Richard: She gives me the impression she’s half white. And with that weird accent, I assume she’s brought up elsewhere foreign at the very least. She was hot and everything but she was too loud and rants every time she gets drunk. I’ve seen her in a couple of drinking sprees—at Delio’s, at Justine’s, at that grill restaurant in Teacher’s Village. I’ve seen her and Will kissing one time at my place, when everybody was so drunk we all passed out on the couch and on the carpet. But Joanne and Will, they were kissing by the door. It was too hard to see. I was about to pass out on the couch beside Jun, whose drool was all over my shoulder. I didn’t mind. I was too drunk to mind. But I think I saw Will caressing Joanne’s breast, and Joanne touching Will’s cock, and all I could hear was the sound of their tongues wrestling with each other. I was turned on, somewhat. But I was all soaked up in beer I just fell asleep.
Will: I met Joanne at Jason’s place—Jason, one of my brothers in the fraternity. She was Jason’s girl at the time, some time last January? I forget. Joanne and Jason were fighting over something about a third party, a lesbian or a faggot, I can’t remember. And Jason left Joanne crying by the gate. I think they broke up that time. Anyway, I went over to Joanne to calm her down but she dissed me and cried louder and was all hysterical. So I said, Okay okay. I was about to back off when she called my name. She asked me to take her home. I think Jason heard her, but he couldn’t care less. I mean, I just met her there and I was taking her to her house. Jason was through with her, but I wasn’t planning on getting her in any way. I thought she was pretty though.
Jun: I don’t know how Jason met Joanne. All I know is that Jason and Joanne crashed at my place—right in my room where I was sleeping that time—after one drinking session outside my house. Jason was moaning for thirty minutes or so. Jason was moaning! He was moaning to a near scream, I swear to god. Jason is one son of a bitch, you know. He let me sleep in my grandmother’s room that night. Just this night, he said. He couldn’t resist her. Next morning they were gone. They just left a trace of white stuff on my bed sheet. Right after that, Delio and Kathy dropped by to screw, then people came and went to my place like it was a motel or something. But is all right. They give me money or drugs in return anyway.
Joanne: I am a virgin. Boys have touched me and pressed their penis on my vagina—with clothes on—but I’ve never been penetrated before. Neither would I like to be penetrated any time soon. My mom always tell me to take care of my virginity, because later in life, it’ll be the only thing I can brag about when all my friends have lost theirs. But you know what I think? I don’t really know what to think about. Perhaps when the right guy comes along, I’ll give myself to him, whether I’ll marry him or not. Who cares about virginity these days? All my friends are no longer virgins, and three of them have stopped schooling ‘cos they have babies to take care of. But me? I hate babies. It’s probably the only thing that keeps me from losing my virginity for now.
Justine: Jun’s place was the place to be if you’re broke and have a chick to fuck. Jun’s room is a shrine. God knows how many people fucked there since his parents left for Canada. God knows how many layers of cum stained his mattress. I fucked Christine there when we were on E. Richard brought Roxanne there. Then Erwin and Icy. Then Jason and some other chick whose name escapes me at the moment. One time, Jun said, Will brought Joanne there when Joanne and Jason broke up. It was implied right away—that they’re gonna do it right in Jun’s room. But all Jun heard was that moaning from Will which reminded him of Jason. Jun said Will was moaning real hard, same thing he heard from Jason. This chick must’ve been doing some real shit on these guys. But I never asked.
Erwin: Jun collects all these bed sheets stacked up in one antique cabinet. When you go to his place there’s always some bed sheet hanging on the clothesline at the front lawn. His grandma keeps on complaining about washing bed sheets every now and then. Sometimes, Jun’s grandma tells me, sometimes she just hoards them sheets for the weekend and washes them all at once. You wouldn’t believe the smell, she said. The sheets reeked of sin.
Franco: I entered the frat just this semester. My cousin Will told me to join so I did. I never really wanted to join fraternities; they’re for cowards. They’re for guys who can’t stand on their own. But my other cousin—Erwin, Will’s younger brother—he said he’ll help me lose my virginity. Most of them lost their virginity just by joining. I’ve never had a girlfriend all my life. No matter what I do I just get dissed and all them chicks want me to bug off. I mean, I’m not even ugly or anything. In fact, my pet’s just the right size, five and a half inches. Six inches at maximum erection. But I just can’t make girls go to bed with me. Maybe it’s my large nose or my widely spaced teeth. But I look alright. Maybe I’m just not aggressive enough. Not self-confident enough. Or maybe I’m just too thin or too tall. I don’t know. But I’m alright. I’m cool. Or maybe not. I don’t know.
Justine: Some guys at the frat say Joanne makes them high in bed. But they don’t fuck. They say she doesn’t want to fuck guys. Some guys tried courting her just to get her to bed with them. This dude Randy, an alumni from another frat, he said he met Joanne at some concert and fell instantly in love with her after. He tried pursuing her for about two weeks, get her to love him back. Then one night, Randy said, he confessed his obsession to Joanne. Joanne rejected him but she led him to some place at Don Antonio Heights. I knew right then it was Jun’s house, but I kept it to myself. What’s the house like, I asked Randy. He said it looked like a haunted bungalow with old furniture innit and a young guy and his granma in there. Did it have a front lawn? I asked him. Yeah, he said, it was filled with hanging bed sheets for drying. I just laughed and he said, What?
Joanne: I love boys and I love getting drunk. I love those big arms wrapping around my shoulders, those tight hugs, those sweet kisses, and those caresses on my breasts. I’m one of those girls who’s had a boyfriend at twelve, whose breasts swelled at thirteen, who’s been kissed at fourteen. I’m only eighteen and I’ve had eleven boyfriends in total, not counting the flings I’ve met in binges and bars, not counting the girls who had kissed me, not counting the guys who had courted me. I’m not bragging or anything. I’m not a dumb airhead. Matter of fact, I have a nice brain myself. I love Math. It’s probably the only thing I excel at, and I can carry a conversation pretty well, especially with boys. It’s probably my looks that hook them first. They tell me I look mestiza. My dad’s Filipino and my mom’s Australian. We moved here when I was fifteen, and I’ve learned speaking the language eloquently after about a year. We live in Don Antonio Heights, a couple of blocks away from Jun’s house. I was just walking my way home with my friend Andrea from Stop Shop and Grill when we passed by Jun’s house with all this rowdy boys drinking beer by the lawn. Hey ladies! one of the boys yelled. His name was Jason. Maybe you like some company, he said. Andrea and I chipped in. I mean, they’re neighbors, and they won’t probably harm us. We were bored to death, besides.
Richard: There was this guy Franco who just joined the frat. He has those dorky glasses and pimples on his forehead. His face was always glistening with this film of oil. Being the chairman of the fraternity, I almost rejected him during the initial interview. He didn’t have brotherhood blood in him, not one single fart. He was some sort of an individualist. When I asked him what he does in his free time outside school he said he read literature or played video games. When I asked him what he does in school during his free time he said he just hang out in the library reading Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, or some other existentialist crap. I mean, Jesus Christ, who the fuck in the world cares about existentialism? Then Erwin dropped by and interrupted me right in the middle of the interview. He excused me from Franco and talked me into helping his nerd cousin lose his virginity. Then I said, Why didn’t you say so? This will be fun.
Franco: I love the library. It’s mainly the air-conditioning that I like. I go there to read the books I lifted from Booksale and some other secondhand bookstores in campus. I sit right there at my favorite spot in front of the air-conditioning, on the far end of that long mahogany table in the Social Sciences section. The air-conditioning makes my pet really hard and I just cover it with a sweater to keep potential carnivores from seeing this engorgement rising from my crotch. Just when I entered school this semester, I never made real friends yet. Not until I joined the fraternity anyway. I’m better off with books as my company. They give me cerebral masturbation. All these books on literature and philosophy, they get me preoccupied all the time. Toss the air-conditioning in, and it’s mentally orgasmic, I tell you. That’s why I don’t care about chicks that much. I’ve never really dated a girl on a real date. I mean, I’ve met some in parties and social conventions and other places, but I never really get hooked. I just try my luck in a conversation, and if that doesn’t work, then I’d just go away. I’m better off without chicks. Chicks retard the society from intellectual maturity.
Jun: We had a plan two weeks ago, Richard, Will, Erwin, and me. The new guy—whatsisface—Frankie? No, Franco. Yeah, Franco. I hadn’t met him yet at that time, but the three boys knew him. They say he was some fuckass geek with thick binocular glasses, pimples, and oil on his face. Real ugly. Then we came up with a project. We’ve never done this before but we could take a good shot at it. So the plan was this. We’ll have Franco dress cool like we do. You know, something decent for chrissakes. Get rid of the glasses, the worn, threadbare sweat shirt and jeans, and throw in something crisp and fresh, and a pair of dispensable contact lenses. We asked him to give us some money. Two thousand, to be exact. We said we gonna buy him some neat clothes, spray him kickass scents, and hook him up with a real nice girl.
Will: Pass this test, I told Franco. Pass this test or else, I said, or else you’ll end up a wrinkled old virgin when you reach fifty. By then you’ll wind up injecting testosterone junk into your wiener just to get a hard on, I said. And boy, if you could’ve just seen the look on his face—that sad pathetic virgin desperate for a fuck—just one snapshot of that face. He drew his wallet right there and handed me two grand.
Franco: I never really courted a girl before. I mean, I had crushes, real pretty chicks with nice round breasts and nice round butts. But I never dreamed of ending up with any of them. I always thought I’m just a nice traditional guy in a world that has moved on from the old convention. I’m a good guy. I’m a gentleman. I know how to treat a lady, got it from that etiquette book I pilfered from a thrift store. What I just really need is some real life application, you know? My brothers—I mean my cousins’ frat brothers—I haven’t been initiated yet—they said they’ll hook me up with this girl Joanne at the library. They say she doesn’t read, but goes there because of the air-conditioning. They say she grew up in Australia and is still adjusting our country’s humid weather condition.
Erwin: The new guy Franco, we told him stories about this chick named Joanne. Joanne the mix breed Aussie-Filipina. We cooked some nice ingredients in these stories to get him the initiation done. First, we told him about Jun’s place in Don Antonio, that place with omnipresent bed sheets hanging by the lawn. We told him about the bed sheets, that it was all Joanne’s idea, that Joanne was a traditional girl and couldn’t bring guys to her place. Her parents are strict. A campus scholar, pretty, hot, and fuckable. We told Franco how Joanne likes nice guys that are closet bookworms or geeks, nice guys who frequented the library and played Chess. I don’t play Chess, Franco interrupted me. Whatever, I said. She likes smart guys. Nice, traditional, smart guys like you.
Richard: Then each of us frat boys told Franco stories about Joanne. Discreetly, I mean. Each of us would randomly approach Franco anywhere in the campus, wherever we saw him, talk to him about school or the frat or something else, then fabricate stories about Joanne. Each of us giving a personal confession, until he’d be interested enough, he’d just go straight asking about her.
Joanne: It didn’t take long to taste a pinoy guy’s penis. I love giving them blowjobs. There’s something about the penis that makes me all excited, especially when it’s all in front of you, dark, limp, and all wrinkly, all about smelling like, I dunno. It smelled like cum and piss and sweat all combined. Then I’d start stroking it, licking the balls, licking the shaft, putting the head inside my mouth, then it would grow stiff and long and delicious to deep throat. A lot of guys wanted to have sex with me, but I never gave in. I’d give them blowjobs instead. That way there’d be no problems losing my virginity, or getting pregnant and ruining my entire life. I just hate it when guys talk about me. For some reason, my name has become synonymous with the word slut. Sure, I sleep with guys and I change boyfriends as much as I change clothes, but I never gave in. I’ve never found the right guy yet. They all treat me like an object. They all don’t treat me with respect. All they want is a fucking blowjob. The next day, they’d act like nothing happened. It’s always shit the next day. But I still have pride in myself. At the end of the day, I still have my virginity. Whatever the hell they all talk about me, I don’t give a fuck. I’m enjoying myself and I know what I’m doing.
Franco: For some reason, my future brothers approached me in school and made me really comfortable. For the first time in my life, I realized what the concept of brotherhood is. It’s all about friendship, about having someone to talk to about whatever’s on my mind. I really owe everything to my cousins Will and Erwin. I also got to learn about this girl Joanne. Each of them told me their greatest fellatio ever no one else knew about. What the hell’s a fellatio? Justine asked the first time we brought the subject up. It’s another term for blowjob dumbhead, I replied. Weird thing is, they all said the same thing, that Joanne gave them the drug without the chemicals, the high without screwing your system. I mean, they didn’t say the same exact thing, but that’s the gist of it. Joanne gave them the mother fellatio of all fellatios ordinary chicks couldn’t compare to. It was better than sex, something more divine than plain fucking, whatever the position is. Joanne could shot you through a trip to heaven and back. Give you a glimpse of cosmic bliss. Nirvana.
Will: Friday came, the big day for Franco. He’s wearing the clothes we bought him and gave him deodorants, perfumes, and whatnot. We asked him to cut all his classes, take a nice warm bath, dress up, and hit the library where Joanne will be. We even tried teaching him how to drive so he can drive my dad’s car to get to Jun’s place. The goal is to get her to like him, see. And if everything works perfect, when Franco’s generating testosterone-driven animalistic feedbacks from Joanne, he’d leave right at the peak of it. Leave her wanting more. So when Joanne meets Franco that Friday night, the initiation will be served.
Franco: I’ve been to the library a lot of times and know nearly all the people who frequently go there. At the Social Sciences section anyway. I bought some cosmetics a few days ago. Totally gay, I know. I even went to this far flung cosmetics store so no one would spot me buying powder and eyeliner and stuff. Otherwise I’ll be the subject queen of faggotry when my cosmetics-buying escapade reaches the frat. I’ve read somewhere that guys should always look decent, using women’s cosmetics if necessary. Me, I have a greasy face. Blame my mother and her pimple genes. Anyway, I just bought a natural-color compact powder. Nothing of the scented or glittery sort. Just an ordinary, brandless powder. Then an eyeliner, to give Joanne the split-second killer glance that’ll tip her off balance. I put them on that morning—cosmetics, deodorant, perfume, crisp clothes, the works—and faced the mirror. I nearly couldn’t recognize myself. I mean, I was one hot beast.
Justine: We were to have a binge at Jun’s place that night, right at his front lawn after all the bed sheets were out of sight. We invited Franco and Joanne to get them to fuck each other. Then we were all in the library. Richard and Franco were standing near the librarian’s front desk and the rest of us were hidden behind the bookshelves, except for Erwin, who couldn’t come that day. We were watching, documenting, recording, witnessing Franco’s every move.
Franco: Richard pointed Joanne’s back to me, and asked me to sit right in front of her. This is it, I thought. And I’m going to succeed three ways: get my pet baptized with Joanne’s saliva or pussy cum at the very least, get to formally join the frat, and soar a trip to nirvana. My palms were all clammy and sweaty, and I walked slowly towards the mahogany table right in front of the air-conditioner where Joanne was seated facing her laptop. Richard backed off and hid behind the shelves with the guys. My heart was thumping faster, as if some wild bird was flapping its wings in my ribcage. I was almost there. Her hair fell right below her shoulders like a shimmering chocolate waterfall. I wanted to smell it, to touch it, but I walked to the other side of the table instead. I sat right in front of her, and my heart stopped in suspended animation.
Richard: Joanne smiled at Franco and Franco smiled at her. What the hell was that all about? I thought. Do they know each other? Then they began talking. They were talking and laughing like they were old friends.
Justine: Franco must be a real charm. That Friday night at Jun’s place, we introduced Franco and Joanne to each other. And you know what happened? They talked all night like we didn’t exist. Jason was all hot and he wanted to punch Franco in the face. Will was all envious too; he wanted to beat the shit out of Franco. Them guys Jason and Will, they didn’t think Franco and Joanne would work out that well. I mean, it was all for the fuck, the physical attraction. But Franco and Joanne, they were stepping on the border. Something must be done that night.
Joanne: Franco sat in front of me at the library and I recognized him immediately from my Math class. He always sat at the front row, and he’d always correct the professor whenever he made mistakes while scribbling the math solutions on the board. This is Franco? I thought. He sure did change. I’ve always thought he was a loner geek. I passed him by in the library a couple of times and he was always looking at the floor, or busy with some book. But there he was, sitting in front of me, all transformed like a frog to a prince.
Franco: So my heart stopped—I couldn’t believe my eyes. Joanne’s that innocent-looking girl in Math class, always quietly sitting at the back. She looked at me and I was thrown in a whirlwind of distraction. But I calmed down. Her eyes were all I see, and everything else was a backdrop of blurred useless details. She’s half-Australian? I’ve always thought she’s pure Filipina with nice genes. If I remember it right, the professor calls her Jody in class. Or is it Janey? I don’t remember, she rarely recites anyway. She’s that girl who always topped the exams. I just couldn’t consolidate her flirty blowjob-girl image with her innocent smart image. The two images just wouldn’t match up. But I was cool. She smiled at me and I smiled at her. Then we began talking.
Erwin: Friday night, Franco and Joanne slipped into Jun’s room, and the boys and I were seething with anger that that wasn’t suppose to happen—that they weren’t suppose to fall in love. I wanted Joanne for myself. But Franco and Joanne, they had that glint in their eyes that could tell you right off they were in love and smothering each other. Four in the morning, Franco and Joanne were steaming up in Jun’s room. And you know what we did? We busted in, that’s right. We busted in and beat the hell up out of Franco. That was part of the initiation.
Joanne: I’ve met all the types of assholes and dickheads in my life. But Franco? Franco was different. He was the guy that actually made sense. He was the only guy I could talk to without the pretension. He’s sensitive, I could tell. He talked about the fraternity which I was connected with, and we opened up our darkest secrets—that we were both virgins. I told him the frat boys were all assholes, and he told me the same thing. We talked about this idea of ‘belonging’, of doing certain things and acting certain ways just to get the approval of other people. What about the frat, he asked me. Why do you give random guys a blow? That really put me off. It wasn’t the thing you’d open up to a girl.
Franco: I think I turned Joanne off when I opened the topic about what the boys told her behind her back. She fell silent for a moment, then a tear rolled down her cheek. And I leaned over and wiped it out with my finger. Hey, look, I’m sorry, I told her. You should even be proud of yourself, being a virgin and everything. I’m proud of you. I’ve met a lot of girls, I lied to her. I’ve met a lot of girls and they’d give in right away—but I couldn’t give in myself, I always fear I’ll do it all wrong. But you, I told her, how many boyfriends have you had? Eleven? See? Just look at you, I said. You’ve been there and met a lot of different guys but you’re still in tact. That made her smile. She said I make her strong. She extended her arm and held my hand. We talked for an hour more.
Richard: It wasn’t really part of the plan. Joanne wasn’t suppose to fall in love with that geek Franco. Franco didn’t deserve Joanne. So we busted in and found them both naked. We dragged Franco out to the living, and the boys beat him up. Me, I went inside the room and fucked Joanne. I fucked her like the slut that she is. I fucked her hard and I fucked her good. She screamed and tried to beat me up, but she was all drunk and weak. And so I came. I went out and one by one, the boys stepped into the room to fuck her.
Will: I don’t know what happened. But that night was a wild night. All of a sudden we were kicking and punching my cousin in the living room. Why the hell am I beating my cousin up, I thought. But I went on anyway. I was drunk and couldn’t care less. I thought this was all part of the frat’s initiation. Then Jun tapped my shoulder. Your turn, he said, pointing at the room. Joanne was sprawled naked on the bed, and the sight of her tits made me dive into the bed. I kissed her neck and sucked and nipples. I licked her cunt and fucked her hard.
Franco: Jun’s grandmother broke out her room carrying a cane and started swatting the boys with it. Get out! she yelled. Get out of my house! She was yelling and shaking and spanking them with her cane. The boys ran out and so did Jun. Justine busted out of Jun’s room, buckling his belt as he dashed out the front door. I was curled up on the living room carpet, all naked and bruised. I had a broken jaw and a broken neck. My stomach ached and my skin was all purple and covered with blood. I ended up in the hospital, and so did Joanne. After a month, Joanne discovered she was pregnant, and she didn’t know who the father was. Give it up, I told her. Abort it, and she did.
