Water and Fire (BL)

Chapter 1: Good Morning!

Chapter 1: Good Morning!

"Good morning!"

Eric Ray Mendoza's mother Marilyn shook his shoulders vigorously, shaking the whole couch.

Annoyed, Eric straightened up lazily, rubbed his eyes, and looked around him. All the clutter and the appliances, and even the boxes were still there in the sala.

It felt like ages since they moved, but in truth they just moved in that house yesterday afternoon. They were evicted from their previous home when they failed to pay the rent for 8 consecutive months.

Such is the life for poor Eric who can only dream to have their own house.

When I get rich, I'll get back to that pig of a landlady and teach her a lesson for shaming us, he thought violently.

All of his life, this is Eric's fourth move. They have been moving around a lot in different provinces, but their previous house was the longest time they've settled. Until that landlady got tired of his mother's promises and finally snapped, evicting them in front of their neighbors.

Since his high school, he had stayed in their previous place. Now that he's starting his last years in high school, he'd be forced to adjust again to the new environment.

He got up the dusty couch that he was sleeping in, went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and left the house to walk to his new school.

He didn't bother taking a bath, nor eating breakfast. Not that there's breakfast anyway. Plus, it's already 7:45, and his class starts at 8. Good thing the school's a walk away from their house, but still... he would certainly be late.

Their house was one of the cookie-cutter houses in the neighborhood, a set of rowhouses with low ceilings, and whose inhabitants belonged to the lower classes of society.

But Eric didn't look like the part. It's a good thing he inherited his Mother's good looks. Fair-skinned, lean, and with a gentle face amidst his cold and tough disposition, Eric was one of the most handsome faces in his previous school. Girls lined up for him, and the guys despised him for pure envy.

But though girls went crazy for him, he wasn't the showy type. He was a quiet one, a cold, brooding kid who didn't seek attention. But his looks sought attention though, especially that one special girl...

He shook his head while walking. What the hell am I thinking? It's already over for us. Forget her!

But he still can't forget her. Her strawberry scent, her rosy lip tint, her fair skin. But both of them can't be together. She's heaven, he's earth. She's light, he's darkness. Maybe one day...

Maybe in another reality...

When he arrived at room 45, it was already 8:30. He was thirty minutes late. All the people looked at him like there was an angel who flew by.

"Sorry for being late."

The teacher was an elder guy who had fat for skin and with a suspicious glint in his eyeglasses that you can't always see his eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Eric Ray Mendoza." He looked around and saw his classmates. The girls looked like thirsty owls while the boys were green with envy. Eric smiled to himself. Deep inside, he wanted this kind of attention. But on the outside, he kept his cold exterior. He had nothing and certainly lacked material things, and his looks were the only good thing he had. Might as well relish in the thought that everyone's admiring you for your good looks, right?

The teacher looked at his class list. "So you're the transferee. Very well, introduce yourself."

"Hi, I'm Eric Ray Mendoza. I'm a transferee."

"That's it?"

Eric looked at the teacher coldly.

"Can you at least show us some hidden talents?"

"Yeah! Show us!" Said the girls with mini skirts at the back. Before Eric knew it, the whole class was already asking for his hidden talent.

What is this? Some kind of TV show?

Eric sighed, but a second later he began to sing, a ballad song in the 90s by some Filipino artist. There was a sound of amazement from the class when they heard this, and when Eric finished the chorus, the girls were roaring with admiration.

"More! More! More!"

Apparently, they liked his voice. Well, aside from his good looks, Eric also had a heavenly voice.

The teacher smiled and went to him. "Okay, class, that's enough for now. Surely, Mr. Handsome will reserve some songs for us in the future."

Minutes later, Eric was sitting near the back of the class. He was aware that girls in front of him kept on turning their heads to glance at him, but he kept his long face. After all, he's been used to this kind of treatment in his previous schools. Aside from the girls, the boys were also turning their heads to cast a cold stare at him.

Someone poked his side.

"Hey," whispered a boy with smiley eyes and curvy mouth. "I'm Charlie."

This boy called Charlie held out his hand and Eric shook this. "I'm Eric."

"Yeah, I heard that," said this carefree boy. "Where are you from?"

"From the province."

"What province?"

The boy kept on talking. Eric wished this boy would shut up because the teacher in front kept glancing at them, as if he might scold them sooner or later.

"From Region 4A."

"From what province in Region 4A?"

Eric wished he had a masking tape at that moment so he can shut the mouth of this boy called Charlie.

"Batangas."

"Oh? So you're a Tagalog at heart?!"

"Actually, no, we move a lot from time to---"

"Hey, you at the back!" The teacher finally snapped. "You with the smiley face, shut it or I'll send you to the guidance counselor!" After saying this, the teacher continued his boring story about his life, and some dull orientation about senior high school tracks.

"Why am I the only one being scolded?" Charlie whispered under his breath and looked sadly at Eric. "Is it because you're good-looking, and I'm not?"

Eric shrugged. Suddenly, Eric noticed a gangster-looking kid with a red bandanna around his head. This kid was looking at him with a cold stare, as if his stare shoots arrows at Eric's face. Suddenly, this kid gestured with his fist and ran it over his neck, as if saying, you'll have your time, boy—I'll kill you.

Eric shrugged this off, but got chills by the kid's actuation. He gave the guy a cold stare.

"I saw that," Charlie whispered. "Don't mind him, he's one of the bullies here in school. His name's Jarwin. As ugly as his face."

Eric didn't mind him and continued listening to the teacher in front.

"Hey, you listening to me?"

Suddenly, the teacher was standing in front of Charlie, slamming the chalk on his desk. "I don't know what you didn't understand when I said you should shut your mouth, but I'm beginning to believe you're a special case. Maybe you'd want a class in the special children's classroom?"

"Ah, sir, no, no I just wanted to---”

Charlie's voice was cut short when the door slammed open, too violently.

The girls gasped for air.

Another good-looking student entered the class, as if shining in golden splendor. This kid looked even more handsome than Eric, and was taller, and had more muscles.

Eric sighed. Seems like he won't be the star of the class for long.