Next To You

6 - In The Dark

The hallway buzzed with the usual Monday morning chaos where the students were rushing, but inside the Physics classroom, things were a little more subdued.

Jade sat at the third row, leftmost column, her arms crossed on the desk as she waited for class to begin. To her right were Shery, Cassie, and Trish that were all chatting about their new lab coats for their research laboratory.

“I had to get mine altered” Cassie was saying. “They gave me the one that looked like a trench coat.” Trish and Shery giggled.

“Better that than mine,” Trish replied, rolling her eyes. “The sleeves barely cover my elbows. I look like a child chemist.” which made the girls laugh even more.

Jade smiled, listening in but only half-engaged. Her eyes flicked toward the back of the room, to the far right corner.

Neil was there at the back right column, his usual seat.

He was hunched slightly, idly flipping through the pages of his notebook, a pencil tucked behind his ear. His sketchbook wasn’t out today, but Jade had a feeling it wasn’t far.

She quickly looked away when he turned his head, pretending to scan the front of the room. Her heart tugged slightly, unsure whether it was anticipation or nerves.

“Good morning!” their Physics teacher, Mr. Regente walked in with a meter stick and laptop.“I hope none of you forgot we’re starting optics today.”

He began explaining the activity: they’d be grouped in fours, each group given a flashlight and a set of reflective materials to explore how light refracts and reflects. The lights would be turned off and only the flashlights would be on, illuminating their experiments.

A murmur of excitement and dread rippled through the room. Students loved hands-on work. But Physics? That was another story.

Mr. Regente read out the pre-assigned groupings from a printed sheet.

“Group 1: Mendoza, Arcilla, Salvador, Benitez…”

Jade zoned out until she heard—

“…Group 4: Dela Vega, Ilagan, De Luna, Natividad.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

That was her. And Neil.

She turned to look at her friends, all still seated beside her.

“Guess we’re not grouped together.” Shery whispered with a shrug.

Jade nodded absently, her heart suddenly louder in her chest.

Tables were pulled into place and the lights were switched off.

The room dimmed to near complete darkness while the flashlight is their only source of light. Their own group had gathered in the middle row, rearranging chairs around one of the long lab tables. The flashlight sat between them, casting upward shadows across their faces.

Jade held the flashlight first, shining it through a glass prism as instructed. The beam bent, splitting into faint colors. Her lab groupmate on the left, De Luna, scribbled notes on the angle of refraction.

Across from her sat Neil, unusually quiet.

It was strange. In this darkness, the usual awkwardness of looking someone in the eye… disappeared. The glow of the flashlight hit his face just enough to highlight his features, his focused brow, slightly tousled hair, lips that looked like they were always a few seconds away from forming a smile.

Jade found herself watching him.

He caught her.

Again.

His gaze lifted, meeting hers, and for a second she didn’t look away.

“You’re staring,” he whispered.

“No, I’m not,” she whispered back.

“You are.”

She narrowed her eyes, but there was no bite behind it. “Maybe I’m just checking if you’re doing your part.”

Neil smirked and reached for the prism.

“You know how to do this?” he asked, gesturing toward the mirror setup.

“Yeah. We practiced it in our review group before,” Jade replied, passing the flashlight to him. “Here, angle it twenty degrees to the left.”

He did as told, and the beam bounced off the mirror onto a target point on the opposite side. It worked perfectly.

“Nice.” she said, genuinely impressed.

“I learn fast.”

“Of course you do” she said, feigning a groan. “Smart and annoyingly chill.”

He chuckled softly, looking down at his hands. For a moment, the teasing faded. The silence settled between them again.

Jade could feel it coming, the conversation she’d been turning over in her head since last Friday. The one she couldn’t shake off no matter how many excuses she fed herself.

And before she could stop herself, she asked, “Do you ever imagine… actually doing it?”

Neil looked up, puzzled. “Doing what?”

“Multimedia arts.” she said quietly. “Pursuing it for real. College, career, all of it.”

He paused, then leaned slightly forward over the table.

“All the time” he said.

Jade felt a quiet thud in her chest.

“Why don’t you fight for it?” she asked, not unkindly but just… curious.

Neil didn’t answer right away. He adjusted the flashlight on the table, angling the beam until it illuminated the center.

“My dad’s not the villain” he said finally. “He worked hard to get where he is. He came from nothing. Built his own construction firm. When he says engineering is stable, he knows what he’s talking about.”

Jade nodded, understanding more than she wanted to admit.

“But just because he’s not the villain,” Neil added, “doesn’t mean I’m not tired of pretending.”

The words hung in the air, heavier than anything else in the room.

“I get that.” Jade said.

Neil looked at her, his eyes reflecting the faint light. “Do you?”

She hesitated. Then nodded. “My best friend, Andre… he left for London to take up business. His dad wants him to take over the family company someday.”

Neil continued looking straight in the eyes.

Jade was silent for a moment.

“I didn’t stop him,” she admitted. “I didn’t even ask him if he really wanted that. I just let him go.”

Neil’s gaze softened. “That’s not your fault.”

“Maybe not,” she whispered. “But it still feels like it.”

They were quiet again, the light moved again as their lap groupmates changed its angle.

“I think I just don’t want to see someone else lose their passion too.” Jade said. “Not when I know what it looks like to regret not doing anything.”

Neil looked at her like he understood. Like he saw through the careful layers she usually wore around her emotions.

“Then don’t let me lose it.” he said softly.

Her heart skipped. “What?”

“If you don’t want to see it happen,” Neil said, “then help me not let go of it.”

Jade blinked.

It was the most vulnerable thing he had said so far. There was no smirk, no light teasing, no cool exterior. Just honesty. Quiet, clear, and brave.

She opened her mouth, but Mr. Regente’s voice interrupted them.

“All right, groups! Flashlights off, lights back on!”

The fluorescent lights flickered back on, and just like that, the moment dissolved. Students groaned and blinked as their eyes adjusted.

Neil leaned back in his chair, his expression calm again, but something in his eyes lingered something unspoken.

Jade sat back too, her heart still racing a little.

After class, students filtered out into the hallway. Jade’s friends found her by the lockers.

“Hey! Physics wasn’t so bad, huh?” Cassie said, nudging her.

“Not bad,” Jade mumbled, still a little dazed.

Trish glanced at her. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Jade said.

Shery narrowed her eyes. “You look like you had an existential moment.”

Jade laughed under her breath, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Maybe I did.”

They started walking toward the cafeteria. Behind them, Jade caught one last glimpse of Neil heading the opposite direction, alone, earbuds in, sketchbook under his arm.

That night, Jade sat at her desk, writing again.

Maybe it’s not just about fixing the past.

Maybe it’s about believing that people like Neil don’t have to go through it alone.

If I can be the person who says, “You don’t have to give it up”…

Maybe that’s enough.

Maybe that’s how I heal, too.

She stared at her words.

Then reached for her pen and added:

I won’t stay quiet this time.