Chapter Text
It's the last day of Senior Highschool. Now they sit beneath the trees surrounding the soccer field of their alma mater after having spent the past two hours walking around the campus grounds for the last time as students after their graduation practice.
It's the quietest they've ever heard this place be, a blessing; As if the grounds they've spent their entire lives in are bidding them a final farewell as too.
Raissa and Jo have spent thirty minutes in the shade, sitting still and sitting quietly as they let everything sink in.
It doesn't last forever though, because Jo has always been ruled by impulse and today is no different despite the fact that this chapter of lives are about to close three days from now.
She leans down, pressing her lips against the forehead of the girl laying her head on her lap. Raissa giggles, caught off guard by the sudden and unbidden affection she's recieving.
"What was that for?!"
"... Wala lang."
Jo shrugs her shoulders and receives a scoff as well as a roll of eyes in return, then the flick upon her own forehead follows before Raissa is laughing so carefree that her eyes are scrunched closed.
It's the most beautiful sight she's ever seen, and its visage knocks the wind out of her lungs all at once as if she was punched.
"Lakas ng trip mo."
Raissa's other hand remain locked in hers despite the teasing, and if Jo isn't imagining things- The taller girl's hold even feels tighter than it was before her lips pressed against Raissa's forehead.
She shakes her head in amusement at the thought, tells herself that she's just imagining things.
"I just thought it'd be funny to do that, like those magjowa na lagi na lang magkadikit? Jusko po, eugh."
Raissa laughs, a high pitched and breathy sound that after all these years still makes Jo feel like she's realising what joy feels like for the very first time.
"Eugh. I don't ever want to think of myself being with a man, they're all too dumb for me. If I ever start pining for one, promise me you'll call the cops? Cuz that would be an imposter."
"I dunno Raissa, what if.... RJ from Nine-Edison is actually your future husband? Yieeeeeee- ARAY!"
"Punyeta ka Jo, kadiri!"
The pain on her shin from Raissa's sudden slap has all but immediately disappeared as Jo throws herself on her back to laugh freely at the absolutely disgusted expression on her friend's face.
She laughs and laughs and laughs until her sides hurt while Raissa sits across her with a frown, her spine straight as she does her best to appear stoick with her arms crossed and her brows furrowed. The facade breaks slowly but surely, and soon the long haired girl is shaking her head with a soft smile before she lies back down on Jo.
Raissa intertwines their fingers again, the teasing and the disgust all but forgotten as she takes in a satisfied breath as she looks back up at the green canopies shading them from the unforgiving rays of the Philippine sun.
"No one else could compete anyway, they'd try to learn who I am by starting with something stupid like What's your favourite color?"
Raissa shudders at the thought, and Jo only shakes her head with humor at her friend's impatience and utter unwillingness to deal with pointless conversations.
"How else would they get to know you if they don't pester you with questions?"
The open softness in Raissa's eyes catch her off-guard. The taller girl answers her question without missing a beat.
"You never had to ask me anything. You just paid attention and learned."
Jo doesn't know what to say to that. Looking back at her memories and realising that despite being a confrontational chatterbox, she indeed never once had to ask anything about Raissa.
Knowing who she is came to her as normal as just living life: One day at a time.
Raissa squeezes her hand again, the feeling of added pressure is undeniably real this time. Jo squeezes back with a smile, she spends time thinking about it:
The rest of her life, a future where Raissa will always be the one by her side and vice versa?
It sounds like a dream come true.