Chapter 9: Time Traveler

NOELLE

He already explained it to me and told me that he went back in time—or rather, that he time-traveled and came from our future. I only smiled at him after he told me about it. It's hard to believe, but I trust him. He's Julian Trinidad, after all. He's known for being honest... brutally honest. Despite being rude... most of the time.

Naaalala ko pa ang unang beses na kinausap niya ako. Nagulat pa ako at halos hindi makapaniwala. Hindi ko talaga inaasahan.

"Go to him quickly and check on him if he's all right!"

"C-Coach?" tanong ko, naguguluhan.

"Go!"

Agad din akong sumunod sa utos niya dahil parang nawala sa sarili si Julian sa gitna ng laro. Natigilan pa nga ang mga teammates niya sa field. Noon ay naglalaro sila sa soccer field ng high school namin.

"U-uh, J-Julian..." I awkwardly approached him.

Nilingon niya ako, at napalunok ako habang nakatitig siya sa akin.

"Okay ka lang ba?" tanong ko nang dahan-dahan, hindi sigurado kung ano ang sasabihin.

"Huh?" sagot niya, halatang nagtataka, sabay lingon sa paligid.

Para siyang nalilito, pero maya-maya ay tumunog ang buzzer, hudyat ng pagsisimula ng laro. Umalis na rin agad ako sa field. Sa kabila ng kanyang pagkalito kanina, Julian still played well and even scored goals.

Wow... He's just so amazing when he plays soccer.

"You're amazing, Julian!" sigaw ng teammates niya habang nagdiriwang sila.

Tahimik akong napangiti habang pinagmamasdan sila. Pero sa totoo lang, hindi ko maiwasang mamangha sa kanya. He has this aura about him—one that draws people in, including me.

Pero matapos ang laro, halata pa rin ang kalituhan sa mukha ni Julian. Lumapit ako para bigyan siya ng tubig.

"U-uh, Julian... water? Ayos ka lang ba? You spaced out earlier. Coach thought you weren't feeling well," sabi ko, tuluy-tuloy dahil sa kaba ko. Naiilang pa rin ako sa kanya hanggang ngayon.

He took the bottle from me but didn't drink right away. Instead, he stared at me as if trying to remember something.

"Who am I? Do you know me?" tanong niya bigla.

Bahagyang kumunot ang noo ko sa tanong niya. "Uhm, you're... Julian Ellis Trinidad," sagot ko nang mahina, na parang nahihiya pa dahil kabisado ko ang buong pangalan niya.

Napanganga siya, sabay lingon ulit sa paligid.

"Where are we?" tanong niya muli.

"Uh, we're at our school's soccer field..." sagot ko, naguguluhan na rin tulad niya.

Parang wala siya sa sarili.

"Oh, damn..." bulong niya.

"How old am I now? Or... do you have a mirror? I need to see myself..."

"Julian..." tawag ko, pero mabilis na siyang tumakbo papunta sa locker room. Naiwan akong nakatayo roon, pinapanood siyang nagmamadaling umalis...

Nakangiti akong umiling habang iniisip ang nangyari. Sinabi niya na babalik siya sa hinaharap at magkikita kami roon. Sinabi rin niya na hindi ko kailangang mag-alala dahil magiging maayos daw ang lahat.

But then that future came...

Noong dumating ang araw na iyon, bigla na lang siyang nagbago. Hindi na niya ako kinausap ulit. I tried approaching him, but he was cold, like a completely different Julian from the one I had talked to the day before. Bigla ko tuloy naalala iyong sinabi niya na nag-time travel siya.

Pagkatapos naming magtapos ng high school, pareho kaming nag-enroll sa parehong university. Julian took up Sports Science. Ako naman ay kumuha ng kursong Psychology.

Hindi ko inakala na babalik pa siya ng Pilipinas. Naglalaro na kasi siya professionally sa ibang bansa. He's already a player for a prestigious German soccer club, a top-tier elite forward worth about 50 million euros. At his age, he's already a legend in the making.

But there's always been a mystery about him. Nakilala ko na si Julian Trinidad noon pa, pero minsan hindi ko siya maintindihan. May mga pagkakataon na parang kilala niya ako, pero may mga oras naman na para bang hindi niya alam kung sino ako.

Ngayon, naiintindihan ko na.

Because Julian... he's actually... a time traveler.

Noong bata pa lang ako, I was quiet, timid, and shy. I wasn't the type of girl who stood out.

Ayaw ni Mommy na masyado akong mahiyain. Lagi niyang sinasabi na hindi ako marunong makiharap sa ibang tao. Madalas, pakiramdam ko na parang kinakahiya ako ni Mommy.

I don't want to hate my mother for it. Hindi naman niya kasalanan. Kasalanan ko rin naman, dahil wala akong kumpiyansa sa sarili ko.

My mom wants me to be confident, like her and my sister. I think it's fine for her to wish she had another daughter who shared their confidence. But I just couldn't be like them. I'm different from my sister, and my mom didn't like that.

And that's how I came to admire Julian—because he's everything I'm not.

He's confident, he knows what to do, and he's decisive. Kabaliktaran ko, na madalas ay hindi ko alam ang gusto ko o ang gagawin ko.

Sabi ng iba, minsan daw ay nahahanap natin sa ibang tao ang kulang sa atin. Iyong mga bagay na pakiramdam natin ay wala tayo, pero meron naman sila.

At first, I was only admiring him from afar because of his confidence. He was my schoolmate. I started watching him play soccer, and slowly, I developed a crush on him. Hindi ko nga iyon napansin noon, until my best friend Chloe started teasing me about Julian.

"Admit it, Noelle! May gusto ka kay Julian!" she said one afternoon as we watched him practice on the field.

"Wala!" I quickly denied, but my reddening cheeks betrayed me.

"Yeah, right. Look at you, blushing! Alam ko na!"

Chloe was relentless, and eventually, I stopped denying it—to her, at least.

But to Julian? Never. I couldn't even imagine telling him how I felt. He was so far out of my league.

He was Julian Trinidad—elite, untouchable, and incredible.

And yet, here he is. A time traveler who, for reasons I don't understand, spoke to me and trusted me with his secret.

I've always been the quiet type, someone who listens more than I speaks, who prefers the comfort of silence over the clamor of attention. And maybe that's why Julian felt he could trust me. I don't know why, but the moment he shared his secret, I felt like I was holding a fragile piece of his world in my hands.

Every word he said that day replayed in my mind countless times. I could never forget the way he looked at me—serious yet vulnerable, as if revealing this truth was both a relief and a risk. It felt surreal to know something so extraordinary about someone who seemed so unreachable to me before. It wasn't just a secret; it was his secret, something he hadn't entrusted to anyone else. And that made it precious.

I didn't tell anyone. Not Chloe, my best friend, not my family, no one. I kept it locked away like a treasure too sacred to share. I carried it with me like a badge of honor, but also a burden. There were nights when I lay awake, wondering why he chose me of all people. Did he see something in me that I couldn't see in myself? Or was it simply because I happened to be there at the right moment?

Every time I saw him after that, I wanted to talk to him, to ask him more about his experiences, his world, and the reasons behind his time travel. But he was distant, almost as if he regretted telling me. It hurt, but I reminded myself that this wasn't about me. Julian's secret wasn't mine to question—it was mine to protect.

I started noticing little things about him, subtle hints that others wouldn't pick up on but that now made sense to me. The way he sometimes stared into space, as if he was lost in another time. The way he avoided certain people or places, almost like he was afraid of running into someone who wasn't supposed to be there yet. And then there were his moments of confidence, where he played soccer with a precision that seemed almost... practiced, like he already knew how the game would end.

I never asked him about it again. I wanted to respect his boundaries, even if it meant staying on the sidelines of his life. But deep down, I felt a connection to him that no one else could understand. Julian's secret became a part of me, a quiet reminder that even the most extraordinary people carried their own burdens. And in some strange way, knowing his truth gave me a little more courage to face my own.