“Love is like a rosary that’s full of mysteries.”

That is how a 13-year-old highschool girl defines the word LOVE, without any prior knowledge, experience or basis strong enough to back up those words. But little did she know that she would soon understand the whole truth behind that definition — in a bittersweet way.

That’s basically the plot of last Friday’s Maalaala Mo Kaya episode, “Popcorn.” I assumed from the trailer that this would be one cute, fluffy, and overwhelmingly sweet episode that every hopeless romantic cannot afford to miss. I should know; I wanted to go home to Cavite ASAP so I could watch the entire thing in the comfort of my own room — which I did not get to do because of the damned headache that made me sleep earlier than I wanted.

But thanks to good ‘ol YouTube, I still managed to catch the MMK episode no sweat!

I guess the fact that two very young children are the protagonists of this story makes everything all the more charming and interesting. Wouldn’t you raise eyebrows upon seeing two kids at the verge of adolescence doing BF-GF stuff like holding hands, exchanging rings, and texting lovey-dovey messages? I know I did, but all has been forgotten as I watched the story with a foolish grin on my face as well as occasional gushes and manifestations of kilig. In short, mukha akong tanga habang nanonood nito.

Eliza Pineda of Maria Flordeluna fame plays Katkat, the 13-year-old highschool girl who fell in love at first sight with Roehl, played by Joshua Dionisio. They first met at the plaza when Roehl helped Katkat up after she stumbled against a bicycle.

It was an inner struggle for Katkat from then on, always wondering whether her feelings can already be called love. Her descriptions were very vivid: “Parang may maliliit na aspileng tumutusok sa puso ko…” “Para akong nakuryente, parang biglang nagliparan ang mga paru-paro sa tiyan ko, bumilis nanaman ang kabog ng heart ko…”

Aside from that, Katkat also underwent major changes while she was seeing Roehl: she dressed up, stood up against her friends, and even lied to her parents on several occasions. She did so much for him that she was devastated upon learning that Roehl had another girlfriend while they parted ways, with the trivial reason that Katkat was makulit and text nang text.

It was refreshing to see a young girl spatting all the things she’s done for the guy rather than the age-old LQs between adult stars in some soap opera or movie. It makes you feel more for them, somehow regretting that someone that young had to learn a serious lesson in such a tender age. It brings you back to those times you’d also do FLAMES on your notebook or the innumerable slumbooks you filled out (and you’d always answer secret everytime you’re being asked who your crush is or judge me when being asked to describe yourself). And admit it that once in your childhood you also did your best to look good so that your crush would notice you, or that you also felt very possessive of him/her.

Ah, young love. Full of innocence, but doesn’t assure permanence. But like what Katkat’s mother told her in the episode, “Minsan, wala talaga sa tamang panahon ang pagtibok ng puso. Wala ding totoong pag-ibig na hindi nakakapaghintay sa tamang panahon.” We should enjoy being young while it lasts, for once it passes by, it’s not nice having a lot of what-ifs that we’ll never know how they’ll turn out.

Love has its own mysteries that can only be explained by the person who feels it — sometimes, even those who love greatly cannot accurately explain the feeling, the sensations, and why your thoughts are always about the one you love. Scientists can explain love physiologically as having high levels of certain substances in your brain, but we all know that feelings that intense are more than just hormones and chemistry. But how more it is leaves much to be known; meanwhile, you bask yourself in the bliss, highs, or even the pains of being in love because no matter how things turn out between you two, you know you’ll never prefer loving less than how you already do.

Moral of the story? STUDIES FIRST. Magpakatalino muna bago lumandi. HAHAHAHAHA.

In fairness, the two has very good chemistry. It’s talents like these that ABS-CBN should invest in — they have a lot of potential, if I do say so myself.

Okay, I admit. Fluffy, cheesy, and light-hearted shows are one of my guilty viewing pleasures, especially when it involves kilig ways of showing the magic of loooooove. No matter how cliché the storyline, as long as it isn’t butchered to WTFness like your average chick flick, rest assured that I will be glued to the screen until the credits start to roll.

Funny choice of shows for someone who equally loved Johnny Depp’s Sweeney Todd to bits, huh?