"He made sure that I wouldn't feel that I was pushed aside."
17 year-old Steph Ayson, AJ Perez's non-showbiz girlfriend, made this statement during her first media interview wherein she talked about her fond memories of her deceased boyfriend and how she took it when she first heard the news that he was killed in a car accident in Tarlac.
Steph told ABS-CBN News that having a celebrity boyfriend was never easy.
"There've been quite a number of complications regarding privacy, with regard to our relationship, but the good thing about AJ is that even though we kept it in the quiet, he made sure that I wouldn't feel that I was pushed aside or whatever," she told ABS-CBN News.
"He really made me feel special in every way that he could, even his friends, [by] constantly texting me," she added.
When asked what she liked most about AJ, she said: "I liked his optimism and capability to make people feel optimistic just as he is. And he's just very inspiring and sobrang determined niya."
Holding back tears, Steph said she will miss AJ now that he is gone.
"I'll just miss the way he calls me every time may break sa taping. Sobrang kulit kasi niya, kahit text or call, or pati sa buong family ko," she said. "I'll miss of course having him around and I miss someone constantly bugging me to be okay."
Steph admitted that moving on may take a while "but I know with God's help and AJ's help, I'll be fine."
On Sunday, the 18-year-old AJ Perez was killed in a vehicular accident in Tarlac highway after doing a show in Dagupan.
AJ was with his father Gerardo Perez and 4 others when the ABS-CBN van carrying them collided with a Partas provincial passenger bus along McArthur Highway in Barangay San Julian.
Steph learned about Perez's death through his dad, Gerardo.
"At first, I couldn't believe it until I saw AJ. Tito Gerry (AJ's father) was the one who called me. When he was telling me, it was hard for me to grasp the idea, so my sister had to call Tito Gerry again and asked and confirmed what happened," she said.
Steph Ayson's twitter account was recently opened to the public to "share the AJ I know with everyone. I've always been his fan since I was in grade school, too."
- Source
