Through the Window

Since Jho only had a morning class on Wednesday, she arranged to meet Bea at her school that afternoon once Bea's last class was out. As she hopped off the jeepney and followed Bea's directions tot he campus and then to her dorm, she felt herself getting more and more giddy at the thought of finally seeing where Bea was living. And she kind of hated that she would even use the term giddy to describe how she was feeling, but there was no other word for it.

Once she found the right address, she headed up and looked for her dorm number. Before knocking, she opened her backpack and grabbed the small canvas artwork she painted as a gift for Bea. She gave it one last glance-over before knocking on the door and holding it behind her back.

When the door opened, Jho didn't exactly get the greeting she had anticipated. Instead, a scowling, but very pretty woman opened the door. A woman that wasn't her girlfriend.

"Can I help you?"

Jho looked at the number on the door to make sure she had the right place.

"Um...andyan ba si Bea?"

The girl opened the door wider as a signal for Jho to come in.

"She must still be at class. Pwede mo s'yang antayin dito kung gusto mo."

Jho stepped in and immediately knew which side of the room was Bea's. There wasn't much decorating her walls, but her soccer gear, cleats and workout bag were hung up on a hook near the foot of her bed. There was a photo of her team framed on her desk. Out of both nervousness and curiosity, she opened the desk drawer and found a photo of Bea and Jho inside, along with another photo of Bea, Jho, Sati, Carly and Jamie taken the night they all went out together. Jho smiled upon seeing them.

"Ano yan?

Jho turned around and saw Maddie gesturing at the painting.

"Ahh, little something lang for Bea." Jho held onto it protectively while showing it to her. Maddie didn't really seem that interested. She merely scoffed and Jho knew right then that there were more reasons to hate her than just the fact that she was constantly trying to get with Bea.

"That's cute. You brought her a little present."

"I painted it."

"Even cuter."

Jho wanted to throw something at her, but instead, she tried to be civil and reached out her hand.

"Ikaw siguro ang roommate n'ya. Ako nga pala si Jho."

"You must be Bea's current conquest. I'm Maddie." She took Jho's hand haphazardly.

"Excuse me?" Jho looked her up and down, trying to maintain a tough exterior, but she was a little intimidated by just how hot this girl was.

"Look, mukha ka namang mabait kaya bibigyan kita ng warning. Whatever little tryst you had with her is just that. She has a bit of a reputation and never sleeps with the same girl twice. Good luck trying to get into her bed more than once."

Jho was torn between feeling a little smug having very obviously been in Bea's bed more than once and wanting to punch this girl in her pretty little face for talking shit on her girlfriend. Even if it was true, Maddie was talking about her like she knew her. She wanted to, but very clearly didn't know her at all.

Jho opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She tightened her grip on the painting and looked over at Bea's bed.

"Sa tingin mo ikaw lang ang kinakama n'ya? That's very cute, but also very naive of you."