Chapter Text
It all started on a random night.
Aiah was doing her night routine and she just finished doing her skincare, and would then move on to drying her hair while Mikha was fixing her sheets as she just changed hers for the week.
Pausing, Mikha suddenly stopped what she was doing, “Ate Aiah,”
“Hmm?” Aiah answered with her mouth preoccupied with her hair tie as her two hands were on her hair and holding the dryer.
“I think gusto kita .”
A moment of silence after those words left Mikha’s mouth while the hair tie fell into the floor without much noise, the only thing Aiah could reply was a feeble “What?”
“So anong nangyari after non?”
“Wala na!” Mikha frustratedly answered, “Legit, after non, I got embarrassed na so nag-goodnight na ako after and then natulog nalang!”
Stacey, her friend and blockmate, “Hindi na siya nagtanong or what?”
“No violent reactions?” Sheena added,
“Wala. As in.” Mikha sighed, “Parang walang nangyari. Parang di niya nga ata ako narinig or what, I don’t know!”
“Teh, baka naman ‘di ka niya talaga narinig?” Sheena said as she sipped her drink,
“Kung hindi niya ‘ko narinig,” Mikha solemnly said, “Ba’t late na siyang umuuwi? Like sinasadya niya akong iwasan?”
“Girl, I think wala na.” Stacey said, patting Mikha’s back, “GG na. Rejected. Inom nalang tayo.”
“For me I think,” Gwen finally spoke, being the last one on the table that was listening from start to finish, “Nabigla mo siya dun. Baka need niya lang ng time to process. Alam mo naman yun si Ate Aiah.”
“Grabeng time to process naman ‘yan, 3 days nang ‘di nag-uusap nang matino.” Sheena said, reacting to what Gwen said, leading to her being slightly pinched by Gwen for the OA reaction.
“Nabigla nga ‘di ba?” Gwen quipped, before pushing a spoonful of spaghetti to Sheena’s mouth.
“Ganon ba talaga ‘yon?” Mikha dejectedly asked, while leaning her head on the table, “Dapat pala ‘di nalang ako nag-sabi. Hays.”
“Huy teh!”
A loud slap on the table snapped Aiah’s from her trance, “Tulala ka dyan? Parang ilang araw ka nang loading sa lahat ah?” Maloi, the culprit of the slap, asked continuously while dropping her books and bag on the large table.
“Beh, hindi ko na talaga alam. Anong gagawin ko? Huhu.” Aiah said dramatically, her tired eyes asking for help,
“Teh, kung math yan ‘di kita matutulungan d’yan. Paturo ka kay Mikha mo.” Maloi said, brushing off Aiah’s pleading eyes.
“Yun yung problema ko teh,” Aiah started, “Si Mikha.”
Maloi, sitting down and opening her book to start her study session, “Oh, ano meron kay Mikhs?”
“Feel ko gusto ko rin siya.”
“Wow parang latest news yan teh ah. Last year ko pa alam yan teh, wala bang bagong news?”
“Sabi niya sakin a few days ago, gusto niya daw ako.”
“HUH?!”
Maloi half screamed, leading some students in the study area to look at their table, “What do you mean? Nag-confess si Mikhs?!”
“I think so?” Aiah said, blushing slightly at the reminiscent of that moment, “Sabi niya, gusto niya daw ako nung night na ‘yon.”
“Legit? Not prank?”
“Ewan ko, okay?” Aiah slumped to her desk, “After non kasi, natulog na siya agad!”
“Uy, ano meron?” The newcomers, Colet and Jhoanna, came to their table and dropped their things. “What’s the chika?” Jhoanna asked, curious about the current chismis.
“Nag-confess daw si Mikhs.”
“WHAT?!” Colet & Jhoanna reacted at the same time while Maloi whispered ‘OA’ under her breath as if her earlier reaction wasn’t, “Kayo na?!”
Aiah shook her head, “Teh, wag mong sabihing ‘di niyo pa napag-uusapan.” Maloi asked sternly.
Sheepishly turning her head to the side, Maloi got her answer from the older girl. “Hay nako, ‘kala ko ba gusto mo si Mikhs since unang beses mo siyang nakita?”
Aiah scrunched her face, thinking of an excuse to give but found nothing, “Feel ko matutunaw ako if kausapin ko pa siya about dun eh. Okay na naman kasi ako sa ‘admiring from afar’ ko.”
“Slay ng ‘afar’ mo beh, sa roommate mo lang.” Colet quipped while going back to gathering her studying materials.
“Pano ko naman kasi siya i-aapproach? Kakausapin?” Aiah stressed, “It’s so hard kaya!”
“Walang hard if gusto.” Jhoanna said with dramatic hand gestures, “Sabihin mo yung tunay mong nararamdaman. Yung galing sa puso mo.”
“Wow, sa’ng drama galing ‘yan?” Colet teased,
“Uy from the heart and head yon!”
“May ganon ka pala?”
“Okay, I’ll try na nga.” Aiah said with her newfound determination, ending the impending barda of her friends
“Ganyan dapat. Ilang araw mo na bang pinaghihintay si Mikhs? Sabi mo kanina ‘a few nights ago’ siya nag-confess.” Maloi said, flipping through her book, knowing the group will start studying in a few minutes.
“Uhmm…” Aiah started hesitantly, making all three look at her in anticipation, “...3 days?”
“3 DAYS?!”
The bell rings and Mikha just sighed as her school day ended. She hadn’t even finished fixing up her things when Stacey already bid her goodbye, saying something about a pamper day. Mikha just finished up and thought about going to a cafe to buy some coffee to go through the rest of the day.
The aroma of coffee greeted her as she entered the cafe. Mikha was busy thinking about what she should order for today when she heard a very familiar voice as she went through the tables to go to the counter.
“...I like you too… and I want to take this time to say I–” the two girls at the table stopped at their conversation when Mikha abruptly stopped near their table.
It was Aiah. With a bouquet above the table and her hand on the other girl’s hand. Oh.
“Mikhs?”
Mikha absent-mindedly nodded as she speed-walked to the other direction, exiting the cafe, not even having the chance to order something. She didn’t even realize there were tears in her eyes as she walked outside. It was a busy afternoon, almost dusk, but Mikha couldn’t hear anything aside from her jumbled thoughts.
“Mikha.” A hand on her arm prevented her from stepping another foot further, “Let’s talk.”
But Mikha shrugged the other girl’s hold on her and continued walking down a familiar street. Aiah had no choice but to follow suit, one look at the other girl’s face and Aiah knows she should wait until they’re in a private setting to have that talk. Mikha, as Aiah knew, would hate to display such behavior in public.
When Aiah closed the door of their apartment, Mikha had already finished taking off her shoes and was about to go to her room when Aiah took the opportunity to grab her arm again.
“Wait. Please.” Aiah said, in the middle of taking off her shoes, “Let me–”
“No need, Ate Aiah.” Mikha said firmly, her voice on the verge of breaking, Aiah could tell, “You don’t have to like me back naman. You should’ve just told me instead of avoiding me like a child.”
Kinda displeased at the tone and words, Aiah tried to keep her composure, “No, listen to me first.” She finished taking off her shoes and stepped forward to be nearer to the other girl.
“I understand na nga, Ate . No need to explain anything. I can live with it naman.” It was then where Mikha’s voice broke, her tears spilling from her eyes, “Just please don’t throw away our friendship.”
Aiah then panicked, not knowing whether to wipe Mikha’s tears away or hug the girl, she did the latter anyway, “Mikha. Yung nakita mo kanina, hindi…Hindi yun yung totoo–Wait, I mean. I like you–gusto kong mag-sorry…too. Wait wala ako sa order. I mean–”
Mikha broke away slightly from the hug, her tears stopping and was replaced by confusion. She’s watching the Aiah Arceta fumbling her words, with the girl’s face turning red by each word she’s saying.
“I mean!” Aiah was still in the middle of calming herself down, “I like you, Mikha Lim.”
A beat. Two beats.
Mikha was still quite shocked when Aiah took a deep breath and wiped the tears in Mikha’s cheeks, “Sorry. Gusto kong mag-sorry. Kasi diba, ano–Wait, yung flowers. I swear dapat maayos to eh.”
Chuckling, Mikha finished wiping her cheeks, “Mas pula ka pa sa hair ko ngayon.”
“Kaya! Ayan! Kaya ko kasama si Maloi sa cafe! Kasi nga nagpa-practice ako!” Aiah said with conviction, finally gathering herself even with the fast beating of her heart.
Mikha raised an eyebrow with a teasing smile, “Nag-practice ka para mag-confess? For me?”
Aiah reached for Mikha’s hand and looked right into her eyes, “Oo. Kasi you didn't deserve that stuttering fool earlier.” Handing her the bouquet with her other hand, Aiah inched closer.
“I like that stuttering fool kaya.” Mikha smiled widely, her arms going through Aiah’s shoulders for a hug as Aiah’s hands settled on her waist, “Naging tomato ka pa.”
“Mikha.” Aiah said seriously, “I want to apologize for avoiding you these last few days. I was overwhelmed, the girl I liked for a year now suddenly confessed to me that she likes me in the middle of the night.” she ended with a teasing smile.
“For a year?”
Aiah slightly broke their hugging session to hold Mikha’s hand to her lips, “Yeah, when you introduced yourself as my new roommate. You smiled and I was done for. Kuhang-kuha mo ‘ko.”
Mikha hid her blushing cheeks in Aiah’s shoulders, making them closer than before. “Luh. Okay.”
Aiah laughed and Mikha could feel how Aiah’s chest moved with her laughter, and thought how nice it is to be in the other girl’s arms–wishing it would be forever.