The Gangster Princess

Chapter 27

Chapter  27: Hurricane in Heels

Apple Yin Reyes

People always think I’m just this small, annoying, loud girl with killer fashion sense and a black belt in attitude. Well, they are not wrong. But also—shut up.

People like me don’t usually end up in gangs. We end up in salons, not streets. But here I am, in BST, breaking bones and egos while looking cute. Iconic, I know.

I used to be just Apple Reyes. ‘Yung tipong girl na super arte, super daming kaaway sa school kasi “OA siya maglakad,” “OA siya tumawa,” blah blah blah. Whatever. They were just mad they couldn’t rock glitter eyeliner like I did. Or maybe they were mad because they knew something I didn’t want to admit—na my life wasn’t as sparkly as my highlighter.

My parents? Please. My mom left when I was a toddler. My dad? Let’s just say he treated beer bottles better than he treated me, but at least he spoiled m with pink stuffs. I learned early na ang mundo, hindi siya girly-girly. Walang prince charming. Walang magic. Just pain, fists, and your own two feet. So I trained my feet to fight.

Kickboxing saved me. Literal. I joined underground fights at 14, dressed like a doll but kicked like a demon. People laughed—until they couldn’t breathe. Until ribs cracked. That’s when they started calling me "the pocket-sized hurricane." Cute, ‘di ba?

Then Cassie found me.

I was fighting this big guy in a warehouse match—he looked like a truck, and I looked like a Barbie doll na nawala sa mall. But five minutes in, he was crawling on the floor and I was flipping my hair. I saw her watching. Cassie. Cold, calculating, scary smart. She waited for me outside the ring. Didn’t even smile.

“You fight good,” she said.

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re welcome?”

“I’m building a team. Real fighters. You want in?”

"Depends. Do I get a cool code name?"
She smirked. "We'll think of something."

Boom. BST happened.

I met them one by one—Tyler, James, Max, Tres. At first, they didn’t take me seriously. I mean, I wear pink crop tops and glitter. But it took one mission for them to shut up. You learn quick not to underestimate a girl who fights like a hurricane and laughs like a villain.

Now, I’m the fast one. The crazy one. The unpredictable one. That’s my thing. I smile while I punch. I giggle after I kick. Cute on the outside, chaos on the inside.

But you wanna know a secret?

Sometimes, when everyone’s sleeping I cry. Not the loud dramatic cry, ha. Just silent. Quick. Tulog na agad after. Kasi kahit gaano ka kagulo, kahit gaano ka kalakas minsan, gusto mo rin maramdaman na safe ka. Na hindi mo kailangan maging hurricane all the time.

Pero whatever. Emotions are for coffee shop girls. I’m Apple. I’m in BST. I break noses and I look fabulous doing it.

Let’s go.

Until, may isa pang sumali samin.

At first, I didn’t like her.

Aisha.

She walked in wearing this soft expression and that rich-girl glow—parang straight out of a teleserye na bida. Pretty. Calm. Parang hindi bagay sa mundo namin. Sa mundo ko. Kasi diba, this world is messy, chaotic, full of broken pieces. I thought she was too clean for that.

But then... she fought. And damn, she fought well. Not like me—wild and loud—but sharp. Precise. Poison in a perfume bottle. Nakakainis kasi ang composed niya habang ako parang palaban na chihuahua na hyper. But I saw it. The same look in her eyes na meron kaming lahat sa BST. That kind of emptiness. That fire na pinilit itago.

And slowly naging close kami. Like, legit close. I taught her how to use shimmer as a weapon—“Gamitin mo ‘to, Aish, distraction ‘yan sa mga lalaki before mo sila lasunin.” She laughed. I liked her laugh. It wasn’t fake.

But then, one night, I found out something.

Tyler.

Ex niya si Tyler.

I was joking lang when I teased her, “Hoy kayo na ba ni Ghost?” And she blinked like… surprised I didn’t know. That moment? Oof. Medyo sumakit pride ko. Kasi me and Tyler? We’ve been getting… something.

I don’t know what it was exactly. We weren’t a couple. But there were looks. Conversations na tumatagal ng sobra. ‘Yung mga moments na tahimik lang kayo pero ang bigat na. He called me “trouble in heels.” I called him “ghost boy with a stupid smile.”

Wala naman akong karapatan ma-hurt. But I was. Kasi ang gulo. Like bakit hindi niya sinabi?

But then I watched them. Tyler and Aisha. And I saw it—how they weren’t looking at each other like lovers. No spark. No longing. Just this... peaceful silence na parang, “We used to be something, now we’re just okay.”

Tyler talked to me about it eventually. Told me everything. Na high school sweethearts sila. Na perfect sila noon, pero they realized na it wasn’t love. Just comfort. That Aisha was sunshine, and he was the shadow. And she deserved more than a thief with a broken compass.

I believed him. Then naging kami. Freaking lucky to have a gentle man!

I believed them.

Kaya I let it go. Hindi ko sinabi sa kanya, but I did. Kasi kahit maarte ako, I’m not dumb. And I’m not selfish. I want people to be happy. Kahit minsan, hindi ako ‘yung kasama nila sa happiness na ‘yon.

Besides, Aisha? She became family. We braided each other's hair on slow nights. Nagbabond kami sa makeup and murder. I’d whisper, “Gusto ko yung lashes mo today,” while she mixed poison. She’s delicate, pero deadly. And maybe I admire that. Kasi I’m all chaos and noise, and she’s like silence with a knife behind her back.

And in this loud, dangerous world we built together?

We’re both surviving.

☽ a//z ☾

We sat on the rooftop, legs dangling over the edge, the city lights flickering below us like stars that lost their way.

“Ang gulo ng mundo noh,” I muttered, twirling a butterfly knife between my fingers like a toy. “But at least the sky still looks pretty.”

Aisha chuckled beside me. Softly. Almost too softly. “Yeah. The stars don’t change… kahit tayo sobrang nagbago na.”

She handed me a bag of chips. I took it, crunched one loudly, and smirked. “Sino may sabi na nagbago ako? I’ve always been a chaotic goddess.”

She laughed—really laughed. That kind that makes you feel like the world isn't as broken as it seems.

We talked about dumb stuff. Makeup brands. Tyler’s annoying smirk. How Max accidentally broke a door again. I braided her hair, and she did mine after. Simple lang. Like girls. Not gangsters. Not killers. Just us.