Connected by Fate

CHAPTER 1: Wait.. why is he here?

It was the first day of my first semester as a Grade 11 STEM student at NU. I was scrolling through my phone in the classroom when suddenly, he arrived, Ayden Myles Callisto. My nonchalant Junior high crush. " Shit... kaklase ko siya? Tangina naman. Sana kamukha niya lang." I thought to myself as he walked to where our professor was. " Mr. Callisto, doon ka sa tabi ni Ms. Ortiz, yung may bangs na nakasalamin sa likod." Our prof told Ayden, not knowing that we had history when we were in Junior High. "Tangina, siya nga, hayop ano. Lia, dapat talaga sa Lasalle ka nalang nag apply eh." I murmured, not knowing that he'd hear. "So bat ka nag apply dito kung sa Lasalle naman talaga gusto mo? By the way, hi AC. " Said Ayden in a teasing tone as he was sitting down beside me. ".. Narinig mo pala yon? Hi Myl– Ayden." I responded to him, while nearly referring to him by his middle name. " Obviously, alam mo naman siguro na my hearing is good. Also, you nearly called me Myles, Catherine. " He said, rolling his eyes at me and teasing me. " Oo na, matagal na kitang tinatawag na Myles. Alam mo naman din siguro na kapangalan mo yung kapatid ko, AMC. Also, call me Catherine one more time, sasapakin kita. " I told him, teasingly as I was rolling my eyes and smiling. Gosh, I missed him so much... "Sira ulo ka talaga AC. Anyway, you didn't answer my question. Bakit ka nga ba nag apply dito kung sa Lasalle mo naman talaga gusto?" He replied, teasing me back. "Gosh, no need to remind me!! - Oh yeah, um.." Fuck.. do I tell him the truth? I mean I only applied for the sake of potentially seeing him. "Ano, masyado pang malayo yung Lasalle, tsaka naghihintay pa ako for scholarship opportunities, pero sa college I'll transfer there. " I responded, itching the back of my head, I had lost another opportunity to tell him that I still liked him. " Ahh, well buti nga nag apply ka dito haha, tayong dalawa lang yung galing sa IJM here sa section eh, at least may kakilala tayo." Ayden responded. I mean he does have a point, kami lang yung galing sa junior high namin sa room. Yung ibang nag NU sa batch namin, nasa ibang class. Pero bakit siya pa yung naging kakilala ko dito? I could've been in the same class as Bella and Inigo, instead, si Myles yung kasama ko. "Weh ba? Tayo lang yung from IJM here?" I asked him, sobrang lutang ko oh my god. "Sa class natin oo, sa buong grade 11, marami." He replied, bored, zoned out. Ano kayang iniisip niya? He's not even looking at me anymore.

we are now shifting to Ayden's POV

AMC's POV:

Siya pa talaga yung nag iisang kakilala ko klase. Aurelia Catherine Ortiz, the girl who gave me 33 letters when we were in 9th grade, chased after me until she lost feelings, IJM social media club's most active member for 2 consecutive years, and I guess the girl I like.

"Sasabay ka ba kila Adriana mamaya sa lunch?" I asked her, gutom na din kasi ako eh. "Hm? Uh, not sure, baka daw iba schedule nila from us, bakit?" She responded, parang bored na din siya haha, cute honestly. "Ahhh okay, wala lang. Sabay nalang tayo kumain?" I suggested to her, smooth mo naman papi. "Mmm, sige, why not? It'll give us more time to reconnect din haha" Aurelia responded, all jolly and giddy. — Our professor then finally started doing introductions, he introduced himself first, and then others introduced themselves. Finally, it was Aurelia's turn. "I'm Aurelia Catherine Ortiz, you can call me Lia. Um... I like cycling, and drawing.. yun lang po, thank you." When Aurelia introduced myself, parang nalutang ako honestly, she's so adorable. "Aydenn!! Ikaw naaaa!!" Aurelia was laughing as she tapped me back to my senses. "Ay– Sorry po. Anyway, I'm Ayden Myles Callisto, from IJM like Ms. Ortiz. You may refer to me as Ayden or Den." Tapos na din yung introduction, then sir started orienting us about our strand, all the boring stuff. Then when I look to my side, parang inaantok na si Lia, nakatingin lang sa floor, is she awake or not? "Tangina ang cute niya." I thought while I was texting Ezra, mutual friend namin ni Aurelia. — My friends were teasing me in our group chat about how she was the only one I knew in the class. My friend Arthur who's in a relationship with Lilith, her closest friend, suggested that we four should go on a double date. He was making fun of me. A few moments later, our professor then dismissed us for lunch. Beside me, tulog na tulog si Lia. "AC gising." I whispered directly in her ear as I was tapping her back. "Tangina mo." She randomly said when she woke up, I was honestly caught off guard. "Food court?" I asked her, totally making it seem like I didn't just get cussed at. "Lunch na pala?" She asked, lutang na lutang ata siya. "Oo, bilis, sasabay daw saatin sila Ian." I told her as I was standing up from my seat and reaching my hand out to assist her. "Sila Ian? Ah.. sige.. so no choice sa inyo ako sasabay no? Or can I back out?" She asked me, conflicted as she pushed my hand away and stood up on her own. "Yep, no choice, kasama daw niya sila Adriana." I replied back, leading the both of us out of the room. "...Sige, basta andoon si Ezra at Adri ah." Aurelia told me on our way out of NU and into the mall connected to it. Bakit parang conflicted siya? Did something happen? – On our way to the food court, we talked, and we reconnected. I learned a lot of stuff about her.

AURELIAS POV

Tangina si Ian pa kasi kasabay namin eh, di ko matatanong si Inigo at Bella kung gusto nila sumabay, nakakahiya naman since ex ni Bella si Ian. "Andoon ata sila, follow me AC." Ayden randomly grabbed my hand and started dragging me to where our friends were. "Huuuuuyyyy bakit kayo mag kasama ah??? Holding hand pa talaga... tsk tsk, magkaklase lang ba talaga kayoooo?" Adriana and Ezra teased us when they caught a glimpse of us. Sila Felix, Ian, at Edward tumatawa lang at nakikikulit. "Mag ka lowkey na talaga sila fur fur." Edward randomly said. At this point, pulang pula na 'ko and parang pinipigilan ni Myles yung tawa niya. "Lowkey nyo mukha niyo! Hinila nga ako nitong higante na to mula sa classroom eh." I replied all flustered as I was sitting down beside Adriana. "Higante BWHAHAHAHAHAHA" Felix and Ezra teased Myles even more. "Mga weirdo talaga kayo. AC, oorder ka ba?" Ayden called them out before asking me. "Ay yeah, sabay na tayo?" I stood up from my seat and stood beside him. "Yeah, sabay na." He replied, while giving our group the middle finger. "Yeah yall aint beating the dating allegations HAHAHAHA" Ian then said before whispering something to Felix. The rest of the group were teasing us while we were walking away from them. — We both decided on ordering at the same stall, pepper lunch. Once we got our meals, we went back to our group and they teased us even more. "Ay wow so sweet naman these two. " Edward said as we were approaching the table — Myles insisted on carrying both our meals since "mabigat" daw. "Sayang naman kung dalawang tray gagamitin namin, iisang table lang naman pag lalagyan eh. "Myles then said as he was putting our meals on the table. I mean may point naman siya, why carry two trays if iisang table lang kayo nang kasama mo? Other people could've used the second tray. "Agreed, sayang naman talaga, tsaka isang table lang kami ni Ayden." I said, agreeing to what Myles said as I was sitting down beside Adriana and Myles was sitting down in between Felix and Ian. We were facing each other, both of us trying to look away and not make eye contact. Parang ang awkward na ng tension between us at this point, we were just eating while our friends were teasing us. "Sayang wala si Lilith at Arthur." Adriana said, while looking at her phone. "Haha oo, wala na tuloy tayong mapagtitripan na mag jowa." Ezra added, rolling his eyes. "May mag ka lowkey naman dito ehhhh." Sebastian appeared out of nowhere and added. Kami ni Myles, tamang lamon lang. "TANGINA LATE KA NANAMAN!!" Felix stood up and held Seb by the collar. "Kalmahan mo pre, ikaw yung laging late, hindi si Seb." Ian hit Felix's elbow before saying "Pero, oo naman may mag ka lowkey dito." while looking at me and Myles. They continued teasing us and each other for a while, honestly everything was a blur to me, I really couldn't take all that was happening. Nahihilo na ako at this point, I think it was because puyat ako or andami lang nangyayari.

We'll be experiencing the story from Ayden's pov

Ang iingay ng mga kaibigan namin, ang kukulit din. Pero why does it seem like parang hilong hilo si Lia? Okay lang ba siya? At this point, naiinis na ako. "Hindi nga kami mag ka lowkey!!!" I said in a very annoyed tone before chugging my water down and looking at Lia, worried. "Beh okay ka lang?" Adrianna tapped Lia's back and asked her, she really does not seem like she's well. "Hm? Yeah okay lang ako, sorry haha medyo nahihilo ako, di kasi ako nakatulog ng maayos kagabi." Aurelia replied in her usual soft tone. Is she lying? Tangina parang namumutla talaga siya. "Den buhatin mo pabalik sa campus hahaha." Ezra and Edward recommended, teasing me again. "Sige ba, alalayan ko nalang siya papunta sa infirmary." I nodded, taking what they said seriously. "Ay wow concerned ka talaga haha." Seb then added. "Seryoso, alalayan ko nalang siya." I replied. I mean seryoso naman talaga ako eh, I was willing to help her, I want to help her. "Kahit wag na, kaya ko naman." Aurelia said before chugging down her bottle of water. "Nothing like a bottle of water could fix, really." She added, putting on a smile before going on her phone. "Tulungan ka na namin, babalik naman na din kami sa campus." Ian recommended, looking at me then winking. It was as if he was saying it was my time to shine haha. "..Bahala kayo." Aurelia replied. Nahihiya ba siya because she's feeling unwell? Hindi naman kahiya hiya yun eh, people feel sick all the time. Anyway, we helped her up, I wrapped my arm around her waist smooth mo talaga broski and she tilted her head down on my shoulder. We walked like this on the way back to campus, our friends on the other hand were murmuring about us and teasing us, Adriana and Ezra even took photos.

END OF CHAPTER 1