47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqsd7nCw8z
Ruthie wasn’t used to people who didn’t flinch.
Even teachers walked on eggshells around her.
Students avoided eye contact when she passed.
She liked it that way—tidy, controlled, precise.
But Jay Armada didn’t play by her rules.
It started with a question.
Not even a sharp one.
Just quiet. Careful. Dangerous.
“Why do they all hate you?”
She blinked at him, caught off-guard.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
They were seated on the steps behind the faculty building—an odd place for conversations, but Ruthie liked it there. Hidden. Quiet.
Or so she thought.
“Are you writing a thesis on me or something?” she snapped.
“No,” Jay replied. “Pero ang daming kuwento tungkol sa’yo. Lahat sila pare-pareho. Galit. Takot. Pero walang nagsasabi kung bakit talaga.”
“Then maybe you should listen harder,” she said, her voice flat.
“Or maybe…” he leaned in slightly, calm as ever, “you say less para mas malakas ang echo.”
She stood, irritated.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nZq4soC8K
“I don’t have time for these riddles, Professor’s Assistant.”
He didn’t move.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPA2v6wCS0
Didn’t apologize.
Just watched her with the kind of stare that saw too much.
“You push people, Ruthie. To the edge. But you? You never fall.”
That stung.
She didn’t know why.
Maybe because he was right.
Maybe because he noticed.
And that was dangerous.
The next day, she skipped her last class.
Instead, she sat at the back of the empty auditorium, watching the tech crew set up lights for the school’s annual talent showcase.
She liked watching things before they began—the chaos, the wires, the nervous energy.
It made her feel in control.
Until he sat beside her again.
Jay.
“Are you stalking me?” she muttered.
“I go where the stories are.”
“I’m not a story,” she bit back.
“No,” he said. “You’re the secret everyone pretends not to want to know.”
Silence.
Then:
“Why are you really here?” she asked.
He paused.
Then answered, too honestly.
“Because you don’t lie well when you’re tired.”
Flashback – Junior Year
Her mother once told her:
“Kapag babae ka, kailangan mong piliin: maging mabait o maging ligtas.”
Ruthie chose safe.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqa5rxtKJV
Chose power.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoUUKZ3zHX
Chose to be the version of herself that no one could touch.
Even if it meant being hated.
Even if it meant being alone.
But now, here was Jay.
Seeing through it.
“I’m not a project,” she whispered, almost bitter.
“Did I say you were?”
“You’re waiting for me to break.”
“No. I’m waiting for you to stop pretending you’re not already bleeding.”
Her breath caught.
He wasn’t just calm.
He was cutting. Precise. Surgical.
Like he knew exactly where she kept her soft parts.
She looked at him, sharp.
“You think you know me, Jay Armada?”
He smirked. Just a little.
ns216.73.216.240da2“I think you hate that I might.”
and then Add to home screen.