Chapter 1: How It Began
374 Words
I’m officially unemployed. Why?
Because I just graduated,no job yet,and I have no idea how many months (or years?) I’ll be stuck at home, jobless.
I’m not really a social media person. I only post once in a blue moon.
I don’t know what came over me, but while I was scrolling through my feed, I randomly decided to check my friend request list. There were quite a few pending requests.
One name caught my attention. He had the same surname as my former classmate, Jona. She lives just a meter away from our house, but we’re not that close. We were classmates once, though.
I accepted his friend request out of curiosity and decided to stalk his profile a bit. I saw pictures of them together—it looked like he also lives near Jona.
Then suddenly, a message popped up on my phone.
It was him.
“Oh my God, did I press something?” I whispered, surprised that he messaged me just a minute after I accepted the request.
Him: “Hi, thanks for accepting my friend request.”
Me: “You’re welcome.”
Him: “Btw, good evening.”
Me: “Good evening. Are you related to Jona?”
Him: “Yes, we’re family. Why?”
Me: “Nothing. She was my classmate and you have the same surname.”
Him: “Oh, okay. We live on the same street too.”
Bingo. My guess was right.
Me: “Yeah? We recently moved here, though. We lived in the city for 8 years and only came back last year. Maybe that’s why I’m not familiar.”
Him: “Hahaha yeah, I never saw you around before. I used to live with my Lola when I was young. But she passed away when I was 13, so my uncle adopted me.”
That made me feel a little sad for him.
Me: “I’m sorry to hear that. How old are you now?”
Him: “I’m 22. You?”
Me: “23. A year older.”
Him: “So you’re my Manang? Hahaha!”
Me: “Haha! Not that far apart. Anyway, I’m heading to bed. It was nice chatting with you.”
Him: “Owww :( Good night!”
- Writer
