Chapter 26: When boys come with price tags.

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Sydney Flores
Ciara Escudero


“AAAHHHHHH!” It’s like a bidding frenzy inside the event hall; we can hardly hear ourselves from the booming, excited squeals.


“I’ll make you a deal. You bid for Gerard and I’ll bid for your brother.” Carrie was trying to negotiate with me to partake on her devious plan, which I think is utterly ridiculous.


“Are you kidding me?!” I exclaimed. “Carina, I don’t think we’re on the same page here. MAEC is an all-girls school,” I told her matter-of-factly. “What made you think that I can outbid four hundred high school girls for Gerard? And most importantly, why should I even bid for him in the first place after what he did last week?”


But Carrie wasn’t exactly paying attention because she’s too busy looking at the far side of the room, apparently searching for someone. “Is that Pamela I see?”


I snorted and waved her off, but I was discreetly side-glancing to see for myself. Unfortunately, she was just bluffing.


“Aha! Knee-jerk reaction,” she clapped her hand when she caught me looking. “Underneath all the petticoat, you really are willing to bid for Gerard, aren’t you? Provided that you’re against a strong competitor, which is Pamela given the situation.”


“Why are you getting so bend out of shape for, Chi? This is actually going to be fun! It’s not everyday that we get to see all the Candy Cuties in the same room,” Sydney agreed, who is beyond doubt overly ecstatic to make a bid for Kevin Chan.


“Then why don’t you make the bid for him instead of coercing me?”


“Oh, please, don’t tell us you’d rather save a penny than earn a boy toy.”


I looked daggers at her and put on my most ridiculing tone. “Maria Carina, tantanan mo ako at baka i-ngudngod ko ang mukha mo ng wala sa oras.”


Ciara, who had just returned from the beverage section, was trying to tell us that she thinks she just saw our friend Liz out in the back (which is impossible since Liz is at Harvard studying her butt off) when Katt announced the name of the next guy on the auction list: my brother.


“Just for the benefit of everybody, all the proceeds of tonight’s auction will go directly to five non-government organizations that our school has been aiding for the past decade,” Katt announced as my brother strode towards the center of the stage. “Bidding starts at five hundred pesos as default. Do I hear a six hundred?”


I thought it would be awkward for my brother and Katt to be on the same stage but from the way they smile at each other, sparks are just about to fly.


Five grand… Seventy-five hundreds… Nine thousand… I can’t believe that my brother is generating amounts this huge despite his reputation as a Casanova. And I know he’s already having the time of his life because girls are going gaga over him without even doing anything but stand in front of them.


“Ten thousand!” I heard someone shout beside me over the earsplitting shrieks from our background.


“Carina, what are you doing?!” I hissed, completely aghast when I saw her right hand raised in midair.


“I’m buying myself a slave,” she said with a half-suppressed laugh. “I suggest you do the same with your escort.”


But just when I was about to open my mouth to make a suitably cutting retort to bring my best friend to her senses, a girl from the next table yelled, “Twenty-five grand!”


“Wow! If I’m not mistaken, that’s Camille from the second year batch and she has just set the bidding bar way too high. Will I still hear a bid higher than twenty-five gees?”


“Oohhh… someone’s got competition,” Ciara goaded menacingly.


Carrie suddenly looked like she’s about to have a conniption. “Oh, she didn’t just do that,” she mumbled, totally po’d because one, a sophomore had just outbid her; and two, it’s her allowance that it’s jeopardy on this block. Kuya then gave Carrie a wink and thumbs up to fire up some enthusiasm.


“I can’t believe I’m doing this for Wesley,” she said through gritted teeth. “FORTY FREAKIN’ THOUSAND!!!” she clamored at the top of her voice.




“I’ve done my part. It’s time for you to do yours,” Carrie told me while smiling triumphantly after the auctioneer’s mallet had been sharply tapped in her favor.


“For the last time, I am not going to bid a cent for that jerk!”


“Come on, do you really want to see Gerard ending up as someone else’s date when this night ends? I don’t think so,” she shook her head.


“You only bid for my brother so he’d be in your debt,” I retorted. “And I don’t really care who he ends up with tonight, okay?”


“ASUS! Ewan ko lang, ha,” Sydney taunted as Katt resumed with the auction.


“Our next stud happens to be the brother of our very own program coordinator.” There were acknowledging whoops for Maxine as the spotlight focused on her working on the control booth. She gave a little wave before she carried on with her duty at her post. “So without further ado, I’d like to call on Gerard Sanciongco!”


The moment he came out to the stage, I felt like all the air have been sucked out of my very soul. Dear God… why did you have to make him so hot?


“Same rules, ladies. Now who wants to kick off the initial bid?”


“You still don’t want to place a bet on Gerard? Tumutulo na kaya laway mo!” Caira teased, dissolving into laughter.


“You want to settle this old school?” Carrie offered, referring to our classic approach on nailing things down: either by toss coin or last-one-to. And I’m pretty sure that we’re going to go with the latter.


“Two thousand,” a girl shouted somewhere from my left.


“Three thousand,” someone matched up the offer.


“Give it a rest, will you?” I snapped while the bidding continued around us.


“Last one to raise her hand loses. On the count of three, ready?” Carrie went on despite my protest. Anak ng tokwa naman! Ciara and Sydney already nodded so I really have no choice but to coincide. “One… Two… Three!”


I immediately raised my hand, only to realize that I had just made the most terrible mistake. “D*mmit,” I cursed in a whisper.


“Well, what do we have here? Six grand from no other than Wendy Mañalac, the rumored girlfriend of Gerard himself!”


“You b*tches!” I spat at them.


The three of them were grinning mischievously and I could only stare open-mouthed. “You already made a bet so might as well just put your money where your mouth is,” Carrie gloated in pleasure.


“Fifty thousand, that’s my limit. Anything beyond that and I won’t bid anymore,” I firmly stood my ground.


The exchange of bids of continued but it looks like I have a very tight competition from a certain someone in the back. Our bid was nearing fifty and even though I’m afraid I might lose to her, I will stick with my cutoff point.


“Let’s get this over with,” Carrie fizzled. She stood up and yelled, “FIFTY THOUSAND!” But my heart immediately sank when I heard her shout back a fiery seventy grand.




After the last guy in line was auctioned, the four of us headed backstage to meet up with Wendy’s brothers, and maybe to catch a glimpse of that idiot who had outbid us on Gerard. Wesley, who was standing outside the green room where the boys are, immediately put his arms around me when he spotted me. “Thank you, Cars!”


“Yeah, yeah, consider it collateral,” I grumbled. “You do need to pay me back ASAP, moron.”


He slowly pinned me against the wall and inched his face closer to me. “Will a kiss be enough as a payback?”


What in the world?!




I was laughing my head off as she forcefully pushed me away and gave me a killing glare. “WHAT DO YOU—”


“Hold that thought,” I cut her short when I saw Katt emerged from one of the rooms backstage. “Hey, Katt!”I called out and ran after her. She immediately stop at her tracks and turned around.


“Wesley Mañalac,” she uttered. Hearing her say my name again was like music to my ears. After all these years, I’m still fascinated with her just like the first time I saw her.


“You just keep breaking my heart,” I said when I caught up with her. “Why didn’t you even bid for me?” I pouted.


“The emcee joining the actual event that she’s hosting? Probably not a good idea,” she kidded. “But I can see that one of your sister’s friends will be your date for tonight.” She looked past me and nodded her head to Carrie’s direction.


“Yeah, she’s Wendy’s best friend, though just between the two of us.” I leaned closer to her and whispered, “I actually asked her to do that.”


She laughed gleefully. “You always have a back-up plan for everything.”


“Then how would you like to continue this conversation over dinner? I really want to catch up with you. We could watch the city lights from the cliffs in Antipolo just like the old days. What do you say?”


“That’s very sweet, Wes, but I already made plans with Enchong Dee tonight. I’m sorry,” she smiled apologetically. “Besides, your bidder owns you for the rest of the evening.”




I was chatting up with James Younghusband backstage about our favorite British soccer teams while we’re waiting for the girls who ‘won’ us. I then noticed a tall girl with tawny-colored hair suddenly walked up to me. “Hi,” she greeted and extended her hand. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”


I smiled and shook her hand. “I’m going to try my luck here. Are you my Valentine’s date?”


“Well, yeah, technically,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m Liz Mauricio and as of this minute, you are my surprise gift to Wendy.”


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