Prologue

“Do you feel you’ve been left out? Or when no one understands you? I know that feeling very well. I felt so lost, I nearly trusted no one. But what made me feel alive and found?”

*video with upbeat background music plays*

A girl is watching a video on her phone where a guy is narrating. The video ended, and she scrolled down to see more.

“Hi, Drino here from the Drino app. Are you tired of waiting for your booked vehicle? Is it inconvenient for you to pay for your rides? Are you concerned about your safety when riding a public car? How about an unpleasant ride-hailing app and poor customer service experience?

Worry no more because we've got you covered! With Drino, all of these concerns are now a thing of the past. With a maximum 7-minute waiting time, cashless payments, an emergency button with live location sharing, well-trained and equipped drivers, seamless use of the app, and high-quality service for you!

What are you waiting for? Let’s Ride On-the-Go with Drino! Now with daily vouchers and promo.”

“What’s that?” a woman asked. She is in her early 40s with shoulder-length dark brown straight hair. She looked at the girl’s phone.

“Check this out, Doc.” A girl in her early 20s, wearing a pink blouse, showed her phone to the woman whom she called Doc and sat beside her.

The woman held her thick-framed black eyeglasses.

“He seems funny and cute at the same time,” she replied after they watched a 40-second video reel they found on a social media platform.

“I know, right. He’s the only guy who could do both of that!” She giggled and scrolled more for the videos.

“That’s a lot of views there. How old is he?” the doctor asked.

“He’s two years older than me.” The girl replied.

“Kids your age are really into that stuff. He’s quite familiar. Is he the same guy who recently became trending, who went viral for his business and traveling pictures and videos?”

“He was actually an alumnus of our school.” The man in his late 30s informed them. “He also helps a lot of people with this money he gathered from being an influencer.”

“Wow. No wonder he’s good-looking and talented. Plus, he has a good heart and is a funny guy.” The doctor added.

“There’s this female alumna who’s an influencer, too. I heard she took acting classes to become an actress. She graduated recently and has a lot of endorsements.” He added. “She also features our school to introduce senior high grads to attend our school.”

“That’s a good initiative. These alumni influencers are helping us with the marketing.” The doctor commented.

“By the way, Ashmille. You might know him because you’re an alumna of this school, right?” The girl asked a woman named Ashmille, who was sitting beside the man. “Ashmille?”

The group of 3 staff members with their boss are having their dinner in the building’s cafeteria after working in the school office.

“Hm?” Ashmille asked the girl. She put down her cellphone on the table and wiped her mouth with a clean napkin. “Were you talking to me, Feviah?”

“Yeah, I was asking you if you know a guy named Drino?”

Ashmille frowned. “No, why? Who’s that?”

“He’s an influencer who graduated from this school, too, like you. You might have heard of him, or maybe you were batchmates since you two are of the same age.”

“No, haven’t heard of him.” Asmille drank her iced coffee.

The four of them finished eating their dinner after almost an hour of eating and talking about work and personal concerns.

“Bye, Doc Janeth!” Feviah bid goodbye to the doctor. “Gendo, let’s finish the project tomorrow. So, be in by 8, okay?” she reminded Gendo about their pending task.

“Sure. Take care!” Gendo shouted as he walked in the same direction as Doctor Janeth.

Feviah and Ashmille booked their motorcycle ride home. A few minutes later, Feviah’s ride arrived earlier.

“Bye!” Ashmille waved at Feviah.

“See you tomorrow!” Feviah smiled.

Feviah and her e-hailing rider, whom she booked online, left.

Ashmille saw a cyan-colored sedan pass by slowly. She read the sticker slogan printed on the car.

Emissions are now zero,

Fast, low-cost, and safe are the perfect combo.

Ride On-the-Go with Drino!

“Hm? Another one?” she mumbled. She pondered the new ride-hailing app in a slogan she saw.

*beep*

She paused, wondering about it, when a motorcycle driver stopped in front of her. Her booked ride has just arrived.

She wore a head cap and a helmet. She rode the motorcycle, and it accelerated.

They were currently on a highway where traffic is prevalent. It is past 7:00 PM, rush hour. The driver is finding their way to scooch between vehicles to continue the ride.

Ashmille read a lot of huge billboards with vibrant prints. Most of the faces on those billboards were quite unfamiliar to her because she rarely watches local dramas and shows where new and young generations of celebrities are featured.

But one specific billboard caught her attention. Aside from it being a digital billboard, a familiar face made her feel nostalgic. It is a 15-second advertisement, featuring 5 artists, 2 females, and 3 males. The rest are unfamiliar with Ashmille, while the one guy made her heartbeat fast.

The advertisement opens with a scene of two girls and a boy standing on a busy street. They are frustrated as they struggle to book a motorcycle ride. The traffic around them is thick with smoke, car horns blaring, and the heat only adds to their irritation. They complain about how slow the booking process is, how expensive the fares have become, and how unsafe traditional rides have been.

Then, from the side of the frame, a man in his thirties appears. He is confident, approachable, and calm amid the chaos. He steps forward and introduces an app called Drino. With an easy smile, he explains how the Drino app changes the game. It’s more affordable, faster to book, safer for customers and riders, and is better for the environment.

As the ad nears its end, the upbeat music softens, and the camera zooms in, revealing a familiar face. A guy in his mid-20s appears for two seconds. His expression is charming as he mouths one of the app’s famous lines.

“Ride On-the-Go with Drino!”

Ashmille was left shocked and amazed at the same time.

The ride went on for a few more minutes. Then something caught her eye. There’s a smaller printed billboard by the roadside. Her breath hitched for a second. On it was a picture of a familiar guy, smiling confidently as he held up a smartphone displaying the Drino app. For a moment, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Her gaze drifted downward, drawn to the bottom right corner of the poster. There, printed in bold text, was something that made her chest tighten.

The billboard shows:

Alejandrino Montezales, bearing the name of the endorser of the product, with his signature above his name.

The motorcycle driver sped up as the traffic thinned. The hum of the engine blends with the rush of wind against Ashmille’s waist-length hair. The city lights streak past in flashes of gold and silver, but she barely notices them. Her eyes were fixed ahead, wide and unblinking. This ride is driving her crazy.

A puzzled look crossed her face. Piece by piece, everything started falling into place. The familiar face on the billboard. The full name that was printed beneath it. The way her chest had tightened the moment she saw it. It all connected now, like a puzzle she didn’t realize she’d been trying to solve.

Drino…

The boy she once knew, the name she hadn’t heard in years, but now suddenly is smiling down from city billboards. The nostalgia she feels finally makes sense.

“Montezales... Alejandrino…” It took her a couple of seconds before the thought sank in. “That’s the same guy I dated before?!” she screamed, unbelieving at what she witnessed.