Chapter 8 - Best of Friends

Last week on college, graduation’s approaching.

All fourth year students are at school tonight, none of the staffs or faculty knew about this. This is a school tradition where graduating students from all departments will sneak in to the school and do all they want to do in the whole campus. Most of us are done vandalizing the locker rooms with water base paints, throwing tissue papers all over the hall, putting rat traps all over classrooms, putting liquid hand soaps on each door know, and some engineering students set up a trap that once someone has opened the gym, it will trigger a trap that will set all the cups filled with water based paints, oils, ketchup, mustard, fish sauce, mud, etc.

I saw some Accountancy Students running down the hall towards the guard house. I heard one of them saying “Time to have some revenge!” I want to join them. I want to have some revenge with the guards too. We don’t have agenda against guards. It’s just that our guards here at school just happen to act like super visors most of the time.

I entered men’s bathroom and saw Jan, Jerome, Ernesto and Jayson filling all urinals and toilet bowls with mud, vandalizing the walls, throwing rotten fruits everywhere. The bathroom smelled like there are rotting cadavers inside.

“Want to help us here?” Jan asked when he saw me.

“No,” I said. “If I stay five minutes inside this bathroom I will definitely smell like this.”

I went to the fourth floor and saw Amanda sticking different colors of paper. I pick some papers and helped her with what she was doing. She smiled at me, a simple smile that melted my heart even if it’s just a friendly smile.

“So how’s it going?” she asked me.

“Huh?” was all I had to say in confusion.

“I mean with the stuff you have to do tonight to vandalize the school,” she said.

I just smile. There was something odd with the smell here, the air smells like beer or some kind of liquor. “I was about to ignore it when I saw three cans of beer on the floor. “Did you drink those beer Amanda?”

“Yes,” she answered without even hesitating. “Don’t worry, I’m not drunk.”

“Not drunk after drinking three cans of beer? You’re drunk. Come on, I’ll bring you home,” I said.

Amanda just laughed. “Relax Ben! I’m okay.”

I never saw Amanda got drunk and I know something is wrong. “Why did you drink all those beer then?”

She didn’t answer.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Still, she didn’t answer.

“Okay, if you don’t want to talk about it now then maybe we can talk about it some other time.”

“It’s too hard for me, Ben,” Amanda finally said. “Especially that the graduation is only days away.”

“I know, everyone feels the same way, everyone has to live school to work. Going to school every day has been a part of their everyday life since they could remember,” I said.

“I’m not talking about graduating Ben. In fact, I’m excited,” she said.

“Then what is it?” I asked.

“It’s because I haven’t told someone how much I love him,” she said. “Even if I know how much he loves me.”

“Jeremy knows how you love him.”

“I’m not talking about Jeremy, Ben,” Amanda said furiously. “I’m talking about you!”

After hearing what she had said, I dropped the glue and the papers I was holding. There was nothing I could hear. I just stared at her with shock on my face. She just stared back at me, tears are about to fall from her eyes.

“I don’t know if it’s okay to tell you that now that I have a boyfriend, especially that he’s your best friend,” she said. “But I never wanted any of this to happen, and since I’ve told you what I feel towards you, I might as well tell you everything.

“Since the first day I saw you, when you are trying to park your bike beside mine, since we walked and talked together towards our first class that morning, I can’t keep you off my head. I can’t stop thinking about you, Ben. Maybe that’s the reason why you’re the first person that popped into my head to call when Peter and I broke up. I was so devastated that night that I want to talk to the person I feels most comfortable with.”

I just stared at her; I don’t know what to say. I never expected for her to say these things. I don’t even know if there’s something to say.

“And if I have some regrets,” she said, tears flowing down her cheeks. “If I have some regrets it’s not telling you then straightly that…”

For a moment, I thought she’s about to walk away, but she didn’t. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. She closed her eyes and so did I and for once we felt like the world doesn’t exist, like nothing matters as long as we’re together. An eternity has passed and she let my lips go at last.

“I love you,” she whispered. She let go of me and picked up her things and walked slowly, she’s walking away from me.

“Amanda,” I called her name, but then I realized it’s not my mouth who called her, it was my heart that shouted her name so loud at it felt like the world heard it, and so she looked at me one last time. She heard me. She heard how my heart called her, she must have felt it.

*     *     *

Explosions of camera flashes are seen inside the gym as the graduating students (including me) are being called one by one to receive their diplomas on stage. Everyone who received a medal was busy taking pictures with them wearing their medals. The first fifty medals we’re purely academic awards, but then the next fifty is just for fun. Cloe, who always sleep on class since we’re first year, was given the medal for Most Sleepy Head award, Jayson got the Latest Boy award, AJ got the Best Prayer Leader award, Jerome got the Priest Choice award (given to those people whom the priest of the university said to have the characteristics to become one of them).

“Belleza, Kyle Benedict,” the dean called my name and I stood up and went to the stage and take my diploma.  It was my father who went to the stage with me to receive my diploma and while my sister and Mum took a picture, Dad whispered “Do you want me to get you an application form for military training?”

“No Dad,” I said coolly.

I went back to my chair and sit next to my classmates I saw Amanda going up to the stage with her uncle to receive her diploma. I smiled at her and she saw me and she smiled back.

After the ceremony, all of us gathered on the stage and took pictures of our whole class. When we realized that we’ve done all pose we know, we all started to hug and said our goodbyes. We’re all happy of course that we are all done with studying and a bit excited to work and earn our own money.

Amanda came to me, running, and she hugged me tight. “You’re my very best friend. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too!” I said and hugged her back. I let her go before I got the slightest idea of not doing so. She obviously doesn’t remember what happened last night, but me being in a medical field knew that she remembers what she said and done.

Jeremy came and he hugged Amanda. Of course I’ve seen him doing that to her a hundred times but I still feel jealous, but I’ve learned how to deal with facts. He tapped my shoulders and said, “See you later!” and they both left.

I just look at Amanda. I wish I told her I love her too, and I am happy that she told me so. I stared at her as she walked away and thinking what would have happened if I told her how I feel.