The Night When Our Stars Aligned

Chapter 1

  I love how quiet it is when the time is one morning. Leaning my body into the balcony's railings, looking up— stargazing in the early morning. I closed my eyes when I felt the cold air blowing through my black hair. Moments such as this make me question my worth.

  I heard my ringtone ringing inside my house and someone was calling. I slid the sliding door to the left and moved inside. The ringing stopped when I picked up my phone.

It rang again— it was my best —friend Kai. I picked the call up-

"Hey?"

"I know you're awake, Ris," Kai said on the call.

Ahh, his voice... His deep voice felt comfortable in my ears.

"So what?" I said.

"Go to sleep, we have a competition tomorrow." Kai dropped the call.

  Classic Kai— always dropping calls when he says something serious. I am used to him being serious; After 10 years of friendship, it's helpful when he's not in the mood to talk like a normal joyful best friend.

  What he said ticked to my head— shit, we had a running competition tomorrow. I rushed to my room to sleep. I was so tired that I dozed off quickly.

  My eyes were bothered by sunlight... it was six in the morning. Dali-dali akong tumayo at umupo muna sa kaliwang-gilid ng kama ko. I felt a vibration coming from my phone— a serious Kai was calling again. Tumayo ako at pumunta sa banyo, ibinalewala ko ang tawag ni Kai.

  I finished showering after 5 minutes. Kinuha ko ang aking telepono sa may dulo ng kama. No'ng tinignan ko ang notifications nito— mayroong 10 missed calls galing kay Kai. Ano ba meron dito sa lalaki na 'to at nagmamadali nanaman. I messaged Kai-

Eris: What's up?

Kai: You do know you have 30 minutes left to prepare, right?

Eris: School does not start in another hour; you are too extra.

Kai: Ris, you are forgetting something.

Eris: What now?

Kai: You are the school's student president.

  Oh... SHIT. Nakalimutan ko na madami nga pala akong tungkulin. I rushed to put my shoes on, balancing myself on one foot while sliding my shoe on the other. I started my car engine. Yes, my car. I am in my third year in college, and the car that I use was my late parents' car.

  Unfortunately, when they died, they left me with a huge sum of money and all their assets— considering that I was the only child—making me a billionaire in just a blink of an eye.

  By the time I arrived at the school campus, I was looking for an unoccupied space to park my car in. When I finally parked my car, I ran inside the campus.

  As usual, it was a quiet morning. I expected not much noise at 8 in the morning since the only people who were supposed to be there was the professors, guards, and the non-teaching personnels, and me...

  I casually walked around the empty hallways— 20 minutes before some of the students arrived, when I saw a familiar physique not too far away from the building I was standing in.

  It was a guy... with black hair. He was tall, and I could see that he had muscles. The shirt he wore hugged his body. I think the shirt was for athletes. I walked closer to the guy. I was still very far away from him; looking at him was very hard, considering that my eyesight was blurry.

  He looked like he was waiting for someone else. I saw him calling someone because his cell phone was placed on his left ear, and his right hand was placed on his hips.

  My phone rang... Kai was calling me again. I looked around, expecting to see him close to me. I answered his call-

"Kai?"

"Have you arrived in the campus? We have to practice for the match next month."

Wait... I thought the match was today. Did he lie to me?

"Yes, and what do you mean?"

"Haven't you looked at your notifications, Ris?"

  I dropped the call and looked at my notifications. Are they serious? They announced that the match was moved next month due to some "complications." I have been waiting for this match, and now, I have to wait again. This made me completely dispirited.

  The man I saw waved in the direction of the hallway that I was standing in. I looked at my back and found no one behind. I stared at him as he walked closer towards me. I froze in confusion and just stood there like a statue— trying to figure out who he was.

  When the man was close to me, I saw who he was. It was "Serious Kai'.

"Didn't you spot me?" Kai asked.

I snapped back to reality. And blinked. Oh, right, he was talking to me.

"No... I didn't see you," I said blinking repeatedly.

Kai stared at me with a blank expression on his face:

  "We should go to the track now..." Kai turned around and walked away. I did not know why, but I just stood at my place with my arms to the side, as I stared at him walking away from me. I saw him turn around to face me—we were far from each other, but not near either—he signalled me to follow him and continued to walk. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ang awkward ng galawan ko ngayong araw. Kinulang siguro ako sa kape.

  When Kai and I arrived on the running track, half of the team was already in existence. One of our teammates, Leon, waved at us from the bleachers. I waved back to Leon, while Kai just gave him a nod.

Leon approached us as he ran towards Kai.

"Hey, Andreev." Leon patted Kai's back while he walked beside him. I saw Kai let out a faint smile. Meanwhile, I moved away from them. Practically distancing myself from the "boys".

  I sighed deeply and sat at the bleachers. I glanced at Kai and some of our teammates who were talking to each other, while I was sitting here alone, since I was the only girl in this team. All I could do now was patiently wait for the practice to begin.