CHAPTER 7
1251 Words
Lexie Monteverdi's POV
“Lex, ikaw na bahala sa field B kasama si Elian,” sabi ni Prof kaninang umaga habang inaayos ang listahan ng tasks namin para sa araw.
My fork froze mid-air. “Wait—ako lang? With him?”
Zyra bit her lip to hide a grin. “Oo nga naman, Monteverdi. Perfect team daw kayo.”
“Perfect? More like disaster waiting to happen,” I muttered.
Pero wala na akong nagawa. The moment Elian nodded — that silent, composed, I-don’t-need-your-permission kind of nod — alam kong tapos na ang laban.
So there I was, hours later, walking behind him sa main field. The sun was merciless, the air smelled like grass and mud, and Elian… well, he was being Elian.
Tahimik. Focused. Annoyingly calm.
“Alam mo, hindi ka man lang nagsasalita,” I said after five full minutes of awkward silence.
He didn’t look up. “Bakit kailangan?”
“Because normal people talk, Cruz.”
“Then siguro hindi ako normal.”
“Obvious,” I muttered, loud enough for him to hear.
He glanced over his shoulder, one brow slightly raised. “What was that?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly, pretending to write in my notes.
Pero totoo naman — paano siya nakakayanan ng mga tao rito? Parang kahit anong sabihin mo, laging may sagot. At hindi lang basta sagot — ‘yung tipong may kasamang smirk na gusto mong burahin gamit ng notebook mo.
---
After two hours of measuring soil moisture (na hindi ko rin sure kung tama ginagawa ko), naupo ako sa ilalim ng malaking puno ng mangga. The air there was cooler, and the shade felt like heaven.
Elian was still working nearby, his shirt sticking to his back. Okay fine — kahit pawisan siya, ang linis pa rin niyang tignan. Nakakainis.
“Gusto mo tubig?” I asked, offering my bottle.
He hesitated for a second before taking it. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” I said, trying to sound casual.
He drank quietly, then returned it. Our fingers brushed for a split second — too short to mean anything, too long to ignore.
I looked away. Fast.
“Lexie,” he said suddenly.
“What?”
“You have dirt on your face.”
“Where?”
“Here,” he said, reaching out — and before I could react, he wiped it off gently with his thumb.
For a moment, everything stilled. The wind, the sound of the birds — even my heartbeat felt suspended.
Then, just like that, he pulled back. “There. Much better.”
“Ah… thanks,” I said lamely.
Bakit parang bigla akong nauubusan ng hangin?!
---
Pagbalik namin sa hacienda, nagulat ako nang may babaeng nakatayo sa veranda. Elegant. Polished. Manila energy.
“Elian!” she called out, smiling.
He froze for a second — just enough for me to notice. Then he smiled back, soft and real in a way I’d never seen before.
My stomach twisted.
“Long time no see,” the girl said as she walked closer. “Na-miss mo ba ako?”
“Celine,” Elian said quietly. “What are you doing here?”
“I was in the area for work,” she said, flipping her hair effortlessly. “Thought I’d drop by.”
Work? Who drops by a hacienda in the middle of nowhere?
Zyra and Aira exchanged a look. I pretended to be busy checking my notes, pero to be honest, nakikinig ako sa bawat salita.
Celine smiled. “Still the same old Elian — serious, quiet, mysterious.”
He just shrugged. “You know me.”
“Oh, I do,” she said with a wink.
Okay. Enough.
---
“Lex, okay ka lang?” tanong ni Aira later that night habang nasa kwarto kami.
“Of course,” I said, flipping my journal shut.
“Sure ka?”
“Mhmm. Bakit ako maapektuhan?”
Zyra laughed softly. “Maybe because you looked like you wanted to throw your clipboard kanina?”
“I was frustrated,” I said defensively. “At the soil. Not the girl.”
“Right,” Zyra said, obviously unconvinced. “So kung hindi ka nagselos, anong tawag doon?”
“Research stress.”
Aira grinned. “Tawag doon denial, besh.”
I threw a pillow at her. They both laughed.
Pero when the laughter faded, naiwan akong tahimik.
Kasi totoo, may kurot. Maliit lang. Pero ramdam ko.
---
Later, when everyone else was asleep, bumalik ako sa puno ng mangga. The night was quiet except for the crickets. The moonlight filtered through the leaves, soft and silver.
I opened my journal.
> Dear sanity,
Today I learned that soil can absorb water... and jealousy.
Her name is Celine. She smiles like she knows something I don’t.
And he looked at her like she was sunlight after rain.
Bakit ako naiilang?
I sighed, staring up at the branches above me.
Maybe I was just tired. Maybe it was just the heat.
Or maybe — and this was the terrifying part — maybe I cared more than I should.
“Elian Cruz,” I whispered to the quiet night, “kung project lang ‘to, bakit parang ako na ‘yung ginagawan ng thesis ng tadhana?”
Somewhere nearby, a light flickered from the house. I saw Elian at the window, staring out toward the same tree. Our eyes didn’t meet — but it felt like they did.
And for a second, the world stood still again.
---
The moon hung above me, pale and patient. I hugged my knees tighter, feeling the cool grass beneath my palms. Every whisper of the wind carried something — fragments of laughter, the rustle of leaves, the faint hum of crickets — but none of them were loud enough to drown out the quiet chaos in my chest.
I traced the spine of my journal, the cover faintly glowing under the moonlight. “Ang gulo mo, Lexie,” I whispered. “Hindi mo alam kung anong gusto mo. Pero siya—he always seems to know.”
Maybe that’s what drew me in — not the smile, not the mystery, but the certainty. The way he moved like he belonged, while I was still trying to figure out where I fit in this story.
I looked at the moon again.
It was beautiful but distant — just like him. Something you could admire from afar, but never touch.
The reflection of its light shimmered across the small puddles by my feet, and for a moment, I saw two moons — one steady in the sky, the other trembling in the water. Maybe that’s us, I thought. He’s the steady one. I’m the reflection — the one moved by every ripple, every emotion I try to hide.
A single leaf drifted down, landing beside my notebook. I smiled faintly. “Fine,” I murmured, “maybe I am a little jealous.”
The words sounded almost funny in the stillness. Almost.
But under the quiet glow of the moon, it didn’t feel wrong. It just felt… real.
And maybe that’s what scared me the most.
Because for the first time, the Hacienda didn’t feel like an assignment anymore. It felt like a beginning.
One I wasn’t sure I was ready for — but somehow, already part of.
I closed my eyes, letting the night wrap around me like a secret I didn’t know how to keep.
- Writer
