That One Night [One-Shot]

Chapter 1: Hey Stranger

Another day of school, and Alyanna Nicole is at her usual hang-out spot in Taft. With her coffee on the side, her laptop in front of her and her earphones plugged in, she's killing time as she waits for her friends to finish their classes. She's done with her work, so now she's just listening to some songs while editing some shirt designs in Photoshop.

It's around 2pm, so she decided to stop editing and decided to just doodle. She removed her earphones before she reached for her bag to get her notebook and pens. As she fixes her things, someone calls her attention.

"Hey stranger." said the person. She looked up to see him smiling at her and she couldn't help but to smile back. "Hey back at you, stranger." she replied. "Mind if I join you? Wala nang ibang table eh." he asked as he took a sip from his drink. "No. Go ahead." she answered as she gathered her things to one side to make room for his stuff. "Thanks." he said as he put his drink on the table while she continued to fix her things; leaving her notebook and pens on the table.

When she was done, she got her pen and notebook and began to doodle. After going through his phone for a bit, he suddenly spoke up. "Still doodling, I see?" he said, which made her look up. She looked up and they both laughed. "Yeah. Kailan ba hindi?" she answered as she set aside her pens and closed her notebook. "Come on Yanna. Ever since naman, you've always been doodling. Quotes and lyrics pa rin ba?" he asked as he took a sip from his coffee. "Always." she answered as she smiled at him. "and Forever." he replied as he smiled back.

"Teka. Ano pala ginagawa mo dito? Ang layo naman ng narating mo from AKIC." she asked as she leaned back on her chair. "Makatanong ka ah. Alam mo naman may mga kapatid ako sa DLSU diba? Ikaw rin kaya. Hindi naman malapit SDA dito ah?" he answered and chuckled. "I have friends here. Kilala mo naman sila diba?" she replied.

They both laughed and kept on talking, until he asked about her doodles again. "So, can I see what you've written and drawn so far?" he asked as he glanced at her notebook. "Sure." she said as she handed over her notebook to him.

He opened the notebook and flipped through it one page at a time. She noticed that his expression changed at one page. He took a quick glance at her and gave a small smile then shook his head. "What?" she asked as she smiled a bit. He didn't answer and just kept reading. "What is it?" she asked again. He still kept silent as he continued to flip through the pages. "Hoy Rasheed Paolo. Ano nga?" she asked again as she tried to grab her notebook from him, but he quickly leaned back so that she couldn't get it. She sighed and just let him finish reading.

He closed the book then placed it on the table and just looked at her with that smile again. "Okay. Now do you mind telling me what that was about?" she asked as she got her notebook. "Wala. I noticed that you wrote that phrase again." he answered, keeping his eyes on her. "Of course, Rash. Alam mo naman sinusulat ko yon at least once." she replied as she opened her notebook again and went back to doodling. "I know, I know." he replied as he nodded his head.

While Yanna was busy with her notebook, Rasheed took out his phone and took a photo of her. "Hey Yanna." he said and she looked up. "Yeah?" she asked. "I love you." he answered and smiled. "I love you too." she replied as she smiled before going back to her work.

They kept each other company as he went back to using his phone while she continued to work on her notebook. They minded their own business until they heard someone call her name. "Yanna!" the person called. Rasheed and Yanna both turned to see who it was, and they saw their friends walking towards them. "Hey guys." she greeted them when they reached the table. "Hey girlie. Hey Rash." said Harper as she gave both of them a hug. "Hey you two." said Kayla as she also gave them a hug. "Sup guys." said Kib as he gave Yanna a hug and patted Rasheed on the shoulder.

The three got their own chairs and placed them around the table. Rasheed stood up and moved his seat a bit so that there's room for everyone. They were about to sit down when they heard someone called out his name. "Rash!" said the person. They all looked at the direction ofwhere the voice came from and were all shocked to see who it was; especially Rasheed and Yanna.

Kayla, Kib, and Harper couldn't believe who it was, and they all looked at the two people beside them to see the same expression on their faces; it was as if they saw a ghost. As the girl walked towards them, the trio felt nervous for what could happen among the three. Yanna felt scared and nervous for her relationship because she knew how much that girl affected him. While Rasheed didn't know what to feel and was still taking it all in that she was standing in front of them, of her, of him; after all those years.

"Hey guys!" The girl greeted them, then walked straight to Rasheed and gave him a long and tight hug, while he just stood there, still in shock; and the trio held on to Yanna who was shaking a bit. She let go of the hug and looked at Yanna and her friends, then back at Rasheed. "What? Don't I get a hug, Rash?" she asked him, keeping her hands on his shoulders.

He didn't hug her back. Instead, he just looked at her with a poker face. "What are you doing here, Elise? Why did you come back?" he asked her in a cold and flat tone.