Mga Pakiwari at Pagmumuni-muni (Book Two)

RJ and His Tomboy

He has been watching her. For over a decade now, he has simply watched her. He has watched the way she would snort in laughter like some boy when their friends tell a joke. He has watched how she would always wear her ball cap backwards like those kanto boys down their street. He has watched how she would wear baggy clothes to hide her petite but sexy form from the eyes of many. He has watched the way she would curse like a damn sailor and be proud of it.

Yes, he has watched her.

No, not from afar. They actually know each other. They are friends, running around in the same circles - always together but never quite alone. But he has been watching her for so long, he knows that her being a tomboy is just a front.

Yep.

It was simply - a mask.

To hide behind the heartache that she endured way back when they were still in high school. She had her first heartbreak then with some boy, who he wanted to punch the living daylights out of - remembering how she cried because she caught him with another.

Ever since then - she swore off boys, telling anyone and everyone that she was done with these motherfuckers and that she will be pursuing girls instead. Most of them understood. Most of them didn't react much. Most of them just let her be.

But not him.

Sure, he has been quiet when she "transitioned," letting her do whatever it was she wanted, never voicing out what he really thought. But he made sure that she always remembers that she was and is, in fact, still a girl, through his actions. Despite the way she is currently acting and dressing.

And he knows that he is getting through to her.

A subtle look. A subtle touch here and there. A tease. A shiver. A whisper near her ear. A smirk.

He knows how to work his way around her that will make her remember that even though she is acting all tough and shit right now, she will always, always be a girl.

His girl. If she will allow it.

Because you see, ladies and gentlemen - Richard Faulkerson Jr. has always been in-love with Nicomaine Mendoza. And he has vowed to himself that she will be his, come hell or high water.

So now, at their senior year in college, he knows - he just knows that he is close, so fucking close to getting that reality he has longed for, ages ago.

They are currently in his frat's tambayan, late in the afternoon, just whiling the rest of the day away, with a few of his frat brothers and their girlfriends.

And her.

Classes are cancelled since the rain won't let up and most areas around their campus are already flooded. But they all decided to stay for a bit, with some saying that they are just waiting for traffic to subside before leaving.

"I'm bored," Valeen Montenegro declares, as she leans on her boyfriend and Richard's frat brother, Jerald Napoles. "Wala ba tayong pwedeng gawin dito kaysa magmukmok lang habang nagpapatila ng ulan?"

"You know what else we can do, babe," Jerald answers with a waggle of his brows, his hands slowly going up and down Valeen's arm.

"Gago," Valeen giggles. "Hindi 'yun. Tsaka ano ka ba? There are people here, oh."

"Then let's give them a show that they would remember," Jerald murmurs before kissing her shoulder and nuzzling her neck after.

"Hoy! Mga putanginang 'to! Ayokong masuka! D'un kayo sa banyo kung gusto niyong gawin 'yan!" Nicomaine, or Nico as she goes by now, screeches.