August was the time she started liking him. September, October, November and December have passed and her feeling just kept on growing and growing. She’d see him everyday in class and even during their break when everyone would spit into their respective groups, he’d always manage to be where she is. She never really talked to him. She couldn’t. Even when she had the opportunity to, she still couldn’t. She never found anything to talk to him about. He plays basketball, she doesn’t. She never really liked basketball, even thought she joined their school’s varsity when she was in elementary. She tries though. Countless times. Often times they would be outside the classroom when their professor wasn’t around yet. But she’d just sit there, either listening to music or texting her best friend.

January came and it was a new term. And although the previous term had ended in December, her feeling for him stayed the same. During this term they didn’t have any more classes together, but she’d still often see him. Every Tuesday, she’d get to school at around 5:45am, because her brother had to get to the office early. She would sit on the chair near the electrical socket and connect to the school’s Wi-Fi, and when the clock strikes 6am, he’d walk by rubbing his eyes awake, his bed hair obviously not brushed, in his jersey and shorts. She’d call him by saying a soft, “pst”, and he’d look her way. It started out with a simple smile, then came the wave of the hand. They’d do this every Tuesday, until one Tuesday when she called him, he went up to her and they touched cheeks together.

The touching of the cheeks is a Filipino custom....

TO BE CONTINUED