Prologue

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Stretching my back out, I raised my arms skywards while holding my diploma and mortarboard. The hues of the afternoon sun touching my face, its warmth evident and comforting.

A sigh of relief escaped my lips, relinquishing the feeling of finally finishing high school after studying for how many years.

"Reyna! Come on, we're having the class picture!" Liam, who was standing at a distance, waved his wrinkled diploma at me.

'𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺? 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥?'

"Liam! Your diploma's all crinkled up! Handle it with care, will you? You're lucky you even graduated!" I stomped my way to where Liam and the rest of my classmates were and smacked him with my mortarboard, wishing to somewhat drill some sense into it.

"Ow! That hurts! My diploma's doing fine, thank you very much! Now stop smacking me with your graduation cap and let's take a picture!"

"Sir Rodrigo, take a candid!" Liam yelled loudly at the photographer, earning a soft smile from the man.

Upon saying those words, Liam grabbed my arm and yanked me to the group, tackling me with a hug from behind just in time for the photographer to click the camera.

"Let go of me, you oaf!" I smacked him once again with my cap, earning a yelp from him while clutching the area where I hit him. I smirked at that.

"That wasn't necessary at all! Miss Valedictorian!"

"Oh shut up, and let's just take the pictures and get this over with!"

Our friends were laughing, probably never have gotten used to me and Liam's bickering.

The photographer took a couple of candid shots of us, laughing until we finally calmed down. Several pictures were taken. Some were decent, and most were Liam coded, teaching the class with ridiculous poses, which, of course, I gladly never mimicked.

Eventually, the batch dissolved and drifted away. A few stayed and still took photos within their own circle of friends, and the rest went on in their own separate ways. I was left with Liam, or at the very least, what was still left of him.

"Reyna here." He said, while handing me a piece of paper that was folded in my direction.

"What's this for?" I said, while taking the piece of paper from him.

Folding it out, I found a number I didn't recognize written on it. I raised my attention to him, eyebrow lifted. A questioning look was likely displayed on my face.

A huge grin instantly morphed on his face upon seeing my confused reaction. "It's my number, stupid. I bought a new phone, see?"

Displaying his phone that he was using just earlier at me, he waved it in my face and chuckled at my sour expression.

"It's brand new and also the latest version. I bet you're jealous! You're jealous, aren't you! Haha! Reyna's jealous!" He continued ranting and dance like a damn loofa and kept teasing me and poking me with his phone. I eventually got irritated as usual and smacked him once again, causing him to grab his head in pain.

"If I lose all my brain cells before college, I swear it's gonna be your fault."

I just rolled my eyes at the sight. Removing my phone case, I placed the piece of paper inside, since I have nowhere to put it at the moment.

Fixing my stance to a much rather comfortable position. Wearing heels for a whole day is not definitely not fun nor comfortable. My knees felt like jelly and my feet feels like it's being poked by multiple needles. I sighed and scanned the crowd for my parents to ask if we could finally go home now.

I caught their figures talking to a bunch of parents and teachers. They were saying 'thankyous' and 'not reallys' from the compliments they were receiving because of my achievements.

I strode to their direction, placing a hand on my Mom's shoulder, indicating her of my presence. She turned around and suddenly a bright smile appeared on her face upon seeing me.

"Oh, here she is! Reyna! I'm so proud of you!" She hugged me and gave me a light squeeze as the others gave us a bunch of chuckles and approving gestures.

Suddenly, all eyes were on me. Every one of them congratulated me and were now praising me. I tried my best to not give them a sour face as they suggested mass amount of career paths I should take, saying that it would fit me perfectly. I just nodded and smiled at every word they said, never actually acknowledging any of their suggestions.

As my Mom sensed my discomfort, whether from tiredness or from submerging my rising irritation, which for me is apparently both, she finally excused us and we left in our separate ways.

"Auntie Mary!" Liam shouted across the lawn, waving at us as he jogged his way up to us, all the while he was holding stacks of paper works.

"What are those for?" I asked him, confused.

"Oh! These? They're my Mom's. Paper works from her kindergarten class. She asked me to hold it for a second because she forgot something inside. We're leaving when she gets back— Hi Mister Alejandro!" He smiled obnoxiously at my father, who was still stoic as ever and just acknowledged Liam with a nod.

My Dad faced my Mom and told her he was getting the car ready and turned at his heels, leading himself to the parking lot.

"He's pretty cold, isn't he?"

"Shut your trap if you don't want to be smacked in the head again." I heard my mom chuckle beside me.

"Yes, he is. He's just like that in nature. Oh! By the way dear, congratulations!" My mother smiled warmly at Liam as she offered him a hug, which he gladly took.

"What are you taking, dear? Have you decided which university you're attending?" My mother asked as she release Liam from the hug.

"I haven't decided yet, Auntie." Liam smiled shyly at my mom as he readjusted the papers he was holding in his arms.

"Just admit you don't have a dream." I said nonchalantly, entering the conversation.

"Hey! I have you know! I wanna become rich someday!" He said proudly with pride having his hands on his waist, which I gladly ruined by kicking his left shin. That almost caused him to stumble and fall. Balancing the papers on his right arm, he grabbed the leg I just kicked.

"Ow! Stop harassing me!" He complained, rubbing circular motions on the pained area.

"Then stop being an idiot."

"I'm not an idiot! I'll just follow you to your dream school!"

"Oh dream on, you'll never gonna make it."

"Don't underestimate me. You'll see, I'll review with you!"

"Please no. You're just going to distract me. Don't drag me along to your downfall."

"Hey! You're the one who said I have no plans, now I have one!"

Once again, we continued bickering at each other as my mother chuckled in the background at our prominent bickering. Ultimately, we stopped retorting and yelling at each other like a bunch of toddlers before my dad came back. We both parted ways as Liam's mom, Aunt Caroline came and Dad arriving at the sidewalk of the school waiting for us. We agreed to see each other again tomorrow to help him to at least find out what he wants to pursue in his life.

And at that, my graduation officially ended.

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