#HeartboundWP

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Prologue

Does the universe have a built-in course-correction mechanism? Supposing that's true, the things that seemed inconsequential in the grand scheme of things would later reveal themselves to be more important than what was earlier assumed. And by extension, everyone and everything has a predetermined destiny—a designated beginning, a specified path to take, and a due ending.

This design suggests that some things are meant to happen no matter how hard one tries to resist it. Conversely, some things would just not happen regardless of how badly one wants it. It can be as (seemingly) trivial as sleeping through a barrage of alarms in the morning despite sleeping early the night before with the desperation to get to class early as a sleeping aid. Or not being able to stay awake even after subjecting oneself to an unhealthy amount of caffeine. Just like what's happening with Elias.

"I am not in the mood," he hisses at Miguel who appears in front of him while he's nursing his headache with some silence. Migs does what he's good at despite the warning—ignoring what he just said, before taking the seat across from him.

Elias knew that he should have walked to the library instead of staying in the classroom kung gusto niya ng katahimikan. Alam niyang he would not get here the silence that he needed, pero biglang sumakit lalo ang ulo niya so he didn't transfer places. He did not find it practical too considering that their next class is in less than twenty minutes. 

Is the worsening of his headache part of the universe's course-correction? If the medicine he took kicked in a little earlier and made his condition better, he would have made his way to the library. He wouldn't have been in the classroom. Migs wouldn't have reached him. He wouldn't have found Migs' incessant talking annoying. He wouldn't have had a reason to check his phone to distract himself from whatever his friend was talking about.

He wouldn't have noticed that he just received a message from an unregistered number. Sanay nang kung saan-saan nakakarating ang number niya at kung ano-anong mensahe ang natatanggap sa kung sino-sinong hindi niya kilala, Elias would have just deleted the message from his lockscreen.

Pero, like the universe needed him to read it, nasundan agad iyon ng isa pa, asking him a harmless question. It's from the freshman whom he met last summer after letting his friends drag him along to a random weekend hangout.

Still, it doesn't change the fact that he doesn't really know her and he could have just ignored her messages. But he didn't, because Migs was still not done talking and he needed something to distract him from the unwanted noise. Had Migs talked about something he actually cares about, he would have just kept his phone in his pocket and let freshman's messages collect cobwebs in his inbox along with others he did not bother reading.

Pero hindi nga ganoon ang nangyari.

He had to read those messages. It's just how it's supposed to be.

Unregistered Number
Hi po ! This is Nadia. Di ba youre Pau's friend?

Do you know where he is ba hehe. Thank you ! ☺️

Elias
No, sorry.

Unregistered Number
Aw okay. 🙁 Thank you !

He doesn't bother replying anymore. He doesn't even save her number. He goes about his day enduring the searing pain in his head. He had already forgotten about her until a few days later, when their last lecture for the day almost put him to sleep out of boredom. He sneakily checks the time on his phone, for the seventh time in the past fifteen minutes, hoping for the seconds to go by quicker so he can get out of this room.

Had he given the lecture his full attention, he would not have immediately noticed Nadia's new message. It's another harmless question he wouldn't have bothered replying to kung hindi lang talaga siya umay na umay sa klase niya.

But he's not focused in his class, and he would rather literally do anything else than check the time or pretend to be interested in the presentation slides. He has to reply. It's just how it's supposed to be.

Unregistered Number
Hi po ! Di ba your class ends 6 pa?

Elias
Yes.

Unregistered Number
Okay ! Thank you, kuya Ellis. 😊

His eyebrows furrow. Sino si Ellis?

He didn't bother asking. Did not even bother to correct her about his name. He is about to keep his phone when their professor calls out a name randomly from the class pool of index cards for recitation.

It is a random pick, or at least it seems to be. Sa dinami-rami ng puwedeng matawag for that question, si Paulo pa talaga. Had their professor not picked Pau's index card, Elias would not have even known that he wasn't in class. The idea that Nadia was asking for their time of dismissal because she was waiting for Pau would not have come to his mind.

Pero si Pau nga ang natawag, and now Elias suddenly feels the obligation to tell Nadia that the guy she's waiting for is not even present in class.

He just has to tell her. It's just how it's supposed to be. He would have felt bad if he didn't.

Elias
Why?

You're waiting for Pau?

Unregistered Number
Yes po.

Elias
Absent.

Unregistered Number
Ohhh I didn't know. 🙁

Thank you!

She doesn't message him anymore until after a few weeks—kung kailan may kailangan siya. He still doesn't even bother changing her contact name. On the rare occasions that they see each other around campus, she smiles at him and he gives her a nod, but that's about it. She stays in her lane. He stays in his course. At that point, maybe considering them as acquaintances is even a little too much.

"Fuck." Elias stops spinning around his keys in his finger when he realizes that he accidentally left some stuff he needs to review for a summative test tomorrow in his locker. Nasa parking na siya. Masyado yata siyang natuwa that their last class has been cancelled kaya nakalimutan niyang i-check ang mga gamit niya bago umalis. He sighs before turning to go back. Kung hindi lang niya kailangang mag-review mamaya, hindi na siya babalik.

But he needs to, so he goes back. He's supposed to get his things from his locker. Kailangan niyang makita ang tarantadong si Ivan na sinigawan si Nadia sa harap ng ilang kaklase nila. He's supposed to not even think about stepping in and telling him off. He's supposed to see Nadia slap Ivan across the face. The sound it makes is satisfying. Ivan deserves that.

Nadia is just there to check on Ivan because he wasn't replying, and to try and ask him for a ride to her friend's house. Had Ivan actually bothered to update her on his whereabouts, hindi naman siya mapapadpad sa building nila. But Ivan never replied, so she needed to go there. She is supposed to see Elias.

It is not sheer luck that Elias offered her her much-needed ride because he has an extra hour to spare because of their class cancellation. It is supposed to happen.

Nadia messages Elias after he drops her off. They are not friends, so they were quiet in the car for the whole time. Elias was too tired to talk. Nadia was too shy.

Unregistered Number
Thank you po ulit, kuya Ellis. 😸

Sino ba kasi si Ellis?

Elias
The 'kuya' is not necessary.

Unregistered Number
Okies. 😹 Thank you, Ellis ! 😎

Elias never bothered to correct her about his name before, so she makes the same error.

What should one make with the mistakes they commit? Was Nadia supposed to get his name wrong? Was Elias meant to ignore it and let it happen? Were these mistakes an essential part of their paths?

What about them finding themselves constantly looping back to each other? Is it still part of the universe's course-correction? Or merely a consequence of wanting things they are not supposed to have, or of rejecting the way things are falling into the right place because they cannot seem to accept it? Is this just a by-product of their wrong choices and bad decisions?

And now they can't get out.

And now they can't seem to stop.

But they have to, because the universe naturally course-corrects and they cannot do anything about it.

The tears blur Elias' face from Nadia's view. Despite the tightness in her chest, she gets the words out. "Don't talk to me anymore."

"Nadi—"

And just like that, there's no coming back to the loop where the two of them have been trapped for a while now.

With a slam of a door, the spiral was broken.

Like how it's supposed to be.

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