Playing with Fire (Tejada #2)

Prologue

"Why is it so bad to be different? It is not my fault that I'm gay. Sinubukan ko namang baguhin ang sarili ko pero hindi ko kaya. Ito ang totoong ako! And it is not like I'm harming anyone. So why are people burning me at stake as if I did something wrong? Especially you, Vincent? I trusted you!"

Aliyah crumbled the letter. Napaupo siya sa sahig at napasandal sa closet. Tapos, dinukdok niya ang mukha sa tuhod at humagulhol. Bigla kasing sumagi sa isip niya kung paano niya nadatnan ang kapatid na nakahigang walang malay sa sarili nitong banyo about an hour ago. Naglaslas ito ng pulso at nilubog ang kamay sa balde para siguro hindi tumigil ang pagdurugo.

And now, she found his suicide letter on the study table of his room.

Niyapos niya ang mga binti habang patuloy pa rin ang pag-iyak. Her poor brother... she did not know he had suffered that much. Hindi niya inakalang binu-bully na pala ito. No wonder, he tried to take his life.

Tumingin siya sa langit at taimtim na nagdasal para sa kaligtasan ng kapatid niya. Truth be told, naiirita siya minsan sa kasungitan nito, but she still loved him, anyway. Hindi man nito alam, but she considered him as her role model and her hero.

Once she's done, muli niyang binasa ang letter nito.

Robin expressed his anger on the rumor spread by his former best friend. Pinepeke raw nito ang depression para magpapansin? She called that bullshit! Bilang kapatid nito, alam niyang mayroong sapat na dahilan para ma-depress ito. And supposedly, his best friend knew it too. They've been best friends for more than seven years.

But Robin admitted he's gay. That's news to Aliyah. Hindi niya inasahan iyon. And she felt angrier na nabu-bully ito dahil sa seksualidad nito.

What's so wrong about being gay, anyway?

Nagtagis ang mga bagang niya. Walang mali sa pagiging bakla. It was the society that's wrong!

Gay relationship should be normalized! That was her resolved. And her first step to make that possible? Make more guys realize they were gays.

Napangisi siya. It might be too good to be true, but it is possible. She would make two guys fall in love with each other. The more, the merrier. Nang sa gayon ay dumami nang dumami ang out-and-proud na gay couples. She would do this at all cost, so that her brother could live in this society safe and happy...