THAT GIRL | MIKHAIAH

CHAPTER 13

Alam niyo 'yong pakiramdam na matagpuan mo 'yong tamang tao sa maling panahon? 'Yong sana natagpuan mo siya nang mas maaga. Bago pa sila binago ng sakit, o 'di kaya kapag handa na sila.

That's precisely what's going through Aiah's head right now, as Mikha shares a piece of her almost ex girlfriend to her friends, while they are waiting for her teammates to come.

She realized how green flag the red haired is. She's indeed, sweet and thoughtful by nature. A gentlewoman, someone who would put you first, who has emotional intelligence to understand people beyond surface. A person who will give you random presents, not because you asked her to, but because she always thinks of you, who would show up with no other reason but to see you. Someone who doesn't need to be told, and who learns your love language so they can love you right.

At least, that's what she used to be. The words came from Mikha. She said she's changed. Unsure if she'll ever be the same again.

How tragic that is? Where did that version of Mikha go?

“Her name's Ashley.” She finally reveal, which made the others furrowed, mentally asking themselves if they've seen that person in the past, except for those who already knew, including Stacey who had gather the information on her own.

“Let's just say I let her fool me. It's partly my fault too, I knew something was off, but I neglected my instinct. Funny,” Mikha scoffs, “because when I found out the truth, it shouldn't have come as surprise, but more of I was right all along, but it broke me still.”

“What did she do? Did she cheat?” Stacey asked.

“She did.” Mikha nods.

The confession stings, and even though nobody say a word, Mikha can feel their sympathy.

In between the silence, she added, “but not on me.” Making them confuse.

Gwen — despite knowing it all, let Mikha speak her heart out to the girls for the first time. Maloi and Sheena who do not know about the whole story were eager to hear the truth from Mikha.

“You know Lance, right? The former student council president.”

“Kilala ko 'yan, pero gumraduate na diba siya last year?” Saad ni Sheena.

“Na boyfriend niya ngayon...magkasama sila nong nagkasalubong kami last week.” Sabi ni Maloi.

Tumango ulit si Mikha. “Well, apparently... they've been dating for 2 years before I even came in to the picture.”

“And you didn't know about it?!” Stacey exclaimed.

“Kalma, Staks.” Sabi ni Jho.

Mikha shrugged, nonchalantly. As if she was only telling a story of a book she has read many times already. “So much for not giving a damn on anyone.”

“Paano mo nalaman?” Tanong ni Colet. Mikha looks at her, it's one of those few times where Colet engage in conversation with her outside the court, more specifically in personal matters. It's not that they don't get along, but having the same tough personality pins a barrier between them that they haven't cross yet. So, Mikha considers this one as silver lining.

“Sinabi niya sa'kin. It happened months after we started going out. I asked her to be my girlfriend...she said she couldn't. At first, I thought maybe she doesn't feel the same. Like I was moving too fast, so I said I was willing to wait, but that wasn't the case, she did fall for me naman daw...but...in all those times...meron pa lang iba. Someone before me. It was stupid. I felt stupid.”

The air was heavy, with emotions overflowing, making it difficult to process what Mikha uttered. Jhoanna, who started the discussion now feels somewhat penitent upon having Mikha to dig back in the past that pained her.