Dinamalayan

Chapter 3: "First Meet"

~Caizen~

I was about to arrive at our campus, sitting inside a bus. I was holding on to a keychain— One that was very valuable to me. It was a pentomino keychain, specifically a letter U, N, and a W. If you turned the 'U' and the 'W' just right, you'd see it form a letter 'C' and a letter 'M'. All in all, the pentominoes symbolize my initials— C for 'Caizen', N for 'Nash', and M for 'Montero'.

I wonder if she still had the frog keychain...

Rubbing onto the keychain, I was having some flashbacks.

*Five Years Ago*

"Nash!! Wait up!" a young girl called for me. "Hey!! Come on! Wait for me!" she calls, panting as she tries to keep up with me. I stopped walking, "I'm literally just walking, you're just too slow, shorty," I said, giving her a gentle, teasing smile, earning a mini punch in response. "Ow! What's the big deal!?" I nagged.

"FYI, I'm not 'slow' you're just walking too fast. And stop calling me 'Shorty', we're like 3 inches apart!" The shorter girl complains. I smirked, "But I still am taller than you, shorty."

"Ugh!! Tara na nga!! Malalate na tayo eh, baka nagstart na yung christmas party eh!"

"Alright, alright. Want me to carry you on my back? It's much faster!"

"Just stop it, Nash!! I'm not slow!!"

"Haha, sige. Ikaw nagsabi eh. See you there!"

"Luh, wait lang uy!"

Two hours later, the teacher announced that the gift giving was about to start.

"Sooo, sino nabunot mo?" My little friend asked. "Secret, sabihin mo muna kung sino nabunot mo," I said earning a sigh in return. "Bala ka jan, hintayin ko nalang na sabihin ni ma'am pag iaabot ko na sa nabunot ko yung regalo!" she huffs, in annoyance. "Heh, ikaw bahala."

"Okay! Everyone, you may give your gift to the person you pulled from the secret santa box two weeks ago!" The teacher announces gleefully. Soon after the teacher announces, everybody in the class shuffles around to give their gifts to the specific person they've pulled.

The only people that hadn't moved around was My friend and I, giving me a hunch that I was the one my best friend pulled. Looking at the gift I was holding— well, it wasn't much but hopefully she'd like it, she loves frogs after all.

The shorter girl looked at me, holding her gift in her hand. "Soo, uhm, fine, I pulled your name out of the secret santa box.." she says, quickly shoving the gift onto my free hand— earning a chuckle from me in response. "Someones flustered" I say, as I handed her the gift I bought for her more calmly. "Well, I pulled your name out of the box as well, here." Her eyes glistened with joy as we opened our respective gifts simultaneously. "Woah! A frog keychain! Cheeky, I got a keychain for you as well." she laughs.

"Hey, Nash?"

"Yeah?"

"Uhm.. Promise that we'll stay friends 'til the end of our journey?"

"Of course, silly. Even after the end of it, I promise"

*End of Flashback*

"...Next stop, Starfell Academy!" the bus driver announces. 'Oh, I'm nearly there,' I thought to myself as I checked my phone. 'Damn, so many unread messages from Calli, guess I have to deal with her tantrums later' I thought, smiling. I could already feel her menacing aura from miles away' I thought as I sighed.