2. "that in the last days"

FIVE YEARS AGO: THE FIRST MEETING

I awoke in a bed that wasn't mine, but not in the way one would think. No, I didn't spend the night picking up chicks, to wake up to a naked lady right next to me the following morning. I didn't pass out after drinking too much only to wake up hung over in a hotel room I didn't remember reserving.

It was actually quite the opposite, and more on the nerdy side if I have to admit. I awoke on a thin foam mattress that I had found sprawled out across the floor when I arrived to a short-while rented room, and after a plane ride over 24 hours, I was too exhausted to care about the lack of comfort I was used to. In fact, I slept quite soundly for the circumstances.

The air of the Philippines felt different than my home country, and if it weren't for the invitation I got in the mail from Bohol University, I don't think I would've found myself here on the islands, but so far, I didn't regret it. I missed a more humid weather, especially while my city was covered in snow as we speak, even if I was thankful for every gust of wind that came along when I walked to the campus down the street.

As I made my way to the building, referencing to the directions I had scribbled on my hand, I quickly found the elevator inside, carefully pressing the button to take me to floor three. Already there, was a man with blond hair standing silently, and with a glance that brought his head up and away from peering at his feet, he appeared to agree with the number we were heading to. That meant within the newly-found awkward, I had to do what I hated doing the most: small talk.

"Colby," I introduced. "Colby Lexoni. From America."

He turned toward me out of politeness. "Ryan. Ryan David Javers, America to Europe college exchange student. Are you here for that invitation in the mail? The one that promised us we'll end up with a good career and what not?"

"That's the one," I nodded. "You don't sound very confident in it. You think it's fake?"

"It's sketchy I think, but oh well. If they promise me a job in the film industry, then I'll take the risk if it means I don't have to smell like french fries everyday. What the heck can they do to me? Kill me?"

"Same. Maybe one day we'll be behind the scenes of the same movie. That is, if I can end up in the film industry too after we get through whatever this is," I answered under a laugh, taking what he said as a joke as anyone would, when the elevator dinged to signal it's opening, and we took off down the hall in search of room 327.

It was an easy-find, but secretly, in the pit of my stomach, after getting over the strangeness of it all of course, I was glad I didn't have to enter the room of a whole additional cluster of people I didn't know by myself. This way, I could split the attention of first reputation with somebody else -- or for what it ended up becoming, he could take it entirely. For the girls at least.

"And who do we have here?" The clear youngest of us all stepped forward, full attention toward Ryan -- and when I say full attention, I mean it to the fullest extent that I can. She didn't look away from him, and all over her expression was heart eyes. There wasn't a trace of anything else, and we were soon to find out she wasn't subtle in anyway. "I'm Nova, from Australia, and an aspiring web developer. -- Are you single? I'm single. And you're wow -- you're beautiful."

Ryan giggled shyly beneath his breath, it came out like a small bit of air, before attempting to go on and introduce himself as well, but he didn't get the chance to. Another woman -- the only other woman in the room -- barged her way out in front of him. "Jayvee. I've been studying to be a psychiatrist," she announced to him, hand out for a handshake. He accepted it, but not out of gratitude. More out of shock. "Welcome to the Philippines. This is my home country. I hope you enjoy your stay."

I stared at the scenario. I wondered if I should intervene for him. Maybe he was uncomfortable with what was happening, but I didn't end up with the courage to go through with it. I decided he must be okay, and it's the tension in his shoulders slowly fading that allowed me to believe that. Clearing out any thought that would make me think any different, I headed over to the opposite end of the room where there were still two people I haven't met. To tune out what was going down behind me, I put myself up for small talk again -- something I never thought I'd do twice in a row.

The taller man took over, likely seeing me being uncomfortable. "I'm Jared, and this is Jewee. I'm from Brazil -- I'm not formally enrolled in University, but I've been working on becoming a model and Jewee is hoping to teach history soon enough. In Korea, I mean. He's not so used to speaking English, I've established. -- Anyway, you're Colby, I overheard?"

"Yeah--," I began, but I was interrupted by a robotic voice that stole the spotlight from the front of the room."Thank you for accepting your invitations and being here with us today, section scarlet" it said. A projector turned on automatically, the brightness making the blank wall no longer blank and rather, covered in the top tip of information we were long awaiting. "We'll start in thirty seconds," it added, over what looked like a Power-point presentation, or something along the lines.

Each of us sat down at a desk labelled with the introductions we had just given out, but none of us were truly focused on the screen ahead of us. We wanted to be, and yet our eagerness was beginning to subside because of the pressure that was lingering throughout the air like some bad aroma.

Something went down. I'm not sure what, but the hatred strong in both Jayvee and Nova's eyes when they glared at once another said all that needed to be said. Already, they saw each other as competition. Not as a team. The two of them wanted the same thing -- or the same guy -- and there was only one of him. From the get-go, we were already mentally taking sides.

The chaos had already began.