About Time

Chapter 1

Start of July 2014

It has been a month since I graduated. 

It has also been a month I am away from home.

Another month adjusting to a new city; memorizing transportation routes, checking out the nearest convenient stores, and forgetting painful memories. As a fresh graduate, I decided to study for the board exam. I enrolled in a review center here in the city and also decided to stay in its dormitory.

It is an overnight trip by ship away from my hometown. I had mixed feelings going away from home. I graduated in May, 2 months later than my batchmates. I was happy because I get to see my batchmates again. 

I was also excited to be away from home because it was a fresh start. I'm gonna be staying here for 4 months, the longest I'm gonna be away from home. Unfortunately, its not all fun and games. In 4 months, its gonna be study, study, study.

Also, I couldn't help but think of Marge and the things that happened months prior. Still, I wanted to make the most out of the experience being away, to take my mind off of things.

Unfortunately, not everything goes according to plan.

A month has passed and I haven't gotten any serious studying done. The adjustment period took longer than I expected and I was all alone in my dormitory. My batchmates stayed in another dormitory just down the block. I only talk to them when I go to the nearby cafeteria to eat.

I had no one to talk to in the dormitory except my notebooks and my review handbooks. I barely use my phone, I rarely text message people since March and nobody messages me too, though my mom does call me from time to time, other than, my phone is usually silent.

*beep*

Suprisingly, though, it suddenly beeped, so I grabbed my phone to check who it was.

"Marge..."

I checked the clock and put down the phone.

I opted not to reply.

It was late in the afternoon, so I decided to have a quick nap before I went back to studying.

My mind drifted further and further to dreamland.

December 2013

I was on the brink of losing my mind.

I didn't know what to do anymore.

I didn't know how to fix our thesis.

I didn't know if I was to pass my subjects due to my tardiness.

I began smoking again due to stress on school work.

I was lost, confused. I was drained physically and mentally. I sought a way out but couldn't find it. I couldn't tell anybody about my problems not even my family. It was something I had to solve myself. We had an upcoming fieldtrip and we were gonna be away for 5 days. At that time, it was a temporary way out. It was exactly what I needed. It was something to keep my mind off of stress.

Marge's birthday was also coming up. It's a day after I come back from the fieldtrip.

"Should I give her a present? Should I not?"

Amongst other things, it was the one I was thinking about. I was torn between being friendly to her and staying away. 

I was compromising.

I shook my head and focused on the trip ahead, I'll make the final decision on the last day of the trip.

At the night of the trip, it was raining, so I assumed that it was gonna be a stormy night. Fortunately, it wasn't that big of a storm, so the ship was still a go. But it didn't stop the waves from crashing into the ship and making the whole night into seesaw. It made me sick, and I didn't get enough sleep, but we arrived safely, thank goodness.