The Last Letter

29

Chapter XXIX

Benjamin’s POV

Months passed by so fast and nothing out of the ordinary happened during that transition.

Although after the Valentine Season, we became busy as everything went back to normal. Days passed and in the first week of March, every day was hectic since it was the preliminary examinations week. Then the days became normal again after that hell week. In the 2nd week of April, we had the midterm examinations so that was another week of horror for us college students.

It is now the month of May. The semester is ending in just a few weeks then it will be the two-week semestral break. Indeed, it is true that after the rain, there will always be a rainbow.

So what everyone does now is studying like crazy, including me. Almost everyone I see, be it in the hallway, the cafeteria, the library, even in the comfort room, everyone is reading so much. Well, I can't blame them, the finals are especially harder than both preliminary and midterm examinations because finals cover all the topics from the start until the end of semester. Every final examinations is like a suicide mission.

Ben is especially busy since he is also preparing for a competition. I also haven’t had the chance to talk, nor see him at the university because he’s that busy. While Suzanne, for a couple of times, we eat together at the cafeteria or spend our time in the library. I also sometimes tutor her about Architecture at home (with Ben of course) during Sundays as like a payment to everything she had done for me all this time.

I can say the three of us became closer in those 3 months that passed.

And this month is Suzanne’s birth month! If Ben didn’t tell me about it, I would’ve never found out. But unfortunately, May 26, her birthday is the first day of the final examinations so she was a little disappointed and said she’s ever been so unlucky on her birthday. She even said she wasn’t interested in celebrating her birthday anymore ever since her grandma passed away.

But of course Ben and I have something in mind for the celebration of Suzanne's birthday. But yeah, it was unfortunate that it landed on the very first day of the final examinations so as a result, Ben and I just moved it after the examination week. We haven’t told her about our plan and we responded “ok” when she said she doesn’t want to celebrate.

I closed the book I’m reading and looked outside my window. The neighborhood is quiet now and that also means it’s already late at night. I glanced at my wall clock and it was already past 10 o’ clock in the evening. I’ve been studying for more than 5 hours now and so my head and back hurts.

After contemplating whether to continue studying or sleeping, I still decided to go to sleep since I can’t focus well when I push myself to my limits.

***

Days and weeks passed by like a flash. It is finally the final day of the final examinations.

I admit, this hell of a week is crazy. Good thing is that my studying routine is quite effective, all thanks to that. As I have mentioned before, I study lessons in advance and that helps in this kind of situation. I also organize my notes really well so although I also studied so much these past few weeks, it is certainly less than other normal students. And I also still got my complete rest at night so the constant hard work for everyday I studied advanced, it all paid off in the end.

Today is Friday and on Sunday, we’ll celebrate Suzanne’s birthday! Where? Ben and I still do not know.

I thought Ben was perfect. But when we met after exams to plan out, he was so disappointed upon thinking that he might’ve failed 2 out of 4 majors he has. I said that his department will understand if that happens and might even give him remedial exams since he is one of the prides of the university when it comes to sports. That didn’t seem to help him feel okay but then when we went to Suzanne’s bistro that night, he immediately felt better. Talk about being so madly in love now, my friend.

And in fairness to Suzanne, she seemed really confident with her examination results so we applaud her for surviving her first semester in the university. I’m so amazed that she both managed her studies and work efficiently, she’s so incredible.

We just hung out at the restaurant since there weren't any customers. Her boss also treated us 3 full meals for the 3 of us as a gift for Suzanne’s birthday. Her boss is really cool and nice, she treats Suzanne and her co workers fairly and with compassion. Suzannes is really fond of her and describes her boss as someone worth looking up to.

We finished by 10pm. Suzanne said she doesn’t need a ride home so we thanked everyone at the restaurant and left. Ben and I took a stroll around the city for a while to look for a gift. He asked me if we could separate ways for a while since he doesn’t want to let me see what he will pick out of her. I said ‘okay’ but reminded him to not be so grand and exaggerated just like what he did last Valentine’s day.

I went to the other side of the street and found so many shops selling different kinds of things from souvenirs, to stuffed toys, to make up and to many more.

I walked around for about 10 minutes and stopped on my tracks when I saw something that caught my eyes. I stared at it from the glass window.

“She’ll look great wearing this.” I whispered to myself.

I walked inside the store and asked the sales lady if what I was looking at from the glass window was for sale. And fortunately, she said it is.

I asked for it immediately and bought it right away. Even though it was kind of expensive, I didn’t have a second thought of buying it because I knew it was the perfect gift for her. Just as soon as I looked at it, it reminded me so much of Suzanne.

The sales lady asked me if I wanted to write a message to include it in the package. I wrote a small message for her

It was packed very small and minimally which I like so much. It’s straightforward but still looks pristine. But since my gift will look obvious when I leave it just packed like this, I bought a small paper bag as a double package.

I waited for Ben by where his car was parked and just when I was thinking he forgot about me and his car, he finally showed up, bringing a large paper bag. Like 4 times larger than mine. He seemed really excited and content with what he bought.

Although it seemed that he overdid his gift, I just let him be. We were on the way to my house now which he planned earlier that he’ll sleep over. Since I have no choice and he treats my house like his own, I let him do what he want.

“That looks too much Ben. What did you buy?” I asked even though I know he won’t tell me anyway.

“That may seem big but it’s just the right amount of gift I could give her.” He answered.

“I know. You seem confident and content. I won’t lecture you on this.”

“Oh thank you master August! And your gift seems so small. Don’t tell me you didn’t spend some money for her.”

“Hey! I’m not that super cheap! I spent a couple of bucks for this and I know she’ll appreciate this. Well, knowing Suzanne, even if we just give her our time without any material gifts, she’ll appreciate it wholeheartedly.” I said.

“I know right. That’s why she’s so unique from anyone.” Ben replied.

“How about we visit his grandfather on Sunday? She once told me she wasn’t able to visit him since she has been so busy and she misses her grandfather so much.” I suggested.

“That’s actually… a very good idea! I also haven’t seen her grandpa for years now so that’s a great suggestion.”

“You’re welcome Ben.” I said and winked at him.

“Idiot.” He chuckled.

“But come to think of it. Where is Suzanne’s family? Like her mom, dad and siblings.” I got curious out of nowhere and upon thinking of it, Suzanne never mentioned her parents and family before.

“Hmm. I also do not know. She hasn't told me anything about her family even when we were so close last 2 years ago.

“Maybe it’s something really private.”

“We’ll never know unless we ask her directly about that.” He said.

We both sighed and remained silent as we drove to my house. It was quite a tiring day. From the mentally exhausting exams to the physically tiring gift hunting that we did. Ben was knocked out of his bed on the floor after taking a quick shower and changing into my clothes. While as for me, I stared in the darkness of my room as I thought of some random stuff out of nowhere.

After a while, I managed to fall asleep too.

To be continued…