Final Story: Goodbye, 'A' High School

Chapter 7

30 May 2022

"What's that, Hạnh?" Hồng comes up to my desk and asks. "Is that a letter?"

"Yeah, from Tâm," I put it on the desk for her to read along. "I got this last night, apparently."

"Why doesn't she just e-mail us instead? It's faster and free of charge."

"She may be a tech whiz, but she's actually really old-fashioned. Have you seen her pocket watch before? She used to carry it to school every day!"

Hồng giggles upon hearing that, politely covering her lips with her fingers.

Still, a letter... We've been exchanging emails on a nearly weekly basis, but this is the first time she's sent us a letter. When I saw it in my mailbox and my best friend's name was on the envelope, I couldn't contain my surprise and excitement at the same time.

Seeing that Hồng's name is also on the envelope (yet the recipient's address is my house), I figured I'd wait until the next morning when I will read the letter together with her. Now that she's here, let's see what our dear scholar has been up to these days.

In the letter, Tâm writes that she has been doing quite well in Japan, having quickly adapted to life there. She felt that Tokyo was her second home. Tâm has also made new friends and seemed to have recovered from the... incident.

After her departure, we learned what really happened to her family. We were at a loss as to what to do to help Tâm or her family, so we could only offer our condolences and try to visit her mother every now and then. Auntie didn't look good at all, to be honest. We were extremely worried about her health, seeing how she misses her children and her husband. Tâm's father is now back in South Sudan for his UN duties.

"We should send her a reply," Hồng says.

"But not via mail," I point out. "I intend to take pictures of our schoolmates, our teachers and the school itself. The envelope would weigh a lot, costing us an arm and a leg."

"Hmm, good idea. What should we write in return?"

While thinking of a good response to my best friend's letter, the bell of the first-period rings, prompting us to quickly return to our seats. Well, there are really no lessons left, but the first period is homeroom anyway.

Tomorrow is graduation, so our homeroom teacher told us about registration and administrative procedures for the examination. There are a lot of things to absorb since this is the first time we have to do the paperwork by ourselves.

Everyone received their results of the final examinations at 'A' High School. Hồng and I did much better than expected. As a result, our GPAs have been significantly pushed up by a great margin. Now I have a good feeling about passing the entrance exam.

School ended right after lunchtime because there are no afternoon classes. While our schoolmates excitedly chit-chat and hang out with their friends after school, the two of us decide to stroll around the school grounds for one final time to document our thoughts for our dear friend Tâm. Tomorrow, we will be too busy taking pictures of people to even take a photo of the school building itself.

Then, the next day finally arrived.

During our final homeroom period, there was a heavy, indescribable atmosphere that permeated the entire classroom. No one wanted to utter a single word, as we were about to cry when we realise that we might never see each other again. Us teenagers have to deal with tumultuous high school years, navigating through messy, fuzzy, barely defined emotions that effectively make us stupid in one way or another. And that's what it makes my days at 'A' High School so memorable. Have I become a decent adult? Have I learned anything from my school days?