Published by: Lloyd Agbulos
Date published: June 07, 2022
Time published: 12:22 PM
Category: Prose
Theme: Reminiscing, Parting Ways
Synopsis: The end of school year is just around the corner, give yourself a pat on the back for surviving.
Flashed on your mother’s visage was the gleam of ardor as you broke the news of graduating with flying colors. You felt the same enthusiasm for a moment, mainly because it was one of the rare moments you saw her proud, but then there came this rushing feeling of abrupt lightness. You slumped back on your chair, heaved a sigh, and let your mind trip down the memory lane.
You remembered the first time you step on your school. Giddiness started creeping on your heart like the way you felt the first time you had a crush. But that was back in seventh grade, the thrill you had right then was latching on the vision of meeting new people and collecting memories. You basked on that idea so long before you even got there that if one asked you to elaborate, you would not be shilly-shallying to delineate.
Your expectation, however, was crushed by the months of staring at your laptop screen, dwelling yourself in school works, and repeating the same routine over and over and over again. Still, the opportunity of making friends never knocked on your door.
But you tried once, right? The girl with the curly hair who always open her camera during discussion, revealing her teeth gap, always your classmates’ subject of awe. Her eagerness to answer every questions during recitation was much contrasted with your inclination to pretend your internet was fluctuating, even so, you didn’t know what was about her that made you slid a private message.
The chagrin of thinking different ways to start a conversation was still imprinted at the back of your mind. You recalled wanting to send a plain “hello” but then it shifted to a math problem instead. At least there’s something of substance going on there in case she was a woman intellectually nimble as portrayed by her active participation in class. She, however, didn’t see your message until the next month when your desire to make friends already subsided.
But, how could you resist her response with a picture of Pikachu’s mouth molding into an “o”? It started with her reply followed by daily exchanges of memes until you both became each other’s breather during a frenzy week of piled up activities and exams. God, you never even thought that this girl with curly hair would crash at your place at seven in the morning just to help you with a Social Science project due the next day or attend your mother’s wedding with your step-father or helped you tend your cats when you’re overloaded with home works from cramming.
You couldn’t live without her, you thought. But just last week, she told you she got accepted into her dream university abroad – a well-known college, one you could financially afford as well, but it was your lacking in self-esteem that barred you so.
Now, with just few days before the graduation, you couldn’t feel the same giddiness you had two years ago when you first stepped on your school for enrollment. The big day, to you, just equated to parting ways with your best friend – you didn’t reconcile with the fact that although it might mean goodbye, it was also an applause for all the hurdles you’ve passed.
Photo by: Erica G. Ildefonso
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