"Kinda Love, Maybe More"

You know that moment when everything’s just… *blah*? Like, same profs, same tambay spots, same drama with your barkada. That was my life. Until *he* walked in. I was sitting sa usual seat ko sa Brewbean, my go-to coffee place near campus. I was halfway through my iced Spanish latte, tapos biglang may pumasok na guy—tall, wearing a navy blue hoodie, headphones on, and holding a sketchpad. As in legit parang straight out of a w*****d story. "Miss, is this seat taken?" he asked, his voice super chill pero may konting pagod. You know that kind of voice na parang pagod sa life pero still hot? I looked up, literally pa-sip sa straw ko, and our eyes met. Hindi ako ready. Like, I almost choked on my drink. *Lord, not now.* "Uh, no, go ahead," I managed to say, acting cool, pero my heart was legit doing jumping jacks. He sat down, pulled out a pencil, and started sketching. Like, who does that? Sketch in a coffee shop? *Artists talaga noh*. I was pretending to study pero lowkey checking him out through my laptop screen’s reflection. Ganda ng nose niya. Sharp jaw. *Argh, focus ka, girl!* Then out of nowhere, he looked at me and smiled. *SMILED.* "You go here sa Ateneo, right?" he asked. "Yeah, third year. AB Psych," I said, trying not to sound too eager. "You?" "Fine Arts. Transfer lang this sem," he replied. And just like that, my brain whispered, *Sis, you're in danger.* ---in