I'm Kian Enreqez Ageuri, a 15-year-old Grade 10 student from Batuan. I've always felt like I was just… there. Not the smartest, not the most talented, just a kid trying his best, often failing, sometimes even sleeping through class or stirring up trouble. My life was a blurry, unremarkable canvas until one ordinary school day when I saw heaven.
It wasn't the heaven in the sky, but the one walking into our classroom. It was her. Jo. The class president. She was everything I wasn't: brilliant, effortlessly talented, and with a strictness that somehow only made her more captivating. She was a lighthouse, and I was a lost ship, instantly, irrevocably drawn to her light. It was love at first sight, a feeling so profound it rearranged my entire world.
From that moment, every group project, every shared moment, became an opportunity. I'd play the fool, the mischievous one, just to catch her eye, to earn a flicker of her attention. Sometimes she'd laugh, a sound that felt like sunshine breaking through clouds. Other times, she'd roll her eyes, annoyed, but even that was a victory – she noticed me. All I wanted was to be in her orbit, to just see her.
School transformed from a chore into the highlight of my day. Those early mornings, arriving together, felt like stolen moments of pure bliss. But then noon would come, and we'd split for our specialization classes. The hours between three and five, stuck with my "idiot friends," felt like an eternity without her. Ryan Gordon, the resident troublemaker and surprisingly cool kid, stumbled upon my secret and turned my life into a constant barrage of teasing. Jemiel Zen Slevo, my smart, kind friend, unwittingly spread the news, amplifying the daily torment. Still, it was a normal student life, filled with the usual chaos and camaraderie.
That is, until the third quarter. The day I finally confessed. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat of fear and hope. I braced myself for the inevitable rejection, the polite smile masking pity. But it never came. Instead, she accepted. I was utterly dumbfounded, a joyous shock coursing through me, leaving me breathless and utterly, unbelievably happy.
The next day, the teasing from my friends reached a fever pitch, echoing through the hallways and exploding in our group chat. But honestly? Annoyed? Angry? No. How could I be? My crush, the girl who was my heaven, was now my girlfriend. What could possibly be more wonderful than that?
Everyone has dreams, and mine was simple, yet boundless: a quiet life, hand in hand with the girl I loved, until our very last breath. Within a single day of her saying yes, I was already mapping out our entire future, a tapestry woven with shared laughter and simple joys. Some might call it foolish, but who cared? I was happy, truly, deeply happy.
It's been a month since then. A subtle shift, almost imperceptible, began to creep in. Sometimes, she seemed a little distant, less enthusiastic about our time together, though never outright dismissive. Then she'd smile, a flash of warmth, or gently take my hand, and I'd dismiss the fleeting worry as just me overthinking things. Our days settled into a comfortable rhythm of dates, friends' teasing, and shared moments. It was the ordinary student life I had always yearned for, now miraculously real. I was living my dream, and I wished, with all my heart, that this perfect, fragile day would never end…
That was the last thought I had before the disaster struck, shattering everything and forever changing the course of my life.