decoding the boys ✔️

special: racel christian gutierez

Racel Christian Gutierez

I knew I couldn't like her.

The first time I saw her, I knew she was going to be off-limits to me. I didn't recognize her at first, didn't realize she was one of them. But I remembered being completely curious.

She wasn't the wild type, I could see that much. She was dressed in a simple laidback way and yet the way she carried herself spoke volumes. She had danced so freely, giving no damn about anything.

I clearly remembered staring, just staring. She was beautiful. Her face was soft, growing under the bouncing strobe lights, and I couldn't forget how her eyes flared when she shunned that asshole desperate for a good lay.

I could take her away from him. But I wouldn't. She didn't need it.

"Damn. That one's really something," I heard Justin say, his eyes pinned on the same girl.

I couldn't agree more. It's getting hard to find interesting people in bars nowadays. Most are usually just after the fame, the booze, the lay. They're always the same old story: wild girls, good fucks. Not that I indulge a lot.

"Sino?" the girl from beside me replied. I couldn't be bothered with her name. She was just another face I'd forget come tomorrow.

"Wait. I think I know those girls," said the other girl. "They're from Intersci. I think that's Rosales. So the other one must be Jane, Jamie. Or Javee. Whatever."

"Intersci, huh?" Justin commented with a broadening grin before casually ambling toward the girls.

Turned out she wasn't just feisty. She was elusive as fuck.

"Her name's Javee," Justin told me after, grinning like the idiot he was. He was evidently rejected by the other girl just now, yet there was no sign of it on his face. Justin loved a good challenge, something I didn't share, not really. I wasn't into dangerous adventures. "She's cool, man."

I shrugged to wave him off and downed the vodka in one go.

In all of my years in university, no other woman had caught my attention the way she had. It must be the fierce glow in her eyes, the confident move of her body, the look of freedom in her smile.

Before I knew it, my eyes were on her again. And not just me. The entire crowd was looking at her earlier. How she easily stole the limelight. If she was aware, she didn't know. Or perhaps she didn't give a fuck. She looked just the type and by the way these people were talking, I realized they knew who she was.

"Chill. 'Di ko naman aagawin sa 'yo."

He couldn't even if he tried. Because after this, I wouldn't see her again. As it turned out, she was one of them. One of the De Villa. Not only did that mean she was off-limits in every way, it also meant she was damn trouble.

I knew her family-the De Villa boys. They were the group Kaiser, Rohann, and the others had a run-in before back in high school. And just recently, they got caught in a few rambles with my team.

Damn. She's one of them. It was disappointing but the attraction was not worth the hell her brothers were going to raise if I so much as lay a finger. I also didn't want to drag her into this.

I wasn't heartless enough to drag an innocent girl into our meaningless feuds. She wasn't cut out for it. I saw that during the brawl when she stopped her brother from fighting back.

Soon, her older brother noticed me. He immediately ordered her to go-away from the fight or from us, I wouldn't know. That was fine with me. I should get away from her as much as possible, too. The less interaction we have, the better for the both of us.