Forewords | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Nakatulog na ako't lahat-lahat pero hindi pa rin ako maka move on from the 5th floor incident. Whenever I thought that he already knew my name, and that we were already Facebook friends, and that HE was the one who added ME as a friend, butterflies would erupt in a frenzy inside my stomach.

"Nagde-daydream ka na naman. Mag aral ka na. Final long quiz na natin to kay Ma'am Thesis 2 ngayong midterm," Kyla scolded. Ma'am Thesis 2? Hindi pa rin kilala ni Kyla ang mga Professors namin. Mangangalahati na itong semester, subject pa rin ang tawag niya sa kanila.

"Tapos na akong mag aral kagabi," I informed her. I did. Hindi ko ugaling mag cram sa pag-aaral. May scholarship akong mini-maintain. If I flunk, I wouldn't know how to face myself in the mirror again. And besides, my mom was expecting me to graduate next year. I couldn't let her down.

"Iba ka girl. Ginagalingan mo masyado," she said, then continued poring over her lecture notes.

Malay mo naman kasi. Baka sa pamamagitan ng scholarly grades ko, mapansin ako ni Justice. I giggled silently but stopped immediately when I realized what I was thinking. What the heck Daniella? Baka ma-mental block ka sa exam!

A few minutes passed and our professor arrived. The exam was easy, probably because I had studied everything. Ako yung taong may feel sa lalabas sa test paper. Kyla envied that about me and she would ask me what I studied for so that she would study them also herself. Lahat naman inaaral ko. I just doubled my efforts on topics which I think na lalabas sa exam. And I was almost always right.

After the test, we met with Karl at our org's office since may 30 minutes pa naman kami before our next period. Schedule ngayon na simulan ang paglalagay ng donation cans sa mga offices and locations na sa tingin namin ay maraming taong pumupunta at magdodonate.

Holding a bag full of donation cans, I walked silently between Karl and Kyla, the latter ranting about the unfairness of the exam we had had.

"Bakit ba gano'n yung mga tanong dun? Alam mo yung five items lang sa inaral mo yung lumabas sa exam?" she sighed heavily.

"Hindi mo ba inaral yung topics na pinoint out ko sa'yo?" I asked.

"Hindi eh. Sobrang traffic kasi so when I got home, I immediately fell asleep. I was about to study pero hindi ko na kinaya ang antok," Kyla explained.

Karl nodded. He wasn't in our class but he understood Kyla perfectly. Tamad kasi siyang mag-aral. Pero ang alam ko, may honors itong si Karl nung High School siya. Ewan ko ba kung saan napunta yung sipag niya sa pag-aaral.

"And I couldn't open the cheat notes you threw at me!" Kyla hissed, leaning towards us. "That old bat kept on prowling all around us. I swear may mata siya sa likod," she added conspiratorially, referring to our thesis professor.

I laughed at her assumptions. Sobrang passionate ni Kyla sa mga observations niya.

"Anyway, enough. I don't want to talk about that shitty exam. I'm gonna have a mental breakdown!" she said, flipping her long hair behind her shoulder.

"So kumusta naman ang convo natin with your new Fb friend?" Kyla asked, her brows wiggling with mischief.

Karl snorted audibly. I ignored him.

"What? We're just friends on Fb. It doesn't mean anything serious," I said, feigning indifference, although inside, tumataas na ang heart rate ko!

"Doesn't it?" she asked, raising a brow at me. "Alam mo bang hindi nang-aadd ng friends si Justice basta-basta. He only has like 500+ Fb friends."

"So? Ikaw nga 90% sa 5000 friends mo hindi mo kilala," I pointed out, and then immediately regretted how wrong it sounded. Asan logic mo Daniella?

"That's the point. Konti lang friends niya, unlike me. So what's the deal? How's the convo? Spill already!" she tickled my side.

"There's nothing to spill! No convo, alright? Friends lang naman kami sa Fb. It's not like we're friends in real life," I muttered, the last part sounding like a grudge. I didn't intend to. It just slipped.

"Have you seen his new Fb status?" Kyla asked.

I shook my head. I didn't really look at his profile after I had accepted his request for fear that my heart would burst out of its rib cage. Besides, I needed all the concentration I could get kasi kailangan kong mag-aral last night. And Justice is such a big, delicious distraction.

Wait. Where did that adjective come from?

Kadiri ka Daniella!

"After nung 'Danielle Mendoza and River Nomad are now friends' na nakita ko sa newsfeed ko, I looked at his Facebook timeline. And guess what he just posted?" Kyla asked, pausing creatively for some effect she wanted to elicit from me. I deadpanned at her.

She rolled her eyes at me, "River Nomad is feeling positive. Yun yung update niya."

"Eh ano naman? May new game kasi sila ulit next month kaya baka yun ang feeling positive na tinutukoy niya," Karl said, breaking his silence. Sinakyan ko naman yung comment niya.

"Maybe he's talking about something else entirely," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Ang nega niyong dalawa. Magsama nga kayo!" Kyla said.

"Fine by me," Karl said sabay akbay sa akin. It had become his habit recently.

"Okay back to our mission. Nalagyan na nung iba nating orgmates yung admin office, cashier, and school canteen. School clinic na lang and varsity lounge. Si Kyla na sa varsity lounge. Canteen na lang ako para makabalik tayo agad. 15 minutes na lang before yung next subject natin," I explained.

"You know what, if I don't know you well enough to count the pimples in your chin, I would believe you," Kyla said flippantly. I frowned at her.

"Wala akong pimples sa chin ah!"

"Exactly girl. That's why it's easy to count," she smiled sweetly at me. "Iniiwasan mo pumunta dun kasi baka makasalubong mo yung dalawang varsities."

"And since I also know you better than our teacher knows your grades, alam kong gusto mong makita si number 29," I retorted back.

She laughed at me. Sometimes I wish I was as carefree and as confident as Kyla.

"Ikaw rin naman gusto mong makita si number 10 kaya magsama na lang tayo," she declared, wrapping her arm around mine, dislodging Karl's arm in the process. Ibinigay ni Kyla kay Karl yung bag ng donation cans. Karl scowled in response but took the bag all the same.

"Malelate tayo," I warned her.

"Hindi. Wag kang OA."

When we arrived at the varsity lounge, it was empty. I sighed in relief. We put the donation can in the table located at the corner of the varsity lounge. A poster of the International Humanitarian Law caught my eyes.

We celebrate the International Humanitarian Law every August. Usually may mga posters, talks and film showing kami na ginagawa to raise the awareness of everyone about it.

I went over and inayos ko ang pagkaka-pin ng poster sa cork board. Then something else caught my eyes.

"Uy ano yan?" Kyla asked, coming over to my side. "Varsity victory night? Two weeks from now 'to besh! Team natin ang champion sa men's volleyball! I'm sure Justice will invite you," Kyla asserted.

I gave her a weird look.

"Ano ka ba? Baka may makarinig sa'yo! He will not invite me there, alright? There are lots of gorgeous girls in the women's volleyball team. And nandun pa yung pep. I'm sure he already forgot about me," I said, an edge in my voice.

"Selos ka besh?" she asked.

"What right do I have to be?" I asked, more to myself than to her.

In truth hindi naman sa nagseselos ako. Naiinggit lang ako because they could be close friends with Justice while I would forever remain in the background, someone who would only be called when needed and forgotten when everything is okay.

Wait. Did I just...?

"Drama mo girl," Kyla voiced out what I had in mind. "Masyado kang insecure. Ang ganda mo kaya! Mukha ka ngang hindi Pilipino eh."

"Tama na yan kayong dalawa. Five minutes na lang next period niyo na," Karl's voice brought us back to reality. Ano ba ang nakain nito at ang suplado these past few days?

When we returned to the classroom, Pres approached me. He handed me a letter.

"Ito na yung final date ng celebration ng International Humanitarian Law. Paki-file na lang. Thank you," Pres said. I looked at the letter and I realized na same ang date nila nung varsity night.

So what? You're not attending that party so there's no problem here.

No problem.

None at all.

After our class, pumunta ako sa org office. I filed the letter and the printed minutes of our last meeting accordingly. I was about to leave when I noticed a donation can sitting in one of the tables near the door. Nilapitan ko ito and I saw a note.

Elle,

Keep smiling. It brightens someone's day.

My heart is racing. I looked around frantically, searching for a sign kung sino man ang nag iwan ng note but I didn't see anyone. I picked up the donation can. It was labeled varsity lounge and punong puno siya ng pera. How did that happen? Kakalagay lang namin nito kanina. It had only been half a day since.

Elle...

Walang ibang may pangalang Elle dito sa org namin maliban sa'kin since Danielle is my name. Who could this be? Could it be Justice? The possibility awakened the butterflies in my stomach. Pero impossible ata. Number 29? Bakit niya naman gagawin yun?

But then again, no one ever called me Elle before. So baka hindi ito addressed sa'kin.

I decided to go to the varsity lounge to replace the full donation can with an empty one. When I opened the door to the varsity lounge, I bumped into someone. Nabitawan yung bag ko and yung donation can. I muttered an apology without even looking at who I bumped into, I picked the donation can from the floor bago pa ito gumulong palayo.

"Oh my God I'm sorry! Oh hey Danielle, it's you. Are you okay?" a voice called. I reached out for my bag pero naunahan ako ng nakabungguan ko.

I looked up and found myself facing him. Justice. Napapadalas ata encounter namin nitong hustisya ng buhay ko. Baka hindi kayanin nitong puso ko. Ilan na kaya ang BP ko?

"Oh hi! It's okay. I'm fine," I said breathlessly. Bakit parang masyado atang matinis ang boses ko?

"I'm sorry I wasn't looking. Here," he said, sabay abot sa akin ng bag ko.

"Thanks. Don't worry about it," I replied.

"Yeah well, thanks for agreeing to be my friend."

I stared at him blankly. What? Friend?

"On Facebook?" he said tentatively, as though worried I had forgotten.

Realization dawned on me. "Oh right! Yeah. No problem. Sure," I said. I felt so stupid. Why was I spouting one-syllable words? And all this time I believed na matalino ako kahit papaano.

Justice smiled at me. I could't help but stare at him. "See you," he waved before turning his back to me and walked towards his car.

I watched his retreating back. He looked so manly, so refined, so out of my reach. I sighed. Bakit ba umaasa pa rin ako? Kahit anong pilit kong i-deny na may gusto ako sa kanya, I knew that he was still in my dreams.

With a heavy sigh, I shook my head to clear my mind at saka pumasok sa loob ng lounge. I put the donation can in the same table where we put the other one this morning. Kumuha ako ng marker and wrote the label varsity lounge. Satisfied, I put my marker back inside my backpack. I got ready to leave when I heard voices.

"But why Kirby? Why don't you wanna attend the party?" asked a frustrated feminine voice.

"Stop it France," a resigned voice answered.

Hindi ko napigilan ang sarili ko. I inched closer to where the voices were coming from. Kirby? May ibang Kirby pa ba dito aside from Number 29?

"Make me understand," she urged.

"I don't wanna talk about it right now."

I reached a corner and took a peak. They were talking beside a set of lockers. Number 29 was slumped in a bench, a towel around his neck. The girl was standing over him, hands on her hips. Siya siguro ang girlfriend ni number 29. Ang ganda niya matched with a porcelain skin and shiny long hair. And she had the curves to boast.

Bagay sila. A thought crossed my mind.

"But we need to," the girl said persistently.

Number 29 sighed heavily in frustration. He looked at her, his gaze burning, "Look, I'm nobody, okay? I'm no one!"

"What are you talking about? You were the MVP! You are the team captain!"

"I was the MVP! Was! Now I'm some wimpy kid!" he said in disgust. He looked away from her, as though ashamed.

"No it's not true Kirby!" the girl urged him and tried to touch him but he shrugged off her hand.

"You don't understand. And you wouldn't. Palibhasa wala kang alam sa sports. Palibhasa you don't really pay attention to me. You just pay attention to my achievements but you're blind to my weaknesses." the accusation was sharp in the tone of his voice.

"How dare you say that to me! After everything I've done for you? Fine! You know what? Just talk to me when you're done with your self pity. I have no time for this!" the girl declared scathingly. She picked her handbag and turned to go.

I had a split second to hide my fat ass from her view as she exited the lounge. I watched as she went inside her car and drove off.

Nang nakaalis na siya, saka ko lang narealize that I was holding my breath. Sobrang tahimik. My heartbeat was audible against my ears. I took three deep breaths to calm myself and stepped out of my hiding place, only to find myself face to face with him.

Number 29.

And I didn't know how to answer his piercing gaze.