Then, Now, and Ever After

You Can Call Me Anything You Want

Maki was looking through his phone, his eyebrows meeting together as he scrolled through images in deep concentration. She sipped the Café Mocha she had ordered, still unable to shake off the feeling that everything that was happening was a little bit surreal. Maybe Risa could have filled this awkward silence, but her friend had gone ahead.

"I wish I could join you Ate," Risa had said to her while they were changing in the female locker room. "I mean it's Maki Angeles, OMG! But well, Ed's picking me up at five, and I have to get ready."

"Your boyfriend would love that," Aina said. "That you picked to be with him over your celebrity crush."

"I know," Risa said with a sigh. "He better appreciate this." Her eyes suddenly twinkled. "But really. Who would have thought the Maki Angeles was your childhood friend?" Risa breathed. "I just...I just can't wrap my head around it."

It really was unbelievable, she thought, regarding him silently now. "So you really own a condo unit here?" she asked Maki. "I'm just surprised we've never seen you before, since Risa and I have been renting here for about two years now."

"I haven't really lived in the unit before," he said. "It was just an investment, actually, and I've been renting it out for the past couple of years, since I still live in our family house in QC. But Manong Joaquin—that's my sister's boyfriend—needs a place to stay when he comes back from the US, so I offered my unit. In the meantime I'm fixing things, doing some renovating. And when my network heard about me moving into my own place in the meantime, they offered to make this new exclusively online series about it. So it's also work, in a way."

"Oh, what's the web series about?"

"It's called 'How Do I Adult?'" he said. "It's going to be about condo living, tips on how to live alone, that sort of thing. They figured since I'm here anyway, might as well make a series like that."

"That's really cool," Aina said. "And really relevant. I wish there was a series like that before, because I really didn't know how to adult. Maybe I still don't know how, actually."

"Well, if it's any comfort, I didn't know until I had to do a series about it, either." He let out a cry of triumph, suddenly. "There! I found it! I knew I sent a picture to Manang May a couple of years ago." A sheepish expression came upon his face. "I thought one of the residents in her hospital was you, you see. I looked for that one picture we had in our old photo albums to show her, but well, in the end, it wasn't you, after all." He showed her his phone.

"Oh my God. It really is me," she breathed. They were standing together in front of the lobby of the Museo Agham, where the summer camp was held. She was wearing a dark blue souvenir t-shirt from a family trip to Baguio, while he was wearing a yellow t-shirt with a cartoon version of Albert Einstein on it. They were holding hands there, and for some reason, that made her blush now.

"And you're teaching science now, too!" Thankfully, he hadn't noticed her reaction. "If I hadn't gone into reporting, teaching is also something I might have gone into."

"It's probably a bit of a surprise, I know," Aina said. "Who would have thought that the girl who once hated science would now be a science teacher, of all things?"

"I think it's really awesome." He rested his chin on his palm, a distant look in his eyes. "I still remember those cool science experiments we did in the camp, because it was the first time I really enjoyed a science class. I mean, because of my family, science had always been cool, you know? But when I went to school, I realized that wasn't the case for everyone, after all."

Aina did know that about his family: his late father was a mathematician, and his mother was a biologist. Eventually all three of them had gravitated towards careers in the sciences. His older sister Mayumi was a doctor, a medical oncologist; and his younger sister Mari had gone into actuarial sciences. He was probably the one whose path had taken on a different course, since he was a reporter, but his reports had always focused on science news and documentaries. Aina's family was mostly in business and management-related careers, so she knew what it was like taking a different path from her family, but they were mostly supportive of her, just as his family seemed to be, too.

"Even our teachers seemed to look at it like it was a big chore," Maki went on. "And I felt...I don't know. Weird, maybe? That I actually liked science so much?"

"Exactly!" Aina said. "I think that's a big reason why I'm teaching it now. Because after our camp I realized that science really can be fun, and there's a way for people to learn while still enjoying themselves. You just have to go about it the right way."

"That's really great," he said. "Being in that science camp was really...well, validating." He leaned forward, smiling at her. "I'm glad there are teachers like you. You're going to change other people's lives, just as that camp did for me."

"Well, it's not the most financially rewarding of jobs, of course. And there's all that teen angst sometimes—oh, all the stories I can tell you of my homeroom advisory class—but my students are cool, for the most part, and I really do enjoy teaching."

"I'd love that."

"What?"

"All the stories you can tell me about your classes," he said, putting down his cup. "I'd love to hear them."

The warmth in Aina's chest now spread all the way up to her cheeks, and that brought her a strange sense of déjà vu that she couldn't figure out, so she sipped her coffee instead of replying.

"I'm glad we finally met again, after all these years," Maki said. "And well, I think I can finally keep that promise I made, all those years ago."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What promise?"

Maki grinned. "Well, if you don't remember, it'll just be a surprise then. It's more fun that way."

"Hrmm, okay," Aina said. "You remember so much about me, and I'm sorry I've forgotten them. I'm still really surprised you still remember me, and recognized me, at that."

"I wouldn't forget you." He said this so softly, so gently, that she almost didn't catch it. And for a moment, he was that little boy once again—shy and lonely and afraid, someone she had to protect. But the next moment, he was celebrity TV reporter Maki Angeles again. "I'm guessing you were never able to see me on TV when I was younger?"

"Unfortunately," she said. "I was limited to watching TV 30 minutes a day, and two hours on weekends, because you remember how my grades in school were so horrible? And sorry, but I chose anime over you. But that's where you got started, right? On the 'Kids Love Science' segment of 'The Investigation Team'?"

He nodded. "One of my teachers back in our hometown in Iloilo encouraged me to audition during their nationwide search, and the rest is history, so to speak. I think there are still a few videos from that up on Youtube." He laughed. "But I was really an awkward kid back then, maybe you shouldn't. It may be a little embarrassing."

"Oh come on," Aina said. "You can't be that bad. After all, I already knew you when you were still that kid who was afraid of everything, even his own shadow."

Maki groaned. "I didn't know it was my shadow, okay? I thought it was a monster in the museum!"

They laughed at that, and soon they started sharing more stories. Eventually, Maki's phone rang, and he excused himself. When he came back, he said, "Well, that was the producer of the new series. He wants to discuss a few more things about it, so I have to go. But this was really nice, catching up with you."

"Yeah, I'm really glad to see you again, Mak-mak," she said. "Sorry. I guess I shouldn't call you that anymore, huh?"

"You can call me anything you want, Aina," he said. And there it was again—that rush of blood to her cheeks. "I hope to see you around, neighbor." He was about to stand up, when he stopped and grinned at her.

"Actually, are you free tomorrow?"