Graduate

If you ask me whether I am happy, I am not. If you ask whether I am unhappy, I am not. Everyday is just same to me.

I have a lived a fairly normal life. I haven't faced any hardships in my life. But that didn't mean I had a luxurious life. I was normal. If you plot my daily life on a graph, it will be a straight line.

I just feel something is missing. And that missing something started appearing in my dreams frequently. The only time when I felt happy was in my dreams, when I was meeting the love of my life. So it didn't take me much to figure out that what I needed in life was love. And that is exactly what I am going to find along with my degree.

I walk down the stairs with the bag hanging by my shoulder. Mom is making breakfast in the kitchen. I throw the bag on to the couch and plop down on the chair. She had already plated eggs on two plates. One was for me and the other was for -

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rings. The door was half open. Still someone clearly wanted to show manners in front of my mom.

"Hi Aunty," Vivianne said as she pulled back the chair opposite to me and adjusted herself on it.

"Hi Vivi. I have laid out your plate."

"Thank you Aunty!" She said and looked at me.

"Hi Baby!" She said in a musical way.

" When the door is open, pull it and get in. Don't .Ring. The. Doorbell. It irritates me. " I said cupping my lips.

"Manners baby, Manners."

"You know us for literally 19 years. We know all about you. I know all about you. Fool someone else."

"This is me. The good person with manners. Isn't it Aunty?" She raised her voice for Mom to hear

"It sure is." Mom replied back and went back to her cooking.

Viviane Song and I have been friends for literally our entire life. We grew up together. We fought with each other, we fought against others. We went to the same school. And now we go to the same college. We were literally family. She has always been there in all events of my life and I in hers.

Our family were close too. She stayed a few houses down the lane. So we used to stay in each others houses all the time. Her Dad runs a small restaurant in the next lane and her mom tailors for a living.

When they struggled when Vivi was in kindergarten and needed to work their day off, My parents used to take care of her. When my dad passed awaywhen I was in high school, they helped us to return back to normal.

So she wasn't my friend. She was my family. My sister.

We had our breakfast and said goodbye to Mom. It was my first day of college. But it was all the same. The same kids from my school opted to join the local college. It was a good college and offered many courses. So the kids around here opted to join the college. Some did go to other colleges and some kids from other cities would join the college. But the upper hand was with the local kids like Vivi and me,. We knew majority of people there. We wouldn't have the feeling of new place ,new life and new anxiety.

And I hate that to some extent. At least if i had opted other colleges and met new people I would have had a chance for a love life. What will I do with the same old people I have known my life?

I sighed.

"What happened ?" Vivi turned to me.

I cant stay away from Mom. Nor her. They are rare people I care about.

"Nothing. Lets Go." I said as I held arm and waited for the bus. It was 4 stops from here. 'Too long to walk, too short' to ride kind of distance.

I got into the bus . The bus was filled with college students. Half of them known faces. We walked to the back of the bus smiling at the people who knew us. We stood in front of the last seat and I looked out the window. So many students walking .

As the bus moved, Vivi nudged me and whispered, "Look right."

And that is when I saw him first.