Until When?

Prolouge

Title: Until When?

Genre: Teen-fiction, Romance

Description: Ingrid Rai Vernillo, a 17-year-old whose parents died in a car accident, has lived a life that is essentially in black and white. But what happens when she meets an artist? Will the artist bring color to her Monochrome world?

This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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Ingrid's POV

Everyone says that your teenage years are the best time of your life, all we had to worry about was our school attendance, projects, and grades on our report cards, we were also given allowances, which we could spend as much as we wanted. Many people say that we should make the most of our teenage years because it is the last stage before becoming adults. I only have a year before turning 18, but to be honest, I haven't made the most of my teen years.

I feel detached from the world, as if I'm only watching a movie, as if I'm not even a part of the world I'm currently living in. I want to go back in time, to when my eyes were still full of wonders.

I remember the feeling of being genuinely happy, but for some reason, I can't bring myself to enjoy things anymore.

"And our top scorer, with a perfect score....Ingrid Rai Vernillo!"

Everybody around me clapped and gave me stares, which made me very uncomfortable, but I gave them an awkward smile, without showing my teeth.

"Ang galing mo talaga, Ingrid!"

"Baka Top 1 namin yan!"

"Patutor naman!"

"Mas matalino ka pa kay Albert Einstein!"

This. I was used to this, being showered with compliments, but it never made me happy. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate them, I just don't feel happy, as if I forgot how to be happy.

Life was different before.

"Okay, tama na yan class, let's all tone down our voices, and prepare ourselves for our closing prayer."

Prayers, do they work? Some people say that they do, some people say they don't. I used to pray when I was young, my lola was very active in the church, I was influenced by her, but ever since the car accident, I stopped praying.

"Dear Lord, thank you for your guidance, may all of the topics and lessons discussed today remain in the minds of my dear students, please guide them as they return home, and also guide those who are lost and led astray from the right path. Amen."

"Amen!" All my classmates cheered.

Everyone rushed to the door as soon as the prayer ended. I took my time, gathering my things. I had been drawing before the prayer, so my sketchpad, pencils, and erasers were still on my desk. It was always like this—I was always the last to leave. But I didn't mind. I liked the silence when I was alone.

I was about to leave when I suddenly noticed a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. Surely it was mine, since I was the only one drawing during class—probably one of the sketches I had scrapped earlier. Regardless, I gently uncrumpled it and sighed when I saw my sister's name written on top of it. It was her assignment. I had no idea how it ended up here, especially since we weren't enrolled in the same school. Despite its crumpled state, I folded it neatly and clipped it onto my clipboard.