Congratulations and Goodbye

"What will I have to do before you believe me?"

Ethel stood underneath the glare of the sun before the man she would've been willing to spend the rest of her life with.

"Why should I?"

Silence.

He waited for a response but what should she say? Even if she tried to explain herself, it would only come out as making excuses. After a while, he shook his head and turned to leave.

Ethel quivered. In anger? Shame? Frustration? She didn't know. But what she did know is that she kept standing there as she watched him leave until the shadow of his figure couldn't be seen.

In dramas, this would've been the weather's cue for the sky to darken and the rain to pour. But the sun didn't show signs of receding at all as it continuously glared down, mocking her. It couldn't possible feel what she felt.

And more importantly, this isn't a drama.

There is no screaming, crying, and no background music to reflect her emotions. There should've been though. At least then her heart wouldn't feel so heavy. Eventually, her legs gave way as she slumped to the ground with a soft thump.

The morning dew from last night made her clothes wet but she couldn't care less.

"Seven years of my youth wasted on you, huh?" she bitterly smiled.

For a while, she stayed there. Not moving an inch as she stared at the scenery below. Up on the beautiful mountain where they first met, Ethel's heart turned cold.

She hadn't told anyone about that matter until the summer before going to college.

"Why are you only telling me this now?"

"For one, you asked."

"Bro, he acted like you didn't exist for what, the rest of the year and avoided you like you were the black plague!"

"So what should I do? Confront him and then what? Tell him that I really loved him ever since we were ten? How I studied so hard just so we can stand on the same stage and look in my direction? How hurt I felt when I confessed to him during 8th grade but he left just like that? How happy I felt when he said he felt the same during 10th grade only for him to reject me before the summer because he didn't feel right being with me? How devastated I felt when he left me hanging in the air the several times I tried to talk to him during 11th and 12th grade? What will that do? I don't need his pity."

Kate blinked. She looked behind the almost teary-eyed Ethel and frowned. "Speak of the devil."

Ethel sniffed and wiped her eyes. She turned around and saw Carlos holding a rose and his diploma, looking as scholarly as ever.

"What are you doing here? Did you hear everything?" she glared at him, something that she hadn't dared to do since their childhood.

He nodded as Ethel mockingly smiled. "What, are you taking pity on me now that you've heard my side of the story?"

"I-I didn't know-"

"Of course you didn't know!" Ethel cut him off as he rolled his eyes. "When I tried to explain myself, did you let me? And even if I did, would you have believed me?"

Carlos turned red from embarrassment. There isn't anything he hated more than being wrong. And now hearing her words felt like a slap to the face.

He did remember that she tried to reach out to explain to him, but he dodged all of them and turned his nose high up as if he's the one with the moral high ground. He decided to let all of this go on account of their long-standing friendship.

She did make mistakes, but it isn't as if she had done something horrible.

Every time she tried to say sorry, he always made it seem as if it's her fault. When he allegedly gave her his notes during 10th grade in their class group chat, nobody paid any attention to it so he assumed that Ethel also didn't care.

He became angry and decided to ignore her for a week. If he had known that the reason she hadn't manage to see it is because she was sick, how would his face look?

"Carlos." Ethel stood up and walked towards him. "I should congratulate you for graduating as the top student of our batch. Congratulations!"

She ripped off a yellow carnation from her lei and tucked it in the pocket of his shirt. "I wish you well."

And then she left.

This time, Carlos stood there for a long time. For how long, Ethel didn't care. She had already made up her mind to focus on her studies. It isn't clear what exactly happened that made her decide to let go, but she didn't want to keep thinking about it.

A week before class started, Ethel moved into her aunt's home situated near the university she had chosen. She had moved from suburban to urban, a decision that didn't please the family all that well.

She had gone against their wishes and went to a university 4 hours away from their home. Good thing that her aunt from her mother's side had been kind enough to let her rent their small condo unit to her at a discounted price.

She texted her parents to tell them she had arrived and began to unpack her luggage.

For the next 4 years she would live here. Alone. Without anyone bothering her every 5 minutes and without anyone to share a space with.

"I need to work harder," she murmured to herself.

She didn't manage to get a scholarship and the tuition is expensive. She couldn't afford to waste her money on useless things and can only tighten her belt whenever she'd run out of money.

On her first day, she met Wally and Sean. They had a mutual class together and sat beside each other during the orientation.

"Pretty girl, what's your major?"

"Linguistics. How about you?"

"International Relations. Sean majors in Psychology."

"Why do we have mutual class then?"

"I'm assuming you're also an irregular student?"

Ethel nodded.

"Our schedule had us take a class with different majors. It's only a minor subject, so it's not a big deal."

Irregular students didn't stick to one block and had a lot of free time, the only downside is the weird schedule. While some had already finished their classes for the day, the irregular students would begin their class.