Bewitched

CHAPTER I

F*cking whores. They could wait-out for you for hours. Days. Nights, especially. Staring right through you, gawking or drooling at you and battling their eyelashes flirtatiously, picking which part of you they would bite or pull away first with their claws, which pieces will taste deliciously the most.

At the very young age, I learned to fake my feelings. Sa panahon ngayon wala ng totoo. Sa buhay na mayroon ako, sa mundong ginagalawan ko, natutunan kong mag-ingat sa bawat taong nakakasalamuha ko. Sa mga naging kalaban ko man sa Circle, sa mga taong gusto akong pabagsakin o sa mga babaeng gusto akong itali sa mga baywang nila na parang linta.

Kaya natatawa ako sa mga tangang nakakasalamuha ko, mga taong niloko na ginamit pa, ginago pa ay wala pa ring kadala-dala. Leaving emotion at the door, replacing it with numbness or anger which was much easier to control, was easy. Letting yourself feel emotions can make you vulnerable.

At kahit paulit-ulit kong ipaliwanag ito sa mga kapatid ko at mga kaibigan, napagtataasan pa ako ng kilay. Nauubusan na ako ng pasensya sa mga tangang ayaw makinig sa payo kong hindi pa sumasablay.

Love?

Bullshit.

I don't understand. The women that were worth that kind of heartbreak wouldn't let you fall for them so easy. They wouldn't bend over your couch or allow you to charm them into their bedroom on the first night or even the tenth. Kaya nakakairita ang mga babaeng pa-virgin gusto akong itali, kung hindi ko lang alam, planado ang lahat. Nakakatakot silang mag-isip.

I'll cut my d*ck if there's anyone still virgin these days. My theories were ignored because that wasn't the way of things. Attraction, sex, infatuation and then heartbreak. Or most of the time, attraction and sex come the second and for me, the latter comes first. But for my cousin and brothers, it's always been the attraction, sex, infatuation, love and then heartbreak. That was their logical order of lifestyle. And it was always in order. But not for me. No. F*cking. Way.

I decided a long time ago that I would feed on those b*tches until a kitten came along. A kitten. The kind of soul that didn't disrupt anyone; just walked around worrying about its own business, trying to get through life without pulling everyone else down with its own needs and selfish habits. Beautiful. Intelligent. And a damn nerd.

Well not really that nerd, if that's even possible. She wore glasses during schooldays. But when I fight my last opponent last Friday in the Circle, I saw her with my cousin's steady girlfriend(for now, kapag hindi na naman nauto ang tarantadong pinsan ko), wearing a pink cardigan and nothing but a bare face. Not even a lipstick but there is something about her. Something. Kapag umasta ito, tipong walang paki-alam sa paligid nito. She's unreachable until she has a reason to trust you. As I stood at my open apartment door, flicking the last bit of ashes off my cigarette, the girl in the bloody, pink cardigan flashed in my memory. Without thinking I called her kitten. At the time it was just a stupid nickname to annoy her or bring out some emotions from her. She seemed innocent but I could tell it was just the clothes.

I pushed her memory away as I stared blankly into the living room. Sa sofa, nakahiga ang isang babaeng walang kahit na anong saplot maliban sa manipis na kumot na sse-through. Megan, lay there, watching TV. Halatang bored na bored ito sa panonood ng walang kwentang chiklit movie kaya nagtataka ako kung bakit hindi pa ito umaalis. Usually, pagkatapos naming mag-sex, kahit buhol-buhol ang buhok, smudge ang lipstick at nakalaylay pa ang maiksing skirt, aalis itong kaagad pagkatapos maitapon sa trash bin ang kagagamit na condom.

The door creak when I pushed it a little wider. I cleared my throat and picked up my backpack.

"Out." I said in my nicest voice. She groaned and rolled her eyes, muttering to herself something like 'jerk' or 'asshole', but I dearly ignored her. 

Why would I bother myself? I don't even remember how I met her. The woman sat up, stretched and then grip the chain of her excessively large purse. I couldn't imagine she had enough belongings to fill it. She slung the silver links over her shoulder and slipped on her wedge heels, strolling out the door.

"Text me if you're bored," she said battling her fake eyelashes at me. I just raised my left brow.

She slipped on her oversize sunglasses, descended the stairs, completely unaffected by my dismissal. Her indifference was exactly the reason why she's one of my few f*ck buddies. She didn't cry about commitment or throw a bitchy tantrum. She took our arrangement for what it was and then went about our own businesses. Naka parke ng pabalandra ang aking Harley, the motorbike na nabili ko sa unang panalo ko sa Circle.

Hinintay ko munang makaalis ang kotseng sinasakyan sa parking lot ng apartment ko ang ka-sex ko kanina bago ako bumaba saka isinara ang zipper ng jacket na suot. Dr. Rogers' humanities class was in half an hour. Pero wala itong paki kahit pumasok na ako ng five minutes before dismissal. Kaya bakit ko pa papatayin ang sarili ko sa pagmamadaling pumasok ng maaga?

"Pare, sandali!" tawag ng boses sa likod ko. Jim stood at the front door of our apartment. Naka-topless, nakatiyad habang binalanse ang isang paa at isang paa naman ay may sinussuot na medyas.

"Kagabi pa kita gustong tanungin, pare. Ano bang sinabi mo ko Mark kagabi? Nakita ko lumapit ka sa kanya at may binulong. Ang gago naman parang nalunok ang dila niya sa sinabi mo." 

Jimmy is my cousin. A hopeless romantic fool one.

I shrugged dismissively. "Nah, I just thanked him for taking off out of town a weekend ago coz his girlfriend was a wildcat."

Jim stared with wide eyes at me. "Dude, you didn't."

"I just did."

Napailing-iling ang kaharap. Jim stared pointedly at the couch. "You let your bitch spend the night this time?" nanlalaking turan nito. Pinagpag ang paboritong couch ng damit na hawak.

I rolled my eyes. Here comes the goody-goody self of him again. Konti na lang iisipin kong santo ang pinsan ko kung hindi ko lang alam na abot hanggang kanto ang ingay niya kapag nagse-sex sila ng girlfriend niya.

"No way. You know me better than that."

"So nag-effort siyang pumunta lang dito para makipag-morning sex lang sayo kahit dalawang cities ang layo niya rito bago pumasok? Hanep, bilib din ako jan sa mga babae mo."

"Yeah, yeah whatever."

"Anyway, ihahatid ko si Andrea sa campus. Want a ride?"

Umiling ako. "Kitakits na lang." I said. Sinuot ko ang paborito kong ray ban.

"I can take Drei if you want." I offered. Sumimangot si Jim. Parang nilaklak nito ang buong laman ng silver swan sa sama ng tingin nito sakin.

"Hell no."

Napangisi ako saka bahagyang napa-iling. In love na inlove ang tarantado. Tingnang ko lang kung saan siya pupulutin ng tinatawag niyang pag-ibig. I saddled up on my motorbike and bring the engine to life.

While heading my way to the University, my thought flew. Even though I had a bad habit of seducing his girlfriend's friends, there was one line I wouldn't cross. Andrea was his and once he showed interest in a girl, she's off limits to the pointed fangs. He knew that. He just liked to give me shit. Well, he should be. As I'm Chase Travers, known as Chase "Chaser" Hendrix in the circle, dangerous as fvck, and no one can resist me.