Jiaqi sat in the classroom on Monday morning, scribbling some random drawings in his notebook. He wasn't focused on what he was drawing, he was more focused on the issues in his mind.
He looked up when he heard footsteps coming closer to his desk, and was surprised when he saw his old friend Yaowen.
'You're here to argue or something?' Jiaqi asked him after he didn't say a word.
'No, no.' Yaowen quickly answered. 'I'm here to say...I'm sorry.'
Jiaqi blinked at him and didn't say anything. He was waiting for an explanation, because he wasn't sure what Yaowen was exactly apologizing for.
'I'm sorry for how I treated you over what happened. Janine told me the truth.' Yaowen continued.
'Oh.' Jiaqi nodded. 'I guess it's not completely your fault, it was easier for you to believe your cousin than to believe me.' he concluded.
'I should have known you wouldn't go that far.'
'Did she say anything about Ava?' Jiaqi asked in realization, not wanting to have Ava's reputation tarnished with the probable exposure of the actual story.
'What? No. What's Ava got to do with this?'
'Nothing. Its okay.' he sighed in relief.
'You're welcome to join the table if you want to. Everyone will be receptive.' Yaowen shrugged.
'I'll think about it.' Jiaqi answered, although he had a feeling he wasn't going to join them again. Even though he felt he had forgiven them, especially Yaowen, they were probably different now. He actually preferred sitting alone than sitting with his old friends.
'Alright. I'm sorry once again.' Yaowen patted his shoulder before returning to his seat.
Jiaqi grabbed his cellphone and wrote a message to Janine before the classes started: you're not as bad as I thought you were, thanks J
'Jiaqi,' one student rose up. 'We're really sorry for what happened. We're sorry that we didn't believe you. I'm saying this on behalf of the entire class.'
He looked up from his cellphone and looked at the speaker, it was one of the students who was the most bitter about Jiaqi not getting expelled from school.
'It's okay.' Jiaqi assured them. 'A lot of good came out of this anyway.'
His former friends looked at him in shock and embarrassment. The old Jiaqi would have probably been prancing around and telling everyone he told them so, but this one wasn't like that.
...
That afternoon after classes, Jiaqi nervously stood in the hallway. He repeatedly rehearsed what he was going to say, but whatever he said didn't seem good enough.
'Okay the right words will come.' he said to himself and took a deep breath.
Ava walked over to him a while later, gripping the straps of her backpack. 'Hey. I'm here.' he had written her a message that he wanted to see her.
'Hey,' Jiaqi face palmed immediately, already showing how emotional he was. 'Um...I needed to talk about...anyway you know how I soon have to write my final exams right?'
Ava nodded. 'Yeah you have like two months...'
'Right. I really need to prepare because I want to get into Wuying University.' he told her. 'So I won't really have time to hang out.'
'Oh, I understand. I'm rooting for you so go ahead and kill those preparations! Then when you're done we can hang out again.'
'I don't know if that will be possible.' he mumbled.
'What?'
'I'm gonna be in college, you'll be in 11th grade. Wuying is far from here, we can't really ever be friends again.' he sounded much harsher than he had intended, but those were the only words he could find at that time.
'Oh...that...' she thought over it. 'We can always talk over the phone...'
'I won't have time to talk over the phone, I'll be busy.' he couldn't tell her the truth, he couldn't tell her that his mother warned him that this would end in a disaster. She would probably think he had no actual reason to end their friendship like this, Ava wasn't one to really use other people's experience to apply on her life.
'Oh. You're ending our friendship?'
'I'm not ending it but circumstances will end it.' he concluded. 'I really enjoyed spending my time with you Ava, and you're a really great person. But I think it will be a great idea if we just accept what's going to happen once I start getting busy with my studies.'
'I see.' her voice didn't sound disappointed at all. In fact, it sounded like she was still happy. It sounded like she knew something Jiaqi didn't.
Jiaqi looked at her with slight surprise. 'Well...okay? I really need to hurry home, I think my tutor has already arrived.' he started to leave then turned around. 'Don't text me, I'll be busy with studies.'
He rushed out of the school building and got on his bike. He felt like crying, but he knew he would be fine. Time would always make everything fine.
...
Over the next months, Jiaqi had spent most of his time focusing on studies. He was usually deep in a book when he was at school and was with his tutor when he was home. He studied late into the night most times too, and it was a good distraction for him.
Even though he was tempted to text Ava several times, he always reminded himself of his mother's words. He checked her social media account several times; but Ava was Ava - she hardly posted anything to the point that Jiaqi lost interest in checking her account.
He was determined to get into Wuying University, not only because he wanted to study Psychology and Counseling, but also because of his parents. A part of him, for the first time, wanted to prove to them that he was as good as his older brother who had both gotten into prestigious universities and got covetable degrees.
Time seem to have moved quickly when the examination period had finally started. It was stressful for him, even though he knew that he had worked hard enough. He always wondered if he could remember everything he studied and get good final grades.
...
Jiaqi raced down the stairs excitedly with his laptop in his hand. 'Mom! I got into Wuying University!'
She got up from her seat with excitement. 'You're kidding me.'
'No!' he ran over and showed her the screen. 'Look! And they said the fact that I had experience with the guidance and counselling club really made me such an admirable applicant!'
'I'm so proud of you my baby.' She hugged him. 'I'm going to tell your father later on today, he is going to be so excited. He said he'll get you a car. He might even travel all the way from his house to come here.'
Jiaqi smiled to himself, even though he doubted if that would happen. Even though Mr. and Mrs. Ma were now separated and were now going through the divorce process, the two of them would unite whenever it came to Jiaqi. There wasn't much change in his life, except the fact that he now only lived with his mother and his father had moved far away to another province.
But Jiaqi preferred this rather than the constant bickering from his parents whenever they were together.
'I need to tell your siblings and my friends right now,' his mother said and let go of the hug, then grabbed her cellphone from her pocket.
Jiaqi's cellphone rang, and it was Chengxin. He excused himself from his mother then answered it. 'Hello?'
'Hey, did you get into college?'
'I did.' Jiaqi replied. 'What about you?'
'Yeah not my first option but it will do.' he answered bitterly. 'Which college did you get into?'
'Wuying...'
'Shut up!' Chengxin immediately answered in disbelief. 'You actually got into Wuying!? What!?'
'I know! I'm really excited too!' he answered.
'Dude I can't believe this, congratulations. Wait, let me tell everyone that my best friend got into Wuying!'
'Hey...' Jiaqi started, but Chengxin had already hang up the phone.
Soon enough, Jiaqi's phone was blowing up with messages of congratulations. He even received a personal message from the principal.
One message in particular caught his attention, it was a message from Ava. After all those months, she still cared about him. It was a "congratulations" with numerous excited emoticons.
Jiaqi smiled to himself and almost replied. But he remembered that he did not have to encourage their friendship, neither did he have to make her feel like they would ever be more than friends. Instead of replying, he left her on seen and proceeded to answer his other congratulatory messages.
It pained him to ignore her, but it seemed to be the best option.