DESTINATION

FIEND

"the evil in me tells me to live like an angel

save you by leaving you alone

for this is the only way to win this battle

because I am a fiend that will soon be gone"

-100218

The class is all over and I just woke up. I struggled to sit up, the chairs that I stacked in the back to somewhat camouflage during class haunts me right away. I feel dizzy and I can feel something funny in my chest and wrist. There are a couple of marks here and there, my face is probably red. But who cares, I got to do what I got to do. Barely slept last night, and I barely slept the whole week, maybe even for the whole month.

June was sitting close to me, just a fingertip away to make sure my professor won't catch me. And as the guy who has a PhD in taking naps during classes, a help is appreciated, but I really don't need one. Some of my classmates are now outside the room, and the others are fixing their stuff. I can hear the guys planning to go out, and the girls on the other side are doing their makeup.

I really don't get why some of them do this, I mean I'm not judgmental or anything. Some of these girls are just going home. But they still retouch, maybe they have a crush they want to see during their bus ride home. I don't know. Maybe they just want to look good. But I just don't get make up at all. Maybe that's why I love my girl.

She's all natural, and speaking of her, she texted me that she'll be free by seven. She said that she will go grab some food with her friends.

Before I could even reply, June and Migs approached me.

"Hey L, are you free right now?" June said with enthusiasm all over his voice. I know where this is going.

"Say no more my man. Where's Aeron and Clark?" I replied, wishing we could be complete. I'm still stuck at Crusader IV in Dota. I need more rank games than ever. Well, I know I'm a noob. But I just play to have fun with the guys and cuss for no valid reason at all.

"Well, Aeron is on his way to the shop. He decided to leave his things first at the dorm." Migs said, and I know what's coming next. "For Clark, that's uhm. You know."

"I got this." I smiled and looked for Clark.

I'm still feeling dizzy and phasing out. It's like I left my soul at those chairs at the back after standing way too quickly. But I only have a short amount of time to spend with the guys, go for broke. I went outside the room and there he is, with the face that the guys always love to see. Clueless and scared in front of his girl, one of us too, Kez.

Well, this has been the set up every single time. Most of us, meaning the four of us are always free. But Clark struggles to make Kez say yes in letting us play. And as part of the tradition, I go in there. Get my ears raped by the repetitive words "one game, one game, but he'll be back after three hours." And the iconic line of hers, "Oh, it's cool. It's okay. But I don't know if it's okay with Clark." Followed by this frightening stare at Clark and you know how scared our buddy is during those few seconds. It's like there's a storm coming, but it's only Clark who will feel the disaster. Poor Clark.

Head scratches and all, but I did my part. Kez finally said yes after a few minutes, just after I told her that I have someplace to go to by seven. She's not that hard to please, but she makes a lot of requests every time. Specifics like, she wants a mountain dew by the time we're done playing. And most of the time, Clark forgets to do any of the requests, making the storm jump straight to signal number 100.

We headed straight to the blue shop, our spot when we play DOTA. We just decided to call it blue shop because it's painted with endless amount of blue in the world. I don't know what shade of blue, maybe it's not actually blue. But who am I to know what color is it. Blue is blue.

Hundreds of random screams and curse words later, we won two games that lasted for almost three hours. I looked at my phone and I already had two missed calls from my girl. And that's hell already for me. Getting miss calls from my girl is second in the scariest missed calls there is. Mom's missed calls is still number one, but hers is just right there, five steps away from reaching the top of the list. It may even take two steps up tonight. Not only did I miss the calls, I also forgot to tell her that I was going to play with the guys while waiting for her. That's a double wammy for L right here.

I said goodbye to the guys and ran for a good 500 meters like I was part of an Olympic dash towards the park. The fastest way was the darkest alleyway there is. For some reason, the government stopped investing in streetlights. Drugs are all over their head above everything else. Anyway, I almost bumped into a couple of people, but thankfully I didn't. I haven't shaved my moustache for two weeks, and luckily there's no police at the end of the alleyway. With this moustache in me, they might mistake me for a runner or worst of all, "Snatcher of Baclaran" as my friends use to tease me with.

Swimming in sweat and barely catching my breath, I saw her there at our usual waiting spot at the entrance of the park, waiting for me with a scary stare, but still so freaking cute. So I decided to slow down a little bit as I approach hell, buying myself some time to have the cheesiest and cutest punchline to calm her down. And before I could even speak..

"Mister, where were you?"

"I thought you're out by Seven."

"Uh-uh, it's seven now. You're not answering my question."

"I forgot to tell you that –"

"Shh. Dota again, you guys played the whole week. Are you even studying?"

"Well, we talk about complex analysis and differential equations while playing."

"Oh Mister." Well, lucky me. She's in a good mood. I can feel that she wants to eat. She keeps looking at every angle while lecturing me. She's going to be an amazing math teacher especially with angles.

"I'm hungry, let's eat." And that my friend, is how you make up with your girl.

"Okay, you decide where to eat." Oh hell yes, this is heaven. I learned this trick after almost two years of research. This girl never decides where to eat. And with this mood, it will take two hours before she could even name an establishment. That's why I just decided to pick the closest, for I am still like a dog having a hard time in breathing. Not a good boy though.

"McDonald's it is!"

We walked all over the park heading towards the nearest McDonald's. I'm still dizzy, and I need some good 'ol McCafe to bring me to life. She was quiet for a few minutes. This is always the case after every lecture. So, it's the student's time to talk. I told her some random stories about what happened to my day, and started joking around with every signage and establishment we pass by.

"Hey, random question."

"Go for it girl."

"What will you do for something that you love?" I was a bit shocked hearing those words, I'm the one who usually starts with random questions. It's really unusual of her, even the tone of her voice. It was low, yet streaming with seriousness.

Looking at her very eyes that devastated who I once was, I said "Everything".

"Even if you –" Before she could even finish, I decided to answer with a confident "Yes, everything. I will do everything for something, or someone that I love. That means, I'm doing everything for you."

She slapped my face lightly, while smiling for a bit. I can feel that there's something bothering her. Her face is a worried Picasso painting for some reason. Maybe this angel realized who I really am for the things and people that I love, a fiend.