The Friday night air at a local grill near MSU was thick with the smell of BBQ and the loud laughter of the Falcons basketball team.
Sandro and Paolo were busy arguing over a game replay, but Keifer was uncharacteristically quiet, poking at his sisig without really eating.
"Okay, spill it," Sandro said, slamming his glass on the table.
"You've been staring at your phone for twenty minutes waiting for a text that clearly isn't coming. Who is she?"
Keifer sighed, leaning back in the plastic chair. He looked at his best friends, then out at the busy Manila street. "It's Jay."
The table went silent for exactly three seconds before Paolo burst out laughing. "The Sunshine Girl? Bro, you've been flirting with every girl in the cheering squad for three years, and you fall for the one girl who treats you like a study group project?"
"It's not like that," Keifer muttered, his face heating up.
"She's... different. She's always smiling, always helping, but sometimes I look at her and I feel like she's miles away. Like she's hiding behind a wall made of sunshine."
"So, you have a crush," Sandro surmised, grinning. "The Great Mark Keifer Watson has a crush on the smartest, most 'perfect' girl on campus."
"I think it's more than a crush,"
Keifer admitted softly.
"I want to know what's behind the wall."
Meanwhile, across town, the "wall" was currently being pushed to its limit.
Jay stood in the small, dim kitchen of her house.
The lightbulb flickered—a sound that usually made her skin crawl—as she hurriedly washed the dishes.
She heard the front door slam. The heavy, uneven footsteps told her exactly who it was.
Richard, her stepfather, stumbled into the kitchen. The smell of cheap gin followed him like a cloud.
"Where's the money?" he growled, his voice gravelly and mean.
"I used it for the electricity bill," Jay said, her voice trembling but her face instinctively forming a small, polite smile.
Even here, even in fear, the mask was her only defense. "I have some extra from my job next week—"
Slap.
The force of the blow sent Jay stumbling against the sink. Her cheek stung, a dull throb beginning to pulse under the skin.
"Don't smile at me with those fake eyes!" He hissed, leaning into her space.
"You think you're better than me because you go to that job? You're nothing but a burden."
Jay didn't cry. She didn't scream.
She just stood up, adjusted her hair to cover the reddening mark on her face, and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry. I'll get more money tomorrow."
He grumbled a curse and stumbled toward the sofa, passing out almost instantly.
Jay stood in the silence of the kitchen. She reached into her pocket and felt her phone vibrate. It was a message from Keifer.
Keifer: Found a great coffee shop near the library. They have those sweet lattes you like. Study date tomorrow?
Jay looked at the message, then at her reflection in the darkened kitchen window.
The bruise was already starting to swell. She felt a wave of longing so strong it made her chest ache. She wanted to say yes. She wanted to sit in a bright cafe and listen to Keifer's stupid jokes.
But then she looked at the monster sleeping in the living room.
I can't bring him into this, she thought. The sun shouldn't touch the mud.
She typed back a reply with shaking fingers.
Jay: Can't make it, Keifer! I have a lot of chores to do. See you Monday in class! :)
She hit send, the "smiley face" emoji feeling like a lie that was becoming too heavy to tell.