Chapter 5

This brown-haired girl sleeping beside him is Cass, that much he knows. She apparently means that something to him, but for the life of him, he cannot understand why or how. He is alarmed at how familiar she seems right now, as if this scene had played itself over a thousand times before.

This girl asleep, wearing only his shirt. This girl asleep beside him, her long legs splayed over his. But mostly this girl asleep, naked, with only his threadbare blanket covering a fraction of her body. He swallows hard as he realizes he not only knows this girl, he knows her intimately.

He inhales sharply and hastens to find something else to think about. He opts to study the charm bracelet on her right wrist and is surprised to see that it is now filled with small silver charms. There's the number 16 and the crescent moon charms he knows, but now, there's a starfish, a snowflake, and a heart. Make that four hearts.

He hears her whimper as she stors, her eyes slowly opening to meet his.

"Hey, hon."

Hon. The word feels like home.

"Cass?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me about this." he traces a finger over the charms of her silver bracelet. If this was a dream, then he has nothing to lose by asking. He has to make sense of it all.

She rolls her eyes and looks annoyed.

"Ugh! Ikaw kaya nagbigay nito lahat?"

"I just want to hear it from you." he lamely explains.

"You work too hard, hon. You keep forgetting things. Di na nakakatuwa."

"Please?"

She purses her lips and pretends to be irritated. "Fine," she begins, holding each charm between her fingers as she explains their stories. "This heart was your first anniversary gift to me. These other three hearts, mga anniv gifts din. This starfish is from that Boracay trip. Ugh, I don't even know why I still have this one."

"This number 16?" he prods.

"The day I met you."

"Itong moon?"

"I swear, Heion, hindi na nakakatuwa itong amnesia mo."

"Sige na."

"You seriously don't remember what the moon stands for?"

"Tell me."

She sits upright and playfully slaps his arm. "Coffee! You kept asking me out for coffee and you never stopped. Kulit mo nga eh."

"So bakit nga moon?"

"It's where I fell in love with you."

The lights in the plane start to flicker again. "No," he mutters desperately. "Not yet," he needs to know more. He needs to know why she knows him so well. He needs to know a thousand other things in the next five seconds.

"Cass?" he asks his tone more urgent now. "Ang snowflake?"

Her smile disappears. "France. First time to see snow."

"And when was that?"

"The day when I left you."

The plane shudders. The passengers gasp in panic.

Dark.

Light.

Dark.

Light.

He blinks.

She's gone.

Dark.