straight as guitar strings!

chapter 5 [tag/fil]

AS far as I could remember, Leo Quintero is as straight as pole and how come he wants me now to give some thoughts about homosexuality? He even said, specifically for gay dudes.

Dahil sa tanong na 'yon ay nalunok ko 'yong pagkain na kasusubo ko pa lang at hindi pa nangunguya. Kinabog-kabog ko pa ng kamao ko ang dibdib ko dahil nabibilaukan na ako.

To the rescue naman siya at mas mabilis pa sa kidlat rumesponde, inalis niya yung takip at straw no'ng Gulp drink niya tapos pinainom niya ako nang maraming lagok just to make sure na hindi nagbara sa lalamunan ko 'yong food.

He even said, "Sorry, nabigla ba kita? Are you not open-minded for that kind of topic ba? Sorry, sorry."

"Hindi... okay lang." I tried to think of a response as fast as I could. "Ano lang... uhm, nasarapan lang ako masyado sa ulam na dala mo, sa sobrang sarap hindi ko na manguya gusto ko na agad lunukin."

"Gusto mo agad lunukin?" tanong niya na iba na naman ang pagkaregister sa isip ko. Is he doing it on purpose?

"Mm-hmm," I just innocently nodded.

"I see..." 'Yong ngiti niya pagkatapos sabihin 'yan ay para bang natatawa siya sa reaksyon ko. Kung salamin lang siya makikita ko kung ano itsura ko.

I didn't bother thinking about it anymore so I just shifted the topic to something else, "Ikaw nagluto nito, right?"

He smiled and itinuro 'yong ulam just to confirm that's the one I was asking about. He replied quick head nods after I confirmed it. "A, ganito na lang..." he paused to compose into words what he had just thought. "Naisip ko, magbabaon na lang tayo lagi. I will cook 'yong ulam natin tapos ikaw sa rice. Good ka ro'n?"

"What if, alternate?" I asked. Maganda 'yong naiisip niya, mas makatitipid kami sa gano'n.

He seemed to get it. "A, so bukas ikaw naman? Ipagluluto mo 'ko ulam tapos ako naman sa rice."

I made sure na na-swallow ko muna 'yong kinakain ko bago ako sumagot. "Yeah, vice versa, like that."

"Nice, versa." He just said casually and continued eating.

"Huh?" I asked, in my high-pitched voice. I felt like Ariana Grande possessed my soul for like a few seconds.

His facial expression says it all. Like, 'Wow? Taas ha?' He shook his head, smiling. "Wala... so ano nga? Any thoughts about rainbow community?"

Here we go again, so I still asked, "You mean, LGBTQ+?"

He just moved his brows upwards to say yes. "Ako kasi, for me, ito ha, my religion says it's a sin so it's like gano'n na rin for my own point of view but you know, lahat naman tayo may sins. Hindi ako against sa kanila, in fact, I have a lot of friends na part ng community, most of them gays and they're so much fun to get along with. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, like me-I mean, I like what you said. I agree kumbaga. That's good to know." Man, that reply was so lame! I'm no really good at words, I guess?

"How about you?" he asked as curiosity never fades on his face.

I wanted to give him a simple and short explanation so I told him, "I support them, I'm an ally...? You know that terminology?"

"Hmm, not really." He gave me a look with a sense of relief. "But yeah, cool right? Ang random ko ba? Sorry, sorry."

Napatahimik ako. Is this his way to tell me that it's fine to open up with him? Right now, I'm still confused and talagang nasa exploring stage pa lang ako. Is this like fino-foreshadow niya ako na he can sense that I'm not manly as he thinks. Softer than marshmallows? Shit.

"Kain ka pa," he said and napabalik ako sa huwisyo. Patuloy siya sa paglagay ng ulam sa kanin ko.

After we finished our meal, nag-start na kaming mag-review. I prepared everything, my notes, books, scratch papers or whatnot. Pero mga ilang minuto lang nag-stop na mag-review si Leo. Anong ginagawa niya ngayon? 'Yon, nanonood ng video sa cellphone niya. Hindi ko alam kung anong Tagalog dubbed ng anime 'yong pinapanood pero basta tunog anime siya pakinggan.

"Baka gusto mo mag-airpods?" I asked frankly dahil sagad pa sa sagad 'yong volume niya, e. Ang ingay na nga dito sa 7-11, dumagdag pa siya. Well, ambience noise is fine for me, perfectly fine. Nakakatulong pa nga actually ang background noise for me to focus and concentrate, but not this kind of noise his phone is making.

"Kung mayro'n ako sana ginamit ko na," sagot niya sa'kin. He's trying to get into my nerves.

"Kung importante 'yan, baka binigyan na kita!" I let out a long sigh of annoyance.

"Nice, bigay talaga? Hindi, hiram lang?" The audacity of him to even ask that.

"Bilhan pa kitang sampu! Salpak mo sa tainga mo!" I rolled my eyes.

"'La, an'yare? Bakit kaya naman gumagano'n? Inaano ka ba?" Tinawanan niya pa ako. Akala niya siguro funny. I remained silent, darting my eyes sharply towards him kaya napasabi siya ng, "Sabi ko nga, magre-review na... kahit nagawa ko na kagabi."

"Sana all," sabi ko na lang. Then, kinuwento kong nakatulog lang ako kagabi kaya nagka-cramming ako ngayon. Pinahiram ko na rin siya ng air pods. Like literally, ang bilis mag-shift ng mood ko. I just let him enjoy watching on his phone.

The bell rung after the tiring class hours including the quiz we've had. Nakatulong din talaga 'yong quick brainstorming namin ni Leo habang naglalakad pabalik ng university because what we did was just like question and answer, it really helped a lot.

"Did you bring your toothbrush?" he asked randomly, like literally para siyang notification na hindi inaasahaan, nag-pop up na lang bigla sa tabi ko. I was packing my stuff though that's why I wasn't paying attention to anyone around me or whatever's happening just to make sure na wala akong maiiwan na gamit ko here sa classroom. "As always," sagot ko nang ma-realize na nando'n pa rin ang presence niya and nag-hung lang sa ere 'yong tanong niya without a response coming from me.

"Me too!" he joyfully said and when I looked at him para siyang masayang bata na wine-wave pa sa mukha ko 'yong toothbrush niyang kulay black and green.

"Don't you have your own habits?" I almost asked that dahil parang lahat na lang balak niya gayahin. Well, I get it. Good hygiene is a must naman. That is a plus for me so I just sighed and simply replied, "Good for you then."

"Ano ba 'yong hinahanap mo?" tanong niya nang mapansin ang pagkakalkal ko.

"My pen, ang daming nanghiram kanina bago mag-quiz. Kulang ng isa." Nakalimutan ko na kasi kung sino-sino 'yong mga lumapit kanina at nanghiram ng ballpen sa'kin.

Bigla naman siyang nag-announce. "Guys, sino pa nanghiram ng pen kay Liam? May hindi pa raw nagsasauli. Pakibalik naman please, we need to go to the bathroom pa." When I heard him saying those words, I was just like? What did he just say? And then before I even realize, my eyes saw the pen that was clipped on his unbuttoned polo. I grabbed it immediately, didn't mind that I even happen to pull out some button on his polo.

"..."

I just gave him the mean look to make him realize how dumb he is for not realizing that---

"Oh, it was me?" Finally, he just said it and mukhang hindi pa siya aware na siya ang nanghiram ng pen ko. "My bad, let's go then." He grabbed me by his hand, gripping on my arm. I almost left my bag, good thing nahila ko pa siya kasama 'ko.

He said we need to go to the bathroom because we forgot to brush our teeth and maghilamos na rin daw kami kasi naarawan kami kanina. Like literally kinopya niya lang routine ko na nalaman niya of course ginagawa ko 'to during afternoon after ng last class bago umuwi kasi I like to tambay pa sa university before going home so I need na maging fresh sa paningin ng iba.

After we brush our teeth na medyo tumagal kasi sobrang malaro niya at ang kulit. Nakikipag-compete pa siya na dapat wala daw bula na lalabas sa bibig namin while brushing our teeth. Like, what the heck? So childish.

Palibhasa 2002 pinanganak.

Then all of a sudden, while I am applying sunscreen onto my face, lumapit siya sa tabi ko and mahinang nagsalita malapit sa tenga ko. My eyes widened in shock because of what he asked me.

"Pwede mo ba 'tong ipasok after n'yan?"