CHAPTER 15...continued
We were off Wednesday and Thursday which gave us enough time to practice and prepare well for our finals on Friday afternoon for badminton and Saturday morning for archery and in the afternoon for dance and music which would conclude the sports competitions and events for the school year 2018-2019. The finals of the sports competitions volleyball, swimming, soccer were to be held on Thursday, while chess and math were on Friday morning. Mr. Chang was available to train us, teaching us skills and techniques to help against our opponents whom he also claimed to say that they were very and I quote "powerful, skillful and precise" which meant we had to seriously step up our game if we were to bring the championship back home on Saturday. After a serious indoors and outdoors training for three days, Mr. Chang felt we were ready for our final matches on Saturday morning.
On Thursday we had received word that our school won the championship for volleyball, swimming and soccer beating our rival competitors Chicago Alliance High School, who eliminated Chicago Christina High School in the semi-finals, winning in all three sports competitions for a third consecutive year, while on Friday morning Chris and Jaime reclaimed their championship in chess and math for a third consecutive year. In honor of their third consecutive win all players were given two medals, one for winning and another for their achievement and success including a certificate for their accomplishments and winning the championship three times in a row. Badminton commenced on Friday afternoon where we were playing opponents from both Chicago Alliance High School and Chicago Christian High School. The doubles boys' and girls' and mixed double were up first and as we were warming up and getting ready to play, I could see how important this game was for Anderson, he had put in a lot of effort, time and dedication during his practice and was his last ever badminton game to ever play in high school, so for him to want to take part in the mixed doubles finals, this was going to be a game he will cherish and remember for the rest of his long life years. We started off quite well, in sync and with great coordination and in less than two hours we had secured our third consecutive championship beating Chicago Alliance High School 2-0 (21-15, 21-15). Anderson and I gave each other a great hug with kisses in front of the entire school, congratulated each other on a game well played including our opponents. As we were celebrating, the second celebrations came through for Sanders and David taking home their first win in the boys doubles match against Chicago Christian High School, and finally Lisa and Suzanne also secured their win for the third consecutive year for Lisa and a second consecutive year for Suzanne against Chicago Christian High School, all exciting news. Now was left with the girls' and boys' single matches; James and Jacob were once again facing each other in the finals as they eliminated Chicago Alliance High School and Chicago Christian High School-these two were just so good and unbeatable for two years, this was their third year to meet again in the finals. I was playing a student from Chicago Alliance High School as I had beaten Chicago Christian High School in the semi-finals. This year for the boys' singles James took home the championship for the first time playing three sets, a great match they displayed today which somehow Jacob didn't feel bad about it because James had not only been his buddy but his badminton practice partner since grade 9, so for Jacob to see James win the championship it was great news and something exciting to see for Jacob as he said "he has worked very hard, he deserved it, congrats buddy." As for me, it was one of the simplest matches I had ever played, very different than archery. Our game lasted exactly two hours, I beat my opponent in two sets (21-10, 21-10), I was not wasting any time with her, I wanted the game to start and end as quickly as possible as I was already exhausted. I had thought the game was going to be challenging since Chicago Alliance High School gave us a hard time in archery, but it was nothing at all like that, at all! Easy game, easy win it was. I secured my third consecutive singles championship, each of us getting given two medals, one for winning and another for our achievement and success including a certificate for their accomplishments and winning the championship three times in a row. Anderson and I celebrated our big wins, just savored and enjoyed the moment because this was also going to be my last year playing with Anderson and I would have to find another partner to play mixed doubles next year. It was now beginning to hit me that Anderson was leaving and I would not be able to see him or play badminton with him again. Although we continue to be together, I will definitely miss him; it will be very different not having him around and very difficult adjusting to not having him around next year. With today's great and exciting wins, my body was completely exhausted and all I needed was a shower, a good meal and a long night's sleep till the next morning. I didn't take the school bus back to school as my parents were at the school so I went home with them, Chris, Jaime and Anderson also went home with their parents. I waved goodbyes to everyone, gave hugs and kisses to Chris, Jaime and Anderson, we were to chat later that evening but it didn't happen as we were so dead tired. We arrived home at almost 7 PM; I showered, changed while my mum was making dinner. For some reason I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on my bed and didn't get up until the next morning. I had missed dinner and my parents didn't want to wake me up as they saw how exhausted I was and even if they tried calling me I was not going to get up. I will say though when I woke up the next morning I was famished, thank goodness my mum had woken up early and made a good heavy breakfast as she knew I had not eaten last night; bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, pancakes, juice and coffee, all that was enough to help me through the first part of the morning archery final matches.
The only two final events that were happening today were archery and dance and music finals, and I was taking part in both of them. Before I left home, I checked my phone and had missed calls from Jaime, Chris and Anderson. I was able to see Chris and Jaime as we took the school bus together, I apologized for not picking up their calls as I was extremely tired, didn't even have dinner. They both were like "Wow, you really were tired then," On the bus I texted Anderson and also apologized, but he was very understanding as he also knew how exhausted I was as well. He replied "no problem, did you sleep well?" I replied, "Yes I did, thank you," His reply, "that's good, alright see you in school can't wait, already missing you." I replied, "See you shortly, and missing you too." We arrived shortly before 8AM, and Anderson was waiting for us at the school gate entrance, we couldn't stay long as we had to catch the school bus to take us to Chicago Christian High School as the archery finals were at 9AM while the dance and music finals were at 3PM in the afternoon. It was an early start today but this was good as it gave us time to practice our dance routine.
At 08:10AM took the bus to Chicago Christian High School arriving at 8:30AM .We were among the first contestants on the archery field, I started getting geared up and preparing my bow and arrow, while Anderson, Chris and Jaime were watching, when at 08:45AM, parents, teachers, students from our school and the other schools also started coming in to the archery field. Jaime, Chris and Anderson gave me hugs and kisses wishing me all the best. My parents, Jaime and Chris' parents, Anderson's parents had also arrived and had actually been at all the games since the beginning of the entire tournament. It was great to see them; they also had a chance to meet Chris and Jaime's parents as well. My teammates had all arrived, Mr. Chang and our coaches were present but seated at the back seat of the field not far away from us. Our opponents and their coaches from Chicago Alliance High School arrived shortly thereafter; they geared their bows and arrows and started practicing next to us, which we didn't mind. Although I did notice how they were paying very close attention at us, watching our every move, it was not as if we were practicing but just sitting and chatting with each other before the match begun. They had this scary look, glaring at us with a smirk and anger on their faces as if we owed them money or we stole something from them. Peter spoke to us, giving us encouragement and support; I pitched in as well and reminded my team members the skills, techniques and style we learned from Mr. Chang, put that in mind and put it in your bows and arrows. I didn't need to look at the benches nor struggle with the words and sentences; I remembered every detail clearly and I could already sense and feel that 'black hood' was right behind me saying; "stay grounded, stay focused, be patient and calm while shooting all of your arrows, your energy, strength, speed and eyes will be your guiding force, center your eyes on the target, aim and shoot." The day had finally arrived and I was more than ever prepared to fight, win and bring home the championship for the third consecutive win. The rules for the finals were each individual was shooting eight rounds; shoot the first five then take a break, and then each individual shoots the last three rounds to determine the winner. First up were the boys grade 11 and 12 teams, I had thought it was going to be very competitive but Philip, Peter, Jamieson and Andrews all did extremely well, very unexpected with all arrows hitting the middle of the yellow circle, something even the coaches were very shocked. I could see Mr. Chang smiling nodding his head in acknowledgement. They were now seated waiting for Chicago Alliance High School to shoot their arrows, and for a school that was rumored to 'never miss a target' I was getting very skeptical because their skills and techniques were not as good as I had expected, but then again I told myself it is too early to judge, who knows they might do better in the next three rounds. Clearly we were the winner of the first five rounds. After a five minute break, we were up for the final three rounds; Andrew perfect score, Philips perfect score, Peter perfect score, but Jamieson first arrow hit the red circle, but the other two hit the middle of the yellow circle, which I tell you was a huge relief as we were all panicking!! Chicago Alliance High School boys' archery team was up, two of their teams shot straight in the middle of the yellow circle, the other two members second and third shots hit the red circle, this was a clear win for our boys' archery team as we were declared the winning team, the boys' archery championship which was the first ever win for our boys' team. We were all excited and proud of them, but it was not over yet as the girls' team was up next against the girls' of Chicago Alliance High School. The girls' looked even meaner than the boys'; guess they were pissed off because our boys' team beat their boys' team, so looks like it was competition and revenge for them. The thing they don't understand, revenge is not a skill or a technique to be used in a competitive sport, because you are most likely to be digging your own grave which will result in a disaster. They must have been so confident that they were going to win, but when things went sideways, it was not something they were expecting. Sandra a senior went up first shooting all perfect scores; Ashley grade 11 also delivered her best performance with perfect scores; I from grade 11 shot all five arrows landing in the middle of the yellow circle, we shot and delivered perfect scores, which is not what I would say for Chicago Alliance High School girls' archery team. They first two players were spot on all five arrows shooting straight in the middle of the yellow circle, the last two didn't aim very well three out their five arrows landed in the red circle. Clearly we had secured the win; we were just one step away from clinching the championship. We had a five minute break, and I witnessed the two girls' from Chicago Alliance High School crying due to the loss and hitting their chest as it was not what they had expected. With three more rounds to go, I was wondering if they were going to make it or not. Five minutes were up, and we started the final three shots; we all shot three perfect arrows straight in the middle of the yellow circle. We now waited to see how Chicago Alliance High School girls' archery team would play and the first girl who is supposedly the best proved she was still the best with a perfect score; the second girl missed her third shot hitting the red circle, while the third girl hit first shots in the yellow circle and the last two in the red circle. When we saw her last shot landing in the red circle, the winners were already confirmed; Chicago High School had won their third consecutive archery championship for the school year 2018-2019. I could not believe what had just happened; we all jumped with excitement, hugged Mr. Chang and our coaches Mrs. Steward and Mr. Williamson. It was a dream that came true especially for Ashley and Philip who had struggled with her loss last year and Philip since in grade 9 and grade 10; they worked so hard and finally achieved something they never thought possible. I congratulated them with hugs and more hugs; we were jumping and dancing celebrating our win, I ran to where my parents were, crying while hugging them, even my mum was with tears of joy. I hugged Chris, Jaime and their parents, and finally Mrs. Andrews, finally Anderson gave me a big tight hug with kisses. We received our medals with a certificate for our accomplishments, achievements and great success. Of course for all the matches and games, events and competitions, we took pictures, but also had a professional photographer from our school who also took pictures. We always got our copies of the photos which I placed them in our family album and after today's win, my album was going to be filled with not just pictures of our wins but with new faces of our winners and friends.
The final event and competition was the dance and music, as we didn't have enough time to practice, we quickly had our lunch with drinks, ran to the performing arts dance area where the competition was being held. With the backup dancers we went over a few moves to make sure we were on the same page and all was good. We had been practicing on some weekends as it was difficult to practice every day at school. We were ready, we were excited, and we knew that we were going to give the best of the finest performance and whether we took home the trophy or not, the most important thing was we made it to the finals, did our best and gave it our best. The song we were dancing and performing to was a k-pop song "Anpanman" by BTS which was released in 2018, not only was it our favorite k-pop song but our back up dancers were really digging it when we first played it, was a simple choice and we made sure to be able to understand the words and enjoy dancing to the song. We were second to the last dancers, and just watching all the dancers was making me a bit nervous as they were so good even better than last year's dancers. The dancing competition this year was very fierce with lots of experienced dancers, but the fact that we were able to have experience dancing lessons with the elite street dancers during the summer vacation, it also helped improve our dancing skills which was the best experience ever, so I told myself, Chris and Jaime that no matter what let's go out there and have fun and give it our very best. We ended up being in 2nd place after Chicago Alliance High School, which wasn't bad but I was very surprised that we both beat Chicago Christian High School once again. Nevertheless, was very happy with the overall results and the prizes we received.
After the conclusion of all the events and award ceremonies, it was clean up time, pack up time and then straight home. Our parents picked us up, so it was very convenient, and once again I was completely beat, this time didn't even say goodbye to anyone just got my stuff and went home, I was coming down with a terrible headache hence my reasons for leaving without saying goodbyes. When I got home, went upstairs, took a long bath, nearly slept in the bath tub, wore my pajamas, and went downstairs to get a snack to eat before dinner, then got medication for my headache, told my parents I am going to have a nap and to wake me up for dinner as I was starving. Before I had my nap, spoke to Chris, Jaime and Anderson, they saw I was not looking good, told them I had a headache and needed to take a nap with the hope that I would feel better in a couple of hours. They were all concerned especially Anderson who wanted to come over to keep me company until I got better, I told him it was OK, and that we can meet tomorrow as it was a Sunday. I was woken up for dinner and boy did I have an appetite, I stuffed myself with spaghetti and meat sauce, salad and dessert, which as always best homemade meals. I rested for a while on the sofa felt as if my headache was getting better, but I started falling asleep, so I got up said goodnight to my parents, gave them hugs and kisses, they once again congratulated me on my performances and wins and then it was upstairs I climbed the stairs, brushed my teeth, and as I was getting ready to sleep my phone rang, it was Chris and Jaime, we talked for an hour, they were checking on me to see if I was OK, very nice and sweet of them, Anderson also called worried if I was Ok, was very nice and sweet of him. I knew he wanted us to keep chatting which I tried until he saw I was really not well. He said "I will come see you tomorrow morning and spend the day with you, is that Ok?" I said "sure no problem at all, if I'm not wake, you can come to my room and wake me up." "Alright he said, good night sleep well, and I miss you." I wished him a goodnight with pleasant dreams and said I miss you too."
The next day, I don't know what time I woke up but when I did open my eyes, Anderson had been sitting on my bedroom sofa chair. I woke up; smiled at him asking him what time is it and what time did you get here? He replied, "It is 10AM and I arrived at 9AM," oh dear, I felt so embarrassed; I asked him "why he didn't wake me up?" He replied, I was sleeping so soundly that he didn't want to wake me up." Was so nice of him to let me sleep until I woke up, he asked, how are you feeling this morning? I was actually feeling much better than I expected, having a hot bath, good meal, taking headache pills, and sleeping early really helped a lot. "I am feeling much better," I replied. "Did you have breakfast I asked him?" He did have breakfast but was hungry, I laughed. I freshened up, still wearing my pajamas and we went downstairs to see what mum had made for breakfast, dad had left to go play golf with Mr. Anders and Mr. Peterson which was something they did most Sundays'. Mum had made extra pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and coffee, which Anderson and I were able to have and enjoy with some juice as well. Mum left us in the kitchen while she went to finish up the housework. I helped clean up the dishes and the kitchen once we were done with breakfast. We returned to my bedroom where Anderson and I hung out all day until after lunch when we were joined by Chris and Jaime. We were catching up with some school stuff and the upcoming summer plans. As always Chris, Jaime and I would travel to Texas for the summer camp which included archery, badminton, math and science events, and then travel to New York for dance lessons. Although Anderson was to start preparing for university in the fall, he arranged to join us for the entire month of June and July in Texas and New York mainly to be able to spend time with me, Chris and Jaime.
After all the sports competition, events and activities that took place from Mid-April to the end of April it almost felt like school was over and the summer vacation had begun. Unfortunately we still had five more weeks until school was over, it was now time to prepare for our final exams which were to start the second week of May for ten days including the seniors, then it was the senior dance the weekend after exams, followed by graduation the following Friday for the seniors. The review and preparation for our exams was stressful, especially with the weather changes, we had just competed in sports and school events a few days ago and it was so hard getting back into the studying mode, it was also very difficult to concentrate, but there was no choice. We had some nights we were sleeping at midnight or 1 AM as we were still reviewing and revising for our exams. Thank goodness for our study group it is so useful and helpful in catching up on any missed information and asking questions that might come in the exams, it was truly valuable. We started our AP exams the second week of May as did the rest of the high school students, they were tough and challenging even harder than the exams we did in the first semester. I struggled with trying to remember information during my English and Literature, biology and world history, it was so annoying and stressful and no matter what I tried nothing was coming out of my head, this was already thirty minutes into my exam. I decided to put my pen down, sit up straight, think and meditate, cleared my head and started going backwards to what we had learned, what we had talked about and discussed during our study groups, slowly by slowly information started coming back in my mind, it was slow but bits and pieces were trickling back in my mind, then I started writing and writing and with only fifteen minutes left I had to fight to remember which I finally did and was able to answer all the questions even had time to check and double check my answers in the last five minutes. After the exams my head was completely fried, couldn't think or function anymore, what I needed was to sleep, recharge my mind and body. Since the school buses were only operating after school and my parents were unable to pick me up as they were working, I went home with Chris's mum, and Anderson came by later after his graduation ceremony practice. This weekend was going to be the senior dance which I was excited for Anderson to go and have fun with his fellow seniors but I was shocked and thrown off guard when he told me that he would not be attending the senior dance. I not only asked why he wasn't planning on going and at the same time convincing him to go for the dance. I thought maybe because Sophia was going to be there, he said it has nothing with her and even if she goes or not, it is none of his business. We were sitting at my home living room where this conversation begun; I was quite curious to know why he had zero interest in going for the senior dance. It turned out that he never liked any of his senior classmates, none of them he liked since grade 9, I was in utter shock just hearing that statement because as good looking as he was, with his gorgeous blue eyes and a great body physique, you would think he would have quite a fan base of friends and likes from the ladies, but nope, he never liked them and they never liked him; had something to do with just not having any common interests, was also about status, class level, being smart (which he was), being a person pleaser and always showing off wanting to be the best. This was BIG news I had to tell Chris and Jaime but in private. After hearing what Anderson said it explained a lot of things about his personality and character and why he and Sophia couldn't last at all together, and the reasons he doesn't and didn't have any friends as he is/was very picky. The fact that we and our relationship has lasted for two years clearly explains a lot of things about his expectations from people and what kind of friends he likes and dislikes and what kind of woman he would date, I didn't blame him at all!
Since he wasn't going to the dance that weekend, I decided to have pizza and movie night with him, Chris and Jaime at my place and if they wanted to spend the weekend at my place. They were all very cool with the idea and loved it; I ordered the pizza and suggested the movies we would watch. My parents were not going to be around as they also were going on a weekend date and won't be back until Sunday evening; very romantic of them, even after being together and married for over 20 years, they still had that chemistry and romantic spark in them, truly very happy for them.
This was actually our last weekend before heading off for our summer vacation, the following weekend was the senior graduation which my parents, Chris, Jaime and his parents and I attended. It was great seeing Anderson in his graduation outfit receiving his diploma, which was also great, was that he received an honors award for being the top three students with the highest GPA and honors in his senior class. It was really wonderful plus he was very excited about it, we were all excited and very proud of him and all that he has accomplished and achieved over the span of his four years at Chicago High School. We took great pictures after the ceremony; his parents had a great and wonderful graduation ceremony dinner and party. I had thought that maybe he would have wanted to go partying since he was already 18, but sadly once again that was not his thing, and not something he liked doing. When I told Chris and Jaime about his response for not wanting to go to the senior dinner and partying in the clubs after his graduation, they were completed and utterly stunned and shocked and felt that it was not normal for someone as handsome and gorgeous as him to not want to have fun before going to university. From my side, I never mentioned nor spoke about that topic again; after his graduation dinner and party which he only invited us and his parents' friends, we hung out at his place for a while; Chris and Jaime left shortly after 11 PM with their parents while I stayed and spent the night. It was great seeing him in his graduation hat, enjoying and celebrating his completion of studies at Chicago High School. We again talked about our relationship and how it will be once he was in Boston, the expectations, and our summer plans, and since we were spending it together it gave us the opportunity to spend time together before he went off to Boston University in the fall. I truly appreciated the time and effort he was putting into making our relationship work; I also realized that I needed to put in the work to make it work otherwise it was not going to work out. Moreover, as we want to continue our relationship while he is in Boston and I am in Chicago, a lot of time and energy will need to be put into the long distance relationship to be secure and stable, and be able to enjoy and cherish our time together whenever we meet. Thank goodness we both have phones so we can always call, video chat and message each other any time that will also help a lot in our relationship.
Finally the last day of the school year 2018-2019 arrived; it was a great but sad day as well; great because we were done with school and next school year I will be a senior and will be my last year in Chicago High School; sad because it was Sandra's, Andrew's last day as seniors and especially Anderson's last day, last year at Chicago High School as he will be moving to Massachusetts to attend his schooling at Boston University. Although we spent two years together at Chicago High School and outside of high school, it was a great pleasure meeting him, knowing him, being my mixed doubles badminton partner, spending weekends and weekdays at school together. His kindness, humbleness, the respect he has for my buddies, Chris and Jaime and me has been truly a blessing. He is friendly, intelligent, handsome, the most caring and lovable person I have ever met second to Chris and Jaime. I am happy to have him in my life, he will truly be missed, I will truly miss him but I know we will continue to keep in touch and see each other once he starts his university life in the fall. Thank you Anderson, love you lots. Also thank you Chris and Jaime, love you lots and we shall see you this summer and back here again in the fall. Love you lots.
CHAPTER 16
My final year at Chicago High School begun on Monday August 5 2019, school year 2019-2020, this was my senior, my last year at one of the most prestigious schools in the entire Chicago. As I looked around the school campus, it had been three years ago when I had first set foot on this campus to embark on my high school journey, four years later, I stand on the very same ground, in front of the campus entrance as I begin my senior and final year at Chicago High School. It was going to be a different year without Anderson and I wasn't sure if I wanted to partner up with anyone else for the badminton mixed doubles, or to even play mixed doubles at all this year.
As I walking towards the school entrance gate, Chris and Jaime followed right behind me and I put my arms around them saying "guys we are seniors, this is our final year, we made it all the way from grade 9 and now we celebrate being seniors!!" I continued "Let's enjoy and finish our last year with pride and in style." We gave each other hugs and our special hand shake and walked straight into the high school office to pick up our schedules ready to start our first day of school. Earlier on before coming to school, Anderson had called to wish me all the best in my senior year, he was getting ready to embark to Boston in a few weeks, so there was still a chance we will see each other before he left. I had wanted to speak to him about the badminton mixed doubles partner situation but decided to wait until we met face to face to talk about it, which I thought would be better as I could gauge his thoughts and reaction on this matter.
A week before Anderson left for Boston, we met, spent lots of evenings together either at his place or my place; Chris, Jaime also joined us when we had pizza nights or when we went out for dinners on the weekends. We did have alone time together, and it was then I brought up the badminton mixed doubles topic. I started the topic very casually as I wasn't sure of his reaction and whether he would be sensitive about it; he did ask if I had a partner in mind, my choices were either James or Jacob; he looked at me for like three seconds, and while he was looking at me, was trying to decipher what his looks meant, and what was going through his head. Before he was ready to speak I continued "the other option was to not play mixed doubles, and to ask if the team could select two new members from grade 9 to be mixed doubles partner; I would coach and train them to be the best of the best to ensure they would always be ready for the matches. After saying that there was a big smile on his face and it was then I knew what his answer was; although he was of favor with my second option, he approved for me to partner up with either James or Jacob; his reason being that we three (James, Jacob and I) could coach and train the grade 9 students, and then select which ones would be the best mixed doubles partners and great representation for the team. My first reaction after hearing that response, was giving him a tight hug and a kiss for his suggestions and advice; I never would have imagined with his character and personality that Anderson would accept my suggestions and agree with my thoughts. He did mention something interesting though, "I trust you and know you are not the kind of person to betray me or our relationship, but I do have one request; I looked at him and I knew immediately what was coming next; "you are to only play and practice with them during school days and of course when you start the tournaments, no weekend practices." I had to agree to his request since he met me half way and gave a good proposal to the situation. It was actually a relief from my stand point as was worried it would affect our relationship, but it didn't. We continued talking about how things were going to be busy for both of us but we made a promise to always text each other twice a day, video call each other every weekend and when we had a break or holiday try to see each other; either I flew to Boston or he would fly back to Chicago. We spent the last few days together as he was leaving that weekend to begin his university journey in Boston.
Back at Chicago High when we started school our schedule for seniors didn't change much since we were taking two years of AP courses, still had two study hall periods, course work including assignments, projects and presentations were still the same workload; quizzes and exams were not a miss including surprise quizzes which seemed to be quite popular in Chicago High School even more popular than the quizzes and exams. It was also going to be a busy semester due to college and university preparations, submissions of college and university applications, which also meant getting our SATs, GMAT and GRE (thank goodness I didn't need to do that for my university application), tons of essays with scholarship applications and teacher recommendations. It was imperative that all these applications were completed and submitted before the deadline which was before the beginning of the winter vacation. The semester had only begun three weeks ago and it felt like we were running a marathon against time. The good thing was that I had already decided which universities to submit my applications: Penn State, New York State University, Boston University, MIT, and Maine University with Boston University being my first choice followed by Penn State then New York State University. With these choices, I was assured at least one of the universities would give me an offer; the other thing I needed to make sure was getting at least four to five recommendation letters; from my counselor, math and science teacher, English and then drama and dance teachers; at least this covered getting recommendation letters from my core and elective teachers. We were scheduled to take our SAT exam in October and another one in November; should I do well in both then I will not need to take anymore SAT's for the rest of the school year.
During the weekends in addition to homework, was busy preparing for my SATs, university applications and essays. Chris, Jaime and I worked together on our applications, studied together for our SATs and prepared our essays. For our essays once they were done, forwarded them to our counselor for review and editing; Chris, Jaime and I had the same counselor Mr. Kennedy who had been our counselor since grade 9, very friendly guy, we hardly ever had to meet him since we never had academic or behavioral issues. I know he had once upon been concerned about how I would adapt into the high school life seeing I was a mixed race colored student, but ever since that conversation, I had been doing fine and everything had been going well. He knew Chris and Jaime were my best friends and also knew I was dating Anderson, this was like an assurance I was OK and well taken off by my buddies, so he didn't need to worry. What I respected him a lot for was the fact that he always congratulated all of his students' who received awards for their academics, sports competitions and school events, he felt it was important to recognize the students for their efforts, the time and hard work their put into achieving great success in their learning and performances in sports and other activities.
Anderson and I texted each other after school hours and on weekends we spoke via video calls; sometimes he would call and find Chris and Jaime at my place or I would be at their places; our weekends were pretty much busy preparing our university applications, essays and SAT exams. We had planned for the entire semester that our homework, assignments, projects and presentations were either to be completed during our study hall periods or weekdays at home. We dedicated our weekends to working on our university applications. Anderson had asked which universities we were submitting our applications to; I told him, Penn State, New York State University, Boston University, MIT, and Maine University with Boston University being my first choice followed by Penn State then New York State University. Chris and Jaime had the same choices with Boston University as their first choice, New York State University and Penn State as their second and third choice, followed by MIT and Maine University. There was a big smile on Anderson's face after hearing our lists and first choices. We told him that we planned to submit all applications before the end of the first semester, thus we can have a restful holiday and focus on the assignments and exams for the second semester, but most important get some rest for sure. During the evenings when I was at home, Anderson and I spoke at length; he seemed to be enjoying his first semester at the university, except that the professors were not friendly and were a no joke; don't attend class it is a fail, failure to complete and submit assignments with no excuses resulted in a fail, if asked a question during the lecture and are not prepared that is also trouble. To be honest through the entire conversation, all I was hearing was the word 'fail,' it was almost as if all the professors wanted to do was fail each student in their classes. For the first semester, Anderson was talking six courses; he was exempted from two courses as he took them as AP courses while at Chicago High School, which was quite a relief for him, so his work load wasn't as bad as he had expected. I asked if he had made any friends (the most important question), his response "no", short and simple, not even with his roommate, they only go as far as greeting each other and talking about their courses and assignments, other than that it is you, you mind own business and stay out of my way. That was no surprise to me at all; also he made me laugh when he told me that a few girls not only in his class but on campus have tried to catch his attention, requested to have coffee with him and invited him to join their study groups, all were rejected without any further questions; he was even imitating how they were asking him, I just cracked up, shook my head telling him, "you never give people any chances or even space to breathe, exactly as you did at Chicago High." He replied, "Of course, you honestly think they actually want to be my friend or they have other purposes?" He continued "And besides I already have my buddies Chris and Jaime and my girl friend Diana Johnson from Chicago." I smiled and gave him a heart sign. After that conversation about friends, I never again brought up the topic or asked about him making or having friends at Boston University. Overall, he seemed to have settled in well and was enjoying his courses and enjoying Boston University at its best. He planned to find an internship or a job in a business or engineering firm to gain work experience during the winter and summer vacation in Chicago. I agreed with his suggestion on finding an internship or part time work and supported his thoughts on working during the winter and summer holiday. While I was listening to him, I was thinking what would be the odds of us being in the same university next fall? It would be great, but will just have to wait and see what happens when I apply and when the acceptance letters get sent out at the end of February 2020.
After a busy and hectic weekend, Monday quickly arrived and we were back to school, and winter was slowly kicking in Chicago. By the end of October, we had completed two of the SAT exams, Mr. Kennedy had already received all the requested recommendations letter from our math, English, biology, chemistry dance and drama teachers. We had also submitted our essays to Mr. Kennedy for review which once read, he would meet with us individually to discuss our essays and make any changes or edits where needed. The good thing was we had already started our university applications whereby all the forms were completed but not submitted as additional documents such as transcripts, SAT scores, recommendation letters, and essays were to be uploaded with the applications. Moreover, we also applied for scholarships which were a different form with different requirements; which we planned to work on them in November. Nevertheless, we were on track to completing and submitting our applications before the end of the first semester.
My parents including Chris and Jaime's parents' were not worried at all, as they knew we were well organized, responsible and independent teenagers. They were not only quite impressed with the university choices I had selected but also the major I had planned to study. Most of the weekends when they were around, they would see Chris, Jaime and I busy working on our applications, preparing documents needed for the applications, even heard us having discussions and doing online research on the universities we had selected. From time to time my parents would ask about Anderson and how he was doing in Boston, which was quite surprising as I thought they had forgotten about him and were going to start asking me to stay away from him and not have any communication with him. I was quite happy with their support for our relationship, and although they did give me stern advice, they were not worried of me getting distracted or sidetracked from my studies and my future. From time to time Chris, Jaime and I also visited Anderson's parents to check in on them and see how they were doing; they were very excited and happy, but most importantly very grateful and appreciative to the extent of commenting "Anderson is very lucky to have such lovely friends and a girlfriend like you Diana, thank you." Anderson was truly grateful for what we did and thanked us so much!!
At the beginning of November, the badminton team and archery team dance and drama team had a meeting to discuss the new changes for the team and the upcoming competitions. For the badminton team I recommended to the coach if possible to partner up with either Jacob or James as we coach and train the new members of the team. This year, Jacob, James, Suzanne, Lisa and I were all seniors, this was going to be quite a huge loss for the badminton team next year, as we were one of the best players on the team and we had been playing on the school team for already three years. Coach Stevenson and Coach Jackson happily agreed in fact they were very grateful with our suggestion which came highly recommended. The coaching and training begun right away after school, Jacob, James, Sanders and David training the boys while Lisa Suzanne and I trained the girls; we were mainly focusing on the grades 9 and 10 like Tina and Peterson as these would be the next and upcoming badminton players and representatives for the next three years. We spent pretty much every day after school, two hours each working and training the students; it was our hope by the time the first semester was over, they would have learned the skills, techniques, knowledge including what they knew to help them in their upcoming matches. Before the end of the semester, we had a competition which was to help us identify and select the boys and girls' singles, boys and girls' doubles and mixed doubles. Sanders and David were in grade 11 and although they were still competing in the upcoming tournaments, we felt it was important to coach and train new players for the tournaments and be ready even then Sanders and David graduate.
Archery was also in a very serious dilemma as Chicago High School was going to lose six of their top players this year. This included Ashley, Philips, Peter, Sandra, Jamieson and I; this was going to be a huge blow for the team and the school. It was imperative to meet with the team, Coach Steward, Coach Williamson and Mr. Chang to start the discussions and coming up with strategies on how to help the team, keep it alive and get new players who can bring the team back in form and even better but most importantly be able to bring trophies to Chicago High School. I suggested to the archery coaches the same strategy I presented to the badminton team. Coach Steward and Coach Williamson and Mr. Chang were all in agreement with my suggestion; however Mr. Chang proposed that all players would need to start practicing NOW if they want to achieve the best results and be ready for the tournaments next semester. Upon hearing Mr. Chang's words it only meant one thing "practice, practice, and more practice every day after school." To me this meant five days of coaching and practicing every day for both badminton and archery and with my current schedule and all that I was going it was able to work with the coaches and the team to help the new upcoming players.
In December it was like a marathon trying to wrap up everything before the end of the semester. My first priority was submitting all my applications, essays, transcripts, recommendations letters, SAT scores and scholarship applications form, which were all completed and submitted by December 5 2019. Once that was out of the way, I was relieved and could even focus on my final exams which started on December 9, followed with practice with matches in both badminton and archery for the last two weeks before the start of the winter vacation. With the serious indoors and outdoors intensive coaching and training there were quite a good number of players who had the skills, techniques and potential and stamina of being selected for the team next year.
On our last day of school before starting our winter vacation, Chris, Jaime and I met in the cafeteria all looking excited because they had also completed and submitted all their university and required documents last week before their exams. They were very happy and felt a sense of relief. The badminton and archery team also had a meeting that morning to briefly discuss about next semester and how the coaching and training will commence as soon as we return from the winter holiday. At 3:45 PM, we caught the bus and went straight home; everyone was very excited and ready for the start of their winter holiday. When the bus driver dropped us home, Chris, Jaime and I started walking home chatting about our winter holiday plans, none of us had any plans nor knew what our parents planned for our winter vacation. However, for me this was not my priority at the moment, as I was mentally and physically exhausted and the first thing I wanted to do was rest, sleep, recharge the batteries in my body before doing anything else. We all waved our goodbyes and would keep in touch during the break. Of course we did have homework as grade 12 students that were inevitable especially in math, English Literature, sciences and world history. If it was not homework on formulas, a calculation then it was research, analyzing and writing essays. I get it our teachers were working on ensuring that we were better prepared for college and university especially in learning how to learn research papers and essays as this would be one of the main things we shall be doing once in college and university, but it was too much what they gave us which would take the entire three weeks of the entire winter holiday.
Chris, Jaime and I planned to just spend the entire winter holiday in our homes working on our assignments and homework, but most importantly resting and enjoying the festive seasons including my birthday. There were days and times we all sat and just reminisced about our school lives from the first day we met until where we are today, all that we had ever been through in and out of school, the entertainment, laughter, the tears, the trophies we won, the stress and pressure from teachers and other students and the two biggest of all were my bullying experience and meeting Anderson. The fact of being able to ride on this journey with three amazing friends and Anderson has truly been one of the best school life experiences I could ever ask for in my life.
As we were preparing for the festive, right after celebrating my seventeenth birthday which was a big event not only because it was my birthday but got a surprise return visit from Anderson who had flown into Chicago two days before my birthday. I had anticipated that he was going to be busy as he had mentioned finding an internship or a job during the winter vacation. On the day of my birthday, Chris and Jaime came over to celebrate my birthday which was very simple with pizza, a cake and great lunch and dinner made by my parents, and of course received great gifts as always, but the best gift was when I saw Anderson walking through our house door with Chris and Jaime; I was over the moon with excitement, happiness and tears of joy on my face. I told him "I thought you were not going to make this winter vacation as you were going to find a job or an internship, or were just going to stay at Boston University as time was too short." He replied "I was planning to actually start the job and internship hunting for the summer, so decided to fly back to Chicago to see my old friends and my love." It was quite embarrassing when he said that but I have to admit it was great seeing him back in Chicago. He was around for a good four weeks which was wonderful, as we were able to catch up and spend time together.
As we prepared to welcome Christmas and New Year, Mr. Anders, Mrs. Peterson, Mrs. Andrews and my mum decided for all of us to have a big get together at Mrs. Andrews place for Christmas which we all agreed with pleasure. This had been the third time we were all gathering together to enjoy and celebrate Christmas together with Mrs. Andrews. It was truly a memorable celebration and with Anderson back in town Mrs. Anders, Chris, Jaime and I could not have asked for a better way to celebrate and end the year 2019.
During the three weeks Anderson was in town, it was inevitable for all of us to hang out not only at our places but also went out for dinner a couple of times. He did take me out on a very lovely surprise romantic Italian dinner; we both love Italian food and there was this place he had always wanted to take me for dinner. His wish was granted and although it was expensive but it was worth the wait; at the restaurant he not only knew what my favorite Italian dish was but he also presented a wonderful gift of red roses to also celebrate our third year anniversary together with a great speech that ending with him saying; "I love you, Diana". I was clearly caught off guard and was not expecting that last part from him. I could only kiss, hug him and say 'thank you' with grace and appreciation. I know Anderson felt it was very important that we celebrated every anniversary while we were together, but never did I expect that he had already fallen in love with me. Personally everything that Anderson had been doing for our relationship was more than I had ever expected, it was very moving, touching, always full of surprises and adventures which made our relationship, the trust and love we have for each other even stronger and more solid than ever. His surprise arrival back to Chicago, spending my birthday and Christmas with me and my buddies, being able to spend alone time with him, and finally this wonderful Italian dinner was his actions speaking louder than words, was his love, how much he cares to ensure our relationship remains stable, is fun and one that will always have deep and wonderful moments and memories. With just a few more days before the end of 2019, we had both written letters and wishes for ourselves and each other. We promised to not open or read the letters and wishes for the next two years. We sealed, stapled them and put them in an envelope which we put in an empty bottle that we exchanged with each other and we would read them out in two years time.
On December 31, we celebrated and welcomed the New Year 2020 at home with our families but we did a video call with Chris, Jaime, and Anderson wishing each other 'Happy New Year' with blessings, prosperity, good health, good wealth and great things for each of us. Anderson and I spoke at quite length and it was on this day he said the three words again "I love you Diana" this time I also responded as I had the same feelings for him as well. Anderson had two more weeks before heading back to Boston. For the next week and a half he spent it with his parents. We planned to spend the five days and his last weekend together before his trip back to Boston.
With only a week to go before starting school, Chris, Jaime and I were once again on a marathon rampage trying to complete our assignments. We had already completed math, English literature, while I had completed world history back in December, we were now just left with sciences. I was just shaking my head saying typical students running around like a headless chicken trying to ensure all the work is completed before school starts; which quite hilarious as we met three days before school started; discussed the questions and answers, shared our thoughts, discussed how we should write our answers then used our own words to complete the science assignments. It was three hard mornings, afternoons and two nights finishing almost at midnight, but it was a relief once it was over. Of course we reviewed all our completed assignments just to make sure as always all questions were answered, all questions completed as per instructions and as per the teachers standards and expectations. The last weekend before starting our second semester on Monday, we were all chilling, relaxing like we were on a summer beach house vacationing, it was such a wonderful feeling knowing on Monday morning I was going to be waking up, going to school with no stress, no pressure and no fear.