Anonymous Lines - Hambebe AU

Chapter 21

Gabrielle's Point of view

"Hey Gabo, how are you? Na-miss kita, tol!" Kyle greeted me with his usual loud voice, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and messing up my hair in the process.

"Shut up Kyle." I irritatedly said pushing his arm off me and fixing my hair, already annoyed by his antics.

He chuckled as he took his seat across from me at the café near my condo. It was the middle of the week, and the late afternoon sun cast a warm glow through the windows. I sighed, trying to gather my thoughts.

"Sooo..." he started, leaning back in his chair and giving me a curious look. "Why do you suddenly want to see me, cous?"

I sighed again, this time more deeply, and sat down opposite him. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Ohhh," Kyle said, chuckling as he took a sip of his coffee. "What is it this time? I'm gonna lie kay tita ba to cover you up or something?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, hindi ganyan this time Kyle. It's... complicated."

That caught his attention. He raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly. "Complicated how?"

I fidgeted in my seat, unsure how to explain the mess I'd gotten myself into. "So, remember how I told you I transferred to SAU this semester?"

"Yeah, yeah, you mentioned it when we last talked. So? You getting into trouble already?" he teased, but I could see he was genuinely curious.

I took a deep breath. "It's not that kind of trouble. It's about a girl."

Kyle's grin widened instantly. "Ah, finally, cous. I was wondering when you'd bring a girl into the picture. Spill."

I groaned. "It's not what you think, okay? There's this girl—her name's Wonnie. We met online a a few weeks ago on X."

Kyle nodded, waiting for me to continue. "Okay, go on..."

"At first, it was just casual chatting, you know? We had a lot in common—music,  then Enhypen—and we started talking more. The problem is..." I paused, trying to figure out how to phrase it. "She thinks I'm a guy."

Kyle blinked at me, looking confused for a second before bursting into laughter. "Wait, what?! You let her believe you're a dude?"

I groaned, feeling my cheeks heat up. "Hindi ko sinasadya okay! It just... happened. She assumed, and I didn't correct her. Tapos, it was too late to fix it. We've been talking for a weeks now, and she still thinks I'm a guy."

Kyle was practically choking on his laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. “Oh my god, Gabo. This is priceless! You’re telling me you’ve been catfishing this poor girl as a guy?”

“Hindi siya catfishing!” I shot back, rolling my eyes. “I’m still being myself! She just... thinks I'm a dude.”

I rolled my eyes at his respond.

"Pero come to think of, hindi mo ba sya binigyan ng signs na babae ka? Any hints?"

“I did! Pero hindi nag-register sa kanya! Now it’s too late to fix it,” I said, frustration building.

"Okay, okay chill." He laugh and sip on his drink.

"It's not funny!" I shot back, though I knew how ridiculous it sounded. "It gets worse."

Kyle wiped his eyes, trying to catch his breath. "Worse? How could this get worse?"

I sighed, leaning forward on the table. "We met in real life. Her name is Shaine pero I met her on X as Wonnie. Well, she doesn't know we met. She knows me as Gabrielle, this new girl in SAU who transferred recently. We're friends now because of Sage."