Forever in the Spaces Between

Simula

Simula

First day of classes. Same chaos, new faces, and a heartbeat I wished would slow down. Everyone inside the room was busy making friends, exchanging social-media handles, laughing like they had known each other forever. I on the other hand, kept pretending to scroll through my phone, silently praying for time to move faster.

And then I heard it again, his voice. “Thristina Charry Yap?”

My name rolled off his tongue like it never left. He was standing near the class list, pretending to help the block secretary call names. When our eyes met, everything went still.

“Keith?” I said softly, not sure if I was asking or confirming.

He grinned, that same grin that used to undo every bit of logic I had. “So it really is you. Akala ko nag-i-illusion lang ako.”

“Wow,” I said, forcing a chuckle. “You still talk too much.”

He laughed, scratching the back of his neck. “Better than not talking at all, ‘di ba?”

My chest tightened a little at that because that was exactly what happened before we just stopped talking. The professor arrived, saving me from answering. Everyone scrambled to find seats. Of course, the only empty chair left was beside mine. Fate, again, with its twisted sense of humor.

He slid into the chair quietly. I tried not to breathe too loud, not to notice the scent of his perfume still that clean, faintly citrus smell. He took notes like he was actually listening, but I caught him glancing at me from time to time.

When the bell rang, people started chatting again. I began packing up fast, hoping to slip away unnoticed.

“Uy,” he said, catching my elbow lightly. “Sabay tayo sa cafeteria?”

I hesitated. “I have to meet someone—”

He smiled. “Friends lang, Charry. Promise.”
That word again. Friends.

I sighed. “Fine. Pero sagot mo iced coffee.”

He laughed, the kind of laugh that made heads turn. “Deal.”

The walk to the cafeteria felt both new and familiar. We talked about professors, schedules, block sections safe topics that filled the air so we didn’t have to address the bigger question hanging between us What happened to us?

Inside the cafeteria, the smell of fried food and coffee filled the air. He went to order, and I found a table near the window. My phone buzzed with messages from new classmates, but my eyes kept following him. He moved like someone I used to know but not quite anymore.

He came back with two iced coffees. He slid one toward me. “Two shots of syrup, no straw. Tama, ‘di ba?”

I looked at him, surprised. “Naalala mo pa.”

“Of course,” he said, smiling faintly. “Hindi naman ganun kadali kalimutan yung isang Charry Yap.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The hum of the cafeteria faded. All I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. I wanted to ask why he left. I wanted to ask if he ever missed me. But my pride was louder than my curiosity.

“So,” I said instead, “how’s life? Still drawing robots in your notebook?”

He chuckled. “Medyo. Pero ngayon mga architectural plans na. Civil Eng na ako, remember?”

“Right.” I smiled, forcing it to look natural. “Galing.”

He nodded, eyes soft. “Ikaw? Nursing pa rin?”
“Yeah. Kasi gusto kong pagod araw-araw,” I joked.

He laughed. “Hindi ka pa rin nagbabago.”
If only he knew.

We spent the rest of lunch talking like two old friends who forgot how to hate each other. He told me about transferring schools, his new apartment, how his parents finally let him live alone. I told him about my dorm, my org, my impossible professor. It felt good too good. Dangerous, even.

When we finished, we walked back to the building together. The hallway was crowded, noisy, alive. But the only sound that mattered was his voice beside me.

At the door of my next class, he stopped. “So… friends ulit?”

I forced a smile. “Friends ulit.”

He nodded, but his eyes said something else something that felt too close to what we used to be. As I sat down in my next class, my phone buzzed. One message.

Keith:
Text mo ko pag may vacant ka, ha? Para makabawi ako sa coffee.

I stared at it for a long second before typing back

Me:
Sure.

And just like that, I broke another promise to myself. Because no matter how many times I swore I’d never fall into the same story again, the truth was simple. Some people never really leave your heart they just learn how to hide there quietly until you let them out again.