VOLUME 1: TEENAGE DREAMS

Entry #5: Moonlight Punch Romance

MOONLIGHT PUNCH ROMANCE

Just when Ethan thought he had enough of the bullshit the university threw at him, he had the worst seatmate ever-an optimist who should be called Mr. Sunshine instead.

The first volley of bullshits started when the university decided to change the online subject enlistment website-from a swift and reliable page to a Windows Vista themed site that his father could've used in the early 2000s. A lot of students-Ethan included-ranted about this and made a hashtag rise at the top of the Philippine Twitter trends.

Ethan got his subjects, thankfully, but his best friend Gabriel was unlucky. Gabriel had to swap sections.

That meant one thing-for the first time after three semesters, the Ethan-Gabriel duo would be separated.

Their luck in getting subjects had died, unfortunately. The university gave the students freedom to choose their own sections in their subjects. Ever since the start of their college journey, they had been classmates on all of their subjects-superclassmates.

To Ethan, Gabriel was more than just a superclassmate. Gabriel was his only friend. The guy was his only trusted human and reliable seatmate.

Which led to another joke in his miserable fourth semester-Macky Panuelos.

He didn't need to gather evidence on how Macky Panuelos was always the center of attention. He heard the name in corridors. The name always appeared at the topnotchers' list. Everyone knew the guy's student number.

Everyone, except Ethan. He didn't care. He would roll his eyes whenever he heard the guy's name.

He only did care once, when he saw his name next to Macky Panuelos at the seating arrangement flashed in the projector.

He gulped. He was sweating despite the four air conditioners running, spreading the chilly air to the medium-sized lecture hall for a hundred students. Seating next to the aisle was terrifying. Seating next to Macky Panuelos was horrifying.

Ethan decided to keep his cool. He was wearing his gray hoodie paired with denim pants and charcoal sneakers. His black knapsack was lying next to his left leg. As usual, he wore his signature earphones and his I-don't-care-and-I-won't-ever face.

When Macky entered the room, Ethan grumbled. He rolled his eyes and raised the volume when he heard Macky's friends shouted the guy's name at the back. Even if they were feet away from each other, Ethan could feel something inside his heart warmed like a pan of freshly baked pandesal.

Ethan pushed the thought aside.

Girls talked and giggled in hushed tones when Macky walked past their column. He looked dashing in his sky blue polo, khaki shorts, and brown boat shoes. He held a notebook, a Samsung phone, and sunglasses in his right hand. He stopped midway when he scanned his name at the seat plan. He turned and searched for his seat.

Suddenly, Ethan met Macky's eyes. His eyes shifted quickly to the board. He moved at the edge of his seat. He was uncomfortable on the way he sat. He couldn't hear anything else on the room except the loud volume of his music and another thing he found odd.

It was the first time he heard the sound, like something inside his head was playing a drum recital-a very annoying one.

Ethan knew he was doomed for the whole semester.

--

After The Encounter, Ethan was more fired up than ever-he needed to avoid that man.

He crept in the shadows like a stalker (he didn't follow anyone, swear), talked to no one, and avoided eye-contact. However, Macky sprouted at his classes like an annoying mushroom. He cursed everytime he saw Mr. Sunshine.