trcasures2

[trcasures2]

she sighed dramatically. "if i did, i wouldn't be following you to exactly where i don't want to be." she shrugged. quynh was just about willing to try everything. "true. sooner we take care of this, the sooner i can move on." she swallowed. "for honor, i guess," she smirked. "let's go, smart guy."

...

nate walked into the building, and towards the so-called haunted corridor. the corridor bridged some parts of that building, like the college canteen and the library. so a lot of students went there, but then they met the horrifying ghost. "hello! we come in peace," he shouted out.

[trcasures2]

she rushed over to the car, only to have to wait for him to open the door. she wished things were a lot more elegant, but alas real life didn't play out that way. as soon as she got in, she attempted to pat herself dry. it didn't make much of a difference, naturally. and now she was alone with nate... "no thanks. i'm good." she dismissed as she attempted to dry herself. "ha?" she asked, hestiating for a moment because she wasn't sure if she heard right. and then a moment later, she turned away swiftly, suddenly intent on watching the droplets of water run down the window. "nagunsa ka diha ui," she swallowed thickly, feeling flustered all of a sudden. a beat of silence. "on second thought, i'll have some of those painkillers."

...

he handed her the box and another water bottle. "um, yeah. basa ko. i need to change," he said, though she seemed to have figured it out already. he turned to the side as quickly as he could; his pale skin tone made his blushing all too obvious. "kadiyot ra ni." he opened the compartment again and searched for a fresh shirt and towel. he tried to remove his shirt as quietly as he could. unfortunately for him, the noise that the wet cloth made as it was being peeled off his skin pierced through the sound of the rain. wincing, he closed his eyes, but did it as fast he could. he dabbed the towel on himself before putting on the new shirt. "humana ko," he told her primly.

[trcasures2]

her frown remained. and yet. her hand took his and she rushed forward to the car. logistically, it made no sense to be holding hands as you run in the rain. if one of them slipped, they would both fall. and yet. she squeezed his hand a little tighter, only letting go when they make it to his car.

...

he took out his keys and pressed the button as fast as he could, so the doors would open. he opened one side and said, "didto ka's pikas!" taking a deep breath, he settled himself in the driver's seat. he paused to catch his breath, before opening the front compartment and grabbing a pack of paracetamol and a water bottle. he was prepared for anything. hey, he was a boy scout when he was a child, after all. laging handa, as they said. "do you need some?" he glanced at the box of paracetamol and the water bottle, then realized that taking the meds would probably still not clear his nose or prevent him from getting sick if he didn't remove his soaked shirt. he looked down at the floor awkwardly, then said, "talikod usa, maristela."

[trcasures2]

"right," quynh nodded in agreement, incredulity hinted at the slight smirk she wore on her lips. "it's important not to die." perhaps joking about things made the situation easier to stomach. after all, quynh le hated being defenseless. a foe she knew nothing about was the most dangerous kind. she huffed, steeling her nerves as she stepped out into the warm summer night. the sun had just begun to set. "for the record, i think this is an awful idea."

"you got any better ones?" he said. "because no one else is doing anything about it and that thing is just running amok. i'm absolutely not gonna let a ghost wreck my senior year. i'm gonna graduate as summa cum laude." he sounded very confident about that, even though the school year had only just begun. "for the record, we're southeast asian." he clapped his hands together as he walked towards the building where the ghost was often spotted. "let's make our ancestors proud. we can do this."

[trcasures2]

"unsay bentley uy," she questioned with a frown. mari never really did understand nathan's obsession with opulence. when they held hands by the beach when they were kids, they had both lived much simpler lives. though you'd never hear those words leave her lips, she missed those days. but that was tanoy, and this was nate. she had learned a while back that there was a difference between the two. "mura ta'g buang," she muttered. "kung mudagan nalang diay ta padung sa imong bentley diay?"

...

he glanced at her for a moment, hesitating. he hated hesitating. so he pushed himself to stop it and think fast, talk fast. "okay, managan ta. but you've got to hold my hand." he put forth his hand. "come on! dali!"

[trcasures2]

she shook her head as if the hilarity of the situation was hard to grasp. truly nate was on a league of his own. "right," she nodded tentatively. "that was definitely my plan." she shook her head in a tacit denial. "don't worry, i'll make sure you'll be pretty so you can have an open casket. i'm sure it would be a kindness to let people stare at your dead corpse..." she paused. "because you're so pretty, of course." she winked and cackled.

...

"yes. but also, it would be great if i don't die," he said. it was starting to feel a bit like they were being too open about the possibility of him perishing in this encounter. he had no intention of doing so. "and you're pretty too. we shouldn't let this ghost wreck our stunning good looks." he beckoned her to follow him as he walked out of the building. "come on. no time to waste."

[trcasures2]

"naghulat ko ug uber," she debated, waving her phone at his face. one glance would have made it obvious that no one was taking her request with the amount of people booking in this weather. the sniffling got to her though. she knew her guilt wouldn't be able to handle the guilt if he really did get sick. "fine. okay. sige." she huffed. "i'll get in your damn car."

...

he paused when he heard her words, unable to believe that it worked. he blinked at her for a moment, but then realized this wasn't the time to gawk. instead, he said, "okay. let's go." logistically, it would be difficult to walk to his car while they were... like this (his jacket over her head, her hands protecting his face), but they could figure it out. "you know, i've got a bentley flying spur," he shared, trying to guide her in the direction of his parked vehicle. even in this state, he could summon the energy to brag. he almost bragged about its luxury saloon, plug-in hybrid powertrain, and so forth, but figured she wouldn't care about those details. "bag-o pa nako pinalit."

[trcasures2]

"oh god," she rolled her eyes as if she was annoyed, but that smirk on her lips oft gave away how amused she was with the man. "what are you trying to do, give this thing a make-up tutorial? get ready with me and my ghost?" she managed to joke despite the fear in her gut. it wasn't a wonder why her laugh came out more nervous. "i mean, i plan to beat this ghost up if i can so i'm bringing my fists. and my trusty dagger. you think i'll need more?" she asked, brow raised.

...

he paused. "you know, quynh, that's actually not a bad idea. it would be unique." he could see it blowing up on tiktok already: grwm ft. ghost bestie. "but i guess it depends on what kind of ghost this is. if it's friendly enough, then we could do stuff with it. if not, well... yeah. good on you for bringing a dagger. i mean, a ghost doesn't have a corporal form, but it could possess someone, right?" he said, "if i get possessed and start acting crazy, you can stab me, just don't go for my face." he said, "i can fight too." he didn't expect quynh to believe it; after all, he spent so much time cultivating this image of himself as a sheltered rich kid. but he was definitely capabe of throwing hands.

[trcasures2]

"nganong mag buot man ka uy," her nose wrinkled as her brows met. say what you will about the currently tumultuous relationship between these two (if you can even call it that) but no one really ever got to her like nate did. no, if any one of her friends would peek out and see her demeanor right now, they would be quick to comment how they'd never seen star so annoyed. what that meant in reality was a truth maristela wasn't ready to face. but her frown doesn't last long. when he's standing in front of her, hair tousled from the wind and the rain, she can't help the concern that etches on her faces instead. though she was covered by the man's jacket at this point, mari had made a small shelter with her arms and hands for his face to keep dry in the rain. "mura ka'g buang," she declared. "if you're going to be like this, fine."

...

"oh, wow! ikaw ang gusto mag tindog ra diri sa uwan nga way payong ha! pero akoy mura'g buang?" he snapped back. "sige, fine. but dili ko muhawa jud baya until kabalo ko nga okay na ka." his breathing grew more strained. he sniffed again and said, "maristela, please. i'm already so pale; i'm not like you. i can't pull off 'common cold chic.' just go inside, please."

[trcasures2]

"don't you know who i am?" he said. "i mean, aside from the most dashingly handsome man you've ever seen. i'm nate sungkad; i've always got a plan." he offered her a peek into his bag. among other things, it contained some visayan amulets, a thick notebook filled with information, some candles (for divining and summoning and shit), and bottles of salt. "i've also got this," he said, taking out a bag of bread and a bottle of water. "in case, you know, we get hungry during the rituals. plus my usual products." his beauty blender, foundation, sea salt spray, comb, and so forth. he believed that looking your best was hugely helpful in stressful situations. for him, at least, that was the case; it gave him a confidence boost, so he felt ready to take on anything. "what are you bringing?"

"ah, pastilaaaan!" cried nate, voice rising to a shrill pitch. he held his flashlight in one hand, a dagger in another. "i can't take this anymore! i spent so much time on my hair and people just keep on messing it up for me 'cause of that ghost. ugh." he said, "i wish they'd just calm down and actually do something about it. i know i will. are you coming?" he carried with him a bag full of items to drive the ghost away.

[trcasures2]

mari was always a stubborn one. too bad for her, he was stubborn too. perhaps that was why they'd been such good friends. before, you know, well... "no. you're not okay," he said, enunciating each word. normally, he'd whine about the way the downpour wrecked his perfect coiffure. but he couldn't even bring himself to think about his hair in that moment. he took off his — expensive, duh — jacket and put it on top of the girl's head. "di tika pasagdan diri. i'm sorry, but dili ko muhawa hangtod okay na jud ka." he sighed. "can't i at least help you get back inside your friends' house until the rain stops?" those were his friends too. but he didn't know if he was allowed to refer to anything as ours — as in mari's and nate's, theirs, something they shared. he sniffed as his nose started to get congested, rain pouring all over him.

at first, nate had been reluctant to visit the usa. after all, mari was in the states again. but he'd reminded himself of the facts: 9,831,510 km². more than 331 million people. the chances of bumping into her were low, and he didn't — until, well, he did. because despite all those square kilometers and people, the filipino community in mari's area was apparently pretty small. they knew some of the same people, who knew the same people. but it wasn't all bad, he thought. he tried to be civil. he could be civil; it was the least he could do after messing things up with her. it was late afternoon when their gathering ended. nate walked to the parking lot to get into his car. he caught a glimpse of mari waiting for transport. he felt a twinge of pain in his chest. he wanted to invite her to just ride with him, but could he still do that? the sky, however, made the decision for him. when he heard the rain battering his car, he quickly got out and said, "mari! mari..." for a moment, he almost froze, but he pushed himself to run towards her and spit it out. he didn't want her to get wet and sick. "dungan na tag sakay."

[trcasures2]

"ah, pastilaaaan!" cried nate, voice rising to a shrill pitch. he held his flashlight in one hand, a dagger in another. "i can't take this anymore! i spent so much time on my hair and people just keep on messing it up for me 'cause of that ghost. ugh." he said, "i wish they'd just calm down and actually do something about it. i know i will. are you coming?" he carried with him a bag full of items to drive the ghost away.

[trcasures2]

at first, nate had been reluctant to visit the usa. after all, mari was in the states again. but he'd reminded himself of the facts: 9,831,510 km². more than 331 million people. the chances of bumping into her were low, and he didn't — until, well, he did. because despite all those square kilometers and people, the filipino community in mari's area was apparently pretty small. they knew some of the same people, who knew the same people. but it wasn't all bad, he thought. he tried to be civil. he could be civil; it was the least he could do after messing things up with her. it was late afternoon when their gathering ended. nate walked to the parking lot to get into his car. he caught a glimpse of mari waiting for transport. he felt a twinge of pain in his chest. he wanted to invite her to just ride with him, but could he still do that? the sky, however, made the decision for him. when he heard the rain battering his car, he quickly got out and said, "mari! mari..." for a moment, he almost froze, but he pushed himself to run towards her and spit it out. he didn't want her to get wet and sick. "dungan na tag sakay."