straight as guitar strings!

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟱 [𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵]

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

His question caught me off guard, and I choked on the food I was still chewing. I pounded on my chest to dislodge the food stuck in my throat.

To the rescue, he acted faster than lightning, removing the lid and straw from his Gulp drink and giving me several sips to ensure the food didn't block my throat.

"Sorry, did I startle you? Are you not open-minded about that kind of topic? My bad," he said.

"No... it's okay," I tried to respond as quickly as I could. "I just... uhm, was enjoying the food so much that I didn't chew properly and wanted to swallow it quickly."

"You wanted to swallow it... quickly?" he asked, registering differently in my mind. Is he doing this on purpose?

"Mm-hmm," I innocently nodded.

"I see..." His smile after saying that seemed like he found my reaction amusing. If he were a mirror, I could see my expression.

I didn't dwell on it, so I shifted the topic, "Did you cook this?"

He smiled and pointed to the viand just to confirm that's what I was asking about. He replied with quick head nods after I confirmed it. "Oh, how about this..." he paused to compose his thoughts. "I thought, why not pack lunch every day. I will cook our viand, and you handle the rice. Sound good?"

"What if we alternate?" I suggested. His idea was good; we could save money that way.

He seemed to understand. "Ah, so tomorrow it's your turn? You'll cook the viand, and I'll handle the rice."

I made sure to swallow my food before answering. "Yeah, vice versa, like that."

"Nice, versa," he casually said and continued eating.

"Huh?" I asked, my voice sounding higher. I felt like Ariana Grande possessed my soul for a few seconds.

His facial expression said it all. Like, 'Wow, high-pitched?' He shook his head, smiling. "Never mind... so, what about it? Any thoughts about the rainbow community?"

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

He just raised his eyebrows to say yes. "For me, my religion says it's a sin, so it's like that for my own point of view, but you know, we all have sins. I'm not against them; in fact, I have a lot of friends who are part of the 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, in a way. That's good to know." Man, that reply was so lame! I'm not really good with words, I guess?

"How about you?" he asked, curiosity still evident 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 relieved look. "But yeah, cool, right? Was I being random? Sorry."

I fell silent. Is this his way of telling me it's okay to open up with him? Right now, I'm still confused and really just exploring. Is he foreshadowing that he can sense I'm not as manly as he thinks? Softer than marshmallows? Shit.

"Keep eating," he said, and I returned to my food. He continued to serve the viand onto my rice.

After we finished our meal, we started reviewing. I prepared everything: my notes, books, scratch papers, and whatnot. But after a few minutes, Leo stopped reviewing. What's he doing now? Oh, watching a video on his phone. I didn't know what Tagalog-dubbed anime he was watching, but it definitely sounded like anime.

"Maybe you don't mind using AirPods?" I asked frankly because his volume was already maxed out, adding to the noise here at 7-11. Well, ambient noise is fine for me, perfectly fine. It even helps me focus and concentrate, but not this kind of noise his phone is making.

"If I had them, I would've used them," he replied, trying to get on my nerves.

"If it's that important, maybe someone would've already given you some!" I let out a long sigh of annoyance. I was pertaining to what's he's watching.

"Wow, given to me? Not just borrowed?" The audacity of him to even ask that.

"I can buy you ten! Stick them all in your ears!" I rolled my eyes.

"What's up? Why are you like this? Is something bothering you?" He even laughed at me. He probably thinks he's funny. I remained silent, shooting him a sharp look, which made him say, "I said let's start reviewing... even though I did it last night."

"I wish I could do that," I said. Then, I told him I fell asleep last night, so now I'm cramming. I even lent him my AirPods. Literally, my mood shifted so quickly. I just let him enjoy watching on his phone.

The bell rang after the tiring class hours, including the quiz we had. Our quick brainstorming session while walking back to the university really helped because what we did was like a question and answer session; it really helped a lot.

"Did you bring your toothbrush?" he randomly asked, like a notification unexpectedly popping up next to me. I was packing my stuff, so I wasn't paying attention to anyone around me or whatever was happening just to make sure I didn't leave anything behind in the classroom.

"As always," I said, realizing he was still there, and his question just hung in the air without a response from me.

"Me too!" he joyfully said, and when I looked at him, he looked like a happy child waving his black toothbrush in front of my face.

"Don't you have your own habits?" I almost asked because it seems like he wants to copy everything. Well, I get it. Good hygiene is a must. That's a plus for me, so I just sighed and simply replied, "Good for you, then."

"What are you looking for?" he asked, noticing my searching.

"My pen. A lot of them borrowed it before the quiz, but one hasn't returned it yet. I'm short one," I said, forgetting who borrowed it earlier before the quiz.

He suddenly announced, "Guys, who else borrowed a pen from Liam? Someone hasn't returned it yet. Please return it; we need to go to the bathroom." When I heard him say those words, I was just like? What did he just say? And then before I even realized it, my eyes saw the pen clipped on his unbuttoned polo. I grabbed it immediately, not minding that I even pulled out some buttons on his polo.

"..."

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

"Oh, it was me?" Finally, he just said it, and it seemed like he wasn't aware that he borrowed my pen. "My bad, let's go then." He grabbed me by the hand, gripping my arm. I almost left my bag, but thankfully, I pulled it along with me.

He said we needed to go to the bathroom, we forgot to brush our teeth and wash our faces because we were exposed to the sun earlier. Literally, he copied my routine that he must have learned about because I do this every afternoon after the last class before going home because I like to hang out at the university before going home, so I need to look fresh in front of others.

After we brushed our teeth, which took a while because he was playing around so much and being so silly. He even competed with me, saying there shouldn't be any bubbles coming out of our mouths while brushing our teeth. Like, what the heck? So childish.

Probably because he was born in 2002.

Then all of a sudden, while I was applying sunscreen to my face, he came up next to me and whispered softly in my ear. My eyes widened in shock because of what he asked me.

"Can you put this in me after?"