We spent Saturday night at Larry's, the four of us; Romeo, Niqoulas, Princess and I. Mr and Mrs Magsalay greeted me cordially when I arrived. Mr. William Shakespaw was dressed in his usual blue turtle neck shirt and he was pissed as hell at the sight of me. His eyes glowed like menacing green flames as it reflected the burning logs at the fireplace. "Don't worry, he'll warm up to you," assured Olivia. "Come sit with us, tell me how have you been?" Inquired Ricardo. "Never been better sir, thank you for asking." "Just call me Ricardo, I don't mind." "Ricardo it is." It felt awkward calling Mr. Magsalay using his first name, maybe I'd get used to it. "How's your nana?" Olivia asked. "Alright, I guess." "You know you will always have a place in our home right, Florante?" Olivia said as she cupped my cheeks gently. I almost cried. "Okay, enough of this mother-stealing schemes," Larry appeared from the staircase wearing his PJs and snatched me up from his mother's embrace and led me to the study room where the rest of his friends at STEM were. "Hey guys, you know Florante, right? You've met him already at the cafeteria some days ago." "Herbert Spencer my man how are you?" Niqoulas came up to me for a fist bump. Funny guy. "Romeo reached out his knuckles too," and Princess shook my hand. A company of hand-shakers and fist bumpers. "So, are you gonna be our regular Saturday night study mate or something?" Inquired Princess. "He's transient, Princess, Larry is the kind of guy that enjoys the company of himself more than anything, it's a miracle he's here with us tonight," answered Larry. "Too bad cos we really like you," replied Princess. "Or maybe you just want to keep Florante for your own sake, Larry? Hmmm," she added. "We're best-friends, of course I cannot just lend him to any of you lot." "I never took you for being territorial," replied Princess. "Are we gonna keep talking or we're gonna start the game?" said Niqoulas impatiently.

It was a simple trivia sort of game, the categories were: English, Biology, General Science, Geometry. It was their way of killing time and making their group study more fun. People at STEM definitely had different idea of fun. My classmates from HUMMS would have cringed at the thought of this game. We draw lots, two teams: Princess and I made up the blue team, we're paired against Nicholas and Romeo, red team. Larry was the game master. He explained the mechanics of the game briefly. "Listen up you guys, it's race to 20 points, whoever gets the highest score will be the winning team. 1 point for every right answer, 0 for whoever got the wrong answer. The first team that to answer the question will earn the point and will have the pleasure of putting an "X" mark using charcoal on the faces of the losing team. At the end of the game, I shall count the number of "X" marks on the faces of each team to determine the winner. You only have to raise your hand and spell out your answer. Wrong spelling means wrong answer. Game on?" Larry announced.

"Game on!" They said in chorus.

"Florante? You ready?" They were all staring at me eagerly waiting for my 'Game On!'.

"I guess."

"What do you mean you guess?" Princess elbowed me.

"Yep, ready."

"You're supposed to say 'Game On' for the game to officially start."

"Game On." I said.

"We can't lose, okay? You're my ace," Princess winked.

"For the first category: English. What is the word or phrase that reads the same backward as forward? You have 10 seconds to answer. Time starts now."

Princess raised her hand at the speed of light.

"Yes, blue team, your answer?"

She stared at me with blank space hovering around her head.

"Palindrome. P.A.L.I.N.D.R.O.M.E" I answered.

"Palindrome is correct! 1 point for blue team!"

Princess squealed in delight as she handed over a piece of charcoal to me.

"She put an "X" mark on Romeo's face and cocked her eyebrows at him."

"Oh, please." Romeo rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, man." I told Niqoulas as I marked him.

"I won't be so polite when it's my turn to mark your face." He said menacingly.

"We'll see about that." I told him as I went back to my seat.

"I can feel the tension. Whohoo, this is getting very interesting." Larry commented.

"Blue team, choose your category please," he continued.

"Biology," said Princess.

"Players, at the ready! For Biology: What is the phenomenon called when a single gene influences multiple seemingly unrelated traits in an organism?"

Princess raised her hand again and stared at me.

"That was quick! Blue team, your answer please."

"Pleiotropy. P.L.E.I.O.T.R.O.P.Y" I answered.

"Pleiotropy is correct!"

"Where in hell did that question even came from?" Romeo groaned.

"You ought to be reading your biology book, Romy," mocked princess.

"You ought to be answering these damn questions when you're the ones raising your hand, Princess," replied Romeo.

"It's called teamwork. My friend here would rather have his handsome face charcoaled rather than to talk so I have to take the lead."

"Alright, that's enough. Blue team, category, please."

Princess picked General Science.

"What is the name of the theoretical celestial object with gravitational pull so compact not even light can escape?"

"Black Hole. That's a freakin Black Hole." I answered even before Larry could finish the question.

"Freakin Black Hole. That's one way to put it, Florante. Unfortunately, you did not raise your hand so red team has the option to use 'steal'.

"Steal," said Nick.

"Wait what? How did?? This is unfair!" protested Princess.

"You knew the rules princess," reasoned Larry.

"Red team?"

"Black Hole it is then, B.L.A.C.K H.O.L.E" answered Romeo. The two jeered as they picked each piece of charcoal and marked our forehead with an X.

"That sucks!" Princess mustered in disappointment.

"I'm sorry."

"That's fine. We can still win this."

The game dragged on. One question after the other. Princess made two points and I made 17 out of twenty questions asked. Romeo and Nick looked funny with their faces filled with X marks. Princess wrapped me up in a tight hug. I felt her young-developing breast pressed against my chest which made me feel kind of weird inside. She kissed my cheeks playfully. I smiled at her in return. We ended the night eating Spaghetti and some

meatballs Olivia prepared for us. We ate it by the pool, outside Larry's house. Romeo and Nick decided to get even with Princess' sassy attitude during the game by throwing her in the pool. She screamed inaudible profanities as she got tossed in the middle of the freezing water. She got off the pool and started chasing Nick and Romy. Larry and I were just chilling at one side of the pool.

"You were amazing earlier," he elbowed me.

"Damn luck."

"Geez, could you take a compliment for once?"

"I mean, those were simple questions. I'm sure the rest of them knew the answer as well, Princess was just quick in raising her hand that's all."

"She likes you."

"I'm sorry?"

"Princess. She likes you. Everybody likes you. I don't understand why you have to be so hard on yourself sometimes," he said as he looked into my eyes. I hate it every time he does that. Larry's eyes. Hide I must but they'd always find me.

Larry offered to ferry me home. "I can take care of myself." I protested to Olivia and Ricardo, telling Larry I did not want ferrying would be futile.

"No dear, let Larry drive you home," she tousled my hair and kissed my forehead. "Take care of yourself, okay?" said Ricardo.

It was a short drive home. Larry and I barely talked inside the car. I dozed off a little. He woke me up when we arrived. "Wake up princess, you're home." "Fuck you." We laughed and said goodnight to each other. I watched his car descended from the steeps down to the concrete road and then disappeared. When he left, I remained outside for a little while, staring blankly at the moonless sky, wondering how many stars up there had been eaten by black holes and if there's still a chance they're gonna come out on the other side of the universe.