Chapter 6
767 Words
Thursday – 8:17 AM – Campus Entrance
Aira didn’t expect him to be waiting.
Not with coffee. Not with a folded paper bag.
“Good morning,” Calix greeted softly, eyes bright despite the early hour.
Aira tilted her head. “Anong meron?”
Calix handed her the bag. “Made this last night. Don’t laugh.”
She opened it—saw banana bread, slightly lopsided, wrapped in wax paper. Her eyes softened. “You… made this?”
“You mentioned you missed your mom’s. Tried my best,” he said, rubbing his nape sheepishly.
She smiled—genuinely. “Thank you. I mean it.”
11:42 AM – Aira’s POV (Bench by the Garden)
She took slow bites of the banana bread while watching students pass by.
It wasn’t perfect. Medyo sunog yung gilid. But it was made for her. And something about that made her chest feel… safe.
> “I didn’t realize I could miss this feeling—
being thought of. Not as a burden.
Just… as someone worth remembering.”
Flashback – Two Weeks Ago – Rooftop Bench
Aira sat beside Calix, legs crossed, eyes lost in the fading sky.
They had been talking about comfort food—one of those nothing conversations that somehow felt everything.
“Paborito mo?” tanong ni Calix habang nagba-browse sa phone niya, looking for late-night food options.
Aira thought for a second. “Banana bread.”
“Wow. Classic,” he chuckled. “Yung sa coffee shop?”
She shook her head, smiling faintly. “Yung gawa ng mom ko. Sobrang moist. May konting nuts. Pinaglalaban ‘yung lasa kahit sunog yung gilid.”
“Sounds like home.”
“It is,” she said softly. Then added, “Pero hindi na ako umuuwi madalas. Parang… mas safe ‘pag malayo.”
Calix looked at her, not pushing.
Aira met his gaze. “Minsan nami-miss ko 'yon—yung mga simpleng bagay. Banana bread. Smell ng kusina. Feeling na kahit wala kang sinasabi, may tao pa ring nag-aalala sayo.”
She said it casually, but her voice cracked at the end.
And Calix never forgot it.
Back to reality
2:56 PM – Unexpected Tension
While walking with Calix between classes, they bumped into someone familiar, Daryl.
Ex
The one who left her questioning her worth.
He looked between them, then smirked. “Uy, upgraded na si Aira.”
Calix’s hand twitched at his side.
Aira stayed still. “Daryl.”
“Relax. Joke lang,” Daryl said, raising his hands. “Kaya pala hindi ka na nagpaparamdam, ha.”
Calix said nothing—but he was staring straight at Daryl, jaw locked.
Aira stepped slightly closer to Calix. “We were never friends. Let’s keep it that way.”
Daryl shrugged and walked off—but the air stayed thick.
3:18 PM – Rooftop, Just Them
Calix leaned on the ledge, quiet.
“You okay?” Aira asked.
He nodded. “It’s not about him. It’s just… I hated the way he spoke to you.”
Aira looked down. “I used to let him say worse.”
“I know.”
That silence again.
“But not anymore,” she added.
He looked at her, surprised.
“I’m not that girl anymore,” she continued. “I don’t beg to be chosen.”
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6:30 PM – Dorm Lobby (Mira’s POV)
Mira watched them from afar.
Aira, quietly talking to Calix. Her hands brushing her hair, smiling a little too long, laughing softer than usual.
Mira whispered to herself, “She’s falling. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
Aira POV
8:44 PM – Dorm Balcony
“Calix?”
“Yeah?”
“If one day… I get overwhelmed and go quiet again…”
“I’ll wait,” he said instantly.
She paused.
“Okay,” she replied. “But if one day… I finally say it out loud, will you believe me?”
His brow furrowed. “Say what?”
Aira didn’t look at him as she whispered, “That I’m learning how to love you.”
The world stood still.
Calix didn’t say anything right away. He didn’t need to.
He just stepped closer, rested his forehead gently against hers.
And whispered, “Thank you for letting me be the one you’re learning with.”
Midnight – Aira’s Journal Entry
> “I didn’t fall all at once.
I fell in banana bread. In shared umbrellas. In a hand that didn’t flinch.
In someone who didn’t promise to fix me—
just stayed long enough to remind me
I was never broken.”
- Writer
