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Chapter 91: You've Got Mail
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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The Boyfriend App Chapter 92: Steganography
“Who are they from?” Kate asks Yssy in a soft, gurgly baby voice. “A boy named Chester Araullo,” Yssy explains, showing her the return address on the envelopes, which – another weird thing – has been printed out and pasted. “I nicked them from Ms. Perfect’s wastebasket when I brought her dinner to her office. And not only that… I also brought you… these!” Kate’s eyes bulge at the sight of two pieces of lumpia spring rolls wrapped in tissue paper. “Ohhh, give me! Give me!” she moans; the miraculous letters temporarily forgotten. It’s love at first bite. She closes her eyes, relishing the salty taste of the crepe pastry skin. “Thank you,” she finally manages to tell Yssy, after a second big bite and with her mouth full. “You literally saved my life.” “Gosh, don’t mention it. I know you’d do the same for me if our positions were reversed.” “For sure!” Kate says while chewing contently. “Anyway, eat them all up because you deserve it,” Yssy says after she has placed the mysteriou
The Boyfriend App Chapter 93: Ninja Kate
Yssy is staring at her roomie as though Kate has lost her mind. Still using the cuticle scissors, Kate makes a small cut INSIDE the image of a bowling ball in the photo. She needs to slightly fold the photo to make the cut. Not too big, just enough for one of the scissors’s ends to fit. “Hey, what are you doing?” Yssy tries to stop her. “You don’t understand,” Kate explains and keeps doing what she’s doing. “This is the template. I basically need to cut holes into this photo…” “In the bowling balls?” “Yes. The template will tell me which words to read in the message.” “But what if you’re wrong?” “I’m not. OK? And besides,” Kate says, picking up the duplicate of the photo and waving it in the air, “I’ve got a spare.” Kate gets so focused on what she’s doing that she even sticks out her tongue. If she only had a box cutter… she thought. But that’s wishful thinking because box cutters are prohibited even during art activities in Camp Unplugged because of its stereotypical role in
The Boyfriend App Chapter 94: Heart2Heart
In no time, Kate reaches the church, which is actually more of a chapel based on its size. {Would you look at that,} she thinks to herself. {All those marches are actually paying off.} They have worship in the chapel every Sunday and rosary novena every Saturday. Ms. Blanca and the subdivision priest are practically chums, so Kate has to take extra care not to be discovered by any chapel staff. As usual, the place is vacant and as quiet as a mausoleum. Kate once again feels clueless as to why campers are prohibited from dropping by here unscheduled. The solitude the chapel offers would definitely do more for the campers than Ms. Perfect’s psychology exercises. Proof of that is how Kate’s starting to feel quite mellow and meditative right now. The doors are open for any late-evening churchgoer. She guesses not a few of the ultra-rich residents of that subdivision have guilt pangs as the night gets deeper. The lights are dimmed to save energy but it doesn’t matter because there are
The Boyfriend App Chapter 95: The Guy in the Chair
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The Boyfriend App Chapter 96: The Confession
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The Boyfriend App Chapter 98: The Hangry Monster
“What’s the meaning of this?” Ms. Perfect roars as soon as she has caught her breath. “Do you know how much this rice cooker costs? It’s imported all the way from Japan and it has a microchip and uses fuzzy logic!” Kate lifts her horrified eyes to meet Ms. Perfect’s angry ones. Yssy thinks Kate should win the FAMAS Best Actress Award because her eyes reflect a complex mix of incomprehension, shock and guilt. Inside though, it isn’t lost on the two roomies that Ms. Perfect, a self-proclaimed Luddite, uses words like “microchip” and “fuzzy logic” (whatever that is) under stress. “I-I don’t know what happened, Ms. Perfect!” Kate stammers. “Honest! The last thing I remember I was lying down on my bed and, the next minute, I’m here and you’re standing in front of me!” “She must’ve sleepwalked!” Yssy supports with not a small amount of awe in her voice. “Somnambulism, huh?” Ms. Perfect says while setting down the rice cooker safely on Kate’s study table, which is nearer to the door. Th
The Boyfriend App Chapter 99: What Boys Want
“OK, I’m gonna pretend you did not just ask me that,” Yssy says. Then, seeing Kate’s innocent face. “You seriously don’t know?” “Nope.” “That’s a dead giveaway you still have your V-Card. What boys really want is… drumroll please… dirty photos. Nudes. Those are what guys think of all the time because it’s a hint of the real thing. It’s the excitement of the chase. Now, normally, you’d think there should be no substitute to the real thing. You know, S–E-X. But the trouble is, once a boy does get the real thing, once a girl gives him her everything, that’s when he’ll start to miss the hunt. The game.” Kate doesn’t know why but her ex Josh comes to her mind just then. “Which is why the tease and the hard-to-get playbook works like a charm,” Yssy continues explaining. “If you can master how to create, sustain and prolong their fantasy of you, you’ll have your man eating out the palm of your hand. You’ll have both his heart and his undying loyalty.” “But how do you create such a fanta
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For Ecto, New Year’s is more or less the same as Christmas. The same warm, gooey feeling. The same close-knit spirit. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has banned the manufacture and sale of firecrackers, the shooting of which has been a well-loved tradition for centuries and can be traced all the way back to the Spanish colonial era. The exact inventors and originators were the Chinese, who believed that noise would drive away bad luck and bad spirits. According to Mr. and Mrs. Lapuz, the Filipinos seem sadder now, having been robbed of the most thrilling and spectacular means of making noise. But according to health and safety records, hospital personnel can rest easier because the ERs wouldn’t be packed with casualties this time around. Just the New Year’s before last, it was like a war zone on the streets what of households competing for the biggest bang to welcome the new year. Many men got drunk out of their minds and then tried to light a firecracker with the non-PC name
The Boyfriend App Chapter 175: Ecto's Stocking
After Mass, Kate and Nate buy rice cakes at the town square. One is the awesomely purple puto bumbong and another the yellow bibingka. They also buy roasted chestnuts and bring all the treats home to Mr. and Mrs. Lapuz. On one trip to a very crowded shopping mall, Ecto sees a Santa Claus impersonator. Curiously, the Santa is Caucasian and not brown-skinned like most of the Filipinos. Of course Ecto has already figured out by himself that Santa isn’t real. To his surprise, after they get back home, Kate insists on teaching him the hooman custom of hanging a stocking. On the desktop of her computer, Kate shows him a folder that she has named “Ecto’s Stocking”. She then goes through all the trouble of changing her wallpaper to a fireplace and dragging the folder onto the 2D mantelpiece. “What for?” he asks her through her smartphone’s loudspeaker. Her smartphone is open and showing the My Dream Boyfriend app, right into the inside of Ecto’s bedroom. Ecto’s wearing a knit sweater
The Boyfriend App Chapter 174: The Holidays
With a little help from Terra, Kate downloads the My Dream Boyfriend App again with some customizations. Because Ecto isn’t bound by any one platform anymore, he’s capable of some manner of fission, where he splits and replicates himself while also dividing his consciousness among all his manifestations. It’s like Doctor Strange’s clones when they were fighting Thanos, but in Ecto’s case, each and every duplicate is much more than an illusion and is a sentient and perfect version of himself. This allows him to be both in Nate’s microchip implant while back in his virtual bedroom inside the My Dream Boyfriend app on Kate’s smartphone. At any time, he can also perform fusion and re-absorb his manifestations. Terra removed the boyfriend creation window because of course Kate doesn’t need it anymore. Ecto wanted his virtual bedroom exactly as it was. He could easily “slide” into his other cribs anyway, like the old orange, pink and red Provençal one on Dungeon Raydens which he was able
The Boyfriend App Chapter 173: The Truth
It’s already 6 pm when Nate finishes his social host obligations and comes looking for Kate. He doesn’t need to look hard though because earlier, Kate sent him a text saying she’s waiting for him in the Council office. Nate has a spring in his step and is smiling ear to ear. The scratches on his face are still stinging but, before the closing ceremony, Nurse Judy cleaned and applied Band-Aid on them. Nate can’t hide his excitement in seeing his GF again after they’ve taken care of all their responsibilities. {That kiss on the track was supernova-hot. I hope we make out too.} When he finds the office door locked, oddly enough, he knocks and calls out uncertainly: “Kate?” He hears her move inside the room and then the door swings open. The sight of her face wipes his smile off. She’s been crying in the dim. She has the look of someone who has just had herself a good cry. Her eyes look cleansed and exposed, indeed like pure windows into her soul. Her lips are tightly set in a line, as
The Boyfriend App Chapter 172: The Anagram
Kate is alone in the Student Council office tidying up. Nate’s off wrapping things up with his manager and the film crew and saying goodbye to everybody, including his bandmates. The trophy that STEM 12 won is now in the 12-Everest homeroom, because the bulk of tournament champions is there. Kate’s classmates are all posing with it and gushing at how shiny it is. This year’s Intrams was perfect. Kate couldn’t ask for anything more. She has once again been reminded of the importance of having balance in life; of, as cheesy as it sounds, having both a sound mind and a sound body. It felt good to do something physical, to be away from the rigors of school work and the false urgency of the Internet. But the heart of the matter is, she’s blissfully content because she has a boyfriend and she didn’t make a mistake in choosing him. In fact, she made a brilliant choice. An undertow to her joy is a silent prayer that she has finally broken the curse that she felt had hung over her ever since
The Boyfriend App Chapter 171: The Cheater
“OMG!” Mr. Romero says the word in everyone’s mind as they watch the pitiful scene. “Policarpio’s crawling to the baton exchange. Quick! Somebody help him! Help him!” Reggie is the first to break the spell of paralysis. He leaps over the rail and onto the track. He and Jared manage to run towards him before the alert CAT volunteers practice crowd control and stop others from joining. Reggie reaches Nate’s side. “No!” Nate screams vehemently. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! I have to do this by myself.” “But hyung,” Jared says, having stopped next to Reggie, “you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to prove anything.” “Yes… I… do,” Nate grunts as he crawls forward foot by precious foot. “Let us help you,” Reggie pleads. “You don’t have to do this alone.” “Don’t come closer!” Nate barks, spittle flying between his gritted teeth. In what feels like eternity, he reaches the changeover zone and Kate’s crouched form. Her eyes are glassy and full of pity for him. He hates that loo
The Boyfriend App Chapter 170: The Race
By Friday morning, STEM 12 has won a total of 7 champion ribbons and several ones as runner-up. This makes them a leading candidate for overall champion. As Kate has anticipated, the non-sports events buoyed them. Apart from Francine and her escort winning Mr. and Mrs. Intrams, Grace and her benchwarmers won the bench cheer. It didn’t hurt either that the Bali Girls minus setter Lor were at the top of their game. And Nate, to everyone’s astonishment, is actually a Filipino Usain Bolt in the making. {Your BF’s Superman,} Nate’s words have been echoing inside Kate’s head since Wednesday, along with the news reporter’s: {Idol, social catalyst and Internet detective. Is there anything that Cyber can’t do?} But STEM 12 didn’t exactly win all their wins. Just like in last year’s Intrams, several games have been forfeited. An opposing team either failed to meet the minimum number of players required to start the game or failed to appear at the venue within the 15-minute grace period. On CIT
The Boyfriend App Chapter 169: Music Madness
The crowd of hysterical girls in front, held back only by a cordon of CAT cadets from junior high, are screaming the names of DMG members: “Cyber! Reggie! Jared! Sonic! Neo!” Seemingly from out of nowhere, they’ve whipped out banners and signs. Instead of the usual glow-in-the-dark Korean lettering for an evening K-pop concert, there’s a slew of English ones interspersed with the name of a particular artist or of the whole band. | IT’S MY BIRTHDAY CYBER, YOU ARE MY PRESENT DUMP KATE TAKE ME I WOULD SELL MY SIBLINGS FOR YOU I LOVE YOU MORE THAN FREE WIFI DON’T STOP INSPIRING ME! CAN I BE YOUR HAIRDRESSER? ALL I WANT FOR X-MAS IS A PIC WITH JARED DMG We have 5 fingers enough for 5 wedding rings SPIT ON ME CYBER | An English-speaking Filipino director is riding a crane and shooting high up in the aisle of the audience seats. His staff is scattered on the edges and near the stage, operating or holding up every manner of equipment. DMG plays their covers of the most popular s
The Boyfriend App Chapter 168: Within the Walls
On Tuesday, they have the same brain-hurting and nose-bleeding calculations in Physics and Chemistry. The only thing different is DMG’s closed-door rehearsal at the chapel-slash-auditorium 500 meters east. Nate has been exempted by Principal Aguilar personally from any school work or quiz. The whole campus is abuzz and on edge at every sighting of truck and van with tinted windows down Campus Drive and onwards to the auditorium. Kate has also prepared paper lots in an empty pencil case for the Secret Santa next month. She lets every Everester pick their recipient, including her own name. Kate has set the budget at “No Fixed Price” because she knows not all students are financially comfortable. When only two pieces of folded paper remain (one for Nate and one for her), she picks her recipient and is both excited and nervous to see that it’s Grace. She keeps the last piece of paper, of course unopened, for Nate. {Huh,} she thinks to herself afterwards. {What gift can I give somebod
