Write Me A Letter

58 | opportunity

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT | O P P O R T U N I TY

        THE SCHOOL WAS BUZZING WITH LIFE. Students were milling about, loitering the corridors as they shared their plans for college or the exciting summer that was coming near. Everyone seemed so alive with the idea of leaving this place. Brie heard that Izzy's group would travel to Florida. Some would attend wild parties at the beach right after graduation. People were looking forward to it, despite how taxing the past few weeks had been; preparing for everything that would come this Friday. For Brie, she had mixed feelings about leaving the school altogether.

She had always struggled with letting go, and for a long time, this high school—no matter how horrible some experiences were—had always been her constant. Yet, two days from now they would all be tossing their caps to the air and leaving this place, all onto different paths. She had no specific plans or a guide on which path to take, she was just floating around, hoping to find the answers with each day. And she was never good at that, despite being ironically impulsive sometimes.

Paula and Troy seemed to be sharing the same excitement with everyone else. The two were planning a small get-together with Jean and some other friends right after graduation. The only one who seemed to be as apprehensive as Brie was Paula's boyfriend, Noel Garcia, who just started hanging out with them about two months ago.

Noel was fiddling with the collar of his shirt, hazel eyes cautious behind his framed lenses that he kept pushing up his nose. He was an inch taller than Paula, with curly brown hair and long lashes, but he was hiding behind his girlfriend who took pride in being the center of attention.

Brie smiled softly at him. "Are you alright, Noel? You look like you're gonna faint."

Paula's head whipped around to her boyfriend, her eyes filling with concern. "Babe, hey, do you want to hang with your friends in the field? It's alright with me."

"No," Noel said. He lifted his head with much more confidence and released his collar from his tight grip. "I'm not used to the crowd because I always leave before people come, but I should get used to it." He then turned to give Paula a warm smile which she returned. "You've always tried to understand me when I can't hang out with your friends and more often than not, you'd settle with hanging out with my group at the field. It's high time I do my part."

With a beam, Paula squealed and tackled him to a hug, leaving kisses on his face with each I love you she spoke. Brie shook her head, laughing when Noel blushed as red as a tomato.

It was nice to see them together like this. Noel had always been apprehensive about staying with their group. Paula loved hanging out in the cafeteria or at the mall and Noel on the other hand preferred solitude along with his friends. Brie couldn't believe that she had shared the same school with these people, but they managed to be as secluded as they could.

"God," Troy groaned, standing next to her. He bumped her with his shoulder and she sent him a glare. "We're so single, Brie. It hurts as much when Jack drowned and Rose lived. My heart, my soul."

"What's with you and your metaphors and similes?"

Troy looked mildly offended. "Excuse me, it takes smarts to come up with one quickly, you know?"

"Well, I hope that your quick wits will get you a hot girlfriend in the summer or college," she said. "Are you excited about it?"