Summary : Two best friends navigate the messy, beautiful chaos of growing up together, where late-night conversations and stolen moments blur the line between friendship and something more. It's a story of warmth, laughter, and the kind of connection that feels both inevitable and electric.
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Mikha still remembers the moment things shifted between them. It was the summer after she finished tenth grade, the kind of summer where the days blurred into endless heat and late-night conversations. Aiah was a year older, just one year, but sometimes it felt like more.
Flashback
Mikha had spent the night at Aiah's house countless times before. It was their ritual, sprawled out on the bed, binge-watching trashy TV, drowning in popcorn and ice cream. Out of their group of eight—Colet, Maloi, Stacey, Sheena, Jho, Gwen — Mikha had always been closest to Aiah. Their friends teased them relentlessly, calling them an old married couple, and they'd always laughed it off. It never meant anything. Not really.
They just understood each other in a way no one else did.
So when Mikha, curled up under Aiah's blankets, suddenly asked, "Have you ever kissed anyone?"maybe she was stepping into something she wasn't supposed to.
Aiah paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Bat mo natanong, Mikhs?"
Mikha let out a nervous laugh. "Ah, wala lang. Just curious."
Aiah tilted her head, considering. "Curious about what? If I've kissed someone? Why?"
Mikha hesitated, suddenly regretting the question. "Wala... it's stupid."
Aiah's gaze softened. "Mikhs, you can tell me. I won't think it's stupid."
A beat of silence.
Then, finally"I just..." Mikha swallowed, staring at the ceiling. "I just don't get how you're supposed to know how to do it. The first time."
She didn't look at Aiah when she said it. She didn't have to. Because something in the air between them had shifted, quiet and electric, and for the first time, Mikha wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh it off.
For a moment, Aiah didn't answer. The only sound in the room was the hum of the electric fan, its blades slicing through the thick summer air.
Then, softly "Hmm." Aiah shifted, resting her chin on her knee as she studied Mikha. "I don't think you're really supposed to know."
Mikha frowned. "So what, people just... guess?"
Aiah laughed, quiet and low. "I guess. Or maybe it's just something that happens when it happens."
Mikha chewed on her lip. She wasn't sure why the question felt so big, why it sat heavy in her chest even as she tried to make it sound casual. She rolled onto her back, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars scattered across Aiah's ceiling, faint now, their edges blurred from years of sticking and peeling.
"Have you?" she asked.
Aiah blinked. "Have I what?"
"Kissed someone."
Another pause. But this time, Aiah's exhale was different. Like she had been holding something in.
Then, finally "Yeah."
Mikha turned her head so fast her pillow rustled. "Wait. What?"
Aiah gave a small, almost guilty smile. "Yeah."
Mikha sat up. "You never told me that."
Aiah shrugged, looking away. "It didn't seem like a big deal."
