only fools fall (for you) | elias/ibarra

chapter eight

Juanito Pelaez. (He prefers Juan, though.)

Synonymous to loud and obnoxious; a troublemaker, and proud of it. He is what you would typically call a class clown, because he doesn't take things seriously. He is the epitome of the word carefree.

Which is not true. Obviously.

They say the people who try to make other people happy are usually the ones who can't do that to themselves. Juan hates to be a cliché, but it's exactly who he is.

The truth is that he gets sad sometimes. Often. Always. But sometimes he gets too sad that he doesn't even know if he's really sad or just... whatever. He hates himself for being confused at something so trivial such as feelings. Juan hasn't learned how to deal with his internal crisis so he just repress what he's feeling, which is probably unhealthy but it's not like he can tell anyone. Sure, he has his friends, but the thing is, he promised himself that he would never look weak and vulnerable to anyone. Because sooner or later, they all fucking leave, and he's—

Juan shuts his eyes and breathes through his nose, ignoring the heaviness sitting on his lungs. He stays like that for a while until the ringing in his ear stop and he feels like he's come back to earth. He then finally registers the voice of his adviser.

'Okay, guys. You may go now.' She dismisses the class, and the simultaneous sound of chairs scraping fills the small room. Voices grows gradually louder as the students pack their bags up and stand up, asking for plans for later. One of the most recognizable voices are Juan's. He whoops as he almost skips to Basilio's spot.

He walks over to Cido's spot, whose eyes are still glued to his phone and earphones still firmly plugged in, hard rock music that is so loud Juan can almost hear it. His thick eyebrows are pressed into a straight line, and his lower lip is slightly jutted out. Juan chuckles at his serious, albeit ridiculous expression, and peeks at what he's doing at his phone. ' Parang ebook ata ,' Juan muses. ' Paano siya nakakabasa at nakakapakinig at the same time? Monggoloyd talaga to eh .'

Juan grins mischievously as his palm hits Cido's forehead with a resounding snap. He relishes at the half-stunned, half-panicked reaction. His wide eyes lands on Juan's face and his expression instantaneously turns into murderous fury. Juan cackles, reeling.

The other boy aggressively removes his earphones and punched his friend, not hard enough to leave a bruise but enough to hurt. Juan yelps but got over it quickly, and laughs some more. Cido glares at him. 'Ang lakas talaga ng trip mo, bwisit ka!'

'Sorry na!' Juan chuckles. 'Busy ka kasi sa phone mo eh. Uwian na, gunggong!'

Cido rolls his eyes and stands up, gathering his things. Juan fondly watches his friend just throw all his stuff into his backpack carelessly. He wonders when was the last time Cido even fixed the contents of his bad, but then he remembers that this Cido is we're talking about. It's a damn miracle he even finds a ball pen inside that mess. As the shorter boy slings his bag on his back, Juan rests his left arm on his shoulders.

'Hoy, filming na tayo mamaya.' He reminds while walking to the door. Juan nods, 'Freedom park di'ba?'

Cido nods, 'Pero puntahan muna natin si Isagani. Di'ba may campaign muna siya?'

'Oks!'

'Sunduin na natin si Mr. Soon-to-be Bise Presidente!'

'Anong room nga ulit yun?'

_

They waited for Isagani to finish his last campaign and went out, stopping for quick snacks and going straight to the Freedom Park inside campus. Some students are studying, or practicing but some are also just lounging. The three of them meets Basilio, who is already on their usual spot. He helps the three of them with the camera and stayed until they all called it a day. They separate ways outside the school, except for Juan and Cido who usually walk together. He temporarily lives in a dormitory near the school, since he lives far from Manila. And Juan walks with him since the bus stop and his dorm are in both directions. They were walking side by side, shoulders almost brushing when Cido asks, 'Oh, ba't ang tahimik mo diyan?'