What A Weirdo

"Klein, have you finished our homework in Biology?"

Looking up from his smartphone in hand, Klein directed his gaze to the taller boy standing next to him on the train. "Yes, I did. Since when did I ever not finished a homework?"

Handsome, and in the middle of looking athletic and intelligent, Khalil's chinky eyes turned more narrow behind his black-framed eyeglasses as he grinned. "Why are you so grouchy? I was just asking. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

More like he woke up not tucked in bed at all. Klein shifted his weight on his left foot and resumed scrolling on his phone's screen. "It's because I know you're just asking so you can copy my homework."

"Can I?"

"No."

"Oh, come on!" Khalil whined and started shaking Klein's shoulder. "I'm supposed to do it, but I can't just sit down and not show my support to our school's team. Didn't you watch the women's volleyball championship yesterday?"

"I don't watch sports."

"How can you not watch sports? Don't you get excited when seeing girls running around in tight shorts, all sweaty and flushed? It's, like, the best visual distraction in this shitty school life that we have."

Klein momentarily stopped scrolling through his phone to stare at Khalil. "I'm not a pervert who would sexualize girls when they're just trying to have some fun. Why don't you get your hormones in check instead? It's embarrassing to stand beside you with your line of thinking."

Khalil cowered a little at the stare he received from other passengers, so he lowered his voice. "T-Then, how about the men's volleyball? I'm not saying you have to sexualize them. Haha... That would be weird. I mean, just watch. Or play with me... for fun?"

With his 5'6 height, Klein was sure he wouldn't excel in it compared to taller guys like Khalil, who were around 5'11. And while other people could argue that there were shorter guys like him in the sports department, well, fuck their argument. He considered himself as a person from a white-collared background, so the mere thought of strenuous activities like sports aggravated him.

"I don't want to waste my time in stuff that doesn't interest me," Klein said dismissively.

"B-But—!"

Tuning out Khalil's protest, Klein held on tighter on the metal pole as the train slowed to a stop. As more passengers crammed inside the tight space, he pressed closer to Khalil and looked up. He noted how his eyes were a richer color of brown upon closer look. Brown was the most common eye color worldwide, though, so he found it nothing special.

"Ugh! The smell," Khalil whimpered as a whiff of a strong cologne wafted over to them. He averted his gaze, his almond-shaped eyes crinkled shut. "If it isn't for the heavy traffic every morning, I wouldn't ride the LRT."

Klein scrunched up his nose in agreement. From the strong-scented perfume to someone's body odor, the worse thing about public transportation was the mixture of various smells and the lack of personal space.

Khalil fished out a stylistic grey KN95 from his bag to cover his face. Facemasks were no longer a necessity after the pandemic officially ended one and a half years ago, but several people still carried them around for safety measure.

Like Khalil, Klein also had a reserved facemask in his bag's pocket, but he wasn't too sensitive like his classmate to use it for blocking aromatic fragrances. If any, the rich scent of cedarwood enticed him to find its source.

To his right, exactly a meter away from them, stood another towering young man in a reverse snapback cap and a gray-maroon varsity jacket. He had an arm raised to hold on to the train's grab handle, effectively hiding his face. While Klein didn't have the nose of a dog, his intuition told him the powerful scent was coming from the guy.

Not that he was trying to sniff him, of course.

"I'm getting dizzy," Khalil muttered, resting his forehead on Klein's shoulder. "Wake me up once we arrived."

"We're here," Klein said, pushing the taller boy away as a bell chimed and a female voice announced their destination.

"Arriving at Vito Cruz station. We are arriving at Vito Cruz station."

The double doors opened as soon as the train slowed to a full stop. Klein, along with other passengers, made a beeline out of the door. Despite the bustling crowd, he couldn't help but to take a quick glance at the enigmatic stranger, then looked away when their eyes met.

Klein continued his way out of the train, with Khalil following closely behind him. The accidental eye-contact didn't phase him, but it was bothersome to feel it still pricking the back of his neck. He threw a dirty look over his shoulder and received a smile in return before the train sped off again.

'What a weirdo.'

They continued their way out of the train station and onto the busy sidewalk of Taft Avenue. Thankfully, their school was only a walking distance away from the station, so there was no need to rush.

"Which part of the homework you didn't get to work on?" Klein asked as they walked.

Khalil perked up from his question and jogged forward to catch up to him, resting a hand over his shoulder. Removing his facemask, he gave him a sheepish grin. "Everything."

Klein didn't bother to hide his exasperation. He had been friends—no—he had been acquainted with Khalil since junior high school and it wasn't the first time he leeched off answer from him for their assignments. But as much as he wanted to shrug off the hand, he refrained from doing so.

Khalil was the son of a pharmaceutical board member, so he was still an important connection. As annoying as he was at times, he can't have him failing his grades.

Glancing at his wristwatch, Klein sent Khalil a haughty stare. "You still have time before the first period. Make sure you paraphrase everything. If I get into trouble because of you, I'm not talking to you until graduation."

"How mean."

"I'm serious."

"Fine, fine," Khalil gave in with a sigh. "It's not like I have a choice if you threaten me like that. I can't have my very special classmate ignoring me for the rest of the school year."

'Special, huh?'

Klein found nothing special about their relationship. They were just hanging out because they were benefiting in each other's company.

"Let's just hurry," Klein said, as they stopped in front of a four-story neoclassical building reminiscent of 18th century architecture of Europe—the De La Lune University.