I looked at my wristwatch. It's already 4:15 in the afternoon. I was done answering Ranier's survey papers. I was waiting for him to text me all day but I haven't received any. I think he forgot that he doesn't have my phone number. We're supposed to be dismissed by now but the professor is taking an over time. I hear my classmates whispering to each other that class should have ended a few minutes ago but we're nowhere near to getting dismissed. I glanced at them and see how contorted their faces are from being annoyed.
After a few more minutes, we were dismissed. Finally. I checked my phone again, still no message from Ranier. I gathered my things and walked out of the room. I was double checking my things in my bag when I reached the door. Someone blocked my path. I look to see who it was and was surprised to see Ranier standing in front of me. I just stared at him and he gave me a shy smile as he scratched the side of his forehead.
"You changed your number." He said. He smiled at me. A sad smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't think ahead of that. I didn't realize you'd change your number." He scratched the back of his head.
I nod at him. "What did you expect me to do?" I didn't mean to, but it came out harsher than I thought. I bit the insides of my cheek.
I heard whispers coming from behind me. I glanced at them and looked at Ranier again. "Let's go somewhere else." I told him and nodded my head at the people whispering about us. He gave me a nod. He tried to grab my hand but I pulled it away. He gave me a pained expression but he just smiled and we walked on. We find ourselves walking towards the Academy's garden.
I sat on one of the benches. He was about to sit beside me but was stopped mid way when I handed him the survey papers. "Here. I've answered everything." He took the papers from me and slowly took the space beside me. I stood up from the bench but he pulled me down again. I looked at him. "You already have your papers. What else do you want-" I didn't get to finish my sentence.
"I'm sorry." He blurted out. I looked at him. Dumbfounded. I blinked my eyes a couple of times. When it finally sank in, I composed myself. "Is that so hard to say?" I asked him, my voice quivering.
He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry it took this long. I'm sorry." He apologized repeatedly.
I looked at him. "I have so many questions, Ranier. But I won't ask for now. I'm not ready to hear how you made me look so pathetic." I said and wiped my tears. I left him in the garden and went to my cabin. I locked myself inside my room and cried the tears I've been keeping in for the past few months.
*flashback to 5 months ago*
I was running in the hallway of our high school when I bumped into someone. "Aw!" I fell on the floor. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. Here." She offered me her hand and I took it. "Thank you. Also, I'm sorry, I wasn't really careful." I grimaced. My butt hurts.
"Don't worry. I was also at fault here. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings." She gave me a beautiful smile. I returned her smile and offered her my hand. "Nicole." She took my hands, "I'm Ella." and we shook hands.
"I haven't seen you before. Visitor?" I asked her politely. She's not wearing our uniform and she looks like she's looking for someone. I looked her up and down. She's wearing a purple off shoulder top tucked in her black leather skirt and a black suede heels. She looks elegant.
Ella smiled and nodded her head. "Yes. I'm looking for my boyfriend." My mouth formed an "oh". Her boyfriend must be very lucky to have her as a girlfriend. She's really pretty and she seems very nice. "He mentioned to me before that he really loves to spend his time in the music room. I'm guessing he's there now but I don't where the music room is." She added.
I couldn't help but smile. My boyfriend also loves to spend most of his time in the music room. "Shall I take you there?" I offered. She smiled at me widely and nods her head. "Oh please. I would very much appreciate that."
I led her to the music room. I should probably check on my boyfriend too since I'm on my way there. I told her I have a boyfriend too who likes to stay in the music room. They must be friends. She got excited the moment I mentioned it. We exchanged conversations about our boyfriends and they seem very similar. We couldn't help but giggle at the similarities. Our boyfriends should probably be good friends since they have so much similarities.
I stopped in front of a door. I looked at her. "We're here." I informed her and opened the door. When I opened the door, I only saw Ranier. My boyfriend. I looked at Ella and was about to ask her if maybe her boyfriend is somewhere else when she ran and hugged Ranier. "Babe!"
I was so confounded. I looked at Ella and Ranier, my boyfriend. Before I could even think about anything else, words just came out of my mouth. "What's going on?" I sounded so confused. Am I being pranked? I mentally checked the date today, there's nothing out of the ordinary. So what is going on here?
Ranier looked at me and his mouth fell. Ella was still beaming. But Ranier and I exchanged looks which is the total opposite of Ella's. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" Ranier told Ella and kissed her on the cheek. Ella just nodded her head and smiled at me. She's obviously unaware of what's happening.
Anger surged through me. I walked out of the room and ran but Ranier caught up with me. "Nics! Wait, let me explain-" He tried to hold my hand but I peeled his hands off me. I glared at him. With tears streaming down my face, I shouted at him. "I trusted you! I believed you! I loved you! Everyone else was warning me about you, even my own mother! But I disobeyed them for you! I almost got disowned by my own father because of you, but I didn't care because I loved you! You promised me! You told me you love me, but why Ranier? Why?" I said with so much emotion.
I just cried in front of him. We stood there for about 5 minutes. He was just standing in front of me. He's crying too. I wiped the tears from my eyes and faced him. "Stop crying. What we had, you destroyed it. You don't have the right to shed your own tears here." My tears stopped falling and I looked at him coldly. "Forget about me Ranier. I'll forget about you too." I walked away from him and didn't bother to hear his explanation.