It's You I Fell Into

III

If Niles had everything in his fucking way, he would never want to cross paths with Q again. Ever.

That girl fucked up his already half-dead mind--and he's getting worse.

He'd managed to keep his mouth shut about what happened a week ago, a definite achievement for a tattletale like him. He'd kept his promise to Q. That's it. He doesn't want to do anything with her anymore.

(A secret Niles will take to his grave: he almost had a heart attack when King approached him before their practice last Monday. He'd thought the asshole would punch his pretty face for hanging out with Q at the party last week. Thankfully, nothing violent happened during that little chat. That's the first and last time he got so scared of his teammate. It will never happen again.)

From that day on, Niles promised he wouldn't let Q mess up his mind again. He chalked up that meeting as one of the weirdest nights of his life, a night that no one would ever know about (except Dien, of course).

He's not expecting to see her again exactly a week later.

In the university infirmary, of all places.

"Three stitches, Q! Three! Hindi ko ikakamatay yan!"

"Sooner or later ikakamatay mo rin yang katangahan mo, Kuya!"

Niles snickers as he watches Q nagging King for almost three minutes now. Despite being soaked in his wet clothes and soggy socks, Niles finds himself amused at Q's sudden fierceness. She wasn't the same girl who practically hid behind him during a party and claimed to hate big crowds a week ago. This is such a welcomed surprise for him. Who knows the introvert Q Escaño has a feisty, vocal side--

"May nakakatawa ba, ha? Paki-share naman sa 'min para hindi ka magmukhang tanga sa kakatawan dyan!"

It takes him a moment to realize she is talking--shouting at him.

Angry brown eyes meet his.

"Uhhh..."

King snickers this time. "Yan kasi--"

"Shut up, Kuya. One more word isusumbong talaga kita kay Nanay." Hands on her hips, Q stands, glaring at Niles. At the moment he realizes just how frightening a small, angry sister can be. "Kung makatawa ka dyan! Kasalanan mo 'to, 'di ba?"

The question can be heard throughout the emergency room of the infirmary and few spectators turned to the fuming Q Escaño.

Right. Niles knows this is his fault.

He was the one who challenged King to join this week's Saturday Club game against their rival school's team. Niles knew King was a sucker for 3-on-3 games, and it didn't take him much to convince his teammate.

He was the one who provoked the asshole from the other team after losing the game earlier.

He was the one who threw a fist first, which prompted a full-on brawl at the basketball court. They only stopped fighting when King fell on the muddy pavement, blood gushing from his forehead. His teammate ended up getting a basketball to the face hard enough that it split his eyebrow open and now he's sitting in the emergency room with blood all over his face and a very angry little sister in tow.

"Ano?" Q growls.

"Teka lang, Q--" he starts between sniffles and clutches the damp towel tighter around his shoulders. "It's not entirely my fault."

"Eh bakit sabi ni Kuya ikaw ang may pakana ng lahat ng 'to?" she points at King's gauzed forehead. Then, she glares at the rest of his teammates who are huddling behind him quietly. "No one's telling me anything here! Now, either one of you speaks or I'll show you my Judo moves I swear to God."

His teammates wince at her threat, but the naughtiness in Niles jumps out and focuses on one thing. "You know Judo?" he says saucily. "That's hot."

Her fists ball up and he knows he'd said the wrong thing. "Tigilan mo ako, Niles."

KP smacks the back of his neck, making him jump off his seat. "I understand that you're upset, Que--"

"Q," she corrects.

"--Q. Pero aksidente nga lang ang nangyari kani--"

Her expression changes from well, terrifying, to annoyed in an instant. "Get the hell out of here before I murder all of you," she says, her icy voice sends a shiver down Niles' spine. "Or else makakarating kay Coach ang kalokohan niyo ngayong araw."

He shouldn't find a murder threat hot, right? But yes, his sick, freezing mind does, and Niles should've known this was a bad sign. A very dangerous sign.

"Lalo ka na, Fabellore," she spits out, the venom of her words matches the anger in her eyes. "Get out."

Her eyes lock with his, and he can feel his heart shatter as KP helps him stand up.

See? He's right. She will remain fiercely loyal to her brother, and her family.

Who is he to expect otherwise, anyway? He's just a guy she met at a party and kept that meeting a big dark secret from her brother. They are not even friends.

But why does it feel like he just lost something important?

One thing is for sure.

It would be nice if Q would stop looking at him with anger in her eyes.