"Gusto ko, Ako lang gusto mo." (Ongoing)

CHAPTER 1

"Do you know this guy?" I cleared my throat as I showed a picture of him to my friend.

"OMG!" she dramatically shouted. "This is the first time I heard you say the word guy, Ms. Vasquez! Improvements ba to?"

"Just fucking look at the picture, Xyra." seryosong ani ko.

She gave me a teasing look before looking at my phone. Knowing Xyra, lahat siguro ng lalaki sa Laurel ay kilala niya. Let's just say that she's a queen bee here, yeah, bubuyog. But she's not like those girls in movies who's mean and title holder, syempre hindi naman ako kakaibigan sa kanya kung ganoon ang ugali niya. My mother and her mother are high school colleagues here in Laurel, we met when we were in middle school at a party held by her mother but our relationship was upgraded when we reached high school.

"That's Josh, Di mo kilala?" ani niya.

"Magtatanong ba ako kung kilala ko?" I defended.

"Ows, everyone know him kaya. Ikaw nalang siguro ang nilalang sa Laurel na hindi siya kilala." paliwanag niya.

"Why? what's with him?" Interasado kong tanong.

"Well, aside sa Tita niya ang dean ng Laurel, Tito niya din ang president Laurel Hospital. Dumadaloy sa kanya ang dugo ng mga doctor, and Vera are known for their big businesses abroad." saad niya.

"I'm not interested in his background. That doesn't make him attractive." Sabi ko.

"Chill! Hindi pa ako tapos." She placed her hands on her chin, facing me.

"It's not just his background that is attractive, his whole existence is completely attractive. He's good-looking, Academically challenging, sporty, the best in his field, and undeniably a women's magnet. Probably, every girl likes him. But fun fact, he doesn't allow any girls to be near him."

"Tapos?" I enjoyed listening to the boring introduction of his personality.

"He only has one sibling, Jesha. She's also pretty. That's the only girl who can go near him inside the campus. Aside from that information, wala na akong alam. I just heard rumors about him but I'm not interested. He's not my type though, but he's hot."

Tumango-tango ako. Hindi naman ganoon ka interesting ang pagkatao niya. But he acts like one. The fact that I beat him in the seminar, and everyone hated me because of that, was quite satisfying.

"And his strand?" taning ko ulit.

"ABM." sagot niya.

Kaya pala. I can't see him around campus since separated ng building ng mga senior strand sa Laurel. I'm in STEM.

"Ba't mo pala natanong? Interesado kaba sa kanya? I can give you his number." Xyra offered.

"Why do you have his number?" kunot noo kong tanong.

"Don't look at me like that, Ayla. I'm not interested in him. Swear. I got his number from our club. Alam mo na, head ako ng fashion design club, and he's the head of the photography club. I have all the numbers of the club's heads in my phone." she immediately explained.

"Okay. But I don't want his number." saad ko agad.

"Oi! Ayla naming pumapag-ibig." pag tutukso niya. "Isusumbong kita kay Zel!"

"Tumahimik ka nga." seryosong sabi ko.

I clearly told her to shut her mouth but she's not good at it. Nakarating kay Zel ang mga tanong ko. I couldn't do anything with that kaya hinayaan ko nalang. Isa pa, I'm not interested in him. It's just that I feel challenged by him. For my whole fucking life, I finally found a good opponent.... that I want to defeat for a hundred times. Patikim pa lang ang seminar na yun. Sadly, ngayon ko lang siya nakilala. Wala naman kasi akong interest sa mga nangyayari sa paligid ko.