kundiman.

chapter 15.

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*June, Graduation Day*

The whole group: Jason, Clara, Jamie, Kyle, Mariella, Tommy, Ed, and Mike, have just graduated. They are all gathered at Jason's huge house, celebrating their accomplishments.

"Hey hey! You're cheating!" Clara says as Jason blocks her vision. They're playing Mario Kart on his switch.

Jason laughs. Mike ends up winning the race. He kept quiet throughout the whole race, everyone forgetting he was even playing. The screen suddenly shows that he's won.

"WHAT?!" Ed yells. "HOW DID YOU ALREADY WIN?!"

Mike giggles. He looks at Jamie and smiles. She smiles back.

"Yaknow, I'm glad we're all staying near each other. Kyle and Jason going to Penn State. Clara, Jamie, and Mariella going to NYU. Me, Ed, Mike.... uh..... going.... uh.. well... staying here," Tommy announces.

Everyone laughs, except Clara who gives a half-hearted chuckle.

Mike, who is still smiling shyly at Jamie, suddenly stands up, walks towards Jamie, and speaks.

"Hey guys, I have an announcement to make," he says.

"WHAT?!" Ed yells again. "YOU CAN TALK?!"

They all laugh again.

"Guys seriously, I have something to tell you all."

"Hey you guys, quiet," Jason says smiling at Mike. He and Clara seem to already know what's about to happen.

"I must confess something. Uhm. Jamie and I talked about this a bunch of times already, and we wanted to be really sure before we told you all."

The group's eyes widen, except Jason and Clara, who are holding in their laugh. They get a clue about what's going on but they wait anxiously.

"Uh, Jamie and I are together now."

"WHAT?!" Ed yells, yet again.

"Oh my goshhhhh congratulations you two," Mariella says hugging them. The group cheers and yells, making a ruckus.

"Wait wait, since when were you two talking?" Tommy asks.

"It's been around three months now," replies Jamie.

"No way, y'all are way too good at hiding," Kyle says.

Jason and Clara laugh. They've known about the two since the week after prom. Jason, who is extremely observant, pointed out to Clara that the two started moving differently around each other.

Suddenly, Clara stands as well, as if she needed to make an announcement as well.

"Guys, I have something to say too," she says.

"Nah, you're not surprising anyone Clara. We already knew you and Jason were together," Tommy interjects.

"WHAT?!" Ed yells, once again.

"No! No no! What? Nooooo!" Clara exclaims.

"Ha! I told you!" Kyle says, pointing at Tommy, "give me my $10!"

"Wait you bet on your own friends?" Jason says in confusion.

"GUYS! This is serious!" Clara shouts.

The groups shuts up.

"I've been having a hard time sleeping at night, trying to make this decision. As you all know, I've been accepted to NYU for the nursing program. Girls, we've made plans, living arrangements, shared dreams for our years in college at NYU, but, I have to tell you what's really in my heart."

They all look to her, puzzled. Clara's voice begins to wobble, trying to hold herself back from crying.

"For a while now, I've been trying to convince myself that NYU is what's best. That nursing is what's best. I have to confess. I can't see myself taking up nursing at NYU. As you may know now, art is my dream. It's what inspires me. It's my life. I sent in an application to the Fine Arts program at UCLA. It's the best Fine Arts program in the country and it's my dream to go there. I wanted to tell you guys that I've been accepted and I plan on going there for college."

The group, heads hanging low, say nothing. The sniffles of the three band boys can be heard, the silence is deafening.

Jason, with tears in his eyes, looks up at Clara, and smiles. He nods. He then stands up, and tells everyone to get up too. They are all crying at this point. He gathers them as they stand up and they form a circle. They all hug each other.

"Clara, we can't say we won't miss you, but we support you all the way," Jason says, still holding back tears.

They all shake off the sadness, now accepting Clara's decision, and excitedly hugging her.

"You better come back here and visit us during breaks," Jamie says, wiping her face and laughing.

"I will, I will girlie."

They all come in one more time for another group hug.

"I farted," Kyle says.

"WHAT?!" Ed yells.

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Everyone starts playing again. They laugh the night away, joking around and enjoying each other's company. As the crew moves on to a new game, Jason stays seated near the kitchen at the dine-in counter, watching and smiling at his friends. Clara sneaks her way to him.

"Why aren't you playing?" she asks.

"Huh? Oh, I'm really bad at Overcooked. I rage really easily," Jason says, giggling and scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, hehe, okay," Clara laughs. 

She sits next to him, filling up her cup with water. She looks at him.

"He looks so different from freshman year. He's so... handsome," she thinks to herself.

Jason looks back at her as he notices that she's staring at him. He shrinks and smiles, looking away from her.

Clara's gaze doesn't budge, her eyes fixated on Jason's face. He looks back at her once more.

"Are you ok?" he asks.

Clara nods.

"You sure?"

"Mhm."

"Then why you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing nothing."

"Okay."

Clara smiles and nods.

"What is going on in her head right now?" Jason asks himself.

They sit and watch their friends for a good 5 minutes. Jason searches his mind for things to say, but he comes up empty. The only thing he can think to say, is how he really feels about Clara. He held himself back once before, that night at the Met. He searches deep within himself and ponders whether or not he should tell her or not. His heart is bursting at the seams, wanting so badly to confess how much he has, how much he does, and how much he will always love her.

Once again, he begins to form the words with his mouth.

"Hey Clara."

"Mhm," she replies.

"I, uh... I have something to tell you."

"Yeah."

"I..."