"Sherry!" A voice shouted from behind. Sherry turned back, confused. There she saw a lady waving enthusiastically at her, a wide smile plastered all over her face. Her curly hair and joyful vibe overlapped with a figure from Sherry's past.
"...Sam?" Sherry hesitantly called out.
The girl jumped up and down with joy. "Yes! You remembered me?"
Sherry walked to the girl and smiled. "Of course, I did. You sang at every assembly."
"I'm so happy to see you again. I've been meaning to meet up with you for a while now but didn't know how. That's when Kyle suggested to throw a party so it we would have an excuse to meet up, but now we don't!" Sam rambled happily.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yes. It's a bit of a long story. Have you eaten lunch yet?"
Sherry shook her head. "No, I was just about to do some Christmas shopping and head back home. Where should we eat?"
"Great! There's a new restaurant that opened here recently. I've heard good things about it." Sam held Sherry's hand and guided her to the restaurant. She did so so naturally that Sherry didn't feel weird about it, it even reminded her a little of Dylan.
When the two were done ordering their food, Sam finally started to talk. "I just really really wanted to thank you for everything." She grasped Sherry's hand with two hands and thanked sincerely.
"T-thank? For what?" Sherry tried to recall if she did anything that warranted Sam's thank. They were friends back in high school, but they more friends of friends more than anything else. That's why they so easily lost contact after high school.
"You might not remember, but in high school you gave me advice that I needed the most."
"I did?"
"Yeah." Sam nodded. She continued with a sheepish smile. "It's embarrassing but, I was crying at a party and you saw and came to talk to me."
Crying at a party…Sherry had some recollections about it. She could vaguely remember the sight of Sam sitting on the stair case with her head hung low and eyes red. She did recall talking with her, but as for the conversation, she didn't even remember the topic. It couldn't be helped, while it was only 2 years for Sam, it was 4 years ago for Sherry.
"I can sorta remember. I think it was at Peter's house." Sherry told Sam.
"Yep! I was a little drunk back then, haha, got a little too excited about graduation." Sam scratched her cheek and continued. "Anyways, I kinda overshared and told you about my crush. He was my childhood friend, known him since prep."
"A-ah~! I remember now. You liked him and didn't know what to do with your feelings!" Sherry enthusiastically revealed. She was a bit too overworked because she finally remembered what they were talking about.
"Mhm. And then you told me to just follow my heart. If it doesn't work out, cool, we can still be friends. If it does, then double cool!"
Sherry coughed. She might've drank a little that night too. "And? What happened then?"
"I thanked you and called my friend that night. I told him I loved him and if he didn't like me having feelings for him, I'll stop, but if he liked me back, we can start dating."
"W-wow. So proactive." Sherry muttered to herself.
"Did he accept?" Sherry cautiously asked.
Sam smiled and shook her head. "No, but he said he never seen me that way before but he'll think about it. That's when I knew I still had a chance! It took two years, but I finally entrapped him."
"He's your boyfriend now? Congratulations!" Sherry gave Sam a tight hug. "I'm so happy everything worked out for you."
"Hehe, the dumb fool always treated me like a sister and didn't realise his feelings for me. Slowly but surely, I whittled away at his hesitation and now Kyle's my boyfriend! And that's all thanks to you Sherry. Thank you so much, words can't express how thankful I am towards you."
"No. It was your own efforts that made it happen."
"But if I didn't hear what you said that night, I would have never summoned up the courage to confess to him. Things would've stayed the same, we would stay friends forever and he might've gotten a girlfriend before I could do anything. It's thanks to you that I wooed him, thanks to you, I won't have any regrets."
Even after their lunch together, Sam's words stuck in Sherry's mind. She thought about her situation and linked it back to her own. Both were the same cases, yet, she was brave and took the step forward. She paved her own way to happiness. Yet, she was still stuck in status quo. She was still afraid of taking that step. She buried her own feelings and prevented herself from heading down the path of fulfilling her feelings.
"No, Dylan only thinks of me as a friend. He doesn't see me that way." Sherry shook her head and told herself. "But Sam was the same. Her boyfriend only saw her as a friend too. She spent 2 whole years convincing him otherwise."
"Can I do that too?"
"Will I be able to make Dylan fall for me?"
"But what if he gets put off by my feelings?"
"What if he already has someone else he likes?
"I remember he had a childhood friend, Eliza was her name. What if he likes her?"
"But she's already married. It can't be."
"Maybe it's just an unrequited love. Maybe that's why he doesn't want to go back to Frin."
"Dylan's so handsome, he'll charm any girl he likes. Why would he fall for me?"
"But if I don't do anything, I'll like only him for the rest of my life."
"Sam was able to do it. Why can't I?"
"If only I just take that step, I can put an end to this stuffy situation."
"I won't have to look at him with guilt anymore."
"Just three words. 'I love you'. That's all I have to say."
"Will I be able to do it?"
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Author: What a long soliloquy. Girl, are you Hamlet, because I can write a whole essay on how wishy washy you are.
Sherry:…
Author: And now you're not talking? Humph!
Sam: Maybe she just has a sore throat from all that talking.
Author: Oh hey, Sam. Glad to see you here. How do you feel now that you've fulfilled your purpose?
Sam: Meh. You made me to fix the friendzone but I'm still gonna appear y'know?
Author: What? When? How come I don't know this?
Sam, smiles: *Whisper Whisper Whisper*
Author, eyes widen: The Christmas party!