APRIL 21, 2023・FRIDAY・17:31
He sees her, waiting by one of the buses en route to Tagum City.
She's distracted, looking elsewhere with her arms crossed and her phone resting on one hand. Dangled through her shoulder is a large white picnic tote bag. Despite the chaos of a Friday surrounding her, Hazel still manages to stand out. Absentmindedly, she pinches down the lower half of her black sleeveless crop top, readjusting it and extending it to cover a little of what's left of her exposed skin. She checks her phone again.
JR is still stood there, at a distance, watching. Frozen and unable to take another step. He nibbles on his index finger as he looks on what he's wearing. He shakes his head. He takes out his phone from his pocket and navigates to his conversation with Hazel. He taps the small gray box and starts typing up a message.
JR: I'M NOT GOING. SORRY
He erases that and composes a new one.
JR: I CAN'T GO TODAY. DON'T WAIT FOR ME
As his finger makes its way towards the send button, he suddenly receives a message from her.
HAZEL: HI BABY FACE :) WE REALLY ARE MEANT TO BE, WE'RE EVEN WEARING THE SAME COLOR SHIRT.
JR looks up at her and instantly, their gazes meet. He stops himself from taking another step. He puts his hands in his pockets, purses his lips and tenses his toes, an almost cartoonish final attempt at defiance.
With a playful little smirk, Hazel turns around and moseys through the bus door, much to JR's confusion.
His phone vibrates.
Another message from her.
HAZEL: I'M GONNA GO AHEAD INSIDE. JUST FOLLOW IF YOU'RE COMING WITH ME.
JR furiously, and with gritted teeth, locks his phone.
The bus where Hazel went on slowly starts to reverse.
Seeing this, JR takes a deep breath and sets off forward.
Inside, JR realizes that the bus is already full. Three seats ahead of him, he can see Hazel holding onto one of the grab rails.
She sees him and smiles.
He plods towards her, careful not to look too interested.
"Hi," she says, very pleased with herself.
JR finds an area just in front of her and grabs onto the handrails. "Hi," he replies with no eye contact and without any trace of enthusiasm.
"Sorry. Wala ko kabantay nga puno na diay na siya pagsulod nako," she says with a chuckle.
"SORRY. I DIDN'T NOTICE IT WAS ALREADY FULL WHEN I WENT INSIDE."
He steals a quick glance at her. "Okay." With his free hand, he takes out his earbuds and untangles it.
"Ready na ka?" Hazel asks him.
"ARE YOU READY?"
"Asa diay ta mangadto?"
"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"
"Secret."
JR rolls his eyes and slips on his earbuds.