Chapter 4: Season 1 Chapter 4 - Adriana
Myerkules Oktobre 10, 2018 (2:00 PM)
The usual lazy Wednesday gave an even more lazy feeling when it started raining hard. They stayed inside one of the buildings, waiting for the rain to stop. Adriana yawned, checking her charging phone from time to time as Hans and Brendan played an intense game of ML.
"Since when did you even start playing football?" Brendan asked curiously. "Back in Laguna, you always played basketball."
"I was thinking that maybe dad would be happy if I choose to play his favorite sport." Hans replied. "I also thought of doing something new since basketball tends to overshadow every other sport here."
Her phone beeped, showing a Facebook notification. Eric Elordi accepted your friend request.
"So like... you chose to play his favorite sport as compensation for not taking engineering?"
"Kind of..." Hans' clicked his tongue when his hero died. "Not good at it though, I got benched in the first thirty minutes. My first red card."
Eric: heeeeey
Adriana: hello
Eric sent a link.
Eric: address on google maps
Eric sent a photo.
Eric: jon snow wants to meet u :)
Eric sent a photo of him outside his house, peace sign while holding his Siberian Husky. He then sent a photo of what looked like Javier, trying to cover his face from the camera. Oh God, what did I bring myself in to?
"You don't have to do anything that your dad tells you." Brendan advised. "Look at me, dad's already fuming that I haven't been going home for two months to attend church. I have full control of my life."
"Easy for you to say."
Adriana: hahaha u named ur dog jon snow? like in game of thrones?
Eric then sent another photo of a baby husky he's carrying.
Eric: winter is coming
Adriana: cute hahaha
Adriana sent a sticker.
A notification suddenly appeared on Brendan's phone, distracting him from the game and making his hero die. "Tangina.¹"
"Fuck, you were our last hope." Hans said, watching the match end in defeat.
"Lyka Antonio..." Brendan mentioned the girl who sent him a friend request. "Adriana?"
She was busy adoring Eric's dogs as she dreamt of having one.
Lyka mentioned you in The Losers.
Lyka: @Adriana omg Brendan is soooooo cute
Lyka: can you invite him to the party?
Lyka: plssss
"Adriana?" Hans said.
"Oh, sorry." She said, not noticing they were talking.
"You know Lyka?" Brendan asked. "She sent me a friend request."
"Yeah, she's part of our squad." She replied. "I think she has a crush on you."
"No way, someone actually got a crush on you." Hans nudged him playfully, much to his annoyance. "You looked busy; you have any plans?"
"I got... I mean we got invited to a party at Saturday." She replied, getting Hans to raise a brow. "A party at some seniors that Cass got to know."
"What about our staycation this Saturday?" Hans reminded.
"Oh no, I forgot."
"Eh, no worries." Hans shrugged. "We can reschedule it for another time."
"I'm really sorry, Hans." She apologized again. "I promise I can go next week."
"Sure, Saturday next week." He said, getting close to her and leaned on her shoulder. "Just the four of us, you, me, Netflix, and Chill."
"Oh, you're so corny." She smiled as they kissed.
Brendan looked at them, pretending to vomit in disgust as they kissed again. Hans just held his middle finger at him as the rain stopped.
Byernes Oktobre 12, 2018 (7:09 AM)
They jogged through the campus, following their classmates and their PE teacher as part of their subject every Friday morning. She was already feeling beat, but Sarah kept on jogging and seemed to treat it like a race. She stopped for a moment, panting as she drank her water.
"Keep it up, Villar!" Her PE teacher shouted, already afar.
"Hey, you okay?" Sarah said, turning back to her friend.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." Adriana replied, regretting staying up all night again to watch her K-Dramas. "You go ahead, I'll catch up."
"Seriously? If you feel tired, just sit down and I'm sure Sir Emir will understand." Sarah said.
A group of students passed by when they heard someone said "Pokpok!" out loud. She swore she could see Evelyn and Clara jogging with the group, laughing after they glanced at her. Clara subtly flashed her the middle finger before they disappeared from sight.
"What's their problem?" Sarah asked. "You know them?"
"No..." She bit her lip, still feeling the pain on her chest every time they pass by.
"Hey!" Someone shouted from behind
Cass headed towards them, jogging and heavily panting, but still looking determined.
"Hey, I thought you don't have PEs during Friday?"
Cass shook her head as she downed a full bottle of water.
"Lyka joined the zumba club with Sam, but I don't feel like dancing to lose weight." She said. "In fact, I feel like running! Well, gotta hit those ten-thousand steps now. See you at the party tomorrow!"
Cass set off running again, while the two just decided to walk. It was a sunny morning, the ground still fresh from the rain earlier.
"I don't think I can go to the party." Sarah said.
"Why?"
"There's that Javier guy who obviously wants to hit on me!" Sarah complained. "I'm one step away from using my pepper spray."
"I'll make sure Javier stays away from you, trust me." Adriana said, not wanting Sarah not present at the party. "Besides, Cass will be blocking his way. There's no way he'll reach you."
"You got a point there." Sarah agreed. "But are you really sure you're going?"
"Yeah, I already cancelled plans with Hans." She said. "Also, I'll go if you promise to keep Eric away from me."
"Okay, that's a deal." Sarah laughed. "I can't believe we're going to a party that we both don't want."
"You can say that again." Adriana agreed. "Peer pressure."
Sabado Oktobre 13, 2018 (1:45 PM)
She looked at herself in the mirror, wearing a black turtleneck dress, and wondered if it was slutty enough just like how Cass suggested. She undressed and began rummaging her cabinet for any other clothes. Seeing a familiar maroon dress, she took it out and looked at the pictures on her wall, the one with her beside Evelyn who gave her that dress that day. Happy bday Adriana xx, it read.
"Adriana, have you seen my glass-" Her mother suddenly opened the door, making her cover herself.
"Mom! Can you knock next time?"
"Oh, sorry, sorry." Her mom said as she turned around. "Where are you going?"
She wore the maroon dress. "I'm... going to the cinemas later with-"
"Evelyn?" Her mom expected. "Adriana... I don't know but are you hiding something from me?"
Shit.
"I... um..."
"You're always going out, but I don't see you posting your gala² with the girls anymore just like before." Her mom added, then smiling. "Is it a boy?"
"Well... I..." She stammered, looking at the mirror wearing the maroon dress.
"It's okay, I was your age when I met Deo back in college." Her mom stood beside her, grasping her shoulders. "As long as you don't forget your studies, and you choose the right person, you'll meet your own Deo."
There was a brief silence after that. Adriana wondered if she should admit it now.
"So, who's the lucky boy?"
"I... I can't really tell you yet." She answered. "But... he's a good guy and he's dying to meet you."
"Well, I sure hope he is." Her mother smiled. "Also, this dress looks lovely on you."
Sabado Oktobre 13, 2018 (5:30 PM)
Cassidy: heyyy, while you're otw can u buy any beers or gin? eric told us there's a lot of ppl and he might run out of drinks
Adriana: sure
Cassidy: i'll pay u next week. tyty
She arrived at Trinoma almost an hour late for their meetup, typical Filipino time. Sighing from Cass' request, she headed to the nearest liqueur store only to see she had barely any cash left. She brought the cheapest bottle she could find and went to their meetup place outside.
"Hey, sorry I didn't have any cash with me so I brought this." She said. "Hope it's okay."
Sam inspected the bottle and grimaced. "I don't think this is an alcohol."
"I'm pretty sure it is, Sam." Cass rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Adriana. Now, where the hell is Lyka?"
Lyka arrived, wearing ripped jeans and a bright pink shirt with a blazer. Lyka looked at her floral pink dress in amusement.
"San ang binyag³, teh⁴?" Lyka asked laughingly.
"I thought we agreed on something slutty?" Cass asked, a bit disappointed.
"No, I didn't." Sam answered.
"I'm not wearing a dress that's an inch away to being a swimsuit." Sarah said, looking at Cass' dress that looks like she's going to attend a baptism. "Wait, don't tell me we're going to resort on hooking up with band guys?"
"Well, we already got that option when Eric invited us and there's no turning back now." Cass said, then giggling. "I'm so excited I feel like something's gonna happen with me and Javier tonight."
Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes, while Adriana just laughed lightly. Hailing a taxi cab, the girls boarded all with mixed feelings towards the party.
Sabado Oktobre 13, 2018 (7:00 PM)
They walked down the street leading to the only house blaring music at this time of the night. Eric greeted them at the gate, awed at his freshmen guests as they entered one by one with heads up high and spirits ready for the night. Adriana was about to enter when he blocked her way.
"Hello." He greeted with a smirk. "Ever been to a real house party?"
"I don't think I haven't." She replied awkwardly, then taking the bottle of red liquid out of the paper bag. "Anyway, here's the gin I bought."
"Cool." His smile disappeared when he looked at the bottle. "You do know that this is a bottle of grenadine, right?"
"What's a grenadine?"
"It's a fancy cordial."
"I don't get it."
"It's just concentrated sugar."
There was a brief moment of silence between the two as the music blared. Eric started to laugh to which she started laughing too, but awkwardly. He accompanied her inside and it was her first time seeing a house party. Colorful lights flickered, smoke danced along with the party goers, and the smell of alcohol was all over the place.
"There's my twin, Edric, and his frat brothers." Eric pointed one of the boys at the beer pong table. "We really don't look alike, thank God."
"Nice." Was all she could say.
"And those are my classmates from Intramuros." He pointed at the group drinking outside, then at the mobile bar area she could see some familiar girls drinking. "And those are the dance troupe. I think you guys are from the same campus."
Adriana's eyes suddenly locked with Evelyn's who was shocked to see her here. Evelyn just rolled her eyes and continued drinking. She searched for Sarah and signaled her.
"Adriana!" Sarah waved from the couch. "We're gonna have a groufie!"
"I got to go to my friends." She said.
"Don't you want to meet Jon Snow and Winter in my room?" Eric asked.
"To be honest, I really don't like dogs." She lied, though she doubts that the dogs were in his room.
She went to the girls just in time for their groufies that Cass uploaded to their Instagram. At the opposite side, she could see Javier and his band glancing at them with Javier drinking a full bottle before heading towards them.
"Cass, isn't that Javier?" She nudged Cass.
"Oh my God, Javier!" Cass stood up, blocking his way towards them. "Hi! I don't know if you remember me, but we went to the same highschool."
"Thanks." Sarah smiled. Her phone started ringing. "Sorry, I got to take this call."
Seeing Lyka and Sam dancing with the crowd, Cass missing, and Eric heading towards them with two cocktail glasses, she grasped Sarah's sleeve.
"Sarah, please don't." She begged. "If you leave, Eric's gonna eat me."
"I'm sorry, I really got to take this call." Sarah said, standing up. "Say something that'll turn him off, like talk about politics and such."
Sarah went outside, leaving her alone on the couch as Eric sat beside her and offered her a drink.
"I used the grenadine." He said, winking. "You should try it."
"Sorry, I'm not in the mood right now." She said.
"Why though?"
"Why not? There's been constant red-tagging in our campus by this administration. I can't believe that demanding basic human rights and questioning ineffective governance are associated with communism. Staying silent is even worse, because you just sit your privileged ass down in the comfort of your own four cornered petty bourgeoisie echo chamber that you call your room while the masses cling to their barely livable wage." She answered, trying to remember the argument Hans had online with a fanatic.
Eric looked at her for a moment, then smiled. "I think we have something in common. I'm part of an activist group in my university, just so you know."
Oh, no. This backfired horribly.
"While I do agree that tolerance in this political climate is frowned upon; I think we should discuss on why these people stay in their four cornered echo chamber. Do you think that maybe we're a bit aggressive to those indifferent towards us? See, how can we persuade that we deserve a better governance when all we do is shame them rather than educate them? This would only lead to a further divide of the classes that should unite against one common enemy." Eric said earnestly, catching her off guard.
Oh, God. I'm brick stupid about politics. Somebody do something.
"Tangina!" Someone screamed.
At the mobile bar, they could see Evelyn soaking wet, her white blouse stained with pink. Sam threw the empty cup to her and raised her middle fingers, earning curses from the girls as they restrained Evelyn from attacking her.
"Drama!" Eric shouted.
Lyka parted from making out with Edric and went to Sam and started heading outside. Seeing the opportunity, Adriana stood up as the girls threw curses at them.
"We're so dead, we're so dead!" Lyka said.
"Shut up and let's bail." Sam said, grabbing Sarah who was just about to enter the house.
Outside, they could see Javier and Cass kissing each other but the girls didn't mind as they opened the gate. Noticing, Cass took one last kiss from him before running to her friends.
---
1. Tangina - cuss word
2. Gala - word used when you're going out like wandering around somewhere (e.g. mall, city, etc.)
3. San ang binyag? - Literally translates to "Where's the baptism?" We often joke about this when someone wears a something a little bit formal to an event.
4. Teh - Short for "Ate" which means sister. Used colloquially.
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