One Last Turn to See You

I. Main Story

*Main Story*

A girl was in love with only one boy for all her life as she knew. They play together, walk together and even share secrets to one another. They were always there for each other—not just in times when one needed somebody the most but perhaps, at all times. He was her childhood friend who turned out to be her best friend ever. One day, this boy told the girl that he will be moving far away. As a child, they really can’t see how far away meant for both of them and the girl cried, knowing he would be leaving her. But the boy wiped away her tears and promised that he will still be there for her, always and he will be the one to stop her tears. The girl didn’t reply to him and kept silent until the boy was finally taken away by his guards, dragging him away. The girl looked at his best friend for the last time before promising to herself that she will still keep on loving him and would wait for him no matter what. Although the boy didn’t know that she loved him, still, she promised this to herself.

When the girl already grew up and reached high school, she was still hoping for the day her best friend would come back for her. She never missed a day thinking of him and seeing him again, was the only wish she had. One day, a boy transferred to their school. She knew it because she first saw him walk towards the principal’s office, his back facing her. She didn’t care to see his face though since she’s already used in seeing new students coming in at their school. For her, it was just another normal student, usual like the others. When the new transfer student entered their classroom and introduced himself to everyone, he gazed at the girl by chance and gave her a cold look which suddenly caught her attention but he quickly looked away, avoiding her stare. The girl found it rude and disliked him for his cold and unfriendly attitude towards others but unfortunately, luck never found her when her seat was placed next to the only empty one in the room. The new transfery sat next to her, by the order of the teacher and didn’t look her way even once until the class is over. She handed out her hand once, introducing herself but the boy just looked at it until she finally dropped it. Because of this, she hated the new transfery student and tried to stay away from him as possible.

One day, when the girl came home late from school because of the project she finished, she came by a dark alley and to her surprise; two men were standing at the distance, drunk. She still went on though for she had no time to go back already, knowing that her parents would scold her for coming home late. The two men noticed her and started to walk towards her direction. This made her nervous and had a bad feeling that they are up to no good. She already planned to run but as she was about to, three men were already blocking her way. As these men got nearer and nearer—already enclosing her in a trap, her heart pounded more loudly than before and her instinct told her to fight for it instead of running. But too afraid to do so, her feet wouldn’t move an inch and her body froze in place. She could hear them now—muttering and laughing as they got closer. Suddenly, a guy appeared behind them and to her surprise, it was the transfer student whom she disliked. The guy fought with these men before they could even touch a single hair from her and although he was hit many times—in most parts of his body—he still managed to knock them off. The girl stared in horror as she watched the guy’s beaten face and his shirt stained with blood. The boy just stared back at her then ran off without a word. She stood there, staring at him as he trailed off, still shocked of what happened. She didn’t even have a chance to say thank you to him. In that instant, the girl started to like the guy and in her mind, called him her knight in shining armor but she still hadn’t forgotten in her heart, the thing about her best friend in the past.

The next day after school, she saw the boy again and quickly spotted those patches of blue fading beneath his pale skin—those bruises he earned the day he saved her. He was absent for a day which made her worry and she was glad to see him going to school now. She went to him as if nothing had happened saying, “Thank you”. She didn’t want to let him see that she had softened towards him so she came up with a façade showing that she didn’t care. And because of not wanting to fall on his trap—she thought he did it to make her fall for him—as she says, the girl walked away after expressing her gratitude. The boy suddenly held her hand, stopping her and smiled. He talked to her for the first time, which surprised her but went away with it. She needs to keep her guard up and just go with the flow. Since that day, they kind of became friends. As the days passed by, they talked more often, and came to know each other better. The girl would tell him often that she kind of remembered someone in him. When she would say that, the boy would turn away immediately or perhaps, change their topic. One day, after they went out of the library, the boy invited her for lunch. At first the girl was hesitant and was about to refuse his offer but because the boy was persistent, she finally agreed.

As the days passed by, the girl got closer to the guy and every day the bonds between them two started to grow stronger. Whenever the boy sees the girl cry, he comes unto her and comforts her as gently as possible. She already had her trust on him so everything wouldn’t matter to her now. Because of this, the girl started to like the boy so much that she almost had completely forgotten about her promises a long time ago. Whenever she thinks of him, making her heart skip, the thought of her past best friend/childhood friend would always slip through her mind. She became confused, debating herself between right and wrong but in the end, finally made up her mind.

One week left before graduation, the girl started to avoid the boy even if it hurts her to do so. She didn’t want to break up her promises to her best friend because she knew that the more time she was with the boy, the more it pains her to leave and forget him when they would already bid each other goodbye. Noticing this, the boy just didn’t bother to ask, nor get near her instead because he knew there was something bothering her. He thought his presence would just make things worse.

The day of the graduation finally arrived but still, the girl kept on staying away from him. She wanted so much to tell the boy everything and wanted to bid him goodbye for the last time but she was still too nervous to do so. She felt ashamed in herself for staying away from him even though he didn’t do something wrong—even though she knows it was her fault and not his.

When the ceremony ended, families, relatives and friends rushed to the stage to congratulate their graduates making the stage crowded with people. The air was filled with goodbyes and farewells which brought sense to the girl and finally made her decision to tell the boy everything she wanted to tell him before it was too late.

Standing in the middle of the crowd, she searched for him. She asked and looked everywhere but she couldn’t find him. This made her feel regretful and worried and she sat down in the bench, tears almost falling off her eyes. She was about to give up, believing she couldn’t find him anymore. Suddenly, she spotted him by chance, from afar, already going to the car that was waiting for him outside. Upon seeing this, the girl immediately rushed to where he is and caught his arm just in time for him to supposedly open the car door and leave. The boy turned his head to the girl’s direction and stared at her, pain written all over his face. The girl stared back at him, tears now falling off her eyes. She wanted to tell him everything—everything that he needs to know before he leaves; her past, her promises…her feelings but to her dismay, no words would come out from her mouth—only streaks of tears flowing continuously down her face. The boy turned around to face her. He touched her face, as if trying to wipe her tears with his thumb, then hugged her, saying. “Don’t cry. I told you, I will always be there for you and I will always be the one to stop those tears.” He let her go then wiped her tears once more, caressing her face. Then he got inside the car, and drove away. The girl stood there, dumbstruck by his last words to her—shocked as ever…all her memories flooding in her mind.

Years had passed and since that day in graduation, the girl really tried to find both her best friend and the man she loved, who turned out to be the same person all along. She found herself stupid enough for not noticing the resemblance between her past best friend and her high school friend. Those dark brown hair and clear blue eyes really caught her eyes before, but it was very far from her mind in thinking that it was really him. She was angry at the least, at him for not telling her, but still glad that for all this time, he kept his promises to her starting from the day that he saved her (“I will always be there for you”) and those days when he comforts her every time she cries (“I will always be the one to stop those tears of yours”) especially the day when she had last seen him, the day when she finally knew who he was.

She tried everything. Asking people and looking for some information that might lead her to him but all this time, she got no luck in finding him at all. One day, to her delight, someone told her that he knew where to find the person she was looking for and gave her the address. She thanked the person, joy and hope filled her heart.