PRETTY LITTLE DEVIL (He's Her Comfort Zone)

Jianna and Januz

Pagkatapos na pagkatapos kumain ay agad bumalik sa kwarto nya si Zandreaj. Dali-daling naglinis ng sarili at nagpalit ng pantulog. She tied her curls in a pineapple bun with a silk head scarf before positioning herself in the bed.

She remembers she has assignments in English, mathematics and AP but she has to chat first with Jolla and other friends. She needs to know the story behind the picture Jollah sent just this afternoon before anything else. She hesitated for few seconds upon checking her messages if she's gonna see the picture again. 276 unread conversations appeared when she opened their GC named "girly-girls." Ayaw na ayaw nyang ginagawa ang magbackread but she had no choice this time..the convo went back to the picture she saw just this afternoon after tapping the "276 unread conversations."

She stared at the screenshot photo of a facebook status of an FB account named Jianna Iliza(your cheerleader) with a caption "All mine 🥰🥰🥰". The picture shows a cheerleader on her cheerleading uniform clinging at the man standing right beside her all smiles. Nagdilim ang mukha ni Zandreaj at nanginig ang kanyang mga pisngi sa mixed emotions na nararamdam.

"Hi Z!" A message popped up. It's jollah.
Online lahat silang members ng gc, Breena, Vianne, Danzen, and Jollah. They are her very few closest friends in her old school.

Sunod-sunod na ang "hi" ng lahat.
She sent a "hi" too.

"Who can tell me clearly what's in the photo?" Zandreaj asked her friends directly.

a minute or two had passed but no response from any of her friends. She can see them typing a message but no one is sending any.
It made her more irritated.

"Hey what?! wala man lang bang nakakaalam kung anong parating ng babaeng yun?" Is Januz really cheating on me?"

"😬" Replied Danzen.
"😔" Replied Breena.
"🤔" Replied Xianne.
"😡" Replied Jollah.

"Now what?! don't tell me you allowed that fu***in' woman steal my man while I am away." Nanggigigil si Zandreaj habang nagtatype sa kanyang iphone.

"Girl you know how determined that woman is, nung nandito ka nga hindi mapigilan yan eh..how much more ngayong wala ka." Reply ni Jollah.

"Yes, wala yatang ibang goal sa buhay ang babaeng yan kundi ang maagaw lang sayo si Januz mo." Naiimagine ni Zandrea ang tumitirik na mata at tumatalsik na mga daliri ni Vianne habang binabasa nya ang reply nito. Babae si Vianne pero ang hilig hilig nitong umastang gay. Mas magaling pa itong mag gay lingo kesa sa tunay na bading.

"And you let her succeed? What were you doing? watching her do her skills in stealing somebody's boyfriend?!" Common girls!.kayo ang nandyan...you have to do what I have to do." Inis na inis si Zandrea, hindi sa mga kaibigan kundi kay Jianna Iliza. Simula nang dumating ito sa school nila last year from USA ay wala na itong ginawa kundi landiin si Januz. Masyado itong garapal na kahit kasama sya ng boyfriend ay umaangkla at pasweet ito kay Januz na parang hindi sya nagiexist. Lagi syang naiinsulto na ang tingin nito sa kanya ay batang inosente. Kung kausapin sya nito ay parang little sister nya lang. Ilang beses na silang nagkasagutan dalawa sa harap ni Januz at lagi syang tinatalikuran ni Jianna na nanggigigil sa inis matapos syang bitiwan ng mga nakakainsultong salita nito.

She is just so lucky na head over heels inlove sa kanya si Januz at never nitong pinansin at pinatulan ang mga pasaring at motibo ni Jianna. But the photo this time suggests different scenario. The smiles in Januz face hurt her so much. It's alarming and hurting to find another woman making your man smile. It even makes her feeling insecure thinking that Januz has found another source of his happiness. It scares her to think na Januz might forget un lagi nitong sinasabi sa kanya na "Ikaw lang, sapat na."

Zandreaj bit her lower lip para pigilan ang mga luhang nagbabadyang pumatak. She is near to the feeling of being devastated. Everything is getting out of her control. Matapos ang nangyari sa Cavite na naging dahilan ng kanyang expalsion ay parang lalong gumulo ang lahat at hindi na nya kayang ayusin. Sunod-sunod ang mga nangyayari na sumusubok sa kanyang buong pagkatao. Gumawa sya ng bagay na inakala nyang mapapabuti sya, sa halip ay unti-unting nawawala ang mga taong mahalaga sa kanya.

"Girl we are trying our best na bantayan si Januz, kaya lang may sa palos yang si Jianna, nakakalusot at nakakalusot yan mawaglit lang sa paningin namin ang boyfriend mo. Don't worry we'll clear things out with Janus bukas..we tried to talk to him kanina kaya lang busy sya sa training sa field. " Why don't you ask your boyfriend yourself?" Litanya ni Breena.

"He is always offline the past few days.." but we chat regularly naman every 4:00 in the morning. Wala ba kayong napapansing kakaiba kay Janus? Sobrang rigid ba ng training nila kaya halos hindi na sya nakakapagonline at day time?" Inquire ni Zandreaj sa mga kaibigan. Close ang lahat ng mga ito kay Januz dahil lagi nilang kasa-kasama sa mga lakad at tambayan sa school ang kanyang boyfriend. At ease sila sa isa't isa.

Simula nang lumipat sila sa Cavite nung sya ay 6 years old, kapitbahay na nila si Januz. Kasabay nyang lumaki ang binata. Sa parehong school sila nagtapos ng elementary at nagenrol sa pareho ring private high school. When she decided na magstay on the same school for senior high, Januz also stayed kahit pa mas gusto sana nitong magenrol kung saan sya magcocollege. And now they are on their 12th grade and will graduate high school this May.

Zandreaj waited but no one responded to her query. It made her feel they are hiding something from her which made her more paranoid.

She checked on Januz and found he is still offline. They chatted this morning with their usual talks before she got of from bed to prepare herself to school. Januz was already offline when she checked on him again before leaving home to school this morning.