Prologue

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

A girl is watching a video on her phone where a guy is narrating.

“What’s that?” a woman asked.

“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 in her early 40s with shoulder-length dark brown straight hair looked at the girl’s phone. She held her thick-framed black eyeglasses.

“He seems funny and cute at the same time,” she replied after they watched a 10-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 2 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 is 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, Favia?”

“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.”

“Nope, haven’t heard of him.” Asmille drank her iced coffee she ordered.

“Good to see that our alumni are doing well.” The doctor commented. “I hope they will continue to make legacies of our school.”

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

“Bye, Doc Janeth!” Favia 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.

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

“Bye!” Ashmille waved at Favia.

“See you tomorrow!” Favia smiled.

Favia and her e-hailing rider 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 heart beat fast.

The scenario of the advertisement is about 2 girls and 1 boy having a hard time booking their motorcycle rides. They complain about the pollution traditional vehicles produce, slow booking, expensive rates, and being prone to accidents. Then appeared the one man in his 30s, who introduced the application called Drino. He explained how the Drino app is more affordable, more efficient, safer, and environmentally friendlier than its competitors.

Before the advertisement ended, the familiar face of a guy appeared for two minutes and mouthed.

“Ride On-the-Go with Drino!”

Ashmille was left shocked and amazed at the same time.

The ride went on for more minutes when she saw a smaller printed billboard. A picture of a familiar guy, holding a smartphone with the Drino app. Her gaze fell into the bottom right side of the picture.

The billboard shows:

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

The motorcycle driver sped faster as the traffic was now getting lighter along the highway.

Ashmille’s eyes widened, looking puzzled. But this time, she gradually understood it. The familiar face she saw and the full name she read are now connecting and make sense of why she felt nostalgia.

“D-Drino...” It took her a couple of seconds before the thought sank in. “That’s the same guy I dated before?!” she screamed.