This Song Is Dedicated to

If Alona only had things run her way, she wouldn't have to read a dozen "I love you"s from a dozen more "someone"s.

Although she would have a payment of an increase in grades for volunteering at the dedication booth set up by her club, she still wished she had something else to do other than have PDA and sweetness and bullshit rubbed in her face.

"'Hi bae! I miss you sooooooo much! Wag ka nang magtampo! I love you! Love, someone'," she read, sighing as she set the mic down. Her partner, a tenth grader named Lauren, had went to buy lunch for the both of them. Lauren was nice, making jokes while they did their job, but one thing Alona didn't like was the way Lauren would coo at how 'sweet' these 'someone's are.

"Ate, may nagpapadedicate po..." a male student interrupted Alona from her thoughts. He handed her a piece of paper and she read it over, stopping at the end where there was a song request written. As part of protocol, she told the guy to wait and headed over to the laptop to check if the song was available.

"Bee... yoo... tee..." she muttered under her breath, exhaling when she found the song. Returning to her post, she grinned at the student. "Kuya, ayos na po! Ten pesos po ang bayad," she said cheerfully.

The guy seemed bored, as if he had only been ordered to do this. The original author of the message must have been too shy to hand it at the booth, thus making this poor boy his victim (awww).

"Salamat kuya!" she still replied with a smile on her face, ignoring his grim and lifeless expression. He finally left, and she proceeded back to the laptop to start playing the request.

Because the recent request was the only message left (dedications and requests were usually more frequent in the morning; it was two in the afternoon and everyone was all tired and hungry), Alona read it over to rehearse while waiting for the previous song ('Desert', a favorite among the students) to finish.

Just one sentence in, she choked in shock. To the girl whose name means waves...

In the whole school, only she had such a name, leading her teachers to ask her where she fared from. Palawan, she would always say, from a town beside the sea, thus naming her "Alona", from "alon". Does this mean that this message... Is meant for her?

"What'cha gon' do with that desert?!" the song ended, and Alona snapped out of her daydream to play the next song; one her favorites, 'Beautiful' by BTS.

Picking up her mic, she started to read the message.

"This song is dedicated to the girl whose name means waves," Alona started, making sure to put in feelings into her reading to make it more interesting.

"Love... is like a waterfall.

It just falls down by your side, forever and ever.

It is beautiful and peaceful, its sound warming you inside out.

It reminds you of the simplest joys in life," she continued, smiling at how poetic and sweet it was turning out to be.

"And guess what? You are a waterfall, to me.

You don't really need to know who I am nor respond to my message.

Just let me love you." The gym was filled with "awww"s as their attention was diverted from the ball game to the message Alona was reading. It was obvious from the message that the guy was in a one-sided love, but it was a kind of love that he accepted and did not despise.

"Yours truly, KNJ."

KNJ? Who would that be?

Again, she read the message; something they were supposed to do. By the time she had finished, Lauren had come back, bringing their food – FOOD YES YES YES FOOOOD – and grinning like an idiot.

"Okay, Alo – the queue was long as HECK and the customer service was awful, but DID I JUST HEAR A LOVE LETTER MEANT FOR YOU?!" she squealed, setting down the plastic containers on the table.

Alona shrugged, reaching for one of the containers while trying to contain her smile. The letter was sweet; it was obviously well thought of and not just the "HI BHE I LOVE YOU" kind of message.

"Ge, ganyan ka," Lauren pouted, getting one for herself as well. "Kumain na nga lang tayo. Hindi mo rin naman ako sasagutin."

"Buti alam mo," Alona jokingly said as she dug into her food, earning a playful punch from Lauren.

Little did they know about the pair of eyes that followed Alona lovingly from afar.