The Last Letter

4

Chapter IV

[January 6,1995]

“Augusto!”

Someone called me from behind and I looked back to see my friend Benjamin running towards me. He is the only one who calls me “Augusto” so when someone calls me by that name, I know for sure that it’s him. He is an athlete so he got in front of me pretty fast.

“Are you going home already? Let’s hangout for a while.” He said while gasping for air and giving me weird hand gestures that I think he's asking for water.

“How? Where?” I asked, also showing him I don't have any bottled water with me.

“Let’s go to the city, disco? Eat? It’s Friday today, come on!” He answered back, still panting.

I paused for a while to think if my mom said something about going home early or if she asked me to buy something at the market before going home. I thought deeply for a while but I don’t remember anything.

“Okay, I’ll tell the others.” I told him as I signalled him to wait for me at the front gate of our university. I'll also park my bicycle I ride everyday inside for a while. It’s understandable that he wants to hang out since it is Friday today and it’s just the start of first semester, so we’re not busy just yet.

I’m August Montilla, 18 years old. The guy I’m talking with earlier is my friend Benjamin Fernandez, Ben for short. We’re from the same university and same year but we take different courses. We were in the same school from kindergarten to college, you could say we’re inseparable.

I am a third year architecture student while he takes physical education since he was a well known track and field athlete in our town. He also competes in national competitions. He’s a flashy guy, quite mischievous and stubborn, but he excels in everything he does, even in academics.

We’ve known each other for quite a long time now. By quite a long time, it means we’ve known each other since we were kids. His family is one of the wealthiest in our town and even in the city. His dad is a politician and in fact, is the mayor of the city.

His eldest brother graduated from a prestigious university and is a doctor now in the biggest hospital in the country, so no one can deny that all of Ben’s family members are outstanding and well known. But don’t get me wrong, just because they're filthy rich, doesn't mean they're rude. They are really nice, especially his mom and his sisters.

Me? I am just a normal university student, procrastinator but responsible, have many friends, not that smart but sharp observant around me, I’m just nothing that particularly special. I’m dubbed as “Mr. Nice Guy” since I treat everyone equally, of course with respect and kindness. I have a good personality, as many of them say.

I grew up in an average household, with my dad as a farmer and my mom as a simple homemaker. I am the eldest of three siblings, and we are all guys. My father owns pieces of land and made it into a farm so life’s not that hard for us. Ben’s and my family have been close ever since we were young regardless of our social class. Our families have been there for each other and also, the neighborhood where we grew up is friendly and the people are nice.

Ben and I are classmates in just a few minor subjects since our courses are not really related. We continue to hangout or play sports or watch movies after classes, along with our mutual friends. You could really say we’re unrelated by blood but we’re brothers.

The university we are in is not just a university you could get into if you want or if you have the money for tuition. The school merely focuses on engineering and architecture courses, with some additional business and education departments. It is a small but competent school that requires every student to pass a difficult entrance exam to get enrolled. The population ranges for about 4,000-5,000 students only, and the tuition isn’t much.

It’s 5 pm now and it’s quite dark already. You could still see a bunch of students inside the university so it would be impossible if I couldn’t find anyone to hang out with. The city is not that far from our town so we can get there in just thirty minutes by commuting but Ben has a car so we’ll get there faster. Yes, Ben got a car and a driving licence at the age of 18 but he already drives around since he was 16. Cars are rare in our area so we can’t help but get fascinated by them.

For now, I’ll roam around for a bit and find just two friends then we're ready to go.

After I fetched two of my blockmates and good friends of Ben and I, James and Rey who happen to loiter around the school ground, we met with Ben by the gate.

We reached the city at around 6 pm.

In the city, there is so much life and lights. Restaurants, pop up bars and clubs are open even after midnight and there are so many students like us gathering everywhere in sight. We even saw some of our classmates and juniors. Seniors are nowhere in sight since they are so busy now that they are graduating soon.

There are also live bands in the parks playing lively and cheerful music to light up the night. Especially this friday night, there are so many people in the city walking around in colorful clothes. It is just 6 pm but there are so many people already.

But since it was still early to go to the disco club, Ben insisted on snacking first at a nearby bistro. There are other small restaurants and food cartels everywhere but he really wants to dine in that specific bistro.

There are also Christmas ornaments around since it is not that long after Christmas and new year. You could also hear fireworks nearby but it is overtaken by loud techno sounds outside the small souvenir shops around. Almost every shops has their own speakers and they look like they are competing by who plays louder. Honestly, it's a pain in everybody's ears.

We reached the bistro and ordered a few snacks like coke, cheeseburgers and fries. They also serve beer but we can't drink since it's only past 6 pm.

I run my eyes around the small restaurant we are in. The walls are brick orange with hanging vinyl records, the tables and chairs are wooden, the walls on the entrance are glass, there is a vintage vinyl recorder on the corner and there is a windchime on the door to signal that someone is entering the place. This place is quite modernized but has vintage elements on it. I guess the owner of this shop has a love for music. On the radio, international hits are played but most of them are relaxing love songs, not suitable for our taste and our mood for the night so we are cringing so bad.

There are just male and 2 female employees and a few customers inside including us. This small restaurant is not that busy compared to the ones beside it, maybe because it is not flashy unlike the other restaurants.

When our snacks were served, I noticed Ben looking at something or someone behind me. I’m facing the glass walls in the entrance so I rarely look at the counter where the employees are working.

“Look at her.” Ben tapped my shoulder and pointed shyly at someone from the counter. It was a girl facing backwards at us but I can still say we are about the same age. Her hair is tied in a high bun and she is wearing the uniform that other employees are wearing.

“Why?” I asked and looked at the girl he's pointing at again.

“I think she goes to our university, she’s quite familiar and she’s my style.” Ben answered.

“Oh yes, she’s familiar indeed.” James said. How can they say she’s familiar? I didn’t even see her face from here.

This time I looked closely at the girl they were talking about. As I’m looking at her intently, she looked at our table’s direction for like just 3 seconds then she turned her back to us again. In that matter of 3 seconds, I realized that she was definitely familiar. I feel like I saw her somewhere in school but I don’t know where and how. I know most people at the university and my mind is quite sharp, so it is unlike me to not remember someone in the university.

If she’s in my year, even if she’s in a different department, I would definitely know her for sure since the university is too small to not know each other. With that, I thought she’s not in my year, maybe in the first or second? Or maybe she’s not that particularly standing out of her class. I’m thinking of every possible reason why I am not familiar with this student at my university.

To be continued…