"Hello again from the Agape Love Center! I'm Joy, and I would like to speak with Ms. Kylie Bulan. We're certain that she and her boyfriend registered on our website," a woman's voice said over the phone in a calm but sales-y voice.

I looked at Chloe, who was giving me an "explain-yourself-or-I'll-kill-you-later" look, with both hands folded over her chest.

"T-this is Kylie Bulan speaking," I said, a lump now forming in my throat. I can now feel my heart beating wildly and my palms and soles sweating for what might be coming for me.

"Great! I'm just calling to confirm your attendance in your first session?" the woman replied in an upbeat manner.

"I-I'm sorry, but I don't remember registering. I don't even have a boyfriend," I said weakly, which made Chloe's eyes grow wide. She leaned on me to hear more.

"This can't be a mistake. You registered using your email, [email protected]. And we also got this number from your sign-up form," the woman over the phone responded. "We just wanted to check on you since you haven't responded to our email yet."

Chloe mouthed, "What the fuck is this?" while listening to the woman, to which I responded back with a shrug and mouthing, "I don't know!"

"This might be a prank. I wanted to cancel whatever this is," I said.

"Okay, but as mentioned in our Terms and Conditions, which we provide before you register, you'll need to pay 100,000 pesos upfront as a cancellation fee in case you no longer want to proceed or decide to drop out anytime in the middle of the program."

"I-I thought her love counseling is free, just like what she says on TV," I stammered. "Is this a scam? I'll report you to the authorities!"

"Oh, no. We are the real deal. Yes, our love counseling sessions are for free, but we don't want to waste each others' time," she retorted, her voice sounding particularly defensive. Then she added, "Especially since others should've taken your slot and benefitted from it instead of you. We can always tag this as canceled as soon as we receive the cancellation fee from you."

"I-I really want to cancel! B-but I'm just a student, so I don't have a way to pay the fee in full immediately. Can't the cancellation fee be paid in installments?" I replied.

"No, sorry, Ms. Kylie. It's specifically mentioned in our T&C that it's an upfront fee. It's for logistics and for us to ensure that the people who cancel won't run away from us. It also helps fund the project and help us continuously provide these services for free."

I looked at Chloe, dejected. We just stared at each other in silence, not knowing what to say.

"Hello? Are you still there, Ms. Kylie?

"Y-yes, I am."

"So, what's your decision? Do you cancel and pay the 100,000 pesos cancellation fee, or proceed with your love counseling sessions with us?"

"L-let's proceed with the love counseling sessions, please!"

"Oh, great! Perfect. I'll tag your participation in our love counseling program as confirmed on our integrated system. Your first session starts tomorrow at 10 AM, and we'll send over the schedule of the next sessions in the coming days," the woman on the phone said.

"Okay," I answered back, while I felt a lump in my throat.

"Nice talking to you, Ms. Kylie! We can't wait to work with you to solve your love problems. Thank you, and have a nice day!"

When the woman finally hung up, Chloe immediately lunged at me, her nostrils flaring.

"What's this, Kylie? I can't believe you've had such a wild night last night! Our kiss was okay because I know you well enough to understand, but this?" Chloe said through gritted teeth. "Give me your laptop."

I took out my pink Sony Vaio laptop and gave it to her. She placed it on my study table and went for my email account. I sat beside her as she tinkered around.

"There it is, the email she was talking about. The T&C is also here, and so is the filled-out registration form. It's weird that they blurred out the name of your supposed boyfriend, though. So, let me check this first since I'm still convinced that it might be a scam. Something is fishy."

Chloe proceeded to check the sender, who she said "looked professional and legit": [email protected]. She then checked the official website of the Agape Love Center, Heart Evangeline Abad's love counseling organization, and checked if there was a certain Joy in their employees.

"This is the real deal. Joy is indeed one of Heart Evangeline's staff, and the sender's email matches her information on their website."

She looked at me and frowned.

"Ugh! What did you do?"

"I don't know!" I said defensively. But I, in fact, know. I already realized what I had done. I just did not think the guy from Omegle would push through with this silly antic.

"You're lying," Chloe said while folding her hands again. "Spill."

"Okay, listen. So when you left last night, I decided that I wanted to know what a kiss would feel like if it were a guy," I said. Chloe just nodded, her eyebrows meeting in a frown. "So I went to Omegle. I had a great time talking to a guy. He said he's from UPLB as well."

"And?"

"And I agreed to go to the love counseling sessions with him. I don't remember much, but I think I gave him my email and contact number. I don't know. I was light-headed then, and I am still right now."

Chloe flipped out. "Kylie! What are you doing? You didn't even know who you were talking to, and you gave him your contact details? Do you even know the guy's name?"

I shook my head.

"He was changing the topic when I asked for his name. I didn't want him to disconnect for some reason, so I settled on just talking to him."

I can hear Chloe saying expletives on top of her breath.

"I only gave him my first name, though, so I didn't think he'd be able to push through with his plans. I didn't know he'd know my surname," I said, trying to defend myself.

Chloe facepalmed in frustration.

"Anyone could guess that your name is Kylie Bulan based on your email. And you won't even be able to cancel because, obviously, where can you shell out 100,000 pesos out of the blue?" she said, now walking around in circles in my crammed up apartment.

She looked like she was in deep thought for a while, but finally stopped walking and looked at me, as if something had switched. "Would you like me to tell Tita about this so she can help you? I'm sure she can handle paying for that amount of money, it's nothing for her!"

I imagined my mom's eyes widening then becoming bloodshot. I could also see her face and ears going red, which made my chest hurt. One rebellious night cannot cure my fear of disappointing her—I do not want her to get mad at me again!

"No, no, please, Chloe, let's keep it a secret from mom!" I pleaded, holding her left hand tightly.

"Yeah, of course, I know you'll say that. So now I'm trying to find a loophole for this," she said as she leaned over the laptop screen.

"Well?" I asked nervously as Chloe scanned through a long document on the website, squinting her eyes and sighing as she did so.

"Well, nothing! They made their T&C perfectly," Chloe finally said after a few moments of scrolling up and down on the online document. "There's nothing you can do. Oh, gosh."

"What should I do now, then?" I said, dejected, my eyes already welling with tears.

"No, the question should be, 'What should we do?' I'm your best friend, and I won't leave you just because you did something stupid. We're in this together," she said in a determined voice.

"What are you thinking of doing?" I asked her.

"I say we go there and get this over with."