Jump Start (Part 1)

By: Ryan

To introduce myself, I'm Ryan. a normal boring guy. You'll know me throughout my story.

Fourth year college na ako nang nagdecide ako na lumipat na ng dorm. Dahil sobrang inconvinient na kung magsstay pa ako dun sa dati. Overpricing na talaga, sabi din ng mga ka-dorm ko dati. Sayang nga lang dahil maganda yung location, tapat lang ng university na pinapasukan ko.

Bago pa man magstart ang klase sa nang June, inikot ko ang paligid ng school ko at naghanap ng bagong matitirahan. But I end up finding nothing. Pumasok na lang ako sa loob ng university to meet my classmates at tumambay. (Block section kami)

We stayed in our faculty's building and chatted for some time. Since it's also enrollment day nung araw na yun, madami din estudyante ang pakalat kalat sa loob ng school.

I told my friends about me looking for a house to stay in. Madami nag suggest, kung di man mahal ang rent eh malayo naman. Nakakapressure na since malapit na magpasukan. Then in the middle of our conversation, dumating si Ja at Erik. (Ja- julius angelo)

Segway: I don't know kung ano pinagsamahan nitong dalawang to pero we can see to them that they're bestfriends. Si Erik, delayed for one year pero hindi dahil nagbubulakbol siya. He just shifted course. Actually, isa siya sa matatalino sa klase namin. An aspiring president sa isang well known organization sa department namin. Hmm. He's not that good looking at first pero many girls just fall for him. Maybe his personality? Hmm no. Basta. May something sa kanya kung bakit lakas ng appeal niya sa girls. Pero mapapansin mo talaga sa kanya na balbon siya. Which maybe one of his assets? Kamukha niya si Billy Crawford. Kalokalike! Hahaha

Then si Ja. Total opposite ni Erik. Palaging computer games. Nagcucut ng klase. Lakas mangtrip. Pero he managed to pass third year naman. Ja is one of the nicest guys i've ever known. Nung bago pa lang kami sa block namin, he's the first person I've talked to. I'm not a fan of his looks, but I envied his body a lot. So ripped. Constant training daw sa gym. Tapos nag boboxing pa. You can really see his chest popping out of his shirt. Hmmm. Ano pa ba. Yes, laway din ang mga girls and beks sa kanya. Hahaha.

They joined our conversation. All of my classmates keep on suggesting impossible places and me ended up still not findind a new home. Hayyyy. Pressure!

It was 6:30 in the evening, all of us decided to leave the school na. Yung iba, iinom daw. Tapos yung iba, uwi na sa bahay. I've decided to go home na lang, sa Laguna. :( 2 hour drive from Manila. We were walking on the pathwalk since same way lang naman yung parking at yung papuntang bar na pagiinuman ng iba kong classmates. Ako yung nasa hulihan ng classmates ko, loner na naman. Hahaha Nahh, still thinking of possible places I can stay in.

"Lalim ng iniisip mo ah."

I looked to my side and saw Ja. I think he saw me tapos sinabayan ako sa paglalakad. I smiled at him.

"Haha. Halata ba brad? Ang hirap kasi maghanap ng matitirahan eh. Lalo pa't magpapasukan na." Sabi ko sa kanya.

"Oo nga eh. Teka ano ba nangyari dun sa dati mong dorm? Bat ka umalis dun?" he asked.

"Ahh sabihin na lang nating mukhang pera yung may ari. Hahaha. No joke, bawat galaw dun may bayad! Tapos yung time ng aircon sobrang ikli na lang. Hindi ganun yung nakasulat sa pinirmahan kong kontrata. At ang aga ng curfew ah. 10pm brad. And the worst, nagkakawalaan ng gamit. Hahaha kaya ayun. " i explained. (I guess yung mga nagdodorm will get my point)

"Ayyy. Buti nga umalis ka na. Hindi namamanage ng ayos yung dorm niyo." Sabi niya.

"Yep. Buti na lang talaga di pa ako nawalan dun. Hahaha" i replied.

Then complete silence. Pero sabay pa din kami naglalakad.

We were almost near the car park when he talked to me again.

"Hey Rye, you know, I can offer you our apartment. Yung pinagreviewhan natin dati with erik at iba pa, remember? Since wala naman tumitira don and I barely go there, you can stay there if you want to." He said. I just looked at him and considering his offer. Alam niyo yung ngiting parang sure na hindi sure. Ganun yung mukha ko non. Hahaha.

"Well, don't worry about the rent. 50-50 tayo. Kahit sa rent lang. Then si mom na bahala sa kuryente at tubig." He explained. We reached my car.

"Hahaha. Salamat brad! I'll consider it, i guess. Well, enjoy your night. I'll update you. Salamat talaga Ja." I said as I was entering my car. Binaba ko yung window ko then bid farewell to my classmates. Ja leaned on my window tapos piningot yung tenga ko. Hahaha. Actually hindi pingot eh, parang rub with pressure lang.

"Ingat!" then he smiled at me. I went home.

Segway: Yung apartment nila Ja, is 25 min away from our school. What makes it convenient is, fully furnished yung apartment. Kumpleto talaga. Si ja lang nagsstay dun kahit malapit lang yung actual bahay nila. Rarely, umuuwi yung uncle niya na seaman tapos dun nagsstay for a week or two. So parang rest apartment lang nila yun. Hahaha at isa pa. Mura yung rent pero maganda yung apartment.

I didn't go to Manila until the day before the start of the class. When I was in Laguna, I talked to Julius thru phone and settled everything about the apartment. We agreed that we divide all our expenses equally. I insist on sharing for the payment of electric and water bills. Tapos ayun na, move in na lang.

I drove my way to Manila on a Saturday night. Ja said that he'll meet me in his apartment. It was a long drive. I decided to buy dinner for us kaya nag stop over ako sa pancake house sa Slex. I was thinking to buy na lang sa mcdo but then I remembered na health conscious ang mokong. Napa pancake house tuloy. Hahaha. (The thing is, lagi niya sinasabi na food conscious siya pero lagi naman sisig ang inoorder kapag kumakain. Labo eh)

It was 10pm when I reached his apartment. I stayed on my car for a while then I texted him. Bababa na daw siya. After a minute, I saw Ja coming out of the gate. He didn't go for me but instead He signaled me that he'll open the big gate para makapag park ako. I gave him a thumbs up tapos nagpark na ako sa loob. The place looks like a condominium/apartment. 5 storey building tapos yung unit niya ay nasa 3rd floor.

Ja reached for my compartment to help me move out my things. Well, it's not that much naman. Just a bunch of clothes and my favorite pillow.

"How's the trip?" He asked me.

"Ayun. Mejo inabot ng traffic sa may España pero di naman masyado matagal." I explained.

We were talking about ramdom things as I picked the dinner I bought earlier then locked my car. He saw the food na dala ko and I noticed him looking at it.

"Nagdala na nga pala ako ng food." I gave him a smirk.

"Ahh ehhh. Mejo nagluto kasi ako while waiting for you. Di ko naman alam na may dala ka pala." Mejo ilang na sagot niya.

"Ahh ganun ba. Edi mas Ok. Mas maraming food. Hahaha" i laughed.

"Ehhh. Hahaha. Oo nga." He still managed to smile kahit halatang pilit. "Tara na, pasok na tayo."

So we entered his unit. Ganito yung set up. It's approximately 20x30m studio type unit. Just a single room. Pag pasok ng pinto, you can already see the whole room. From the door, if you look to the right, you can see a sofa bed tapos study table sa dulo. Then across the sofa is a king size bed, nakaharap sa TV. Nakasabit yung tv sa wall. Then right next to the bed is a drawer na may lamp tapos yung cabinet na yung sunod. The rest room is next to the cabinet tapos sa far end ng room ay kitchen tapos dining table. It's quite big para sa isang tao. Tapos may door sa may kitchen papuntang veranda. Ayun.

"Welcome!" Sabi ni Ja sa akin. Then smiled. I left all my things sa sofa then lie down sa bed, took a minute rest. I closed my eyes for a while. I was thinking of how stressful my driving is. Then the start of class. The latest chapter of Naruto. The pep squad I'm coaching. The latest movies. Minions. League of Legends. Then the next thing I felt, something fluffy is covering my head. Someone is shaking me as if he's waking me up.

"Hey, Ryan. Please wash up before you sleep again."

I removed the towel above my face then sat on the bed. I saw Ja shaking my legs and.... His hair was wet as well as his bare... ripped chest. Tumutulo pa sa legs ko yung tubig. He's wearing long pajama pants and a cute sleeping slippers. I was stunned for a while. It took me a minute to be back to my self. I looked at his face. He was smirking as he dry up his hair with a face towel. I felt a cold air creeping up in my back.

"I just got out of the shower. Maligo ka muna bago matulog." He said.

I jumped out of the bed and asked for the time. He said It's 11:30pm. Oh my, I fell asleep for that long.

"Sige, maliligo lang ako." I told him. I was hurrying for the shower.

As I was going to the shower, I saw a bunch of covered plates in the dining table. I asked ja kung ano yung mga yun.

"Di ba I told you na nagluto ako. Kaya ayan. Konting food. Hehe." He said.

"Ha? Anong konti? Fiesta ata dito eh. Ilan bang pamilya papakainin mo? Grabe sa dami to ha! Hahaha" i exclaimed.

I reached for the plates and uncovered one. It's a pasta. A plain capellini. I opened another one and saw a meatball sauce. They're no ordinary dishes, they're italian. Mostly, different sauces for the pasta. He really knows how to cook. Pero andami talaga.

He went to the opposite side of the table. "Hahaha. Sorry, can't help it. It's a hobby." He smiled at me as if he's so happy. There's another chill in my bones.

"Ahh. Hehe. Sige ligo lang ako tapos kain mamaya. Ha? Haha ehh. Sige. Ligo na ako." i ran for the shower and let the warm water flow through my body.

I felt an unusual sensation as I was taking a shower. This feeling is new for me. I don't understand. Why was I so nervous earlier? I can remember his chest facing me. A very nice ripped shoulders and arms. Water dripping all over his body. I felt hot. My body was shaking. And even water is flowing through me, I caught a little glimpse of my 'tatum'. I'm having a semi hard on! Omg.

"No. No. No. No. No.! It's impossible. Hell no! Fuck." I was crazy that time. Talking to my self and shit. I finished showering asap and left the cr. changed into my pj's. I always sleep topless. I realized no harm should be done since we're both guys naman. Ugghhh.

All the plates in the dining were uncovered, revealing more delicious dishes. But Ja wasn't in the room. I planned to settle my things that I left on the sofa but it's not there anymore. Just as I thought, nakaayos na sa cabinet lahat. My uniforms were hanged nicely. Every compartment were divided into two. His and mine. And of course, my favorite pillow. It's a 5x1ft pillow. Nasa bed na siya.

I heard my tummy crumble. I just realized di pa ako nagdidinner so umupo ako sa may dining table and grabbed some food. I tried the meatballs. Wow. No exaggeration but that was definitely something. Di ko naipigilan kaya nag round two pa ako. Hahaha.

Then Someone knocked on the door. I got up and opened It. It was Julius.

"Uy. San ka galing?" I saw him carrying a paper bag.

"Sa may binili lang ako sa 7-11." He said as he entered the room.

"Ahh. Ay, nauna na ako kumain ahh. Sarap ng meatballs mo eh." Biglang napatingin si Ja sa akin like he was shocked. Then I realized, "that sounded wrong". God. then we both laughed.

"Haha. Sige lang. Kain din ako. Then after that, tirahin natin to!" Tinanggal niya sa paper bag isang GSM Blue.

"Hahaha anong meron?" Naexcite naman ako na parang gago lang.

"A celebration! First night mo dito kaya magiinom tayo. Hahaha" he said then sat across the table.

We finished our dinner tapos niligpit na yung mga pinagkainan. Nag set up na si Ja sa may veranda habang hinuhugasan ko yung mga pinagkainan. It was 12:30 in the morning.

The veranda is big enough for the two of us. May dalawang chairs tapos table sa gitna. Then we started the session. Parang gago lang, sinimulan namin na tig-puno yung shot glass. Then tuloy tuloy na.

We talked about a lot of things. School, Classmates, Anime, Family and stuff. I've learned that we have the same family situation. We're both 2nd family. Haha nagka dramahan kami in short. But we can relate to each other. We're both bunso. But the difference is, pinanagutan ng dad ko yung expenses at studies ko. His dad didn't so, so his mom amd his stepdad worked for his studies.

"I feel you bro." I told him. Then we burst out laughing.

"Hey, rye. Ilan girlfriend mo ngayon?" He asked me while still laughing.

"Gago nito. Ilan talaga ang tanong?" I told him.

"O bakit? Hindi ba dapat?" We laughed so hard that the dogs in the street barked.

We were laughing for so long sobrang sakit na ng tiyan namin. We calmed and silenced down because of exhaustion.

"No, men. Real talk. May girlfriend ka ngayon?" He asked.

I looked at him. There's full seriousness in his face. This is different.

I tried to make the conversation jolly again. "What's with the face?"

He gave me a frustrated breath, "do you?"

No, i don't have any girlfriend. I never had any girlfriend. I was planning save everything for marrage. That's what I was thinking. But I have a feeling I shouldn't tell him. I had a lot of impressions of not having a girlfriend. Some say that I am man enough to firmly stand on my standards. Some say I'm gay. I don't want Julius to be one of those who judge me.

"I had. We just broke up." I lied. Some sort of story just formulated in my mind. "She left me, when she went to college, i was 4 years older than her. I guess we were not really for each other."

"Ohh im sorry i asked bro." Loko to ahh. Tatanong tanong ka pa kasi.

"How about you? Do you have a girlfriend?" I asked him.

"Uhm. Right now I don't. But there's this one person i'm aiming for." He said. Smiling as if he's remembering that girl.

"Oh? Sino?" I asked him.

"Right now, i'm not sure kung magkakagusto siya sa akin eh. Pero I know mahal ko siya. Dati pa. Hahaha" he looked down. " korni ko no? Hahaha"

"Eh sino nga kasi. Yun lang tanong ko, dami na agad sagot. Hahaha"

"Maybe I'll tell you pag sure na ako sa amin. At siyempre sure na din siya. Haha" he said.

"If you said so." We finished the GSM tapos niligpit na namin.

Ja grabbed the empty bottle then entered the room. I can see he's wiggling. He's drunk! And even before he reached the sink, he fell on the floor with the bottle in his hand. Then crashhhh. Broken glass were everywhere. He tried to get up but I told him to stay still for a while. I cleared his area first and gave him slippers. I accompanied him to the bed and cleaned the rest of the broken glass.

"Bukas na lang yann. Tulog na tayo." He said.

I'm also dizzy that time so I decided to leave it for tomorrow. I reached for the sofa bed and lied down with my pillow. As i was falling asleep, Ja mumbled something.

"Bakit jan ka natutuloggg. Anlakilaki nitong kama oh. Lipat ka na ditoo." He said.

"Oks lang brad. Dito na lang ako."

"Loko ka tallllga. Kyaa ko nga pna...paltan tong kama *hic* ng king size eh *hic* para tabi tayo." He said.

"Oks lang talaga ako dito brad. Matulog ka na." I faced against him.

Then parang nagmomove yung kama, i just felt a hand grabbing my wrist pulling me.

"Tara na kasiii." He was insisting.

I tried to resist but he was too strong for me. He pulled me in an instant and we both fell on the bed. We were both exhausted. We were lying side by side looking at the celing.

"Sige na. Tulog na tayo. Dito na ako matutulog." I told him then umayos na kami ng pwesto.

After long silence. Akala ko tulog na si Ja. I was still facing the celing and thinking about stuff tapos..

"Rye."

"Hmm?" Gising pa ang mokong.

I looked at him. He was lying sideways facing me. His face is blank. Then the next thing I know, our lips were intertwined. It was a long smack on the lips. Oh God. I'm so shocked right now. But I can't do anything about it. I felt my heart beating fast. Kahit may aircon, parang ang init. Mas lalo pang naging intense when he rubbed my earlobes. My eyes were wide open. I can see his calm face. I can't move. Then he broke off to my lips still rubbing my ear.

"Good night Ryan." Then he faced the other side.

I was shocked. I can't move. I was stuck in my position. All I can do is stare on the celing and touch my lips. What the fuck just happened? Did we just kiss? That's what circles my mind the entire night.

Fuck. What the f...

"Finger poppin' each other's assholes - 21 jump street"

To be cont.