her by being… well… clean. His hair was slicked back, and he introduced himself to her parents like a polite economics honors student. (But of course he cleaned up nicely. Was she expecting him to have blood on his shirt?)
So Kathy felt a tad guilty about thinking about Jake, and being more excited to see him than the idea of her date with Diego.
Jake didn't particularly like Vida Castillo. In fact, he had been making plans to go to the Bash alone. He sent Kathy that invitation and was hoping she would actually come to see who was giving her those gifts. But when Vida showed up at his house to pick him up, he kind of just let it happen. Most of his "relationship" with Vida was made up of these moments he had let happen, many of them he found difficult to explain whenever people asked if he was seeing her.
He was, wasn 't he? She even called him her boyfriend that one time. He had all these memories of her, and there were witnesses to prove every single one, but they were like scenes he remembered from a TV show. Vida never stopped him from doing things, but whenever she was around he felt… distracted.
The haze in his head was there again, as he accompanied Vida to the Bash. As soon as he arrived he scanned the crowd, but he forgot who he was looking for. But the feeling was persistent, and it occurred to him again as soon as Vida stepped out to find a clean bathroom.
Jake was looking for someone. Kathy? Right, Kathy. Why again?
He sent her the photo and asked her to come tonight. What photo was it again?
The ancestral home, the one he saw when he took a summer trip down south to Bacolod. He was playing around with a new camera, and took a heritage tour of the area's old houses.
Why did he take a heritage tour again?
Because it was on Kathy's five things. #3 -- "I collect photos of ancestral houses. One day I'd like to write a book about them." He was particularly proud of one of the photos and sent it to her as a gift, anonymously. With an invitation to be her date to the Bash. Why did he do that again?
Because of #4 -- "I have never had a boyfriend."
He felt that he should at least try.
The posters said that the Bash would end at nine-thirty but that was obviously untrue, because the basketball players only started arriving at ten. Vida seemed to be taking a while. When he turned in the direction she'd gone, he saw her arguing with Quin Apolinario. Jake never really heard her raise her voice, much less lose it, but Vida looked angry.
" Self-righteous bastard," she told the captain of the basketball varsity. "I can see right through you and I won't let you do this!"
" You think you can do anything about it?" Quin retorted. "It's happening."
Jake wondered br iefly if he should come forward and defend his supposed girlfriend, but something else called out to him. Inside the crowded club, rising above the music and the normal noise, some cause for alarm: he heard the sounds of a scuffle, bottles breaking, girls shrieking, fists hitting skulls.
Diego Simon was in the middle of a fight, an actual fight, and panic was rippling through the crowd.
A hundred or so people started rushing for the exit, and suddenly something in Jake snapped. He wasn't part of the fishy-smelling panicky mob. Instead it was like he had awakened with a start, and he made his way against the tide with purpose.
Toward the girl with orange shoes. He just knew where to find her. She was on the wrong side of the room when Diego started his caveman assault, and had managed to climb up onto the makeshift bar instead of join the stampede. It wasn't going to keep her safe for long, though, because the other guy's friends started joining the riot, and no chair or table was safe from being toppled over.
Jake had to piece it together after, because he wasn 't sure how it all happened. First was the mystery of how he saw her right away, despite the mob. Then the matter of how he was able to weave through that crowd (the worst of his
So Kathy felt a tad guilty about thinking about Jake, and being more excited to see him than the idea of her date with Diego.
Jake didn't particularly like Vida Castillo. In fact, he had been making plans to go to the Bash alone. He sent Kathy that invitation and was hoping she would actually come to see who was giving her those gifts. But when Vida showed up at his house to pick him up, he kind of just let it happen. Most of his "relationship" with Vida was made up of these moments he had let happen, many of them he found difficult to explain whenever people asked if he was seeing her.
He was, wasn 't he? She even called him her boyfriend that one time. He had all these memories of her, and there were witnesses to prove every single one, but they were like scenes he remembered from a TV show. Vida never stopped him from doing things, but whenever she was around he felt… distracted.
The haze in his head was there again, as he accompanied Vida to the Bash. As soon as he arrived he scanned the crowd, but he forgot who he was looking for. But the feeling was persistent, and it occurred to him again as soon as Vida stepped out to find a clean bathroom.
Jake was looking for someone. Kathy? Right, Kathy. Why again?
He sent her the photo and asked her to come tonight. What photo was it again?
The ancestral home, the one he saw when he took a summer trip down south to Bacolod. He was playing around with a new camera, and took a heritage tour of the area's old houses.
Why did he take a heritage tour again?
Because it was on Kathy's five things. #3 -- "I collect photos of ancestral houses. One day I'd like to write a book about them." He was particularly proud of one of the photos and sent it to her as a gift, anonymously. With an invitation to be her date to the Bash. Why did he do that again?
Because of #4 -- "I have never had a boyfriend."
He felt that he should at least try.
The posters said that the Bash would end at nine-thirty but that was obviously untrue, because the basketball players only started arriving at ten. Vida seemed to be taking a while. When he turned in the direction she'd gone, he saw her arguing with Quin Apolinario. Jake never really heard her raise her voice, much less lose it, but Vida looked angry.
" Self-righteous bastard," she told the captain of the basketball varsity. "I can see right through you and I won't let you do this!"
" You think you can do anything about it?" Quin retorted. "It's happening."
Jake wondered br iefly if he should come forward and defend his supposed girlfriend, but something else called out to him. Inside the crowded club, rising above the music and the normal noise, some cause for alarm: he heard the sounds of a scuffle, bottles breaking, girls shrieking, fists hitting skulls.
Diego Simon was in the middle of a fight, an actual fight, and panic was rippling through the crowd.
A hundred or so people started rushing for the exit, and suddenly something in Jake snapped. He wasn't part of the fishy-smelling panicky mob. Instead it was like he had awakened with a start, and he made his way against the tide with purpose.
Toward the girl with orange shoes. He just knew where to find her. She was on the wrong side of the room when Diego started his caveman assault, and had managed to climb up onto the makeshift bar instead of join the stampede. It wasn't going to keep her safe for long, though, because the other guy's friends started joining the riot, and no chair or table was safe from being toppled over.
Jake had to piece it together after, because he wasn 't sure how it all happened. First was the mystery of how he saw her right away, despite the mob. Then the matter of how he was able to weave through that crowd (the worst of his
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