'If we will be stuck in a remote island naked, nothing will even happen.' Those were Rosh's exact words to describe her relationship with Lucho. She's clearly not a fan of friends to lovers trope. They've been friends for five years yet her indignation towards him gets worse every day. It is past mending. She doesn't even know why she dislikes him, or how and where it all started, she just hates him. That's it. Until her 18th birthday came. Book cover by cottonbro studio in pexels

'Madaling magsalita at mag-desisyon dahil wala ka sa sitwasyon' but Vivienne says otherwise. For her, being in a relationship shouldn't remove someone's rationality, hindi normal maging tanga sa pag-ibig. It shouldn't make you size down just to fit into the relationship. It shouldn't make you question your worth at higit sa lahat, dapat marunong kang magpalaya. But what if love doesn't arrive in a way that's logical? What if it comes unexpectedly, slowly blurring your boundaries until you don't even notice you're already compromising pieces of yourself? What if you wake up one day and realize you've been patient for too long, understanding for too much, forgiving for things you swore you never would? What if it became a poison that lingers in your veins, tempting you with its beauty even as it slowly destroys you? What if loving someone makes you brave...but also a little foolish and selfish? Because it's easy to say you'll never beg for bare minimum. It's easy to promise you'll walk away at the first red flag. It's easy to believe you'll choose yourself every single time. Until it's you, until it's their voice that softens your anger, until it's their hands that feel like home...until walking away starts to feel like you're turning your back on everything you once struggled to hold together. So what if the hardest part isn't loving but learning you have to let go?

Yvonne Maica Lim is an aspiring UAAP court side reporter for UST, she was so close to getting her football player crush after plotting on him for almost a year...but everything fell apart when she had to fake date the infamous star basketball player of the UST Growling Tigers instead. Book cover by cottonbro studio in pexels

If we were to talk about making the first move, boys are usually the ones who do it, but not in the case of Ireena Razon. For her, it was a now or never situation. Given that it was her last year of high school, she felt she had to do everything. You only turn 17 once in your lifetime, and after that, you can't afford to make foolish decisions anymore, she thought. Little did she know, this "foolish" 17-year-old decision she was about to make would shape the rest of her life. Book Cover from: Su Minh in Pexels

Started: 04/27/2021 Ended: 08/24/2021 Ang hirap palang tumanda. Ang hirap magbayad ng bills. Ang hirap suportahan ng pamilyang akala ay isang milyon ang suweldo mo. Ang hirap ngumiti sa nanay na mataas ang tingin sa'yo pero hindi ka kayang ipagtanggol. Ang hirap tabihan sa hapagkainan ng tatay na pinag-uubusan mo ng pera pero hindi ka maalala. Ang hirap mag-abot ng tulong sa kapatid na baon sa utang. Ang hirap intindihin ng hipag na nakakapagpa-rebond pa kahit kapos na kapos na. Ang hirap pakisamahan ng bunsong halos ilahad ang mga palad tuwing makikita ka. Ang hirap ngitian ng mga taong tanong nang tanong kung bakit hindi ka pa nakakapag-asawa. Ang hirap humarap sa mundong isasampal sa'yo na mag-isa ka. Tulong, bigay, utang. Isang iling mo lang, madamot ka na. Kasama mo sila kapag may maibibigay ka, pero hindi mo sila mahahanap kapag wala na. Ikaw ang kakayod, sila ang tutuka. Ikaw ang iiyak sa pagod, sila ang magtatamasa. Iyon ang summary ng buhay ko. Sobra-sobra ang naririnig na paghingi, kulang na kulang ang naririnig na pasasalamat. Sobra-sobra ang pagpapasensya, kulang na kulang ang natatanggap na pagpapahalaga. Sobra-sobra ang binabayaran, kulang na kulang sa kasiyahan. Kaya nang dumating sa buhay ko ang nag-iisang lalaking hindi ako nakita bilang naglalakad na alkansya, ang nag-iisang lalaking nakinig sa mahabang listahan ko ng problema, ang nag-iisang lalaking nagbigay sa akin ng kakaibang saya, ipinangako ko sa sarili na sa gitna ng hirap ng pagtanda, magtitiis ako basta't siya ang kasama. Kahit pa ang kapalit noon ay pagtalikod sa minahal na pamilya. Kahit pa ang kapalit noon ay paglaban sa mundong pinatatakbo ng kapangyarihan at pera. Kahit pa ang kapalit noon ay ang pagdurusa't pag-iisa. Siya ang ginhawa, pahinga, at kasiyahan ko. Dumating man ang araw na tanaw ko na ang dulo. Dumating man ang araw na wala na kaming sagot sa lahat ng bakit at paano. Dumating man ang araw na pareho na kaming talo.