head. I know that by that remark, Lyra got herself an Adobo from Mama.

"Yes, Lyra, it's Adobo..." Mama looked at Lyra for a second just so she could wink. "I'll pack you an Adobo too because I know how much you love my dishes!"

Ly's face lit up when Mama said that. "Thank you so much, Tita! You're the best Tita in the world for me, even if you're not really my aunt!"

Mama just laughed it off and continued packing the food for us. As she was doing so, she reminded us of the things that we should always keep in mind as we stay in Manila for our studies. She reminded me to not be so naughty as she knows how naughty we can get (specially me and Hacob in Hacob's condo), she told me to not forget the fees that I need to pay to Hacob monthly, she told me to regularly sweep and mop the floor of Hacob's condo unit, and she also reminded me to study well so that Papa will be proud of me.

I thought her lessons were already finished, but she also instructed me to call them every night, and that I should go home here in our province every weekend.

I just nodded in all the things that she said, and that nod was enough for her as she trusts me with all of her heart... and that is why I really love her.. that is why I treat her like she's my own mother... even though I'm still longing for my real mother's affection.

Obviously, we're moving out right now to Manila. It's just Saturday, but me and my friends agreed to move out now because we still need to fix a lot of things in our respective condo and dormitories. As I've told, I will be staying at Hacob (my bestfriend)'s condo unit, while my other friends have rented dormitories that were just near by Hacob's condo. Hacob's condo and the dormitories of my other friends are all close to the same university where we will all be studying, the Villacerio University.

My group of friends is composed of four boys and two girls— the four boys are Hacob or Jacob (I call him Hacob because he wants me to call him that), Winston, Sherwin, and Dwight, and the two girls (my two bestest friends!) are Aly and Ly. I've been friends with Aly and Ly since we were kids, with Hacob since we were in 6th grade, and with the three other boys since we were in 7th grade. We all officially became friends when we were in 8th grade, as we all found out that we were all neighbors.

As I've mentioned, we are currently enrolled in the same university, but we took different college courses. Hacob and I took up Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, Ly took up Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Aly took up Bachelor of Science in Customs Administration, Sherwin took up Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, and Dwight and Winston took up Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

The Villacerio University is located in Manila, so as we are all from the province of Bulacan, we decided to live our lives independently by renting out dormitories (except for me, as I am renting out Hacob's condo unit). Besides the fact that we want to live independently, the cost and time of travel were also considered. Usually, the travel time from Bulacan to Manila and vice versa lasts from two hours to three hours, and it depends upon the road traffic.

After Mama packed the food, Ly and I hurriedly ran outside to get to the waiting shed on time.

As we were running, Ly asked out of the blue, "When will you confess your feelings to Jacob?"

I immediately covered her mouth because the moment she asked that question, I saw Hacob walking out of their house's gate.

Yup. I have feelings for Hacob... Ly and Aly only know about it... and to answer Ly's question, I have no plans on confessing to him. He's straight, and I doubt that he feels the same way about me. Besides that, I don't want to ruin our friendship.

"It's a miracle that Jacob is late..." Ly said with an overly exaggerated expression in her face. Hacob just ignored her, and then he willingly grabbed all the bags that I was holding even if he was already holding his bags.

"Jacob, I'm the girl here... I should be the one that you're helping!" Hacob just ignored Ly's complain and continued to walk, so I opted to help Ly, who is currently pouting right now out of frustration, with her bags as I do not have anything with me right now. It seems like Hacob's sleepy... maybe he hasn't properly slept yet and that's probably because of him playing games on his PlayStation.

With that simple gesture of Hacob, I felt like my heart was going to explode.

So this is how I always deal with my feelings. I just giggle and scream inside whenever I feel like my heart is going to explode.

And I've been doing this since we were still in 7th grade. Well, technically, I already have a crush on him when we're in 6th grade as he was so handsome— his deep brown eyes that I feel have a magnet that always attract mine, his wavy black hair that somehow covers his forehead, his thin lips, and his pointed nose... they all captivated me. But it was in 7th grade when I finally admitted to myself that I like him— I remember it was our school field trip, my t-shirt got wet and he offered me his extra t-shirt. That time, I felt like he was the nicest guy I've met... and also the most attractive guy I met, so there, I admitted to myself that I like him... even though it was hard for me as being gay and having feelings with the same sex is not really a norm here in our province.

I tried to give back that t-shirt, but he told me that I can keep it as a gift, and by the time he said that, my heart was exploding... and since then, whenever he does things for me, be it grand or just a simple little thing, my heart always goes like that.

I kept it a secret for a year because being gay is a taboo here, but Ly and Aly found out about it on 8th grade, when they caught me talking to myself in the mirror (with me acting like the mirror was Hacob).

Good thing, the two agreed to keep it as a secret, and up until today (we're already in our college life!), my secret still remains to be a secret between us three. I'm thankful because these two are really trustworthy, but there were times where they really want to tell Hacob about it, and I couldn't blame them because they cannot bear to see me hurting because of Hacob dating other girls. Thankfully, every time that they want to tell Hacob about it, a cry and a beg from me stops them from telling him.

"You're too happy, huh?! What Jacob did was nothing, he just did that because your are his bestfriend... it's just that and nothing more!" Ly just whispered but I could feel the intensity of what she said in her tone as she really wanted to slap the reality into my face.

Well, I'm already used to these words as she and Aly always say such things to me, so I don't really care. Besides, what Ly said was true and there's no reason for me to cause a drama, Hacob doesn't have a new girl, so overall, it's alright and going well for me.

"Finally, the late comers have arrived!" Aly rolled her eyes as she saw us three. Dwight, Sherwin, and Winston stood up when they finally saw the bus that's right behind us.

"Ter, there's still a seat near the window..." I looked at where Hacob was pointing at and sat there. He really knows that I love sitting near the window as I love staring at the road when travelling.

Thankfully, Aly and Ly were able to sit at the last row seat of the bus, Hacob sat beside me, and the three boys were left no choice but to stand as there were no seats left for them.

I was right. Hacob is sleepy. We just sat a couple of minutes ago, but here he is now, lying his head on my shoulder and sleeping soundly.

Sigh. How can he look like this? He looks so angelic while sleeping! Is he even real?!

"You two really look like you're together..." Dwight jokingly commented, and I just answered him by raising my middle finger right at him.

That's how they tease us... that's how I usually respond. I did not really out myself as gay, but I'm used to them teasing me with other boys and even Hacob, and I don't really care much because that's how they are. They just do that to tease me and they are not really homophobic.

Because the bus that we're currently riding on is airconditioned, I found myself slowly falling asleep too. I felt my head slowly bumped into Hacob's head, and I just ignored it as this usually happens whenever we both fall asleep during travels.