Spaces Between Us

Chapter twenty

It was another day of new setups.

Cleo’s always at their agency, Dan’s still ignoring us, and I’m stuck playing the role of the supportive friend. The one who just smiles and nods, even when everything inside me feels like it’s falling apart.

Hindi ko gusto ang mga pagbabagong nangyayari ngayon, lalo na sa relasyon ko sa isa kong kaibigan. Pero gano'n nga talaga siguro, lahat nagbabago sa isang iglap. Walang warning, walang permission, basta nagbabago na lang agad.

Katulad ngayon, habang naglalakad ako papunta sa classroom namin, biglang tumunog ang notification ng cellphone ko. Inakala kong kay Julio ulit iyon, pero hindi.

Instead, I saw a message that made me stop from walking.

Dan left the group chat.

I bit my lower lip as my heart dropped. One after another, notifications flooded in.

He left all our group chats. And when I checked the nicknames he once gave me, they were all gone.

I tapped on his profile.

Blocked.

My fingers tightened around my phone as a heavy lump formed in my throat. I swallowed hard, trying to push down the sting.

Dan's not the bad guy. I am. And because of that, I have to carry this weight alone and pretend it doesn’t hurt.

But it does.

Gusto ko siyang kausapin, humingi ng tawad, at mag-explain para magsimula ulit kami pero hindi ko na siya maabot ngayon. He won’t even look my way, like I’m just another stranger walking past him in the hallway.

This feeling… it’s like I stabbed myself with my own knife and now I’m bleeding out, wondering why I ever held the blade in the first place.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and continued toward the classroom. I exhale deeply to prepare myself before I enter because I already expected him to be there. And just as I guessed, he was already inside, surrounded by a few classmates.

I paused at the door. My feet froze. My mind told me to turn around, but Cassandra caught sight of me before I could.

“Lucia, come here. We need your suggestions,” she called, gesturing for me to join them.

Lumapit na lang ako at umupo sa bakanteng upuan, kung saan katabi lang ni Dan. He wasn't even looking at me when i passed in front. Alam kong sinasadya niya iyon. Buti na lang talaga at wala si Cleo. She wasn’t around today. She had taken an excuse to help with her family’s business. For now, she was running their modeling agency in place of her mom.

“So,” Cassandra began, her tone more focused now, “we’ve got a list of ideas already taken. Marriage booth, face painting, jail booth, and horror booth. I was thinking photo booth, but we’re running out of time. The festival’s next week and we still have so much research to finish. Kahit sabay-sabay tayo, baka hindi kayanin.”

Mahina akong tumango, sinusubukang sumabay sa kanila kahit na mabigat ang tensyon sa pagitan naming dalawa ni Dan.

Cassandra turned to us, oblivious.

“Lucia, Danielle, any ideas?”

My breath hitched. I couldn’t look at him, not when he probably didn’t even want to be paired with me. And our classmates don't have a clue that our friendship has already ended.

“Food’s the only choice,” Dan muttered beside me, his voice low and dull, like he was just forcing himself to speak.

“Y-yeah… like a waffle booth,” mahinahong saad ko. It was the first thing that came to mind and, honestly, I felt embarrassed saying it out loud.