Miss DJ

Episode 1

Andi Tan is 20 years old but she’s known who she wanted to be since she was 9. She’s a Capricorn. Born in the self-made age of Girlbosses, she absorbed all the necessary literature before she could walk. By the mid-aughts, it had become a societal truth that to make it — man, woman, and beyond the spectrum — you are not just what you do. Kylie Jenner was Kylie Jenner first before she was a businesswoman. Nadine Lustre was Nadine Lustre first before she was singer, actress, model, icon. You are not who you are because of what you do, you do things because of who you are. Self-actualization and changing the world around you is so Millennial. Everyone born after Y2K know that to be successful, you have to be a brand. And so, in the most exciting semester of her university life, her secret had to be kept.

Today was the first class of the second semester in Andi’s second year. She is with her bestie Clarence. Clarence and Andi have been friends since they were in kindergarten. Clarence was the most popular boy and Andi was the most popular girl. 

They did many activities together. From taekwondo to violin to junior modelling. They placed for two years in the Regional Junior Dancesport Competition and won third place in the National Junior Dancesport Competition the following year. Third place was fine since the first and second couples are going to the ASEAN games soon, so they could safely say they only fell a little short of Olympians.  But they were never there for the sport. Their elementary school was heavy on athletics and even then they knew how to stand out. In high school, they went to St. Isabel’s College where they both excelled in academics and social status. In Junior High, when Andi’s father died, they still slayed Maria and Tony for the school’s production of West Side Story. In senior high in the same school, they were Prom King and Queen both in Grade 11 and 12. Who can do a back-to-back like them? Their friendship was molded in trials and victories, and most importantly hard work. 

“What is that?” Clarence asked.

“What is what?” Andi looked around her. They were strolling in the covered walk to the Communication Arts Building. First meetings were usually slack. Their professor may not even be there. But cool as they are, Andi and Clarence knew the first step to success is showing up.

“You’re wearing the same jeans from the freshman orientation yesterday.” Clarence had a keen eye. He always looked out for Andi.

“You know, you’re not supposed to wash jeans cause it’s bad for the denim.”

“I know but they didn’t say to wear them two days in a row. What’s gotten into you?” Clarence was holding his iced coffee next to Andi’s to post on his story. 

“I was up late last night,” Andi took her drink.

“After our FaceTime?” 

“Yup.”

“You don’t sleep late. What’s up?” Andi loves Clarence for this reason. Since childhood, she always felt nobody wanted to be her friend for real. In high school, people wanted to be her friend to get a followback. Last year, after hitting 28K followers on i********:, it was impossible to be just buddies with everyone. It’s always promote my band or promote my event. But Andi is a realist. She knows it’s nothing personal. 

Before Andi could talk about it, they were at the second floor classroom. “I’ll tell you later.” 

This was their TV Broadcasting class and Andi and Clarence were determined to team up as usual. According to their research, the midterm will be broadcast event coverage and the finals will be broadcast event organization. The class should be divided into teams and Andi and Clarence intended to make the best team. After further research from the Admissions office yesterday, they knew there would be 29 students in the class. They knew almost everyone. The classroom was spacious and the first row was empty. They both sat on the third row for the best view. 

“So here are the people I’ve shortlisted,” Clarence reported to Andi, “There’s Star from last sem’s Multimedia class. She’s really good. We have to get Steven. He owns sick equipment.”

“What about Kai?” Andi asked.

“Ew, you can’t just get someone on the team because he’s hot,” Clarence gave her a look.

“That’s exactly why I want him,” Andi smiled, “Having a hot guy gives us a lot of advantage — hey, see, he just got here.”

“I can’t stand him. Someone else has to be our designated hot guy.”

“He has 5 thousand followers on t****k and you could be the hot guy if you were not so determined to be pretty!” Andi scolded.

Their professor walked in. Miss K was their Radio Broadcasting professor last semester because the actual professor had health problems. She was in her late 30s, a passionate Millennial, and had worked for two major broadcasting companies before she turned 30. She used to work on Good Morning Philippines!, a noontime show, a TV magazine show, and now two years into Late Night with Man Modino. Most importantly, she likes Andi and Clarence already.

“Hi, all,” Miss K beamed. “What’s up? I cannot believe how far I had to park.”

Everyone laughed politely while she set up her computer to the projector screen. “So I didn’t email you the syllabus before our first meeting like I usually do because I wanted to discuss it personally. Anyway I’m seeing a some familiar faces from last sem. Glad you all got here. So while this boots up let me get the attendance.”

While Miss K was taking the attendance, Clarence continued, “I really want Benny.”

“No, please, I hate Benny,” Andi protested, “They think my followers are dummy accounts I paid for and we had to pay tickets for their event. Remember that?”

“Maybe if you didn’t fight them on Twitter before we even met the other freshmen last year,” Clarence rolled his eyes, “Anyway, we linked up during break — Present! — and did you know they had the highest grade in Journalism last year, plus they’re in PAPEL.”

“It wasn’t you? —Present! — And where did you even ‘link up’,” Andi air-quoted.

“No, I didn’t really do well in the final. And we ‘linked up’ in the event I paid for while you were crying about not getting tickets for free. It was packed as hell. Some tables were new and interesting actually.” 

“Packed meaning there were disgusting otakus. Okay, fine. We can have Benny,” Andi conceded. “Cool,” said Clarence.

“Alright!” Miss K clapped, “Everyone’s here. Wow, you guys must really like me. Welcome to TV Broadcasting. Some of you already know me from Radio Broadcasting. I handled both blocks last sem when Sir Dennis had to take a break. He’s back this sem so I’m finally returned to my homeland. Woo.” She turned to a slide with the course title and code and some links. “Yeah, please feel free to contact me via email. Working hours only please. About the course… You know I’m always cool but I want to make sure you know the standards expected of this class. Here is how your grades are gonna be computed.” She switched to a slide, her smart bob bouncing.

RUBRIC 

Midterm Output

— 45%

Final Output

— 45%

Attendance

— 10%

There was chatter and Miss K had to clap again, “Okay, okay. I know what you’re thinking. There won’t be a final exam or a midterm exam because we will be focusing on your outputs. Now, your attendance will only be counted during the lectures. It’s about 14 to 16 meetings depending on our speed. So please show up to those classes. We will be covering some in-depth discussion as well as the technical stuff. By next month you’d have learned enough to start the midterm output, and you don’t have to come to class anymore to focus on prepping. Yay! Come on, be happy about that!” There was a polite applause.

“And of course, I’m sure everyone already knows what happens in this class from the seniors,” Miss K continued, “However, this year, since there are more students in the class than last year I will be dividing you all into four teams instead of three and I will be adding a new broadcast category.” She flipped a slide.

Broadcasting Categories

Team

1 — News

2 — Live Show

3 — Drama 

4 — Online Media

“We have to get online media. OMG.” Clarence whispered. Andi agreed.

“Right. So the midterm output. Tell me what you know about it.” Miss K enthused. “Yes, Clarence.”

Clarence answered from his seat, “Just like last sem I guess, we’ll be covering any of those categories. So for the news one, it should be a real news-worthy event in real life presented as TV news. For the live show, we could cover a campus show and for the drama, we can cover productions from the theater org. So for online media, I guess we have to …” Clarence wasn’t sure.

“Yes, you have to cover an online event however you want as long as it follows the broadcasting conventions,” Miss K explained, “It’s a challenge because there could be mistranslations of something that occurs online into something that could be viewed visually by someone who’s watching from, say, a clinic lounge. Everything happens online these days so how are you going to present that? That’s what we’ll be discussing in class.”

The class continued with Miss K discussing syllabi and answering some questions. “Alright now let’s split up the class. I think everyone has chosen their category in their heads. Since the groups will be your team for the entire semester, you should pick people you want to work with.”

“Yes!” Andi whispered to Clarence.

“But how about we make this fun, okay? Which of you want to be the leader of your groups?” Miss K always tried to do this in class. She loved when students took initiative and knowing her, the students wasted no time being shy.

Andi, Clarence, Benny and about four other people raised their hands. “I can’t be the leader. That means we won’t be on the same team,” Andi told Clarence.

“I don’t want to be the leader either. I’m not the leader type. I just raised my hand so we can call dibs. Jack en poy?”

“Yup.” Andi threw scissor, Clarence threw paper.

“Okay!” Miss K chimed, her eyes on the two in the third row, “Why don’t we do that? Those who raised their hand come up here we’ll do jack en poy just like Andi and Clarence.”

Clarence, Benny and the others went up. 

“First four who wins get to pick their topics first.” 

After the first round, it was down to the five of them. Second round one kid lost and went back to their seats. Now it was just Clarence, Benny, a tall girl, and a boy from Andi’s Media Writing class last year.

The tall girl won first pick, “I want news.” Then the boy, “I want drama.”

Now it was just Clarence and Benny. Andi prayed. People were chattering excitedly now. Andi knew Benny would pick Online too. If Benny won, they’d have to beg for them to join the group. And worse, Benny would bring friends into the group when Andi planned to get the best of the best for her team. If Benny lost, they’ll just recruit them on the team. So it was important Clarence won.

“Jack…en…POY!” Benny threw scissor. Clarence threw paper. “I pick Online!” Benny said.

“Then I concede the Live Show leader position. Anyone want to take it?” Clarence said to the class. The kid who lost the second round raised his hand and took the position. Clarence returned to his seat.

“You know Benny guessed you’d throwing paper because you’ve been throwing paper the whole time?” Andi scolded.

“Really?” Clarence asked, “I did not notice.”

“Ugh. I can’t believe I have to beg Benny now. They’re gonna pick their friends over there to be their groupmates, then steamroll us if we join their team. That is if we can join their team. Why did you have to concede Live Show immediately? We could have had a back up plan.” Andi complained.

“Girl… relax. I wanted to show Benny how much we wanted that category. I’m sure they’ll let us in.”

“No,” Benny said in the cafeteria.

“Pleeease, Benny,” Clarence begged. “Andi and I are new media artists.”

“You are so pretentious.” Benny glared through his red-rimmed glasses. “IG influencers are new media entrepreneurs. You do not contribute any art into the world.”

Andi swallowed her pride, “Please. I’m sorry for being mean to you before.”

“Mean?” Benny was lining up for chicken curry, the Monday special. “You misgendered me in a Twitter beef. That’s, like, punishable by beheading.”

“First of all, I didn’t know. Your bio was empty. And it wasn’t beef, it was discourse.” Andi argued.

“This is why I don’t like you both,” Benny brushed them off and went up the queue.

Andi and Clarence had their packed lunch in their regular table. They have been meal prepping for two weeks now. But their first meal prepped lunch at school seemed to lose all joy after the Benny incident. 

“This sucks,” Andi said, sweet potato in her mouth.

“Don’t eat that part yet I’m putting it on my story,” Clarence snapped a Boomerang, “We can just ask Mel to take us in news.”

“News is so boring! I’m not a journalist. I’m too cute for that,” Andi smiled as Clarence took a pic of her for his story.

Their second class for the day was a would-be favorite of Andi. This was Dr. Librando’s class. Dr. Libbie went to the university around the same time as Miss K. Being more of an academic than a practitioner, everyone held a certain reverence for Dr. Libbie unlike the warm adoration the students had for Miss K. Dr. Libbie wore a strict ponytail and wore her chino pants like a second skin. Andi could not figure out if frowning was her resting face.

“Good afternoon.” Dr. Libbie said courtly. “So this is more of an academic class.  Midterm will be a paper and your finals will be an output. I planned about five homework and a couple quizzes along the way. Attendance is optional but you’ll miss out a lot if you don’t come so that’s up to you.”

“Almost everyone from Broadcasting is here,” Clarence remarked. “We should go talk to Benny after class.”

“So, welcome to Studies in Pop Culture. Perhaps the most interesting class in the new curriculum,” Dr. Libbie said striding along the platform like she was giving a TedTalk. “I want us to learn about the culture media creates. Because as media people, information is not the only thing we bring into the world. It is like nuclear reaction. Culture is a by-prodcut of media just like nuclear energy is a by-product of controlled atomic fission. The atoms in a block of Uranium eventually decay but the energy it creates is vast endless power. In the same way, the information, the story, we produce in our future lines of work eventually expire, but cultural impact remains.” The class was quiet, absorbing this.

Dr. Libbie continued, “Especially in this generation of screenstaring, pop culture is projected from our retinas to our personalities about 4 hours a day depending on how much you use your phone or your laptop. In this class, we are going to step back and understand why people, things, and phenomena become popular, how they stay popular, and how it reflects the present collective consciousness. If you are excited about that, unfortunately there’s no lecture for today. Just the syllabus. And I want to get to know everyone first.”

Everyone was excited. Dr. Libbie studied in New Media and Creative Communication in the University of Toronto after all. Since her return to the university, she had already achieved legendary status. After everyone’s introduction, Dr. Libbie discussed the syllabus. 

“So the midterm paper is by pairs and we could start anytime,” Andi told Clarence. “What topic do you want to do?”

“I have an idea,” Clarence said.

“Really?”

“Not on the paper. On how we could get on Benny’s team.”

Dr. Libbie’s discussion segued after a student asked about a recent article she wrote for Rappler during the break. There was a long discussion and Dr. Libbie used up most of her time. A lot of the class said they were Libbierals, her fans. 

“Fandom is one of our topics in class, you know,” Dr. Libbie said, “Which of you here are fans of something?”

Almost everyone raised their hand. Andi hesitated, but raised her hand as well.

“Great,” Dr. Libbie looked around, “That’s good to know. Let’s talk more about it as we continue because I’m out of time. Do you have class after this?”

Class dismissed and Andi and Clarence caught Benny on their way out. They were with a girl Andi had seen with them in the Broadcasting class with Miss K.

“Hey, Benny,” Clarence said nicely.

“What?” Benny squinted.

“So, Pop Culture class is like the coolest class this year, right? I stan Dr. Libbie.”

“Sure,” Benny said, “What’s your scheme?”

A throng of students were hurrying to the next class, but Andi and Clarence’s GE wasn’t until 4PM. There was pushing and Andi bumped against the girl which annoyed her.

“Fine, okay,” Clarence conceded, “Please let us join the Online Media group. Andi and I will help you for this class.”

“What makes you think I need help in this class?”

The girl with Benny gave an amused smile. Andi had seen her around campus. She was probably in the Communications department too but a different major.  She was a little shorter than Andi. First thing she had noticed was her watch. It looked expensive but everything else looked plain. Her hair was shoulder length and plain. Her bag was plain. So were her clothes and her shoes. 

“Andi and I have tons of ideas for the paper. There’s so many things about pop culture we can discuss, as participants of pop culture ourselves,” Clarence said boldly, “You’re a great writer but I’ve seen your work in PAPEL. The flavor…. well, there’s none!”

And now he overdid it, Andi thought.

“So this is your plan?” Benny looked annoyed now, “To join the group by bullying me? You guys are the worst.”

“He’s right though,” the plain girl finally spoke. “I’ve read your contribution in PAPEL. Clarence Salas, right? It was really interesting what you said about queer spaces having this sort of ageism but a lot of gay relationships have big age gaps…” Benny looked at her and she went quiet. The plain girl gave a little laugh. Andi looked at her again. She was a little familiar, but that’s probably because her face was quite common.

“Hiii queen,” Clarence said, relieved, “Exactly. So Andi and I were thinking. Let’s be a group, you know. We have some input that’s really valuable.”

“No,” Benny said.

“Fine,” Andi spoke up, “Then I hope you know Dr. Libbie fails half her class almost every year.”

“So you think I’ll fail?”

“No,” Andi c****d a shoulder, “I’m saying you want to be on the Dean’s List and Dr. Libbie has a certain taste. I’ve read all her work. She doesn’t want any boring concepts in her class like the Social Media, Gen Z, Self Expression, SOGIE, Identity Politics Buzzwords chenylyn you’re thinking up right now.”

Benny looked like Andi read his mind. Clarence continued her point, “The final output has to be unique too. Diane Guerrero from Film Makers created a local artist directory two years ago, and Set Desuga from DevComm had an exposé on social media marketing algorithms last year. Dr. Libbie expects that for the finals.”

Benny took some time to think. He looked at the plain girl. “Fine. There’s going to be a group meeting tonight at JJ’s. I’ll let you both in. But on certain conditions.”

“We’ll do anything,” Clarence said. 

“I pair up with Clarence,” Benny pointed, “I don’t want to be with Miss IG.”

“What?” Andi protested, “We said we’d help you.”

“No. Not just me. Andi helps Mona,” Benny pointed to the plain girl, “She’s been failing her classes lately so she really needs this one. If she pairs with you, she won’t just pass, she’ll be on the DL too.” Benny laughed and brushed them off the second time today. “OK. Bye! See you at the meeting. Don’t be late!” 

Andi and Clarence were lounging at their shaded spot near the quadrangle. Sometimes Andi wondered if they just sit there so people can watch them. Today she was wearing her Jacquemus-inspired top and the blue jeans (the same jeans from yesterday). Her shoes were vintage that she bought in Hong Kong back in summer break during a modelling job for a local brand. Andi had been modelling for about three years now. After her father died, her mother needed some help. Their junior modelling workshop had a scout and Andi emailed that scout with her headshots and some photos with Clarence’s help. She was then forwarded to a modelling agency who asked her to audition. Andi rode a bus to their company building and was chosen among thirty girls. She was in Grade 11 then but she knew what she had to do.

“This is the Mona girl’s IG,” Clarence offered his phone to Andi.

“How did you even find that?”

“I saw her tagged in one of Benny’s posts.”

“Does she look familiar to you?” 

“Yeah she does, actually,” Clarence said, “I think we see her around.”

“Must be a new account. She can’t have that few followers.”

“Her oldest post was from 2016. RIP to her dog.”

“Likes to take pictures of places. Do you think she actually shot this on film?”

“She really wants to sell that drone.”

“Selling for a friend daw.”

“Well,” Clarence said, “She’s probably okay. At least we’re getting in Benny’s team.”

At 7PM, Andi and Clarence arrived at JJ’s. It was the first day of the semester so not a lot of people were using the place to study. Benny and the girl Mona were already there laughing along with t****k Kai. 

“Wow bhie,” Clarence told Andi, “How much do we have to sacrifice for this group. Did you know Kai would be here?”

“Nope, but I’m happy he is,” Andi beamed. “Finally something good.”

Benny welcomed them, “Hello, Barbie and Ken.”

“Hiii,” said Clarence. “Bruh,” said Kai. He stood up, patted Clarence on the shoulder and shook Andi’s hand. Mona was seated far back into the café couch, manspreading, scrolling on her phone. The others arrived shortly after. Benny offered to buy everyone drinks.

“Okay, so a lot of us may already know each other, but I want us to introduce ourselves, just a couple things about us, and what we want our roles to be. Just to break the ice,” Benny said, “So, hi! I’m Benny, Ben. For the insensitive people here, my pronouns are they/them so please use them if and when you speak English. I’m a Communication Arts major and I want to be the overall head of production.”

Then Clarence who was sitting next to them, “Hiii, I’m Clarence. Nice to meet you all. I’m also a Communication Arts major. I run a online consigning and reselling shop for signature items called Whale’s Belly. If you guys want to consign anything just tell me, I’ll give you the shop number, but not my number it’s for cute people only. Charot! And I want to be on writing and editing.”

Then Andi, “I’m Andi. I’m Comm Arts like Benny and Clarence. And I also a run clothing line called LittleMatters. It’s @littlematters on i********:. I can show you guys later. Anyway, I would like to be the creative director.” The group gave polite laughter. Benny rolled their eyes.

“Hi everyone! I’m Star.” Star had long pink hair. She wore a lime green skirt that day. “I love KPop and anime. My pronouns are she/they. Please use it when you refer to me in English. I joined this group so I could hang out with Benny and Mona but I’m also interested in Online and New Media. I’ll do whatever, but I prefer editing and sound directing. Oh and I’m actually a Film major.” Andi liked Star immediately.

“Hello, I’m Gabbie.” Gabbie had an e-girl style. She had short hair and lots of piercings. “I’m also a Film major like Star. I joined this group because Benny asked me to. He said I should be in charge of camera so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Hi, guys. My name is Kai. I’m a Development Communication major. Yes, I’m on t****k. I like swimming and surfing and basically any water sport. I’d love to be on the editing team.” 

Andi thought Kai was handsome. Conventionally handsome but not necessarily in a mestizo Alden Richards way. Like the kind of guy you could bring to your family, but will also show you a good time. Like if Carlo Aquino and Joshua Garcia had a baby on a surfboard. Maybe that’s why Clarence hates him. Clarence is a snob.

“I’m Mona,” Mona sat herself comfortably. “I’m a Development Communication major. Honestly I don’t know the difference between CommArts and DevComm. I’m happy to be on this group because I don’t want to fail my subjects.” Mona was a little boring in an unpleasant way. It’s like she was trying to be boring on purpose. Something about her annoyed Andi, but she could not put a finger on it.

“Great,” Benny said, “Now that everyone knows each other, I think we should plan. According to Miss K, our midterm will be two months from now but we can start preparing. We need to scout an online event to cover starting now. I think Andi and Clarence should be on that given their backgrounds. And for our final, it’s pretty much an online broadcast, right? So we need to divide ourselves in preparation.” 

Everyone nodded. Benny continued, “Editing team will be Clarence and Kai.”

“Wait. Why?” Clarence asked.

“Because you guys are the best at editing from first year.”

“He is?” 

Kai replied, “Yeah I did some editing jobs here and there for our skate group. It got 50K views on Youtube.”

“Gabbie and Star are going to work closely with you guys since they have the equipment. As for content for the finals as well as the direction, Mona and Andi should work together.”

“Why?” Andi asked. She wanted to hang out with Gabbie and Star.

“Because Andi can do the directing and finding our concept, and I trust Mona on creating content. She’s DevComm’s best.”

“I thought you were failing,” Andi c****d a brow at plain girl.

“Grades are just numbers,” Mona said.

Andi had a feeling this was all Benny’s masterplan. Their shortlisting and research were worth nothing now because Benny’s a schemer too. The good thing is Benny knows Andi is good at what she does. Maybe she’d hate Benny less if they didn’t bring the little Mona friend. Mona would probably just follow with whatever Andi decides anyway. People tended to do that around her.

After the meeting, the group hung out a little more. Star and Gabbie confessed they follow Andi’s IG.

“I love your style,” Star squealed, “We should totally do a shoot to help your clothing line.”

“Really?” Andi said, “I would love to get you as a model. Ang ganda mo kaya. But we just launched. I would prefer if we did it once we come up with something new. Something for the summer.”

“A summer concept would be great,” Gabbie took a sip of her drink, “I think Star fits it. I know some people who would be great at modelling your clothes Andi.”

“What about you, Mona?” Andi asked a little sarcastically, “Do you want to model for LittleMatters?”

Mona scooted closer to their conversation. “Aren’t you just reselling though?”

The girls went quiet. The other conversation between Kai, Benny and Clarence stopped hearing them go quiet. 

“Yes,” Andi retaliated. “I have supplier.”

“Then it’s reselling,” Mona dismissed her. “Not really your original idea. Aren’t you aspiring to be a creative director?”

“Okay!” Benny chimed in. “Let’s pack it up, people. We were here for a meeting not to chat. Monamie, can you move your bike outside so I can move my car. Who wants a ride?”

“Me!” Star raised her manicured hand. “Me too,” Kai said. “The tea made me sleepy.”

“Okay but sa may dorm lang ha,” Benny said.

They left, leaving Andi and Clarence. 

“I f*****g hate her,” Andi said sipping on ice after telling Clarence what had happened.

“She had an honest question. Let’s cut her some slack.”

“Hell no,” Andi said, “I’m supposed to spend Pop Culture class with her. Ugh, whatever. I’ll deal with her. Let’s go home.”

Clarence dropped Andi home. He lived in the same village but two streets away. Andi went inside and into her room.

“Anak!” her mother called, “Have you had dinner?”

“Yup!” Andi said slamming her door close. Not now, Andi thought.

She took a shower and did her skincare. IG check. 29.4K followers. She always checks her social media before bed, but not too much. She believes that to perfect IG fame you should not always be present. Your online presence has to be a performance too.

Wait. What’s this? The Mona girl was now following her. There seems to be a message from her.  

"@mona98765: sup"

Oh f**k no. 

Andi ignored it. Opened Spotify, started a private session, and switched to podcasts. She wanted to come home early to listen to the new episode of her secret pleasure. The synth-pop music played.

V: Hello, everyone. It’s me V. 

Andi closed her eyes. 

V: Welcome to another episode of Crush Campus, an online radio for everyone to share their secrets.

V thanked her sponsors and people  who donated to the podcast.

Andi had slept late last night and forgot to wear a different bottom after a wild night of Discord discussion on the Crush Campus channel. Andi had been a fan of Crush Campus when she discovered it the summer before their second year had begun. 

V: Before we begin, let’s read our fan messages. Here’s one from @pinkisthewarmestcolor: “Dear V, thank you so much for Crush Campus!! Ever since guesting on the show and sharing my story, I have been able to get over my anxiety and put myself out there. I was on the June episode and right now, my girlfriend and I have been together for six weeks. Ure the best V. Love u!” 

V: Thank you so much. We are glad that you could get your story across and help everyone who had been afraid to put themselves out there.

Andi had stumbled upon Crush Campus while trying to find a sleep podcast. Finals had just finished for first year then and she had trouble getting her sleep schedule back. One of the suggested local podcast was Crush Campus. Andi was hooked immediately.

V: Here’s another one from @jisooswife: “Dear V, I want to guest on your show soon if my parents arent home. I want to share something that’s been going on with me that I cant talk to anyone about. I want to talk about my best friend. I hope I can guest soon. I love CC. Mwah xx” Hello, @jisooswife. Please contact the Virtual Campus email at virtualcampus88@g*******m so we can set up a possible schedule for your guesting. We would love to have you and share your story with us. 

On the first few episodes, Crush Campus had been about LGBT students who wanted to share their feelings for their crush. It was a little gossipy back then. They wrote letters to V and V would read those letters with emotion and empathy. 

Eventually, V’s letter-reading turned the show into something more. V begun giving advice like those newspaper columns, but her insight was never afraid to get political. Andi even compiled V’s rude moments in a thread in her fan account. Live commenting was active and V would read out some comments after like typical radio DJs do. 

Around episode 10, V started inviting her guests to tell their story firsthand but some episodes were still letter-reading. People seemed to enjoy hearing their stories and gossip through V’s voice. Andi loved it most of all. Lately though, it was less about their love lives and covered more on school life in general.

V: Today, I have special guest. This person is special because he’s a friend of mine. Let’s welcome Jason…. not his real name! 

Jason: Hi everyone. I’m Jason. So I want to talk about my college experience right now. Ever since I became famous on social media, it’s like harder for me to really be myself. I think some people who get famous might feel the same way. Lately in school, it’s been harder for me to make friends. I want to date soon. I wanted my school life to be good, right? Experience all that. I wanna meet someone I can trust.

V: Before that, Jason. May I ask how you became famous? May nagawa ka bang mali? 

Jason: Wala naman. Kumanta lang ako tapos nagviral. Now it’s like, I don’t know, I never really wanted it but here’s the thing. I can’t stop it. I just continued making all these videos na nagviral din. Ten thousand views lang tapos max na siguro mga 800K views. Tapos sa school ang raming girls nakikipagusap, nagchchat ganyan e di naman talaga ako leaning towards girls, Miss V, alam mo yan. Although I’m bi, I think I like boys more.

V: Yes. So okay. Goal mo ngayon is to find a guy to date, but there’s things in the way. Don’t you think quitting the fame will help remove these hurdles so that you can finally date?

A friend of V?! Andi thought, V has friends? Andi went to the Live Comments immediately.

“@khalbogo: FRIEND OF V???? ”

“@deritina19: so jealous of jason for knowing v’s identity ”

“@__babiiPH: V FACE REVEAL PLS ”

“@edythapusomo: ganda talaga ng boses ni v !! ma’am paampon”

“@satin999: sir jason kung mangugulo lang po kayo sa live ni ma’am v pwede na po kayo umalis di po namen kelangan ng epal”

“@tinaygwapahehe: KUYA JASON INTRODUCE NYO KAMI NI V PLS ”

“@baeyonce: hoy friend daw??? does this mean v is still in college? :O”

V is still in college, Andi thought. That’s crazy. Last night, in the Crush Campus Discord channel, the fans were discussing V’s identity. Some of the fans claimed V used to be a MYX VJ or a DJ for a local radio. Others claimed that V was a nobody. A popular claim was that V was just like them: a student who started a podcast for other students to share. Was V just reading the channel the whole time? Is that why she put her friend as guest? As a clue into her identity?

V: Thank you for sharing Jason. What do you guys think of Jason’s story? What advice do you guys have for him? Have any of you become viral or become popular and found yourself more disconnected to your peers? Alright let’s read the comments. Ang bilis n’yo na magcomment these days ha. Nakakahilo.

Okay here’s one from @haechancutie: “Some of my classmates don’t even know me!” Here’s the thing haechancutie, they’ll never know you if you don’t introduce yourself.

Jason: I’ll be your friend, haechancutie.

V: Here’s one from @violeteyes15: “Jason is V’s friend. Isn’t attention from other people not that important if you have a group of friends you can rely on?” Okay guys, the comments are going too fast. Just comments about Jason okay. Wala nang chismis.

Jason: I do have friends. Don’t get me wrong. I want to meet new people too. School life is boring when you don’t meet other people. It’s just that when I meet them, I feel like they’re not honest to me. Maybe I’m scared they won’t be good friends. Especially now, pano ako magkakajowa nito. 

V: Mahilig mag-overthink si Jason, guys, ano? Hahahaha! Keep those comments coming and we’ll pick ones we’re going to discuss after this song by Silogan called “Let’s Take This Slowly”. They will be performing at Miracle on February 2 with other bands like Jellyfizz, The Million Dollars, and Jerry&Gerry. Please check them out. Here is “Let’s Take This Slowly” by Silogan.

The song begins. Andi contemplates. Then begins to type.

V: And that was Silogan with their single, “Let’s Take This Slowly”. 

Jason: Here’s a comment I like, V. Read it.

V: Okay, here’s one from @etmoi: “Jason, I understand what you’re feeling too. I have friends but it feels lonely sometimes. You like that people like you, but you want someone to really know you even if it means they won’t like you at all.” 

Jason: That was short but she pretty much nailed it.

Their podcast continued. V continued to read comments. It was difficult for the viewers to empathize with Jason, but Andi understood. She wanted to know Jason. She could be his friend. And she could be closer to finding out who V is. 

Andi had never been a fan of anyone. She admired Beyoncé, she has fashion icons. But she’s never felt as fixated to anyone but the anonymous podcaster. She opened Twitter and switched to her fan account. 

“@jadine1225: did miss v read ur comment ? ”

“@edythapusomo: sana all etmoi”

Andi replied, “@at__ako: sana mapansin na ni miss v @crushcampuspodcast”

“@tinaygwapa111: so… miss v is a student confirmed??”

Andi replied, “@at__ako: we need more evidence. see u on the discord chat ❣️”

Crush Campus was her secret but Andi was not sure if she should be ashamed of it. It was a complete dork thing to do but honestly being dorky was never the issue. It was her desire to know who V was that made her feel that this was her secret. Since the first episode, she was itching to know who V was.

I should sleep early, Andi thought. IG Check. 29.4K followers. Let’s check the messages—

"@mona98765: sup"

UGH! What an irritating person. 

Andi wanted her final thoughts to be about V. Why Jason? V never had a friend guest before. It was the episode after the Discord channel were speculating about V’s identity too…. 

Andi could not help but wonder what it would be like to guest on the show. Would V care what she had to say? What would she even talk about?

Andi snapped out of it. Tomorrow she’s popular girl Andi again. This was just her hobby. V was merely a phantom she could pretend she knew and never meet. 

— END OF EPISODE 1—