The Moon

I did not waste a single second. I know people say it’s better to play hard to get but that’s the reason slow burn exists in the first place! That’s why I instantly replied to his message as if putting him in the read zone is the worst mistake I can do.

Me:
Happy new year! I hope yours will happen too ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧˚

Zy ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚:
Tmi but may mango float kaming natira

Now I’m craving that dessert, ba’t kasi puro grapes binili ni Mom. If she remembered to buy mangoes I would be feasting on it right now.

Me:
Really? Omg I want mango floatt
We don’t have any o(TヘTo)

Zy ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚:
Hindi pwede ‘yan! ヾ( ･'⌓´･)ﾉﾞ
I’ll bring some to you

My two consciousnesses are fighting like cats and dogs on what I should reply to him. The evil one is trying to whisper “reply okay” but the good one is heavily contradicting that suggestion. I mentally tossed a coin on who I should side with and it landed on heads—the good consciousness.

Me:
Noooo you don’t need to ⸨◺_◿⸩

Zy ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚:
Cute mo magalit
*Cute ng emoji magalit
Sorry, autocorrect (^ ^;)

Okay, I am not that dumb to believe that was autocorrect. Inaasar nanaman ako nito for sure.

Me:
Hehe it’s okayyy

It’s not!

Why is he always trying to tease me pati ba naman chat, I can’t escape his annoying antics. Though, I can’t deny I’m giggling over it… down bad, Mel. ‘Di pa nga ako nakakaalis sa ilalim ng lamesa eh. The reason? I don’t want my parents to see me act like a worm drowned in salt.

Zy ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚:

I really want that mango float. Should I just give in? It’s totally not because I want to see him, haha definitely not! I really want to eat such delicious delicacy that my hand unconsciously pressed the send button out of nowhere. Oh my gosh Mel, you silly little goose!

Me:
Okay fineee

Ang landi mo self.

Zy ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚:
Delivery’s on the way! ∠(^ー^)

Me:
Thank youuu!! (´つヮ⊂)

Suddenly, I’m running through a field of flowers under the sunny sky while the bird chirps lovingly. That's how happy I am right now. I’m so happy that for the first time I sent a chat to our gc without getting mentioned.

HUMANISTA NUMBA ONE
You + 19 others

Treasurer Mel:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

Emi:
HAPPY NEW YEAR EBRIWANN
OMG MEL FIRST KA NAGCHAT HAAA

Treasurer Mel:
I’m very very very happy ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )

Quatro:
Mas magiging masaya taon ko kung crinush back mo na ako Mel

Treasurer Mel:
Quatrooooo it’s already 2025
Let’s drop the acttt (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

VP Sia:
SAKET NUN LODS

Quatro:
if my "POOOOOO" turns to "oh"🥺💔
if my "BAKEETT?" turns to "y?"😭😞
if my "HAHAHA" turns to "haha."🤧😟
if my "HUWAGGG" turns to "ikaw bahala"☹️😰
if my "AYAW KOO" turns to "go/ge"🥺💔
if my "OKAYYYY" turns to "K"😭💔
Damn! it means I'm so tired😭💔🥺

Napatawa ako nang malakas sa message ni Quatro. Ang funny niya talaga, he’s that entertaining; He’s such a great person to be close with. In every lifetime, I would want Quatro to be my friend without failure.

York:
OA AMP

Pres AJ:
Awa na lang sa dignidad mo @Quatro

Quatro:
*slams u against the wall* fCk!! mahAl n mAhal kita bat mo nagawa yon?! *punches the wall*

P.O. Queenie:
I-kick niyo nga ‘to

Seth:
I volunteer

I keep holding back my laughter pero hindi ko din ito mapigilan dahil natawa nanaman ako sa kanya. Where does he even get those copypasta from? It’s so funny!

“Melvyn~ someone’s here for you!”

I raise the table cloth to take a peek only for Zy to be standing in front of the table, mouth agape shocked that I was under the table.

“You look like a mole,” He laughed.

“You look like umm… a kapre!” Nag-hesitate pa talaga.

“Whatever you say, Lasquite.”

Umirap ako at lumabas na sa ilalim ng lamesa. I stared him down (more like up, he’s too tall), hands crossed na para bang aawayin ko siya. I wasn’t going to fight Zy. I'm aware that I’ll lose in one snap.

“Here’s your delivery po,” He shook the bag he was holding. Like a cat I was mesmerized by the movement, I took it as quickly as I could, then opened it. Bungad ko ay isang malaking container ng mango float. He said that it was paubos na, ang sinungaling.

“Thank you so much!” I placed the bag on the table to take out the container. “Do you want to eat together?”

“Mhm, sure.”

He pulled the chair beside him, “For you.”

“Thank you,” I will actually explode. Self, kinikilig ka nanaman sa bare minimum. Pero kasi! I did not expect him to do that for me, okay? Let me have this.

Siya ang nag-open at kumuha ng mga plato para maka-kain kami. I was actually embarrassed by that since he’s a visitor and I should’ve been the one doing all the tasks yet he insisted that it was fine.

“It’s okay, Mel.”

I was going to express my gratitude when I realized all I’ve been replying to him is thank you. I need to start a new topic or I will continue to be the thank-you-robot instead of the yes-robot Krissia always called me back in junior high.

“I’ll cut the float for us!” ‘Di ko na hinintay ang sagot niya. He’ll probably offer to do it instead and I’m not going to be only saying thank you the whole time he’s here. Hahatiin ko na sana ng nakita ko ang notification sa aking phone.

Guess who’s laughing while holding a knife? Me.

Guess who looks like a villain trying to plot a devious plan? Also me.

Quatro:
it sobrang hurts 🔪💉 ang maglove 😍💔 ng like this 😖 kung sino 👱‍♂️ pang nichoose 👉👱‍♂️ ko i cant makuha 💫👎 ng whole 💔✨💔 hanggang like that 😭 na lang nga 👉👀 need ko 😪 tong i accept 🤝 na sa heart 💓 mo 👱🏻‍♂️ meron na ngang other 👩🏻 umaangkin ⛔ 😭😭

Quatro needs to stop being so funny. I’m trying to be a calm and collected person in front of Zy though I already know I failed when my hold on the knife loosened as I kept cackling maniacally at the copypasta.

Buti na lang at nasalo ni Zy ang kutsilyo gamit ang kaliwa niyang kamay. His other hand is placed on my shoulder, “Be careful.”

New years na nga talaga, there’s fireworks exploding inside of my head celebrating his voice, healing my damaged ears from the crusade of noise earlier. I thank his parents for being the reason such a human exists in this non-exciting universe. Pati ba naman boses, mala-audio book narrator—deep and soothing.

“Sorry,” Sabi ko habang tumatawa.

“What’s so funny, hmm?”

“Oh, wait let me show you!” Excited, I opened my phone and showed him the message while my eyes closed from giggling too much. Rather than hearing his heavenly laugh—there was silence which freaked me out.

I opened my eyes to see him staring blankly at my phone’s screen. Was my phone not open? I turn my phone to face me, nasa message naman ni Quatro? Oh, maybe he doesn’t find memes funny? That’s weird. I always hear him reference things with his friends once in a while.

“You don’t find it funny…?” I bit my lip in shame. How humiliating.

“No!” He looked panicked. “Nakakatawa, it’s just ang daming emojis ‘di lang nag settle in.”

It was obvious that he was faking a laugh nonetheless I smiled at his effort in trying to make me feel better.

“You can admit it’s not funny, Zy,” I took the knife out of his hand and cut two equal parts to put on our plate. “Remember what you said to me before?”

“You don’t need to force yourself.”

“Mel… I do find it funny, I didn’t laugh because…” Zy poked his inner cheek using his tongue, his eyes looking at the side—guilt all over it. There was some other emotion lying beneath that guilt. I can’t pinpoint what it is.

This is my problem with him, he wears his heart on his sleeve but it turns out that sleeve of his is most likely hiding something more significant to what he’s showing. It may be obvious to some, pero para sa akin hindi ko siya maintindihan.

“Because?”

“I’ll tell you next time,” He took a slice of his float and ate it. “Let’s eat.”

As soon as I ate a piece of the dessert, I instantly felt like I was floating by how delicious it was. Now I get why it’s called a mango float.

“Sarap?”

I nodded, taking another bite, “Who made this?”

“My mom, she’s great at making desserts.”

“I need to thank your mom personally! How is this better than every other mango float I’ve tried?” Sorry Mom, it’s the truth and I’m a well-known bad liar.

“There’s a secret ingredient that runs in the family,” I raised my brow while chewing on a lonesome mango that got separated from the graham.

“It’s a family secret for a reason,” He chuckled.

“Okay, gatekeeper,” I said, putting another slice in my mouth.

“Malalaman mo din soon,” Zy winked at muntikan na ako mabulunan however I kept my calm. Kunwari ‘di affected.

“What do you mean by that?”

“So, what’s your new year’s resolution?” He questioned.

“You’re changing the topic!”

“We can’t continue that topic, Mel,” ‘Yan nanaman siya sa which-emotion-am-I stare niya! Ano ‘to guessing game? To distract me, I cut up another slice and ate it in one biteI know I’m not eating pretty and he’s most definitely getting the ick right now. The thing is, my give a damn is at zero percent right now.

“Why?” That sounded too desperate for someone who’s claiming that their give a damns are nonexistent.

Imbes na sagutin niya ako, he wiped something off the side of my lips with his thumb. I was already internally malfunctioning when he did that but to add fuel to the already burning fire in my head he licked his thumb.

Licked.

LICKED.

This is my “Oh.” moment, not the usual ones you see in a really good written fanfiction as it is not the word Oh and italicized. I feel like it’s in bold and capital letters, nonetheless I’ll take what I can get in these trying times.

“Sorry, there was cream,” Cream? That rhymes with scream! Which I’m doing as of this moment. Inside of my head, of course or he’ll actually get the ick.

“Thank you,” I’m not even sure if that was the appropriate response.

“You’re welcome,” He cleanly polished off his plate. “Are you not going to answer my question?”

“Oh, the new year’s resolution?”

“Mhm,” Sana ma-misdirect ang fireworks at mapunta sa akin para matapos na ang lahat. Okay, that’s dramatic. Mel, relax he’s just humming in a very very very attractive voice. Nothing serious.

“Well, I want to be more confident,” Alangan sasabihin ko sa kanya na ang new year’s resolution ko is to be in a romantic relationship with him. That’s absolute loser behavior—katangahan na ‘yun.

“That’s a good resolution.”

“How about yours?”

He grinned stealing one of the mangoes on my plate. There’s literally a whole container of mangoes in front of him!

“Mine’s a bit out there,” He started off.

“To be in a serious relationship.”

Here’s my dilemma: my brain is deciding whether it should celebrate that he wants to have a relationship coincidentally where my new year’s resolution is pursuing him, or be in distraught because he wants to be in a relationship and the possibility of that partner being me is near impossible. Please brain be the former, repeat till true.

“I’m curious why?”

“Why are you curious?”

“Don’t you dare answer my question with another question,” If only I can wipe his stupid handsome dimpled-smile off his face.

“I’m joking, gusto ko lang i-pursue ang nagugustuhan ko,” He was laid back on the seat, his eyes glued onto my face.

“She literally rejected you,” I adjusted my seat so I would be facing him. “Publically.”

“Move on, Mel,” That stung para kasing sinasabi niya na mag move on ako sa kanya. Bad news flash, I can’t.

“I’m not the one who did a public confession.”

“Okay, okay, I know that was embarrassing, I get it.”

“Anyways, hindi si Aizhy ang tinutukoy ko,” Ang bilis naman niya makahanap ng bagong crush. He sat up straight to face me, his head tilted.

“Do you have any guesses?” Earlier I said, this wasn’t a guessing game. Somehow, I can see a pop up tab appearing in front of me with the words, “Press start; Difficulty: Hard.”

How am I going to guess who he likes?

“April.”

“No,” Napailing siya. “I rejected her.”

Oh yeah, I forgot about that even though that was their table’s topic at the twin’s debut.

“Gigi?”

“Not a chance.”

“Sera, she’s always with you!” Napatayo ako na para bang nanalo ako ng lotto. I was also pointing at him like I caught him red-handed.

Zy played with my hand that was pointing at him, “Not Sera.”

I sat down in defeat, his hand still holding mine.

“Fae?” That was my last guess yet he shook his head while tracing the ridges of my palm. I’m a ticklish person so I tried my best not to flinch at his soft touch.

“Then who?”

“I said guess,” Then he wrote a number on my palm. “Clue.”

“One?” I watch his fingers write the number repeatedly on my palm.

“Is she from section 1?” Zy nodded. He changed from writing to massaging my hands.

“STEM?”

“Nope,” He popped the p as he normally does.

“ABM?” Their buildings are right next to each other. The chances of his crush being there is high.

“No,” Or not as high as I thought it was.

“TVL?” Is it obvious that I’m ignoring the HUMSS strand?

“Very far off from the building of my crush’s strand,” Let’s also have our own little guessing game. Guess which building is the farthest from TVL?

“HUMSS.”

“Bingo! Do you want a price?” He teasingly looked at me, still holding my hands.

“She’s my classmate?”

“Yeah, in your class,” Binitawan niya na ang kamay ko and went back to his laid back position from earlier.

“And it’s not Aizhy?” He confirmed it with a subtle nod.

Zy stopped me from speaking any further, “Before you guess, tanggalin mo si Krissia sa mga options. I know she likes girls.”

“Well, I think everyone in our batch knows,” He laughed at my statement. I scratched my head, deep in thought.

“Mayi?”

“I rejected her twin, what makes you think I would like her.”

“She has a different personality,” I argued.

“And she has a boyfriend,” He snickered. “If you remember all the details of my public confession. Why do you think I easily accepted Aizhy’s rejection?”

Oh, it’s because he actually thinks she’s dating Karl. At least he knows boundaries even if the so-called boundaries are fake.

Who is from HUMSS 1 and has interacted with Zy before? I snapped my fingers, “Lou, she was in the spin the bottle game you could’ve fallen for her politeness.”

“Nice reason but no, it isn’t her.”

“Candy, didn’t she give you cookies?” His smile widened. Don’t tell me it’s seriously Candy. Not that I’m jealous, Candy's cookies are really good and I can’t blame the guy for liking someone who’s as talented as her.

Even her name screams the main character of a romance novel just like Aizhy. Sandale, are his type people with Wattpad-sounding names? Her whole name is literally Sweet Candice Hermosa which describes her perfectly because she’s the sweetest person on Earth!

Is my name main character energy? I have a really weird-sounding surname so baka hindi. Ugh! Bakit kasi Lasquite surname ni Dad; my mom’s surname is not any better. She's common-ordinary Salvia Smith.

“No, pero masarap mga cookies niya,” Cold water drenched me. I need to stop overthinking.

“Calli?”

“Gigi will kill me,” I snorted at his comment which made him laugh, knee-slapping and all.

“Stop laughing!” I uttered while laughing. You are such a hypocrite, Mel.

Zy attempted to hold back his laughter although some of his giggles would slip through his mouth despite his efforts. I decided to ignore his bright laugh to make another guess.

“Is it Emi?”

Another incorrect buzzer chimed when he said, “She’s not the one.”

“Okay you know what speed round, I’ll tell everyone’s name.”

“Queenie.”

“No,” I honestly want to rip my hair out.

“Halo.”

“No but I like the band she’s in,” He drank the cup of juice my Dad quietly placed down. “You know Amaranthine? They have cool covers.”

“So it’s Jules, they're in the same band!” I know that was an insane jumping of conclusions. Don’t judge me.

“Hmm, makes sense pero…”

“It’s a no?” I asked, defeated.

“Mhm.”

Mas nilaliman ko ang aking pagiisip ngunit napagtanto ko na… “Wait, that’s everyone!”

“Is it really everyone?” My head was spinning, the only ones left were the boys. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my actual gosh.

Screw when I said I had my “Oh.” moment earlier; this was the real “Oh.” moment.

“Zy, is it a guy?” I was secretly crossing my fingers while the inside of my head was a simultaneous play of a parade and a massacre. Am I mentally sound? The only sound in my brain is a chorus of “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” and “PLEASEEEEE!”

You can decide if that’s normal or not.

“You really deserve a price, Mel.”

I almost shouted, “Thank you, Grapes!” like they were the reason he also liked men. Aizhy was right, my gaydar does not work. How come I did not realize that? Oh my gosh, birds of the feather really flock together. I also did not think Matt liked men.

I am definitely going to observe their friend group even more now.

“Can I take a guess?”

“Sadly, Mel. Your time is up,” This game’s difficulty is indeed hard.

“Come on, that’s unfair,” I sunk onto my seat, childishly sulking.

“If you guessed it correctly…” He said something else however it was so low I could not comprehend it. Something like condense? Consequence? Conceal? Con…something. I give up.

“Fine, you can escape this one,” I huffed, crossing my arms. “I’m still getting that price! You said I deserved it.”

“I actually already have your price on the bag,” Oh yeah, there was another container. Kinuha ko ang bag at binuksan ito. “It’s a mini cooler!”

“Open it,” I did what he said and was greeted by a bunch of vanilla-flavored cornetto. My jaw dropped, there’s so many. Alam kong kapitbahay niya lang sila Aling Babe pero inubos niya ba ang stock of vanilla cornetto?

“Zy, thank you so much!” I placed the cooler on the table. “Can I hug you?”

Zy eyes brightened, “Of course.”

Kaagad ko siyang niyakap at dahil nakaupo siya, I was technically hugging his shoulders. Zy, being the great person he is, hugged me back encircling my waist. Hinigpitan niya ang kanyang yakap, placing his forehead on my chest.

I could feel him chuckle, “Do you like it?”

“Yes!” I changed from hugging him to placing my hands on his shoulder so I could get a better view of him. Siya din ay nagiba ng position, his face was not hidden anymore. Zy was dreamily staring at me.

Not only that, he's hugging my waist. I blushed at the sight, “Why did you buy so many?”

“So you don’t need to struggle finding cringey pick up lines,” I laughed loudly.

“Let me see those pick up lines,” I turn to get the cooler. Yes, he’s still holding my waist even when I try to shake it off. He only let go when I sat down since he couldn’t reach me without twisting his arms.

I randomly picked a cone, “This better be good.”

“Hand picked by yours truly,” He opened his arms as if he was a showman presenting his act.

“Araw ka ba?” I read out loud.

“Bakit?”

I smiled when he responded, “Ang