The Shy Boy: Something New

Chapter Fifteen - Last Christmas

   I decided to stay absent for the next few days. I was not going to be able to show up at school with a straight face.

   According to Laine, on Wednesday, some government officials came by to the school to conduct a random drug test on everyone. People don't know if ma'am Lilibeth asked for this or if it was required because of me.

   Officer Manalang called me yesterday, saying I was clear and that the drug results were negative. I could go leave this town now if I wanted to.

   Before leaving, I decided to film an apology video and post it on my Facebook. Not many people know my Instagram, but almost everyone has my Facebook.

   Do many people even care about this? Maybe not, they all have their own lives to live. But I'm not leaving this school without clearing up my name and clarifying the fact that I am not guilty of drugs.

   Despite all the things going on, I still managed to get a gift for my receiver, Wayde.

Thanks to Laine, I managed to get his wishlist from the activity they did for sir Flores.

I got him a sketchbook, I wasn't able to get him mechanical pencils so I kind of hope this was enough.

   I went over to ma'am Marielle's house, "Hi 'nak." They greet with kind of a saddened smile as they opened up their gate. "Hi po." I smile back as I handed over the red gift bag with christmas tree patterns all over it

   "I'll make sure this gets to him" ma'am reassures. "Thank you so much po ma'am." I say keeping my smile, they open up their arms. I hugged them. "I'm going to miss you." They say as they let go, tears filled up my eyes again. "I'll miss you too, ma'am. See you around na lang po." I chuckle as I wiped my eyes. "Sige, bye na baka maiyak pa'ko. [Okay, I'll say bye now. I might end up crying.]" They say with a chuckle, I wave a hand at them before hopping back on the tricycle.

   When I got inside the bus to meet with my aunt, I decided to check in with Laine and what's happening in school.

   She's INC, so usually she wouldn't be able to join the Christmas party. But this year, her mom let her go as long as she doesn't join in any Christmas games and came solely for bonding and to give the gifts.

I took a seat at the very back near the window and took out my phone before asking for help to get my luggage up in the compartment.

   I clicked the call button. Laine answered in less than a heartbeat. "Hi!" She says with a soft smile. I furrowed my brows as I saw her background, "You're not in school yet? Seriously?" I say keeping my voice down and having the headphone mic directly in front of my mouth. "Don't worry, I'm going to be on my way there. I'll chat you if there's anything up." She says. "Okay."

   "Take care on the way, okay? You better remember to chat or call me each and every single day, or else." The sound of wind blew at her mic. "I will, mom." I chuckle softly.

"Ivy?" My aunt calls for me as she walked in the bus. "Auntie, over here." I say waving my hand, she smiles softly as she sat beside me. "I got to go now, chat you later."

"Bye!" She smiles at the camera before hanging up. I let out a heavy breath.

"Are you ready?" My aunt asks me. "Opo, auntie."

   Their plan was that first, we go to Manila to meet with my mom. After that, we go to Canada together to live with my aunt's family. My mom needed to forget the things that happened here, it broke her heart when she found out about everything. That's what my aunt said at least. I haven't really talked to her yet.

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   When I got to school, I went straight to the STEM room where we'd celebrate the Christmas party with the grade 12. Our theme was Summer so I wore a blue and yellow button up summer shirt, or whatever it's called.

   The other boys wore almost the exact same thing, the only difference we had were the patterns and colors.

   I put my gift down onto the table where all the other gifts were. Some were big, some were small, some were strangely wrapped.

   "Wayde!" Daniel called sitting on top of the stack of chairs in a corner of the room. He was playing something on his phone. "Ga, laro tayo ML. [Come on, let's play ML.]" He offers, I shake my head.

   Jeff barges in, he was carrying his backpack on his back and a gift bag in his hand. "Wayde, nakita mo na post ni Ivy? [Have you seen Ivy's post?]" He asked putting his arm over my shoulders.

"What post?" I turned to him with my brows furrowed, I quickly grabbed my phone to open my Facebook. I searched her profile.

   I opened the latest video, it was her sitting in her room, talking to the camera. I clicked on it.

   "Hey everyone. I know this is really sudden, probably kind of unnecessary and cringey, but I just had to get this set and clear. Details about my case aren't allowed to be exploited in public, but I would just like to clarify that I was never on drugs and that I'm sorry that all of you had to get drug tested. Our school would never tolerate having students being on illegal drugs, not even smoking or vaping. I'm leaving not because of shame, not because of embarassment, I have to leave the country so that me and my mom can finally move on from whatever happened here. Again, I'm sorry for any trouble or fear that I've caused you or your parents. Good luck with the rest of the school year, everyone!" She smiles sadly before ending the video.

   So she's actually leaving? She's not coming back?

Throughout the morning as me and Jeff were walking around the campus, we kept on hearing people talk or whisper about Ivy.

   "It would've been such a good topic for the school paper. Saying that the school kicked out a drug dealer." Patricia laughed along with the 8th graders. "She isn't on drugs." My older sister, Ashley, said defensively. "And don't even think about telling me to put it in the paper." She added before walking away. I scoffed. I love my sister, no matter how annoying she can be.

   When we took Ivy to the hospital the other day, she wouldn't stop crying. I on the other hand was just there staring. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say. I'm just glad my sister was there to help her out.

I wanted to help her, comfort her too. But I couldn't.

   It was time for receiving the gifts. Ma'am called us one by one to receive our gifts. "Wayde!" I went over to ma'am Marielle and took the red gift bag.

   "Wayde, wait." Ma'am Marielle hands me another gift bag, it was the gift bag that I brought. "Maybe save this, give it to her when you see her again." She smiles, I nodded my head before going back to my chair.

   I glanced over at Laine who stayed in the same table as me, Jeff, Inah, and Daniel. She was chatting on her phone and was barely touching her food.

   She looked around to see the food, then went back to typing again.

I could bet a million pesos that Laine is chatting with Ivy. I wanted to ask her so badly where she went, but I decided not to.

   After I ate, I decided to open up my gift. "To: Wayde From: Ivy"

So, we got eachother in the draw? That's rare.

   I opened up the gift, it was a sketchbook. Along with it was a note, I unfolded the paper.

   "I'm sorry that I couldn't give this to you in person. Thank you so much for everything, for making some of my days feel a little less depressing. I hope I could see you again one day. Merry Christmas and happy new year!"

   I stared at the note in my hands, I was sad that she left, but smiled a little because I was able to make her 'a little less depressed'.

I hope to see you again too, Ivy Morales.