Chapter 13: 8.2

The moment my feet leave my house, I whip out my phone and call Jon. It is an instinctual move, but I realize after a few rings that it's a bad idea—he is most likely getting the same talking to from his parents.

Before I get to drop the call, he picks up.

"Hello?"

I let out a breath of relief. "Jon, you okay? How is it going with—"

"Lobang ah?"

"Lobang?" I frown. Jon is pretending to be talking to Logan; something must be up on his end as well.

"Uh, sorry ah, Lobang, I don't have time to study now lah," he continues hesitantly. "RJ? Uh, sorry, I... We broke up lah, and we... I'm not speaking to her right now..."

I blink rapidly at my phone. What the hell? From the robotic tone of his voice, it sounds as though Jon's parents are in the same room as him. Is he saying all this for his parents? If so, what happened on his end? Did he spill the beans?

"Okay lah," I say with a sigh. "I won't call you anymore, at least for now. Take care ah."

"I'm- I'm sorry..." Jon mutters, regret filling his voice.

I sigh again. "It's okay lah, don't worry about it. I'm sorry I couldn't hold up the pact."

Through the phone, I can hear Jon's voice crack. "It's not your fault lah."

Raising my head, I look at the tall walls surrounding Jon's house. It seems that I subconsciously walked to his place. Somewhere beyond the walls is his room, where he may be right now. A sour lump grows in my throat. We promised to be there for each other, we promised to be the fort against the intrusions of our parents. But it's all crumbling down now. Somebody just had to fuck this all up and tell my mother.

I try to think about who it could be, but I cannot think of anybody else who knows about my secret. Other than Chloe... But it couldn't be her. I'm sure of it.

I close my eyes and whisper, "I know, but I'm sorry anyway."

Jon clears his throat. "Thanks. You're a good friend, Lobang. I trust you. Really."

Interesting, another clue. Jon trusts Logan, and I trust his judgment. Whoever leaked the information to my mother must not be him. It makes sense. Logan is as loyal as he is wild, and he has been friends with Jon for years. The two other girls in our friend group are more unpredictable—Huimin's parents manage the mall that Jon's parents own, while Audrey gossips too much.

"Okay, I'll go find Logan," I say. "You think he has a place for me to crash by the way? I, uh, left home. Don't feel like going back."

"Oh." I can hear Jon's weak attempt to mask his shock. "Y- Yeah, your- your basement is flooded? That's too bad, I hope it gets fixed soon."

Ah, Logan has a basement with an extra room. "Okay, I'll head over there. Thanks, Jon. Take care."

"Take care," Jon says softly.

Hanging up, I slip my phone into a pocket and pull up my bag onto one shoulder. As long as Logan doesn't scream his head off seeing me, I should be good.

After a long wait for the bus and a longer bus ride later, I reach Logan's house, which is all the way at the other end of the country. As I circle the house, I see an entrance to what seems to be a basement room near the back gate. I take out my phone.

RJ: Eh, Lobang, come out

RJ: I'm at the back of your house

Once my message is sent, I am bombarded with a few all-caps, Logan-style exclamations. I ignore all his questions and repeat my order.

RJ: Just come out lah, idiot

I get a few seconds of peace and quiet before I see the tall, burly boy running toward me. His flip-flops slam against the ground like thunderous claps, but his voice is even louder.

"RJ!"

He purses his lips when his eyes meet my crazed can-you-shut-the-fuck-up ones.

"Sorry, sorry," he says as quietly as he can, which is just his normal voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Let me in, Lobang. I ran away from home."

"You what?" His voice rises again, but I increase the intensity of my glare to shut him up again. "Okay, okay, sorry, sorry. Come in, come in." He opens the gate and leads me through the door I was eyeing. "There's a room in the basement where I keep a lot of my shit. No one checks there, ever, so you can hide there if you want."

I raise my eyebrows. "What kind of shit?"

He scratches his head. "You'll see lah," he says with a nervous chuckle. "Don't laugh ah."

"I cannot promise that."

The lights turn on as I enter, and a groan escapes my throat. Shelves line the walls, surrounding a lone bed in the middle of the room. They are all filled with rows and rows of manga. Not just any manga, but the very questionable, fanservice-heavy, toeing-the-line-to-hentai kind of manga.

"What the fuck, Lobang," I blurt. "I don't want to stay here."

"You want to sleep with me in my room instead?"

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That offer is way worse. "Never mind. I'll stay here."

Logan laughs before jumping onto the bed. Without question, I drag him off the bed and onto the ground. "Eh, don't dirty my bed."

"It's mine lor!" he whines, but he crosses his legs and settles on the tiled floor. As I drop down my bag and sit on the bed, he asks, "So what happened leh? Why you run away?"

I shrug. "My parents are pissing me off lor."

"But they are always pissing you off."

"Even more this time lah."

Logan lets out a small laugh before eyeing me. "Is it something to do with Jon ah? Audrey texted me say you two broke up for real this time leh. Is that true?" A concerned frown paints his face. "Are you guys okay? Are you okay?"

Word sure travels fast. I lean against the headboard and sigh. "Okay lah. We were never together anyway."

"What?"

"We were faking it lah, idiot."

Logan blinks. "What? Why?"

"A lot of reasons." I glance at him. His face is contorted with a mix of expressions, but I notice a sliver of hope seeping into his eyes. Just in case his mind is going somewhere that will make me gag, I decide to quash it right away. "Oi, don't look at me like that. I won't like you back hor. I'm gay."

"What?" Logan looks even more dumbfounded. "How can you be gay? You're a girl."

I roll my eyes. Leaning forward, I flick my fingers at his forehead. "I'm lesbian, Lobang. Les-bi-an."

Realization dawns on Logan. "Oh, shit." More expressions flash across his face as his slow mind processes my words and recalls every interaction we ever had. "Oh, shit."

"Yep." I slump back on the headboard. "And somebody fucking told my parents about it, so..." Thinking about that fuels me with rage yet again.

Logan's eyes widen. "Who?"

"Dunno lah."

He chews on his lip for a bit. "Your parents... didn't take it well ah?"

"Of course not lah!" I realize I have been snapping at Logan, so I soften my tone. "So yeah, I ran away. I don't want to see my parents anymore. I just want to separate myself from them completely."

Logan rests his head on his palms. His frown deepens as he stares at me. "So what are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know," I admit. "I probably need to find a way to earn some money..." I trail off, knowing I have to earn more money than needed to survive if I want to keep seeing Chloe in Tropic Falls. Way more. My hand flies to the bridge of my nose as I pinch at my growing headache.

"Well, I mean, I can also start paying you back for all the stuff you bought for me," Logan says, scratching his head sheepishly.

"No need lah, I'll figure it out. I'm already working for Ms. Goh. Maybe I'll find a few more tutoring jobs or something. There's WiFi in this room, right?"

"Yeah, but it's very spotty for phones."

I nod. "As long as it works for laptops."

Logan slaps his legs before pushing himself up. "Okay lah, I need to go back to my game now. Take care ah, RJ. Let me know when you need to eat, and I'll bring down some snacks or something. Oh, by the way, there are extra keys to the back gate on that shelf there. My parents sleep like logs so don't worry about coming in and out at night."

"Thanks, bro." I take my laptop from my bag, ready to try my luck at job hunting. Before Logan opens the door, I add, "Oh, right. I don't know what's happening on Jon's side, but he's not gonna talk to me for a while. You want to visit my place and find Ruimin?"

"For what?"

"Help me take some stuff from home lah. Grab some of my clothes and maybe a hairbrush or something." I see Logan groaning and add, "And also get the weed for this Saturday lah. You want it, right?"

Logan gasps and almost drops to his knees. "Yes! Oh my god, RJ, you're the best leh!" He grabs my shoulder and reaches for a hug, but I shove him away.

"Go away lah, idiot."

"Love you too." He flashes his signature grin at me. We flip each other off as he leaves.

Having the whole room to myself now, I turn my attention to my laptop. A blank Google page stares back at me. I let out a frustrated sigh. How should I go about finding tutoring jobs? Or any kind of job? My first and only one was offered to me by Ms. Goh.

Then, I notice the time on the screen and curse. I am supposed to be seeing Chloe right now, but Logan's place is too far from Tropic Falls, so today will have to be a no-show.

Once again, Chloe flashes across my mind just like in the shower a few hours ago. A strange feeling creeps into my heart. I wonder if she is doing okay. I wonder if she is upset that I'm not there.

I wonder if she is missing me like how I'm missing her.

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