C3: Evangeline

"Best friend? I thought your best friend was Czarina. It seems like I don't know you much than I should. What else should I know? What am I missing?" Justin asked in monotone, his eyes fixed on the road.

"Don't exaggerate it. You know me well just fine. Anyways, you're not entirely wrong. Czarina was my best friend. We never had conflicts or any issues, but we just found ourselves less open to each other right after our school days. I'm not complaining, though." I answered while continuously reading the new posts from the group. "Here, let me read a post in this group, just to give you an idea."

Justin shrugged and nodded. "Spill."

"So, it's from a girl named Bethany Howard," I informed, as I run through the long post with my eyes.

///

Bethany Howard

"Hi everyone. I want to share my story because I really can't tell anyone about it. So my boyfriend, well, my ex – he broke up with me, confessing that he just woke up not feeling anything for me. But when I stalked him (I know that's bad, don't judge me), I found him with another girl. My heart was shattered into thousands of pieces and when he directly told me that he doesn't love me anymore, I felt nothing but useless. 😢"

///

"Ah, stuff like that. I see your point now," he commented. "Then?" as much as I'm sure that he's curious, I can definitely tell that such dramas aren't his thing which is understandable. I mean, not all guys are willing to hear dramas. More like, it'll depend on who the dramatic story was from. Justin is a good listener.

"I kinda felt the heaviness of the words 'shattered,' 'doesn't love me anymore,' and 'useless.' Those are exactly what I felt before. Some other girls here are expressing their sympathy about the loss which is the main purpose of this group. I'm at least glad that those hard days were over. I wouldn't experience the same thing from you, right?"

"I'll do my best not to make you cry," he said, which is every boyfriend's promise, and I'm really hoping that he won't break my heart as Syd did. I can't even stand the thought.

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Justin and I stood before the door of Room 7149-A and he held the doorknob to lead me inside. I walked in and saw my mother on the hospital bed, her eyes closed, surrounded by different tubes all around her upper body and face to support her breathing, and her forehead with a patch to cover up her head injury. My heart sinks whenever I see her like this, not even giving any body movement at all and it's been four weeks.

His eyes were full of pity, guilt, and regret as he fixed his eyes on my mom, his right balled into a fist, shaking. "I can't help but feel guilty and responsible whenever I see your mom like this," he commented. "Only if little Tommy didn't run recklessly in that park, none of this would've happened."

I placed my hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but I don't think it helped. Not in the slightest. "Your step-brother is too young to understand that he shouldn't have crossed the road without looking on both sides, so my mom chased after him and pushed him away." The flashback of the memory was retrieved as I said those words – that one Saturday where Justin's family and my family went out to the park for a picnic – we're in a gazebo, and everyone was busy talking to each other. Justin's sister was there, plus his step-brother, that kid named Tommy, since his father remarried after his mother died because of breast cancer. His stepmother is not even twice his age. "Tommy's just 8 years old."

"I know," he sighed. "But you get the idea why I feel guilty and responsible for this. I don't want to blame my stepmom for not handling her child properly, but part of me does, if I'll be really honest."

"Being upset and reminiscing won't change anything. We should just pray for her healing." I looked away to find the next words. "I know we just arrived here but I can't stand to stay any longer. It's too … painful. Maybe we should leave?"

"Yeah, we can. We should eat lunch somewhere."

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"So, how's your father? We haven't talked since he left," Justin said as we sit across each other on the table in our favorite restaurant. "What is he up to?"

"He's handling our restaurant in the Philippines. He couldn't leave it easily. One reason why I'm here in North Carolina. I couldn't leave because of mom, just to visit the business at least." I replied. My phone chimed – one notification from my group where someone wants to join. I viewed to see the group request, and it was Anna Sanders, joining the group. Wait … Anna?

"Hey Justin, our Anna's joining my group. I don't even know how she discovered this. Does this mean … Anna and Jacob are done or anything like that?"

Justin shook his head knowingly, obviously aware of the situation. "Yeah, they're done."

"Wait, what?! The last time I checked, everything was going fine with her and Jacob. What happened? Since when?" I wanted to grab Justin's collar and shake him. How can any of them hide this from me?

"Look, Jacob is my best friend, so I'm always updated about his life. He broke up with Anna because he's … he's just tired of her. They haven't talked for like two months because Jacob's excusing that he's busy, and Anna distracted herself with someone that'll make Jacob jealous. He knows it's not going anywhere, so he made up his mind to just break up with her. Then he asked her for a date, without Anna knowing that it'll be the last. He broke up with her in a restaurant and since Anna was so angry, she started a commotion. She stood up and swept the dishes off the edge of the table. She walked out, Jacob didn't follow. He paid for everything and since he's aware that he'll end up not being in a good mental state, he told me to come over to drop him home. I witnessed the entire thing, you see."

"So, you watched from afar then, as if it's a movie. Judging your story, it's mostly about Jacob's fault because he couldn't break up with her out of the blue. Am I getting things right?" I asked as I tapped my phone's screen to accept Anna's group request.

"They're both idiots. My best buddy won't get angry even if he hears me say all these. Him for being a coward who couldn't say everything directly so he waited for Anna to make something to make it look like it's her fault. Then Anna, because she used someone to make Jacob jealous. It's a shame, really. No wonder why they suit each other. Both are idiots." Justin sighed after ending the story in disappointment, lifting a glass of water into his lips as if to relieve the stress the story caused. "Lastly, when we were in the car while I was driving him to his place, he won't stop crying. I've never seen a guy cry that much."

"I accepted Anna's group request. I'll wait for her to share her story. She never changed, huh? She loves making scandalous stuff when angry, so it's not really wise to mess with her if you value your reputation."

Our topic was really bad to the point that I lost my appetite for eating. The waiter served our orders and Justin prayed for the food, as well as the healing of those two. However, it simply

ruined it. At least in my case. Who would've thought that break up stories make food less appetizing?

As Justin and I ate, I heard another notification from my phone, which happens to be Anna, who shared her story in my group. I wonder if, by this time, she's already aware that I'm the owner of the group.

///

Anna Sanders:

"First of all, to that admin who accepted my group request, thanks. Anyway, since I found this support group, I'll share my story as everyone else do. My boyfriend, or ex to be precise, kept on saying that he's busy. We lost time for each other. Because I was sad, I'll admit that I befriended a guy to distract me but really, we're just friends. Then my ex just invited me for a dinner, broke up with me and I swept everything off the table, walked out. I know that I've been a jerk myself, but it happened to be my unconscious reaction. I honestly feel bad. I was too mean."

///

"She said the actual story. She sounds regretful, but I still sense pride." I sound like I'm being judgmental, but knowing her, I know that I'm right here.

"Then what did other people comment?" Justin asked.

"Someone said, 'Congratulations for your independence day,' then the other, 'Girl, in all sides of the story, it's obvious that most part of this is your fault,' then the last one says, 'Can I know more details? Pm.' And so, yeah, that's it." I put my phone back into my bag and sliced my lasagna with my knife and fork. "How about Jake? How is he right now?"

"He looks fine. He distracted himself with his studies. He's taking his Master's degree in Chemical Engineering."

"In that case, just be willing to listen whenever he gets upset. Breakups are … traumatic, especially if it didn't end well."

Justin coughed and cleared his throat after hearing my words. Hmm, maybe I should just ignore that. There's no need to put meaning on everything.