Her Reply

It was my birthday, but I didn’t feel like going to school. I wanted to spend it by myself. However, I remembered that we would have tests on some of our subjects. So, I had no choice but to go. I couldn’t afford missing several quizzes.

When I stepped in the gate, student councils pacing back and forth caught my attention.

It was only 7:30 in the morning, but some of them were sweating because of too much running.

“What’s their rush? ” I mumbled.

I stopped beside the water fountain in front of the library. The fountain was big enough to house some koi fish.

Then, as if answering my question, Mariette, our class monitor, appeared out of nowhere. I literally didn’t see her coming.

“You should be ready today,” she whispered with a wide grin. “I just realized that you have plenty of admirers.”

I simpered. “You’re bluffing.”

She stared at my face and scanned me from head to toe before fixing her posture. “You can’t hide your beautiful eyes and long eyelashes under your glasses. Your small face is perfect. Your facial features and physique make you look like Pygmalion’s perfect sculpture brought to life.”

I scoffed. “Galatea? Who would admire an aloof nerd? ”

“Uh, duh—” She slowly turned her upper torso and pointed at the group of male students standing across from us. “Them,” she said, doing her signature hair flip. “If I were you, I would hide or go home.”

Mariette was always the eccentric one. No wonder she was one of the popular girls on campus, not for her looks but for her personality. Everybody liked her for being bubbly and the life of the party.

Some of the guys waved at us, saying hi to me. Others were even attempting to walk towards us but stopped when Jiro arrived. He threw them a scornful look. He then looked and smiled at me. But I didn’t dare show any emotion.

“Woops! Looks like competition’s over,” Mariette chuckled. “A piece of advice: run for your peace of mind.” She tapped my shoulder and walked away.

I stood by the fountain, debating whether to heed her warning or not. When Zai-zai and Merry showed up, I was in the middle of spacing out.

“What’s with Mariette? ” Merry asked as we walked to our first-period class.

“Just the usual for her,” I said. “She was teasing me, though.”

We chatted on our way, but our classroom was closed when we got there. We had to find a place to stay since we weren’t allowed to loiter in the hallway.

After learning that our class had been canceled, we proceeded to the open field where the majority of the fair's activities were scheduled.

Chocolates, flowers, and stuffed animals are sold at booths and small shops set up by various school clubs and organizations.

We crammed ourselves into the throng near the chain booth. It was only a basic setup. The assigned students set up several pop-up tents and enclosed them using cardboard designed as prison cell bars.

We giggled while watching Max, our classmate, handcuffed with his crush from another section. They were to stay there for fifteen minutes just to talk.

When the bell rang, we headed to our mathematics class.

As we stepped in the classroom, a sudden punch of nervousness kicked in me. My instinct nudged me… something was about to happen. It wasn’t wrong.

Not long after our teacher left the room, Jaypee and Jiro kept looking at us, giggling. Then, it happened—Jaypee stood and walked towards our seat.

“Jiro wants you to have this,” he said and handed me a piece of folded paper.

Cat got my tongue; I didn’t even say thank you. I didn’t know how to respond. My heart almost burst in my chest.

Merry leaned to me after Jaypee left. “What’s that? ”

“I don’t know.” With trembling hands, I opened the paper.

“An empty street, an empty house… So, I say a little prayer… Where the skies are blue to see you once again…”

Instead of the title of the song, My Love, he replaced it with my full name!

Jaypee returned with another letter. This time, what was inside it made my knees wobble and soggy. I wasn’t expecting to read:

Just Married!

Jiro loves Airi forever!

I absent-mindedly crumpled the letter and put it in my pocket. I didn’t know if Jiro saw what I did. I was so blissful and shocked that my brains couldn’t decide how to react.

“Why did you crumple it?!” Merry whispered.

“I don’t know.” Tears streamed down my cheeks as I grabbed my bag and stepped out of the room.

*

Mama was surprised to see me standing in the doorway.

“What happened to you? It’s still early.”

“I don’t feel well, Ma,” I lied. “I’ll go to my room.”

In my room, I slammed my body on my bed without changing yet. I pulled out Jiro’s letter from my skirt’s pocket and read the letters over and over again.

“He likes me?! For real?! ”

I rolled on my bed and hugged my pillow tightly as if it were him.

“Who would’ve thought he’d like me back?”

I read the letter numerous times over because I was so ecstatic.

Just Married!

Jiro loves Airi forever!

“I wonder how it would feel to be his wife.”

And then, I succumbed to the calming darkness of sleep with a smile on my lips.

Since that day, I kept his letters…reading them twenty-four-seven.

Jiro’s stern mood lightened when he finished reading the chapter Airi wrote. “So, you are now the love interest in my story? ” he asked.

They were brainstorming what the next chapter would be about over dinner.

“I’m actually impressed that you can still remember the content of the letter you wrote,” she said, changing the topic. She used the ideas he shared with her as a perfect excuse to cover up the fact that she really knew what was in the letter.

“That was the first and last letter I wrote. How could I forget? ” He smiled at her. “You said that you received a love letter in high school, too. What was in it? ”

“That’s too personal to answer,” she said. “Besides, it isn’t stated in our contract that I need to answer all your questions.”

Jiro smirked.

“What’s that for? ” she asked, nervous she might’ve triggered something in him.

“Oh, nothing. Did you feel happy when you received the letter? ”

That time she felt the urge to be honest. No more hiding. She already felt guilty not telling him the truth… not telling him that she was the girl he had been trying to remember.

“Of course! ” She smiled. “He had been my longtime crush after all.”

“So, everything you wrote in that chapter was real? All based on personal experience and feelings?” he asked. He held his posture and kept a straight face, not wanting her to notice his nervousness. He was emotionless on the outside, but deep inside he was in chaos—excited about her answer. He was a bit cautious, though, for he didn’t want to have high expectations of her possible response.

“Yep! That’s all true,” she proudly said. She didn’t mind being honest with him. Since he couldn’t remember her, she thought it was the perfect time to somehow tell him the truth.

Jiro’s face became brighter after hearing that. “No wonder you have a massive fan base. You know how to connect with readers on a personal, emotional level.” He smiled. “That guy you liked in high school must’ve been a lucky one.”

“And I could’ve been a lucky girl, too, if he didn’t lose his memory,” she whispered in between biting the chicken.

“Are you saying something? ”

“I said this chicken is irresistible.”

“Like you,” he mumbled and chuckled before leaving her at the dining table.