ni Matt ko,” Kirby dreamily sighed. Ang cute talaga nila, as others would say sana all.

“Matt ‘ko’!? Edi kayo na!” Emi acted as if she was going to choke herself prompting us to laugh.

“Hoy, topic ka d’un par!” Kai cooed, nudging the blushing Matteo. He waved his hands to Kirby who shyly reciprocated the action.

Matt quickly walked towards Kirby ignoring the hollering of his friends.

“Wanna get dessert?” Kirby eagerly nodded. Both of them walked away, holding hands. Sila Emi at Aizhy ay malapit na magsakalan sa inggit. Habang ang iba ay kinilig sa nangyari. They’re courtmanship goals for sure.

“Gan’un din sana kayo Zy kung ‘di ka du-”

“Tumahimik ka nga diyan Kaizer,” Despite his shining smile, you can hear the irritation in his tone. Kai held his hands up sporting a goofy grin and Luke, their friend who was being quiet the whole conversation, pulled Kai’s hands down, glaring at him.

“Paano siya naging duwag kung nag public confession siya,” Bulong ni Krissia sa akin.

“Not sure, I think his stunt was pretty brave,” I whispered back. I could see her physically cringe from remembering the scene.

“Tangina ayaw ko talaga ng public confessions,” Her voice was a bit too loud. Paano ko alam? Because everyone at the other table faced us.

“Me too,” I said in an almost whispering manner.

Kai, along with JC, burst out laughing, accompanied by a few slow claps and occasional pointing at Zy who continued to eat with red ears.

“Mag re-confess ka bro,” JC was dying out of laughter, he was so close to falling off his seat. Good thing Luke was there to catch him. I get why he’s called the Silent Killer, sa totoo lang, I think he should be retitled the Silent Hero. I saw him save two of his friends a few minutes apart.

“I will,” Zy drank out of his glass. “I’m going to do it right this time.”

Two words made me sit still, was he going to confess again? Didn’t he get rejected and he responded that he understood or did I hallucinate the rejection part as a way to cope? No, naaalala ko na sinabi ni Aizhy na boyfriend niya si Karl. Then he was like, okay! Ngayong iniisip ko siya, he acted pretty normal after that.

There was no looking longingly for Aizhy, unlike Krissia who’s stealing desperate glances at her as of this moment. A normal reaction to being rejected by your crush by the way, that does not mean a quick acceptance is not normal.

But he accepted it too quickly. I didn't even hear Aizhy’s name out of his mouth when I accidentally eavesdropped on his friend’s conversations. Hindi ko kasalanan na malakas ang mga boses nila pero baka tinatago niya lang? There are people who are good at keeping to themselves… Can I say that about Zy though? I do not know him. Though, his body language is obvious to some extent.

The quote “a person who wears their heart on their sleeves” defines Zy. It could be because that’s my expectation of him, an unrealistic version where I know how he acts when in actuality, it’s the opposite.

I do not know anything about Apollo Zyle Sanvictores. Yes, I know his full name, his strand and section, his varying titles, his friend group, and his golden smile. ‘Yun lang, wala akong alam sa totoo niyang pagkakatao. Masakit man sabihin, it's been five years since I liked him and our interactions were only in passing.

Yes, there was a time where we had a laugh in the sari-sari store at baka siya nga ang nagbigay ng ice cream sa akin during recess. But those two interactions had something in common, driven by Cornetto, not me. I did not initiate anything, if I was not getting Cornetto, would he even talk to me? Chances are no, he wouldn’t.

Iniba ko na lang ang aking tingin, wishing that my ears would not function like it did earlier. Then that’s where I saw the rose again, laying in front of me in all its glory.

Purple rose. Love at first sight.

“Quatro, what are the other meanings of roses?”

He stopped eating to glance at me, “Orange roses, friendship. Pink roses, tender love. Red roses, passionate romance.”

“The most interesting for me are blue roses,” He drifted his eyes below. “It means unrequited love.”

Even if I want my relationship to be symbolized by red roses. I would not be as confident as the person who gave me purple roses—I wouldn't give Zy either a purple or red rose.

Befitting my name Hyacinthus, a violet-colored flower. I would give Apollo Zyle Sanvictores a blue rose because Edmund Spense was right. Violets are indeed blue.