Save Me, Darling°✧

Three

Dan POV
Year 3021

I arrived at school just in time for my first class, Trigonometry. Our professor introduced himself. His name was Matteo Giovanni Romero. He was a 47-year old guy from Italy. He looks like a pretty good teacher. I'm glad. Apparently, he also likes memes, which is a BIG YES-YES!

Sir Romero told us to stand up, one-by-one, and introduce ourselves. No biggie, I guess. The girl sitting at the very front, to the left stood up. "My name is Gigi Santos. I'm from the Immaculate Technology Institution. I hope we can be great friends!" she exclaimed. She made a funny pose, which made us laugh, and sat down. We made eye contact for a second, and she smiled at me. Seems like we'll get along well.

After her turn, the introductions continued. None of my other classmates really caught my eye until it came to this boy sitting right in front of me. He had reddish-brown hair, and was wearing all-black. He rose from his seat and smiled at us. "My name is Mico Andy Rosario. Nice to meet you all," he stated calmly.

I noticed that he seemed to be glancing at me every now and then, as if he was trying to catch my eye. I looked up at him and smiled. Then I got to see his face clearly for the first time. Wait...he seems familiar... Mico looked back at me and smirked. From behind him, the chalkboard suddenly started glitching. He broke eye contact with me, and finally sat down. I glanced at the board again, and at my classmates. Everything was back to normal. I shook my head, mildly disturbed by what happened. It's probably just a trick of the light...

After a few more minutes, it was finally my turn. I stood up and faced my classmates. "Hi, my name is Dan Michael Lopez. I hope we'll get along well," I grinned. They all nodded in return. I turned away from everyone and sat down again.

When everyone was done introducing themselves, Sir Romero stood up from his office chair. "Now, I'll give you guys the rest of my period to go around the room and introduce yourselves," he said. "Yes, Sir Romero," we replied. He nodded, seemingly satisfied with our answer, "You may begin." At that, everyone stood up and walked around the classroom, chatting with whomever we first bumped into. I saw Gigi Santos standing near the window. She was looking around, trying to find someone to talk to. Her eyes landed on me, and she waved. I smiled and waved back. Gotta be polite, right? I walked towards her and held put my hand, "Dan Michael Lopez, but you can just call me Dan," I stated. She accepted it and we shook hands. "Gigi Santos, call me Gigi or Gi for short," she chirped. An awkward silence fell between the two of us. In an attempt to break the ice, I cleared my throat, "So...how old are you?" I blurted out.

SHUCKS! ANONG PINAGSASABI MO, DAN?! MALAMANG 14 DIN SIYA KAGAYA MO!

Gigi laughed and replied, "12 years old." My jaw dropped. 14? Impossible! They only accept 16 year olds in this Academy! She looked at my surprised face and giggled, "I know what you're thinking. They accepted me because of my so called 'talent' in hacking stuff," she said nonchalantly. "You can hack stuff?! SANAOL!" I yelled without thinking.

DAMMIT! HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Gigi's confusion was evident on her face. "Sa...Sanaol..?" she cocked her head, "What does that mean? Is it a new term or something? I don't remember reading it on my Galaxy Web Dictionary..." she muttered. I facepalmed mentally. Nakalimutan ko na yung "sanaol" ay sikat lang noong 2019! "A-ah...I meant, um..." I trailed off. WALA NA AKONG MAISIP TEKA LANGGGGG! "Anyway, MOVING ON!" I said nervously, "Um...do you know this game called 'Addition'?" I asked her. She shook her head. "Alright, so Addition is a game wherein...ay, basta! Ang hirap i-explain. Siguro naman maiintindihan mo, matalino ka naman eh," I scratched my head. Gigi let out a melodious laugh, and nodded.

"Alright, so ganito siya..."

I didn't expect Gigi to pick up the game that fast. She's definitely smart for her age, not gonna lie.

We spent another 10 minutes playing Addition, which kept ending in a tie. Eventually, we decided to settle it by playing rock-paper-scissors. Gigi won, which I expected because I had terrible luck when it came to that game.

"Soooo, what's my prize?" she gave me an exaggerated smile that made me chuckle. "Hm, gusto mong ilibre kita ng milktea after school?" I offered. Gigi's eyes widened, "Woah, I did NOT expect you to take that seriously." Ah. Nag-jojoke lang pala siya.

"W-well, we don't have to if---"

Gigi cut me off, "No, no! It's fine, I haven't had milktea in a while anyways." I smiled, "It's a deal, then!"

As we were about to start another round of Addition out of boredom, the weird guy named Mico approached us. I keep having this feeling of deja vu whenever he's around...

Oh well, I'm sure it's nothing.

"Hi po! Ako nga pala si Mico Rosario. May I join you guys?" he flashed us a charming smile. Sabay hairflip. And by hairflip, I mean BANG FLIP. Ang haba ng bangs niya, pano kaya siya nakakakita? Hays, may mga pangyayaring hindi talaga mapapaliwanag.

Anyways.

I glanced at Gigi, and noticed a very subtle smile tugging at her lips. I smirked. Ohoho, this is gonma be interesting.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •

April POV
Year 2017

I yawned as I entered the classroom. I'm a student at Lavoiser Science High School, currently in Grade 9-Lumiere. Life's pretty good! ...except for my hanahaki. Yes, hanahaki exists. Hindi lang iyon nangyayari sa fanfiction. It exists in the real world, apparently.

Lucky for me, my hanahaki is still in its early stages. I still have time to think about whether I want the surgery or not. Honestly...I can't decide. I really, REALLY want to get over my crush. Oh, right. You guys don't know who he is. Allow me to introduce him, then.

My crush is Samuel McLainey. He's not one of those "popular bad boys". He's just an average student. Maybe that's why I like him so much. He's not trying to be all cool and gangster like Ash Geronimo. He's not into wearing chains and heavy eyeliner like Michael Salcedo. He's just...Samuel. I could say that he and I are kinda, SORTA close, but we're not the "best" of friends.

You'd think, "Oh, you have better chances of winning him, then!" I wish that was true. Truth is, he fancies someone. Felicity Anastacia. And no, she's not one of those mean and popular girls like in fanfics. She's a lovely person, so I can see why Samuel likes her. For one thing, she's our class president, meaning she's responsible and a model student. She's a simple but friendly girl.

Face it, April. Samuel's never going to return your affections. Just get over him quickly so that you don't have to undergo the damn surgery.

"April? Aaaaapriiiiiillllll?"

"I think lutang si ate gurl"

"H-ha?" I snapped out of it. I looked up to see my two BFFs, Isaac and Princess. "Bruh, you keep spacing out nowadays" Princess told me worriedly. "Sis, anyare? Is your..." Isaac trailed off. His voice dropped to a whisper, "Is your hanahaki acting up again?" I smiled sadly. "Wala lang, I'm just wondering if the surgery will be any help" I told them. "No vomiting of flower petals?" Princess asked, her eyebrows still knit together in distress. "No passing out?" Isaac queried, the worry evident in his voice. "Negative," I reassured them. Eager to change the subject, tumayo ako at inakbayan silang dalawa, "Halika, canteen tayo!" They grinned at me and we strode towards the cafeteria, smiling and laughing all the way. And at that moment, I felt completely at peace. It didn't matter whether my crush liked me back or not, whether I would ace the Statistics exam later today, or if I even had time left on this earth.

Being there, giggling and chattering with my friends like any trio of high schoolers, was a moment I would treasure with for the rest of my life.

~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~

A/N: Sadly, it's true that people only realize the importance of life when it's too late.

Do you think it's too late for April? Comment your answers and theories below.