Matched Up With My Tomboy Childhood Friend

Waking Up

Flashing lights hurting my eyes, loud music that pounds my chest, the smell of cigarette and alcohol in the air, and the crazy energy of the crowd is making me so uncomfortable. Men and women of different ages dance like animals on the floor. There are even those who make out in the middle of the crowd! My parents will kill me if they find out. Sh*t I must bail out!

“Where do you think you're going?!!” she screams behind me, grabbing me by the back of my neck.

“I need to go and sleep!”

“No, you don't!” She pulls me into the crowd of people.

“Argh!!” I scream.

Sweats of other people stick onto my skin and clothes when I accidentally bump on them. The air here is very warm and gives me goosebumps. It's making me feel icky that I could barf. I can't believe she's enjoying this!

She stops pulling and turns to face me. That inviting smile of hers as she starts to dance is hard to look away from. Once again, everything just revolves around her. Everything else is only a background to makes her stand out. My ears get numb from the loud music, I can't see anything else but her, and I see hundreds of lights in her eyes. Why am I finding peace in this place intended to craze people?

Slowly, she says something that I can't hear. It's not until she says it again that I came back to my senses. She screams, “Dance!!”

“I can't!” I tell her because it's true. I can dance but only when I rehearsed it. Freestyling is something I can never do. I'll only look like a fool.

She just smiles more and nodding with the beat of the music, encouraging me. The music is in the part where it is preparing for the chorus. Then I felt that I should not disappoint her. I look somewhere to find some “inspiration” for a freestyle dance and I found a guy who's just doing that basic step in mass dances. I learned it when I was in elementary school. The chorus of the music starts. I dance with it while feeling awkward. She just laughs more and dances more lively. Later on, the moves just came naturally to me—I don't know why it's happening.

I lost perception of time and I just found myself sitting with strangers around the table. Guys and ladies flirt here and there, making me feel out of place. They're enjoying so much but not more than Eli on the opposite side of the table. She's surrounded by girls and she flirts with them without shame. Then we had shots, and I start to get drunk.

I've never been this drunk my entire life! These people are heavy drinkers compared to my friends that just want to chill! I can't refuse a drink because it would be bad manners! I'm never gonna go back here again! God, save me from hell!

Sh*t, my head hurts...

I'll sleep more...

Okay... I think I've slept enough. I have to wake up and do homework. What was my homework again? Nah... I'll think about it later... My head is still aching. And it's too cold! That stupid alarm is ringing every second... where is... my phone? Oh, here it is. It's so soft and warm. Wait, this ain't a phone.

I open my eyes and discover what it is.

IT'S A SHOULDER!!! And why do I smell flowers? It's from a long hair, spread throughout the bed. All I could see is a back of a girl and she has no upper clothing! Only a bra!

“Oh, f*ck,” I whisper to myself, sitting up. I blink a couple of times then squint. I don't recognize this place at all! Where am I?

There is a curtain just beside me so I slightly put it aside and figure out we're in a hotel room! I swallow... when a thought passed by that should never think. Did... we... had... se-

“Close the curtains, dammit!” she groans, complaining. The sunlight is disturbing her sleep. Eli?!!

I close the curtain just as she said and turned off my alarm clock on my phone. Then I begin to wonder if we really did “it.” But I'm still in my clothes and my pants are intact. I'm not sure, I can't remember anything. What's bothering me is that she has no shirt.

“It's too hot in here...,” she complains, removing the blanket from her body. She's wearing only her bra and still wearing her jeans.

She looks... woah....

Uh... no!

Out of respect, I cover her with a blanket again. “Stop casually exposing yourself, you dummy,” I tell her. “You might be a tomboy but you're still a girl.”

She chuckles and whispers, “I know you'll never do anything to me... you total virgin.”

That sounded so... hot.

No, hold up!! Why the hell am I thinking about this?!! She's a lesbian and a tomboy! Anyways, I have to get out of here now. I have something to do in school. Argh! My head! Deymm... I wish I could get rid of it before I arrive. I grab my things, checked them, and walk to the door.

“Where are you going?” she asks weakly under the covers.

“I have to do something in school.” Shoot! My breath smells bad!

“Okay... but... remember-” she hiccups just as I opened the door. “I will make you... a man. I will make you a man,” she repeats. “I will put my soul and body into it!”

I try not to take that dirtily but couldn't stop thinking about it. I know she means fixing me and I know I'm a wimp better than anyone else. It's something I hate about myself. Everyone sees me as someone who can't speak out for himself. My friends told me about it and tried to help me but they soon gave up and just hang out with me. She will eventually give up like them. But deep inside, I want to get rid of it but I lost hope in finding a way how to.

“Take care,” I tell her before closing the door.

“Mmhmm,” she answers, nodding slowly.

This hotel is not that far from my dorm. It's just a few blocks away and commuting is easy and peaceful since it's early in the morning. There are hardly any people. I ride a bus and almost dozed off to miss my stop. I get off and walk a hundred meters or so.

Then I'm already entering the sweet comfort of my dorm room. This room is all mine because a friend of my mother is the owner of this building. The signal is weak in here though. I had to go out to stay in a cafe, drink coffee while surfing the web. After I take a bath and change my clothes, I feel the need to relax after what happened last night.

I make my way to that cafe just on the other side of the street to have breakfast. My favorite blend of coffee is not too strong yet not too creamy. I would order any coffee except white or black coffee. Black coffee makes me palpitate. Creamy ones are barely a coffee that can keep me awake. The perfect blend for me is cappuccino. It tastes a little bitter, covering the creamy taste of milk. Also, I love it because of the foam. My “elite” classmates talk about how they hate 3 in 1 coffee mixes you can buy in sari-sari stores (small assorted stores). Well, they're fine for me as long as they can satisfy my daily caffeine intake. And I can't always go to cafes because I'm not rich like them. Today's an exception. My weekly allowance will arrive today and I feel I need to relax. I pair coffee with plain biscuits because they are good at pacifying hunger.

My place in the cafe is always at the window. This is where the stools are placed along the long table mounted on the glass pane. I have a good view of the street from up here—on the second floor of the cafe. I don't know why but I always like placing myself next to a window of any building.

It's 8:14 a.m.—early for my 9:30 a.m. “appointment” in school. My class is preparing for a dance competition which I don't see as something to be fired up for. I just want to graduate. Participating in just one activity for this sports fest is a must, so I don't have a choice.

I'll leave at exactly 9:00 a.m. so I'll arrive at school at 9:30. I don't even believe that they will all arrive at that exact time. Our rehearsal's probably gonna start at 10:30. I want to go there to chill with myself and the mobile game I'm playing.

My head is throbbing with pain. And wait... did that just happen? I met Eli last night?!! Hell... It seemed like a dream that you forget when you wake up! But I remember it. We went to a nightclub, got drunk, and ended up sleeping in a hotel room! A lot has happened that I can't believe that they were real! Oh, it's already 9. I have to go now.

I drink the last ounce of my coffee and leave the cafe to go to school—just a thirty-minute walk away. It's Saturday but we are allowed to go inside to prepare for Monday. When I enter the school campus, the staff and other students are preparing the decorations and setting up everything. Everyone is busy and I'm being careful not to get in their way as I walk to the venue we're supposed to meet up. It is on the football field. Other sections also decided this place to be their venue. Far ahead of the edge of the field and under the shade of trees, my friends and other classmates put their stuff on the grass and sit around there. I greet my friends, four of them with fist bumps. They were talking about One Piece—an anime.

“How'd it go?” asks John while the other three are busy talking.

“It went fine,” I lie. I kept a promise, after all.

“Then?”

“But we're not meant for each other. She doesn't like me.”

“You asked her out?”

Please don't let me lie more... “Yes, I did and she said she only sees me as a friend.”

I sit on the grass next to him, watching the people on the field. “How do you feel?” he asks.

“Nothing, just the usual. Being rejected is not something new to me, you know that.”

“Yeah, pretty much. But don't worry, I'll find another girl for you.”

“No, you don't need to. I need to take a break.”

“If you say so.”

I sigh deeply, lie down on the grass, and looking at the sky. “Maybe I'm fated to grow old alone.”

“Nah, as long as you want to want to find a girl, you'll find one.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Just find a sugar momma, Kev,” says Jude—also my friend. He is a chubby guy but has the best grades among us, friends. “It will solve your every problem.”

“Shut up,” I tell him but they laugh at me.

“Just think about it.”

An hour later lazing here and there, all of our classmates have arrived. I was right in thinking that we will start at around 10:30 a.m. It's 10:25 right now. I don't know what their problems are, but they need to try to arrive a little early in gatherings or they will keep it as a habit. Or am I wrong that it's not in their habit yet?

I don't pay much attention to the leader of the dance. My eyes are tired, my head is aching, and it's hot out here. I'm sweating too much. After a few full repetitions of the dance, we take a break for lunch. They said that we will see each other again at 2 p.m.

“I'm thirsty,” I said to them.

“Let's go to have a drink,” says John.

Our shirts are drenched in sweat when we walk to the vending machine just beside the stage of the field. The wind is blowing fine and I cooled down even before we got to the vending machine. I let them pick first then I chose to drink an energy drink to keep me awake. We drink as we walk to the exit of the campus.

“That feels good,” says Ian—the tallest among us.

“I can't wait for this practice of ours to be over,” Jude complains. He's suffering the most. “I might lose weight if this goes on.”

“Isn't that a good thing?” asks Rick—the sportiest among us. He's even a football player.

“No, man. Being chubby is my weapon. Take it from me and my appeal will be lost.”

Then John laughs, saying, “Yeah, your girlfriend is in love with your belly, after all.”

“That's right, I tell you. I've been raising this kid of ours for years and you want me to get rid of it? Hell no. And you guys love this part of me too. How could I get rid of it?”

“Yeah,” I speak out. “No tummy, no Jude.”

“Yeah,” they agree.

The exit is a little crowded so we needed to wait a little longer until we could leave. We friends form a single line with me in the front. They are busy talking while I stay out of it because I feel uncomfortable that I couldn't think of anything else. I also don't want to touch anyone with my sweaty arms and shirt. My bag is in my hand to avoid getting it wet with sweat. I sniff and deym, I smell bad! I should've brought an extra t-shirt. It bothers me so much that I'm worried others might notice. They're inches away from me, after all. Maybe it's all in my mind? I continue sniffing to check if it is but then I smell good. Like flowers... I shouldn't worry. Wait... since when do I smell like flowers? And... I think this smell is familiar. It comes from this girl in front of-

“You smell bad, you i***t,” she whispers, wrinkling her nose while looking at me over her shoulder.