All Chapters of The Boyfriend App : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

“Nothing could contain my excitement,” Mrs. Lapuz narrated to the spellbound Kate. “My diminutive size came with a special vision that allowed me to see in the dark. I saw everything, from the trichomes and pollen of flowers, which burned like flames in the dark, to the bats swooping low to lick water from the stream. I also heard everything. All the sounds I mentioned to you a while ago – crickets, tokay geckoes, owls, frogs – all magnified a hundred times. A field mice squeaking frantically and struggling in the jaws of a snake, or spider silk squirting out of spinnerets as a spider was building her web. “I used to be afraid of the dark. I never thought it could be so beautiful, and teeming with life. The night came alive to me much more than daylight ever did. Mathias provided me the eyes and showed me all its unspeakable beauty. He took me to deeper parts of the woods I had never been to before, where humans would never dare venture on our own. Those places were… magical, to say t

“A woman from the first group decided to rouse herself from her languid state and sashay into my and Mathias’s path. I felt timid before her icy glare because She. Was. Stunning. She looked ethereal and would’ve easily put the most beautiful celebrities in Manila to shame. I, on the other hand, was just plain me. And like at all the other times Mathias and I were together, I was wearing only house clothes that doubled as pajamas. I think I was wearing a tank top and jogging pants on that particular occasion. “Mathias reluctantly introduced the woman as Marikit, a dayang or princess. I thought she was as lovely as her name suggested. The dayang part actually made me debate with myself whether I should bow or curtsy but, seeing that she was staring daggers at me, I decided the best course of action was to stand toe to toe. “She and Mathias started conversing in their local tongue, which I had overheard only twice or thrice before and to me sounded both sibilant and enchanting, like a m

“The first attack came from the left. A sigbin leapt and Mathias met it with his blade in one fluid swing, inflicting a mortal wound in the creature’s side. The sigbin fell and managed to scamper away – eerily backwards – disappearing with a squeal and a canine whine into the bushes. It was a good start that should’ve sent fear into the hearts of the other sigbins, but they were undeterred and continued their rabid hunt. “Mathias’s weakness is that his weapon, the kampilan, was short. The remaining sigbins resolved to exploit this by attacking simultaneously from all directions. Another lunged low from the right and he drove it back with a side kick that connected with the creature’s skull. Like the first, it backed away with a squeal. “‘Stay close to me, Fina,’ he shouted as our enemies surrounded us. “I spied a largish branch on the ground and picked it up. Then I shrieked because another sigbin leapt from directly in front of Mathias and he fell on his back as the rows of crooked

Kate fell quiet. The intensity of emotions from her ma’s story was such that she needed a minute to process everything. And the fact that Kate personally knew the main character doubled the impact. Even while Mrs. Lapuz was narrating, Kate couldn’t help but draw parallelisms between her ma’s love story and Kate’s own experience with Ecto. In fact, at times during the narration, she had imagined Mathias with Ecto’s face and, based on a rare and faded school photograph, she and Mrs. Lapuz indeed bore a striking resemblance when they were the same age. “Wow,” was all Kate could say afterwards. Her expression felt weak and inadequate. “You should keep in mind though,” her ma said. “All those things happened about 25 years ago. I might have embellished parts of the story to make up for what I’ve forgotten.” “Did you try visiting the banyan tree again?” Kate asked. “Yes, a couple of times. I even thought of crawling between the roots and entering the hollow core. But just as the tree f

First, a new window appears and covers the entire screen. It’s displaying the logo of the company that made the game. Then, the splash screen is replaced by a loading screen consisting of a European knight standing on a cliff and gazing down at a burning vista. The knight’s wearing a cape and most of his back is turned to the screen so Mrs. Lapuz can’t see his face. Exciting, martial music floats from the low-volume speakers of the laptop. {Yep. This is fantasy all right,} Mrs. Lapuz thinks. Her mobile gaming interests have been limited to Candy Crush, Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies, and she doesn’t really prefer fantasy movies like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and all the superhero ones from Marvel Studios. Kate’s the one who’s into those. DUNGEON RAYDENS. The name of the game appears grandly next to the tableau of the knight, right above the burning townscape. Mrs. Lapuz actually feels a few butterflies in her stomach. The view switches to a vintage