Chapter Seventeen
993 Words
Chapter Seventeen
See You Again
SHE LOOKED at me with mixed bewilderment and amusement in her eyes.
"Do you know their house in the first place?"
I just stretched my mouth into a forced smile.
"I really need to go miss. I need to meet with my research groupmates later. Thank you for granting my request to join you here."
I nod at her before turning around and walking away from the house.
When I went out of the house, I leisurely searched the garden but no traces of Tangent can be seen. He is not sitting on the chair where I last saw him. Did he went home already? But most of his classmates are still here. I glance at it one last time before deciding to shrug it off.
I smoothly fished the motor keys from my pocket before inserting it inside the keyhole of my baby black. I heaved a narrow sigh as the engine roared to life.
Well, time to face a fragment of my past..
I manoeuvred my motorcycle in a familiar route. I only been in this place once before and I honestly thought that it would be the last but these past few days has been testing my plans.
Vanessa, you told me to never see you, again. But I never that I would see you in this way.
Memories from the past embraced my mind while the soft winds caressed my cold cheeks in a familiar whisper.
"What's the name of this province, again? Pampanga, right?" I asked Nanang while my eyes wander in every corner of this new house. It is kinda huge but not as huge as our old house that is.
"Yes, and as you see... this province is actually urbanized so you won't get much of a hard time to adjust, hija." She tried to speak enthusiastically. But a piece of enthusiasm cannot help a shattered person.
"I see..." I boredly said.
Well, what she said was true. This place is not the mainstream "province" that I visualized. Sure, I saw some rice and sugar cane farms but the modernity is still very evident here.
"By the way, hija... I already enrolled you in a school here. And u-uh... school starts tomorrow--but if you are still not ready yet ready we can just--"
"No, I'm going. What else should I do, anyway?" I interrupted her speech.
"A-Are you sure? T-The school can understand if you go on late you know. Besides, we can wait until you have fully adjusted he--"
"My adjustment period starts right now. Those who cannot adjust and move on can never taste success. I am not a coward for letting these new things and place overwhelm me," my voice screamed with overflowing authority, something that mildly surprised me.
I am naturally hard-headed with a seemingly brave demeanor but... It never felt this real. No, not until this moment... the way I said it was so natural.
Maybe somehow... something has changed within me after that night.
"O-okay, then. Your room is the largest on the second floor. Just call us if you need something, alright?" Nanang said in a calming voice.
I just nod at her before proceeding to my room and the moment my back hits the foreign mattress, the dull sensation sleep covered me like a shield in a stormy night.
I woke up the next day with the immediate thought of preparing my stuffs since Nanang said that it's my first day in school. I was just finding my slippers when someone suddenly knocks on my door.
"Arylle, hija. Yesterday, I forgot to give you your uniform!" Her high-pitched voice can be heard even from the outside of my room.
Right. I forgot about the uniform and other school essentials. I opened the door to welcome Nanang inside my room. She is holding a hangered uniform on her right hand and a black backpack on her left.
"Welcome to your first year in junior high school! I can't believe you're eleven now." Nanang lay down my school essentials on my bed while she stared at me with teary-eyed.
"Yeah, yeah. No need to cry, Nanang. It's just high school, it's no big deal." I boredly muttered before marching inside the bathroom.
"I'm sure your parents will be p-proud, Arylle."
I stopped walking for a minute. I gently turned my head to her.
"Guess they will..." the words I said before I shut the bathroom's door close.
It did not took me long enough to fix myself so in less than an hour, we already arrived in the school.
"Do you want me to walk you inside, hija?" Nanang ask while watching me remove my seatbelts.
I arched my brows at her.
"What? That's not necessary, what am I? A kindergartner?"
She laughed with what I said, probably the first genuine laugh I heard from her after the incident.
"Okay, good luck for your first day in high school?" She said while I was opening the car's door.
"Yeah..." I waved my hand dismissively before shutting the door.
Then, I turned around to examine the whole campus. So this is it, huh? The second day of my adjustment period.
The students are flocking in every corner while I tried to meandered my way inside. This is no good, I need to find my classroom.
I glance at my left and right, trying to find someone to ask about this place and there I spotted a group of female students who are wearing slacks, in contrast to my skirt uniform. I figured that they must be senior high school students. That's it, they are the perfect ones to ask about directions.
I was about to approach one of those senior high school students when someone suddenly bump me on the back causing me to almost lose my balance.
What the!
I turned around to see who was that person but to my shock...
-C. N. Haven-
- Writer
