Ch1: A Sharp Snap
“Eighteen years old pa lang ako kaya dapat ang pinakamalaking problema ko ngayon ay kung paano ko ipapasa ang midterms ko, hindi kung paano ko sasabihin sa mga magulang ko na manghihinayang lang sila sa pinaghirapan nilang tuition fee, kasi malapit na akong mamatay.”
A faint, breathy laugh suddenly escaped Peach’s lips. It was absurd, completely messed up. Then, the quiet chuckles instantly morphed into heavy, suffocating sobs that she tried desperately to swallow back down, terrified that someone passing by might hear her. She clamped her hands over her face, her shoulders shaking violently. And as the campus slowly dimmed into twilight, she completely burst into tears.
Peach wiped her face with the back of her hands and took a shaky breath. She couldn’t go home looking like this, but she couldn’t stay here forever either.
As she stood up and walked toward the university gates, her feet automatically slowed down in front of the Freedom Wall.
Under the dim glow of the overhead lamp, the massive corkboard looked like a graveyard of other people’s fleeting thoughts, complaints about terror professors, anonymous love confessions, and jokes about failing grades.
Peach started reading some of them.
SOME FREEDOM WALL POSTS:
**Shoutout kay prof na nagsabing napakabasic ng project ko. Ilang araw ko tong pinagpaguran, bhie.
**Sana naging pusa na lang ako sa campus. Kakain, matutulog, tatambay sa tapat ng lib.
**Lord, bigyan mo po ako ng sign kung magrereview ba ako para sa quiz mamaya o mag-aasawa na lang ng CEO.
**Grabe yung eye contact namin ni kras sa hallway kanina. In fairness, kasal na kami sa utak ko at may dalawa na kaming tuta.
“Sana all, Lord ganito lang ang issue! Bakit ako ang nabunot mo na bigyan ng cancer today?” Peach jokingly said trying to avoid being sad.
A sudden wave of frustration rushed through her. She felt so disconnected from the rest of the world, suffocated by a secret she couldn’t share with a soul. If she told her mom, her mom would break down. If she told her friends, she’d become the “sick girl” everyone will pity.
With trembling hands, she decided to post a message. She didn’t expect a savior, and she knew no one would ever truly grasp the weight of her secret. She just needed a place to dump her fear before it completely consumes her.
**Natatakot ako kung magigising pa ba ako bukas. Ang daya-daya ng mundo.
She pressed the note onto an empty corner of the board and walked away.
At 7 PM, the campus belonged to a different crowd, the night shift students. (mostly working students)
Kiro rushed through the gates. He had just finished a grueling eight hour shift at the logistics warehouse, and now he has a three hour lecture ahead of him. His life is a relentless cycle of coffee, work, and textbooks, leaving very little room for anything else.
As he hurried past the Freedom Wall, the worn-out strap of his backpack finally gave out with a sharp snap.
“Sh—” Kiro muttered, kneeling down as his notebooks and pens spilled across the pavement.
He gathered his things in a hurry, but as he stood up, adjusting the broken strap over his shoulder, a small blue sticky note caught his eye. It was placed right at eye level, isolated from the usual clutter of relationship drama and exam complaints.
He read the neat, hesitant handwriting.
**Natatakot ako kung magigising pa ba ako bukas. Ang daya-daya ng mundo. -P
Kiro paused. Working and studying simultaneously had taught him a lot about exhaustion, but the sheer despair radiating from those few lines felt different. It felt heavy. He didn’t know who wrote it. Maybe a stressed freshman, someone going through a breakup, or someone dealing with something far worse... but he knew the feeling of looking so scared of tomorrow.
Before he knew it, he pulled a black marker from his bag and wrote on the exact same blue sticky note.
“Kiro!! Ilolock na daw ni prof yung pinto bilis!!” Kiro’s classmate shouted.
“Wait up boy! Eto na! Pakihawakan yung pinto!” Kiro replied.
The next morning, the campus was alive again with the bright, chaotic energy of daytime students.
Peach walked through the gates with a heavy heart, her feet dragging. She hadn’t slept at all. Her mind had spent the night looping through hospital corridors and worst-case scenarios.
As she neared the main building, she saw the freedom wall and remembered she wrote something last night. She expected her note to be buried under a dozen of new ones. But she noticed a change on her little blue square of paper.
She stepped closer, on the same paper, someone added a message.....
**You are stronger than whatever is terrifying you. Hang in there. -K
For the first time since she got her lab results, the tight knot in her chest loosened. It was the simplest piece of advice, written by a stranger who didn’t know a thing about her, but it is exactly what she needed.
And just like that, she pulled out another sticky note and wrote...
**Thank you, Stranger! Your words made me breathe again. -P
She stepped back, looking at the tiny, shared square of paper blooming on the freedom wall, wondering who is the person behind it.
