☽ ▬▬ at nung kinantahan mo ako, tilang
ba'ang   huminto   and   oras   bago   pa'ng
sumapit  ang  bangong  taon  ▪  and  when
you sang to me, it was like time had stood
still    before   the   new   year   had    begun 

Bailey was silent. Then he blinked, and said, "Okay, what the fuck?"

"I don't like it anymore." Runa started gathering the pieces of ripped paper. "Don't bother to convince me to rewrite it."

"No—" Bailey hung his head. "Sit down, sit down, please," he told Runa, motioning to her shoulders. 

"I am sitting down."

"Okay, then move back."

Runa did as she was told. Bailey climbed up on his desk and sat there again, as comfortably as he could manage. 

Runa stared at him. He was always sitting in unusual places, and yet he was still able to get cozy. He had said that it was goblin behavior and that he wouldn't take that as an insult.

"So." He propped up his elbows on his knees. "I'm not going to ask you to write it again, but, if it makes you feel better...write a shorter version?"

"You were overly dramatic, you know, sitting down there, asking me to move back and talking to me in that tone."

"V."

"Sorry."

"I'm not saying you should cut off all contact with her. You do plan to greet her when she comes back, right? So give her a heads up or something!"

"Yeah, me, my dad and Lina will pick her up at the airport. What kind of heads up?"

"...A letter?"

"Bailey!"

Bailey looked away, regretting his words. "Man, alright, um...what about a short one?"

"How short?"

It was like a lightbulb turned on in his head. He hopped off his desk and pointed at his best friend. "It's your turn to be dramatic now, my dear Venice Aruna Beltran!" He boomed, speaking in an announcer's voice.

"Please don't say my name like that," Runa said, pushing his hand away so it pointed at his bed instead of her.

"Sorry. But, here." Bailey opened his drawer and pulled out a clean sheet of paper. He held it out to her. "This is the last of Liz's stationery."

Today was a long day. Runa was tired. She wasted her writing into the first letter. But...she wanted to talk to Maria.

A few moments later both Runa and Bailey were putting on their shoes, with Runa holding a sealed envelope. Inside was a sheet of paper, nicely decorated, but written on it was just one sentence: come home safely, i'd rather see you in front of me than in a hospital bed. 

And then she signed her name. The grey clouds earlier that day had become a light drizzle, and Bailey wanted to bring an umbrella, but Runa was already rushing out onto the sidewalk. 

It might have been a little low of her to leave him behind, but she was in that strange state again, feeling so many emotions at once. She was tired from writing but exhilarated, and she was impatient, too. She wanted to drop off the letter and see how much time it would take to get to Maria, she wanted to go to sleep knowing she'd have a taste of what it would be like for Maria to be by her side if she responded. 

The tips of their hair whipped behind them; Bailey's voice calling out their name was muffled as the sound of the wind made it garbled. Their shoes thumped against the pavement, and then their footsteps slowed down as they crossed the road. 

"Runa! Wait—" Bailey caught his breath when he reached her side, panting. "You ready to send that?" He said, cracking a smile for her. They turned a corner, heading for the post office.

"As I'll ever be. I miss her so much." Runa dragged her fingers along the brick wall they passed by.

"Me too." He wasn't lying. Kalinda's voice was quite pleasing and he liked how she preferred voice calls over texts. 

The pattering of the rain got stronger, and stronger. And then without realizing it, Bailey and Runa were inside the post office, the tops of their heads damp but the envelope in Runa's hands dry. 

As they handed over the envelope, there was a faint sound heard. Bzzt, bzzt. Bzzt, bzzt. The steady rhythm vibrated over and over in Runa's pocket. 

"I'll take care of this, you answer that," Bailey said. She nodded and headed to the other side of the room. They had already started feeling chilly from the rain outside, now the post office was making them pull their clothes tighter against their bodies. 

And then the temperature changed again, but this time it was a warm feeling from the center of Runa's chest. Maria was calling.

"...Hello?" Runa's voice shook. 

"Oh my God, V! I didn't think you'd answer. Look, my mom's busy and no one else would pick up—you still use this phone number?"

She was speechless for a second or two. Without any warning? "Yeah, I do, um— what do you need help with?"

"I need your opinion, should I sing Can't Help Falling In Love for the program tomorrow?"

Runa didn't realize how unfamiliar a phone call with Maria would be. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from grinning too much. "Yeah, whatever you want."

"I mean sure, I'm really late to this but I've memorized the lyrics, so..."

"The one Elvis Presley sang? G-go for it."

"Yeah, the one that goes..."

Oh. Oh. She would start singing, wouldn't she? Runa's heart wasn't ready for that. It was like the universe stood still and it was them, only them interacting.

"Wise men say, only fools rush in; but I can't help, falling in love with you."

Well, that was something, alright. Imagine a human heart coated in caramel, so it was hard to move, breathe and speak. Runa felt like their heart was replaced with one of those.

"V? Aruna?"

"I'm listening."

"Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? For I can't help falling in love with you."

Woah. Her voice was so sugary and the slight static heard over the phone seemed to improve its quality even more. Something in the girl ached. She had to say something now. "Hey."

"...Hi?"

Runa took a deep breath and said, "That was...that was great. They'll love you, I know it."

"Alright, thanks!" And then as quickly as the letter Runa wrote for Maria was put into its respective box, the call was ended by the other girl.