Chapter Text
Jhoanna Robles was having a really, really bad day.
If getting a dos on her final grade in Life and Works of Rizal class wasn't enough, then seeing her ex-girlfriend of two years soft launch a new girl on Instagram surely was.
aiaharceta: had the most amazing dinner w u, baby
The caption reads as Jhoanna clicks through a slide of carousel posts featuring Aiah, posing in the most glamorous red dress at a dining table, with a mystery girl. The girl didn't have her face exposed in any of the pictures, but it was obvious from her back alone that she was stunning. Some girls had that allure—you just knew they were gorgeous, even when their backs were turned.
It shouldn't have been a surprise, at least. Her ex, Aiah, was one of the most popular girls in Cebu City. Not only because she was drop-dead gorgeous, but she was also smart, a beauty queen who competed in major pageants. The last time they were together, Aiah was being scouted by the city government to represent them at the nationals. Of course, she’d found someone else. She was Aiah motherfreakin’ Arceta.
It hasn't even been three months since we broke up, Jhoanna thought.
"Technically, today makes it more than three months na. 'Di ba nag break kayo nung 27?" A voice beside her said, snapping her out of her trance. It was Stacey Sevilleja, Jhoanna's best friend, who irrevocably over the years has developed the superpower of knowing whatever's Jhoanna's thinking just by looking at her facial expression.
"Stacey!" Jhoanna blinked in surprise. She didn't even realize her best friend was already standing beside her. "Please stop reminding me."
Stacey chuckled and rolled her eyes, adjusting her handbag. "Oh, ano na? You got your consultation na with Prof. Mendoza? Tara na, gutom na gutom na ako."
"There's nothing to celebrate," Jhoanna pouted. "I got a dos."
Stacey furrowed her eyebrows a little. Jhoanna getting a grade lower than an uno was already unheard of, but to get one in a GE subject? And that she's not freaking out about it? Now that's just not making sense. "Are you serious? Eh lahat naman nakaka-uno naman sa Rizal," she said in disbelief.
"Well, sorry hindi ako kasing talino ni Rosmar," Jhoanna jokes, referencing a TikTok video. "Pero naman kasi, hindi talaga ako nakakapagreview these past few days… I've been so distracted."
"Distracted?" Stacey raised her eyebrow. "AKA, you've been stalking your LDR ex all week,"
"Well, yeah." Jhoanna pouted, yet again.
"Jho, kailangan mo makinig sakin when I say this. Aiah isn't coming ba-"
Before Stacey could even finish her sentence, Jhoanna's hands are already raised in the air to put a halt to whatever she's saying. "Alright, alright, I get it! No need to give me the whole ass 'you need to move on' speech here. Pwede bang i-schedule natin 'yan for another time and place? Nasa classroom pa tayo, FYI."
"Pero seriously kasi Jho-"
"Stacey!"
Stacey just shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, fine! Let's just save it for later because I'm starving. Pero pwedeng sa place na ng hot girlfriend ko? I miss Mikha already,"
Jhoanna just rolled her eyes at the 'hot' adjective that Stacey used. Grabe, she's still so whipped.
"Whatever. Parang naman may choice ako."
"Touché." Stacey smirked, while looking at her phone to check the time. "She's gonna pick us up sa Gate 2… at exactly five minutes from now."
Mikha Lim, a business student from DLSU, pulls up at Gate 2 at exactly 6:45 PM, which is approximately 7 minutes later than what Stacey estimated. Syempre , they fight on the way to Taft as soon as Stacey and Jhoanna get inside the red-haired girl's Honda Civic sedan. Stacey is pissed that Mikha arrived a few minutes later than what she said her ETA was, Mikha tries to reason that traffic on the way to Diliman was horrible as usual, and then Stacey would say:
"Whatever. For all I know, nambababae ka lang!"
"Stacey, you know," Mikha says with a tired voice, her grip on the steering wheel tightened.
"Just drive."
Yuck. Jhoanna thinks to herself. Buti hindi kami ganyan ni Aiah.
It's actually true, though. Every person who has ever known that Aiah and Jhoanna were dating only ever described them as healthy and the perfect match. They took care of each other so well. They loved each other so much. Why do perfect things always have to end for some reason?
"Ayan na naman si nagrerelapse!" Stacey exclaims from the princess passenger seat. She knew exactly what Jhoanna was thinking when she glanced at her from the rearview mirror.
"Stop reading my mind, Stacey."
As soon as they were inside Mikha's unit in Green Residences, Jhoanna watched as her best friend and her girlfriend practically lunged at each other as they propped up the sofa. They were just arguing like kids kanina during the drive… and now they're planting soft pecks on each other's lips in front of her like it was no one's business.
Hays. Now Jhoanna just feels even more single. Being around her best friend and her girlfriend isn't exactly the best idea to forget Aiah now, is it?
Determined not to let it get to her, Jhoanna sat across from them on the couch, pulled out her MacBook, and started working on their paper for a major course. If she wasn’t getting any kisses tonight, she could at least get an A for this assignment.
Mikha gently pushes Stacey off of her a little, feeling a little shy in front of her girlfriend's best friend, and stands up so she can prepare foodfor them. "Anything you want to eat, guys? I just restocked my fridge with groceries kahapon. I'm sure you girls are starving,"
"Baby, pwede pakuha ako ng Piattos? Parang I've been craving since kanina pa," Stacey answered.
"Sure thing, my princess. How about ikaw, Jho?"
"I'll have what Stacey's having na lang rin, Mikhs." Jhoanna smiled.
Mikha grabbed her hair tie and walked toward the kitchen. "Alright, snacks coming up, mga patay gutom. I’ll grab some drinks from the fridge too."
Both Jhoanna and Stacey laugh. In all honesty, Jhoanna was very happy that it was Mikha that finally cuffed her best friend down. It took them a year rin before Stacey, the patron saint of situationships and being non committal, finally said yes to the girl of her dreams. Gone were the days of Stacey juggling a roster of men and women who’d end up heartbroken a week later. She was now Stacey Sevilleja, the lover girl who cannot go a minute without talking about how hot her girlfriend is.
"Ginagawa mo na paper natin agad, Jho? Hindi pa due yan until next month ah," she says, standing up from the sofa to go sit beside her best friend on the couch.
"Between this parusa and having to watch you guys eat each other’s faces? I’d rather work on this, thanks," Jhoanna replied, keeping her eyes on the screen.
"Or," Stacey interjects. "You're just using it as a distraction so you don't have to think about your ex."
"Okay, medyo true," Jhoanna admitted.
"Jho's stalking her ex again?" Mikha asks as she arrives back in the living room with the chips on her hand and three cans of Smirnoff bottles. She plops back down the couch with the two other girls and offers them the alcohol.
"Well, what's new?" Stacey said dramatically. "And guess what? May bago na si Aiah,"
"Damn!" Mikha reacts loudly. "Sino yung new girl?"
"Soft launch lang. Walang minention, whatsoever. Pero feeling ko it's one of her co-candidates sa pageant," Jhoanna replied. "For sure, she's probably maganda."
"Obviously, mas maganda ka dun, Jho." Stacey immediately retorts. Mikha nods her head in agreement.
"Di ka sure," Jhoanna laughs sadly. "I don't even know bakit nya ako pinatulan."
Stacey and Mikha share a look that says both of them are just in disbelief at how stupid Jhoanna could be.
"Grabe, alam mo Jho, alam kong matalino ka pero hindi ko alam na pwede ka rin pala maging bobo. Anong pinagsasabi mong hindi mo alam bakit ka pinatulan ni Aiah? Girl, you're Jhoanna Christine Robles. Maganda. Matalino. Talented. President's list every semester. Student council president. Running for latin honors. Presumptive valedictorian ng batch natin. Crush ka ng bayan, gaga! Why would anyone not want YOU?" Stacey exclaimed, fingers dabbing to Jhoanna's chest.
Jhoanna sighed. Stacey was right — she was a catch. But why did it still feel like something was missing?
This was ridiculous. Stacey couldn't believe that her best friend was experiencing low levels of self-esteem from a breakup with a girl who she hasn't even French kissed. They were practically chatmates for the duration of their relationship. There were only two times that they met if she recalls correctly, and those two times were both on Jhoanna's expense to book a flight to Cebu from QC for her birthday and their first anniversary.
"Exactly, Jho," Mikha adds. "If anything, she's lucky that you dated her. I mean, two years naging kayo tapos twice nga lang kayo nagkita? You were crazy loyal to her kahit you were practically dating an iPad screen,"
"Grabe naman sa iPad screen," Jhoanna pouts. "And talking to one person lang is the bare minimum."
"In a long distance relationship? Nah, I don't think I'm built for that shit." Mikha chuckled, taking a sip from her can. She immediately spit it out when she felt the cold jab of Stacey’s elbow.
"Bumoboses ka, Lim?"
"Hypothetical! Hypothetical!" Mikha quickly corrected. "We’re not even long-distance, that’s the point."
"Whatever. I'll deal with you later." Stacey muttered then immediately turned to her best friend. "Pero on a serious note, Jho. This is getting ridiculous. Yeah, I mean I get it she's fucking stunning and that you guys dated seriously for two years but my god, you guys barely saw each other physically and the most you've done is a peck on the lips. Hindi mo nga namomol yun."
Jhoanna yells. "Momol isn't everything!"
"Uhm, I beg to disagree. Momol is eve-" Mikha doesn't finish her sentence when the realization from the statement that her girlfriend just said sinked in. She starts laughing hysterically. "WAIT, WHAT? You guys didn't even make out? Like for real?"
Jhoanna takes a while to answer then chugs down her Smirnoff bottle. "Well, I mean, we've kissed."
"The kiss in question being a couple of pecks in lips, babe. They never even did the tongue." Stacey revealed with a 'matter-of-fact' tone and a smirk.
"Never with the tongue?" Mikha asks again, leaning forward.
"Never with the tongue." Stacey answered smugly.
"It just wasn't physically feasible, okay! She was all the way from Cebu… and I was trying to be respectful and didn't want to make her seem as if the relationship was being rushed." Jhoanna defended. "It was a mutual decision on both ends to take things slow."
"Remind me how many years you guys dated again?"
"Two."
"Wow, that's just crazy," Mikha answers. "I would've never survived that. I think you need to get laid again, Jho. Like really, really soon. That's like two years of abstinence."
"How can she get laid again if she never has in the first place? Baby, never been touched by a woman pa yan si Jho at her big age." Stacey rolled her eyes. Jhoanna just throws a pillow at her and tells her to shut up. Great, now everyone knows she's a 19-year-old virgin. "And besides, hindi pa nga siya nakakamoveon from her mukhang Mama Mary na ex. I think unahin niya muna yun before siya magganyan."
"Nakakainis kayo." Jhoanna just groaned.
And then suddenly, Mikha raises her hand and her eyes had the twinkle of a lightbulb that told both the other girls in the room that she somehow has thought of the most brilliant concept known to man. "Oh god, I think I've just found a way to make Jhoanna move on from Ate Aiah na for good."
"Okay, and that is?" Stacey asked.
"Jho," Mikha turns to her girlfriend's best friend and holds her hand. "I think you need to download Bumble."
"BUMBLE?" Jhoanna asked, as if it was the most ridiculous thing on Earth. "Bakit ako magdodownload ng Bumble? Para naman tanga."
"Anong tanga? Think about it. The reason why you're so hung up on Ate Aiah is because she's your first love and she's what you think is the definition of love. What you had is what you think is what love is. But that's just honestly just conversations on the phone. You need to experience real, tangible romance. Yung tipong may holding hands, may paghawak sa bewang, may momol, may sex."
Jhoanna winced at the last word. That's like the last thing she's looking for right now. She and Stacey were both on their seventh chugs on their beer now, and her head was getting a bit hazy.
"Come on, baby," Mikha turns to Stacey. "Hindi ba it's genius?"
Stacey makes a face as if she's thinking about it, and then suddenly her face lights up. "Baby, you're right. It makes sense. If she does things that she's never tried with Aiah, then she's gonna finally realize that their relationship wasn't even all that! TUMPAK!" She looks at Jho and extends her hand. "Give me your phone."
"Why would I give you my phone?" Jhoanna asks, her words starting to sound a bit slurry.
"So, we can make you a Bumble account and find you someone already!"
"NOOOOOO, you guys are crazy." Jhoanna exclaims and clutches her phone. "That's so stupid!"
"Ang stupid is you crying over your ex and stalking her Instagram every two business hours. You need to find something, or someone to do. Just give me the damn phone." Stacey exclaims and snatches the phone from Jhoanna's hands, which were already loose.
She opened the phone with ease as she typed the passcode of the phone with a perfect guess of someone's birthday. Jhoanna's wallpaper was nothing but her class schedule and the widgets were just silly things that were related to Aiah. Yeah, her best friend definitely wasn't making any progress for the past three months. This was an emergency situation that they needed to intervene with.
Her fingers hovered to the App Store and typed out the word 'Bumble'. The yellow bee app was pressed and within 30 seconds, it was already installed. She and Mikha giggled as the pop up screen of the app was on display. The app reads: sign up or log in.
"Tangina, guys! This is soooo stupid," Jhoanna said.
"No, this is the work of two geniuses. Right, baby?" Stacey replied with a grin and turned to Mikha, who laughed and sipped on her bottle again.
She clicks on the Sign Up option and immediately types in Jhoanna's Apple ID and other relevant details with excitement. The pictures, the likes, dislikes, bios were all fairly simple to put. On the app, she chooses the 'Interested in Women' preference with quickness and puts 19-25 on the preferred age matches.
"Isn't 25 too old already?" Mikha asks.
"No, I feel like that's a perfectly reasonable age," Jhoanna then answered.
"Tignan mo tong bading na to," Stacey said. "Pero yeah, even Aiah was older by a few years. She needs a more experienced woman."
Jhoanna lunges at Stacey. "Give it back!" She yells, but Stacey was simply much taller and stronger. She's been hitting the gym and lifting weights recently. Going against her was simply a futile attempt. Once Jhoanna finally accepted her defeat, she went back to place on the couch and feigned annoyance.
Stacey, knowing Jhoanna was gonna get pissed anytime soon, attempts to offer a peace offering. She was done setting up her best friend's profile. "Look, if ibalik ko ba yung phone, do you promise ba na you won't delete your profile, and you will browse through some profiles? Maybe even send a message?"
Jhoanna thought and responded begrudgingly, " Yes ."
"Okay, cool!" Stacey and Mikha smile. She gives the phone back to Jhoanna sweetly. "And dahil hindi mo ko sinabunutan, I know na there is a part of you that actually wants to try this."
Jhoanna really couldn't argue because it was the truth. Downloading a dating app and finding someone there has crossed her mind multiple times, especially every 10PM, which was the peak of her 'craving for bebetime' hours. There was a part of her that at least wanted to see what was out there, if there were any interesting girls, and if anyone was still interested in her.
"For curiosity's sake lang," Jhoanna answered, finally getting a hold of her phone.
After a nervous deep breath, she finally looked at the profile that her best friend had created for her. The likes such as her love for her pets, theater, the gym, academics, bios, and other funny facts about her were all pretty accurate. The pictures, however, were a completely different story.
Jhoanna, 19
upd '27
In the profile was a set of four photos that were definitely not of her choice. One was of her wearing a blue bikini during a trip to Zambales, one was a photo of her driving her Toyota Veloz with specs, the third was was her walking down the streets of Katipunan with a white top and black specs again, and her 'main photo' was her wearing a black blazer with sleek, brown hair and a very sultry makeup look.
"Bakit these pictures, Aubrey? Oh my god!" Jhoanna exclaimed.
"What's the problem? Ang sarap mo kaya sa pics mo dyan!" Stacey retorted back. "You should say 'thank you' because hot girls all over Metro Manila will be dm-ing you from now on."
"Damn right, baby," Mikha added.
Being 'masarap' definitely wasn't what Jhoanna was gunning for on this profile if she was even going to browse through this account. But being a Bumble noob also translated to not knowing how Bumble worked, so she just sighed and hoped for the best as she clicked on the button that let you view the profiles that were near the area. Stacey and Mikha hopped excitedly beside her as she finally transversed the app's offerings.
The first profile was a masculine girl with a wolf cut who looked like she'd be famous on the clock app. Swiped left.
"Why'd you swipe left? I think she's cute," Mikha asked.
"Not my type."
Next profile was a mestiza femme girl from DLSU who looked like she studied something related to arts. Most likely a fil degree. She had a melancholic vibe to her, almost as if she'd star in a 2000s indie movie from an obscure director. Swiped left. Still not her type.
There were a couple of more profiles that she saw, and all of them didn't pique any of her interest. Jhoanna definitely had standards and she wasn't going to let this silly bee app ruin that for her just because she wanted to casually meet someone and forget her perfect, dropdead gorgeous ex. Just as soon as she was gonna open her mouth to say that she feels as if this wasn't going to work out, her next swipe made her scrolling stop.
yves, 24
just looking for fun ;)
Because the girl in the photo literally left her breathless. She had the most alluring lips that Jhoanna has ever seen. And even through a picture, her eyes were somehow flirty. She dressed well too; she was wearing a white crop top, and a brown scarf on her neck with shades just resting on top of her head. If there was a way to describe this girl in one word, it would be doll. Like literally.
"Damn, she looks good," Mikha expressed in awe.
Stacey couldn't even get jealous because she agreed. "Gago, ang ganda."
Before Jhoanna could even react, Stacey's finger already worked its way to the screen and swiped right. "STACEY!"
"Bakit hindi? Jho, she looks great! Mukha siyang artista, gago."
"Exactly, my point! She looks too goo-"
The universe might have an agenda against Jhoanna speaking because once again, she was interrupted by a loud notification from the yellow bee app. On the screen, it says 'You’ve got 1 new match! 🐝💛'. This can't be good, she's only liked one profile from the past three minutes that she's been on this account and she's already got a feeling who it was. Jhoanna felt her heart race as Stacey instructed her to click on the bee notification.
She was right.
She matched with Yves.
Yves liked her.
Fuck .
The app said she had 24 hours to message before the match ends.
"BITCH," Stacey's loud voice engulfed the room, startling both Jhoanna and Mikha. "I-chat mo na, putangina! Oh my god?"
"I can't do that! It's not that easy!" Jhoanna yelled in panic as she put the phone down on her lap. "I mean, I don't know what to say to her. Anong sasabihin ko? Hi, I'm a sophomore who's never even momol-ed a woman yet, do you want to go out kahit I'm a literal loser?!"
Stacey wasted no time, as the phone was already in her hand within a millisecond. She was typing a message to Yves already when Jhoanna leaped forward to close the distance between them, grappling for her phone and Mikha watched amusingly. The wrestle was on .
It was useless, however. Stacey raised her hand in the air and shouted victoriously, "Sent!"
"Lindtsay Stacey Aubrey Sevilleja," Jhoanna was not playing this time anymore. Her tone was almost feral. "Anong ginawa mo?!"
"Uhm, just shot your shot to the hottest girl you've ever seen?" Stacey said smugly, the phone still being up in the air with her much longer arm. She threw the phone on the couch lightly and Jhoanna ran frantically towards the phone, even missing unlocking the screen three times due to the panic that was rushing through her body.
She opened the yellow bee app and checked the messages.
Jhoanna, 7:43 PM
hey, yves! just asking, is your lipstick long lasting?
cause i can already imagine it on me for hours
Fuck.
This was not how Jhoanna wanted to start their conversation.
"Tangina mo Stacey," Jhoanna said under her breath. She was going to make her best friend pay for hell for this.
"I love you too, Jho," Stacey just smiled at her sweetly.
Jhoanna just groans and throws her pillow at her. "Okay, you know what. She's obviously very maganda. She probably gets like 200 matches here everyday, just for that face alone. So, I think, hindi siya magrereply to the message and everything's going to be okay. It's gonna be one of those countless chats that she gets everyday na ilo-long press niya lang and she will probably laugh when sh-"
"Uhm… Jho?" Mikha says cautiously.
"She sees my profile and thinks na 'Hala, eto yung nagkamali ako ng swipe kasi pasmado ako' tapos iuunmatch niya and everything is going to back to norma-"
"Jho…"
"And she'll probably forget my existence within a day, WHICH IS GREAT CAUSE I CANNOT DEAL-"
"Jho, your phone is vibrating."
"What?"
"Your phone. It's vibrating."
Before Stacey could even move to touch her phone again, Jhoanna leaped forward in a calculated move and frantically secured the phone to her chest. She put her arm up to stop Stacey and mouthed a determined "no" to the couple. Slowly, she opened the phone and sure enough, the notification almost sent her into a coma.
It's from Yves.
yves, 7:47 PM
guess you'll have to try it out urself to find out, babe :p
Oh my god?