Matthew Arcilla

She quickly answered and turned off the TV.

"Hey! What's up?"

There was a slight delay before Laura responded. All Kayla could hear was the rustling of clothes and a soft plop—like someone collapsing onto a bed.

"I just got home,." Laura muttered.

Kayla immediately picked up on the annoyance in her friend's tone. Concerned, she asked, "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Dad found out about my failed class, and he made a huge fuss over it. I mean, it's fine now, isn't it? It's not like I didn't make up for it. And yet he didn't even care when Andrew got an F in Chemistry!"

Laura kept rambling about her dad's reaction while Kayla sighed in relief. She had thought something serious had happened. Instead, she simply listened patiently, eating the last bites of her pasta.

"He even grounded me for a month. A MONTH! Gosh, it's so unfair."

Kayla walked back to the kitchen with her phone in hand, offering words of comfort. "It's okay. A month will pass by quickly. At least it's summer vacation."

"But that just means I'll be stuck in my freaking room for half the summer! Where's the fun in that?!"

"Alright, calm down. Don't get angsty," Kayla advised, trying to soothe her friend. 

After a while, Laura finally settled down, and they ended the call. Kayla returned to the sofa, drinking the last of her water. Bored, she absentmindedly scrolled through Instagram when a particular profile caught her attention.

Matthew Arcilla, 23

Single

City D

His profile picture was in black and white; a man at the gym taking a mirror selfie. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about him, yet Kayla felt something. It was as if he perfectly matched the image of her prince charming.

Shrugging, she opened his profile and followed him. It wasn't a big deal, and since the person wasn't even online, she didn't think much of it. After scrolling for a bit longer, Kayla turned off her phone and headed to her bedroom. Since it was summer vacation, she didn't bother setting an alarm. She simply switched off her bedside lamp and drifted off to sleep.

Kayla slept really well last night. Perhaps because she didn't need to wake up early, she went into full sleep mode. She woke up with a refreshed mind and habitually reached for her phone on the bedside table, checking for messages from family and friends. However, she didn't expect the notification to be from someone she wasn't anticipating.

[1 Instagram Notification: Matthew sent you a message]

"Oh?!" Kayla jolted up from the bed, surprised.

"Why!? Why did he send a message?" she muttered, pacing back and forth in her bedroom. In the end, she sat down at the edge of the bed.

She slowly opened the message, only to see a simple "Hi." Kayla sighed in relief, feeling embarrassed as she recalled her dramatic reaction.

"Kayla! It's just a 'Hi'! Calm down." She took a deep breath and composed herself before typing a response.

Perhaps because she felt fidgety about the situation, it took her a long time to reply. In the end, she could only type 'Hello to you' before hitting the send button.

"Wow! What just happened?" Kayla asked herself as she jumped back onto the bed.

Many thoughts flooded her mind. This was her first time interacting with a man, after all. Being labelled as someone with 'No boyfriend since birth' her experience and knowledge in romance were practically zero. She only knew about it from the books she read.

After calming down, she noticed that the other person was not active yet, so she put down her phone and went to the bathroom for a bath. Kayla finished all her chores in a swift motion.

She just cooked some pancakes and brewed an espresso. Even while eating, she kept glancing at her phone as if expecting a certain reply.

One bite, a glance. Next bite, another glance. In the end, before she could take her third bite, her phone went off, indicating a new notification.

Kayla straight-up swallowed her pancake without chewing as she bolted from her seat to grab the phone on the countertop. But to her dismay, it was only a notification from the National Weather Department about the day's weather status.

Annoyed, Kayla could only walk back dejectedly, phone in hand, to her seat. She haphazardly put the phone to one side and continued eating, letting out a long, heavy sigh.

"It's not like I was looking forward to his reply though!" Kayla consoled herself, feeling a bitter emotion, she couldn't quite understand.

As she pouted to herself and continued eating her breakfast, another ding from her phone rang out. After the disappointment from the first notification, Kayla wasn't in a hurry to check this time, lest she be let down again.

She decided to finish her meal first, sipping the last of her coffee before placing the dishes in the dishwasher. Only then did she walk over to the sofa and finally check her phone.

[1 Instagram Notification: Matthew sent you a message]

Seeing the notification, Kayla let out an excited giggle before swiftly tapping on the message.

[I saw your follow notification last night.]

"And!?" Kayla was dumbfounded. She had no idea how to respond. She waited for a follow-up message, but none came. Only silence.

"What does he mean by this? How should I reply?" Kayla panicked, pacing back and forth. "How do people in romance novels respond to something like this?"

Completely new to this situation, and being a person with zero experience in the romance department, she quickly opened her browser and searched for advice. After scrolling through various responses, she decided to follow what she read.

[Yeah!]

"AHHHHHH! This is draining all my brain juice!" Kayla groaned, feeling more exhausted than ever. Still, she hit send, then grabbed a pillow from the couch, hugging it tightly while waiting for a reply.

Ding! Her phone went off again.

"Oh! A reply?" She quickly opened her phone and saw his response.

[Haha!]

"He laughed?" Kayla felt close to tears. She had no idea what was happening. Just as she was about to have a meltdown, another notification popped up.

[1 Instagram Notification: Matthew Arcilla followed you back.]

Ding! Another notification.

[1 Instagram Notification: Matthew sent you a message]

[You're cute. I'm Matthew, btw.]

"Ah!?" Kayla felt her mind going haywire.

As a hopeless romantic who often immersed herself in the world of books, she had read countless scenes where the male lead called the female lead cute, pretty, or beautiful. But never in her wildest dreams did she think she would experience something like this—right at the start of her summer vacation.

Still dazed, she looked at her phone again to confirm that she hadn't imagined the message. Seeing the proof, she let out a deep breath of relief.

And then, panic set in again.

"How do I respond?" Kayla dropped her phone onto the couch and started pacing around the living room, her mind in complete disarray.

"Okay! Let's be polite. Respond like a civilized person." She sat down again, grabbed her phone, and began typing.

After some deliberation, she finally hit send.

[Thanks?]

Feeling awkward and fidgety, she quickly sent another message.

[I'm Kayla. Nice to meet you!]