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Forty-nine

This was the moment that I'd been praying for. The moment when everything would be all right. It was like a slow motion when I turned around and confirmed what Sage had said.

If this was a dream, darn, wake me up. I rather live in misery than wake up dreaming, I thought, fighting back the cheeky grin which was painting my face.

There was no barrier between us except for the glass walls. I immediately ran my way through friends. They were all smiling glowingly at me. They radiated happiness. I scanned my set of friends and found out that Bekah wasn't here. With tears in my eyes, Line pulled me unto a big hug. We both sobbed at each other's shoulders.

"Amilyte, I'm so sorry for being rude. I'm sorry. I so love you forever! There was never a day when I didn't think of you. I missed you so darn much!"  She managed to utter in between her sobs.

Line was the baby in our group. We always considered her feelings. We backed her up every time. She was the cheery one, and it pained me to see her eyes shoot daggers at me. It was the most painful part. Si Line ang pinaka ayokong nasasaktan yet I, myself, hurt her.

Having them this close, the feeling was overwhelmingly great. It was not too long until we were all hugging each other: Richard, Alder, Sage, Carl, and Line.

"I missed you, little brat," Richard joked, messing my hair. I laughed with them. It was drizzling and we didn't care. We stayed outside until it rained. Our clothes were soaking wet, but we didn't care. We laughed, we danced, we hugged until we shivered. People were looking at us. But damn, this was our moment.

Dripping wet, we rode our cars and drove to the nearest house which was Alder's penthouse. I never been here because I never knew this existed. It was very masculine. Pagpasok mo palang, you will be greeted by dark colors, even his u-shaped sofa was black. Everything's shining. Alder and being a 'cleanliness is next to godliness' freak.

Line was clinging in my arm, happy. I missed her so much. I leaned my head on hers as we followed Alder to a room.

We entered a very green room with a little bit touches of white. This room looked forestry.

"Don't ask why. This is my sis' room." He turned to Line and me. Alder has two sisters older than him. I think the older one had already tied the knot. "You, guys, are going to be in my room. You know where it is." Tumango naman yung tatlo at lumabas.

"If you need anything, call me." He started showing us the cabinet where a bunch of white tees with tags and a couple of cotton shorts were present. We thanked him and nung lumabas siya, Line asked me if she could take a shower first. Of course, I said yes. After fixing ourselves hindi muna kami lumabas. We sat indian-sit on the bed.

"Where's Bekah?" I shyly asked, peeking from underneath my lashes.

"She's...she is out of town. As soon as Gia called us, we tried talking to Bekah, too. But you know Rebekah, she has a heart of steel. She'll come around, Lyte. She always does." Then she told me that Bekah saved from drowning back when we met on Sage's house. The time when I got wasted because of the cruelty of the world.

"I know. I miss her. Ang dami kong kasalanan sa inyo. I'm so so sorry. Hindi man lang ako ang mismong nagsabi kung bakit ako umalis. I'm so weak, Line. I'm stupid. I'm a fool." I covered my face with my hands and sobbed hard. I just couldn't indulge on being happy. Nagkalamat ang relasyon namin sa isa't isa kaya alam kong mahirap ibalik ang dati.

"She cares for you, Lyte. Nasaktan din siya, nasaktan siya gaya nating lahat. We didn't expect our friendship to be in ruins. It's not your fault, Amilyte. It was never anyone's fault. Hindi naman nating pwedeng sisihin si Ericka kasi in the first place, we did something that triggered her hatred for us." I understood what she was trying to say. Last time I heard, Ericka was held in a rehabilitation center. Ericka already said her regret and I accepted it. I didn't want to live with my heart full of hatred.