It's Always Been Us

3: AshBelle

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" She was a little bit shy to approach the girl who was sitting beside the only vacant chair.

"Oh no, sorry!" The girl removed her backpack from the vacant seat.

She was surprised looking at the eyes of the younger girl beside her. It was as if she was taken back to yester-years where she was looking at the same pair of big round eyes.

"You can have this seat," the younger girl smiled at her.

It was her first day in this class. She tried her best not to be late but because of misdirection she had difficulty finding her class. This is a class outside her program but she opted to take it because she's interested in it. She took Floral Designs Fundamentals because she really wanted to learn about flower arrangement. She was thinking, maybe she could be able to put up her own flower shop someday and have her own flower farm someday. 'A good fallback from music,' she thought.

Their professor dismissed them early so she decided to explore the Architecture and Design building before she goes to her part time job. She was about to stand up from her seat and leave the room when she heard the younger girl beside her speak.

"Are you a new student here?"

"Ah..no, I am from Music and Arts, I just took this course as an elective."

"Oh cool! What are you taking, is it Music or Art or both?" The younger girl asked curiously.

"Music."

"Oooohhh, awesome! By the way, I'm Belle!" The younger girl introduced herself and offered her hand for a hand shake.

She gladly shook hands with Belle. "Asher, Ash for short."

"You've got a nice name, I hope you don't mind if I ask your Nationality? You seem to be Asian?" Belle was still asking her curiously.

"Ahh..I am..Filipino." For a moment, she was debating within herself if the younger girl talking to her has recognized her by any chance.

"Oooooh! Nice to meet you Kabayan!" Belle was still enthusiastically engaging in a conversation with her.

"Pinoy ka din?" She asked in return just to make sure that she heard it right.

"Yes, but I only speak a few Filipino words. But I understand. I'm so happy I've found someone of my kind!" The younger girl said happily.

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That was the start of their unexpected friendship. Though they are in different colleges and have a great amount of age gap, they still clicked right away. Belle could pass as her daughter or little sister. At times when they are playful, Belle introduces her as her mom, especially when there are boys who express their interest in her, she'd intimidate them by introducing Ash as her mom. When they hangout at the park or go out for a drive, they would introduce each other as sisters. Belle often refers to her as 'my mom, my sister and my friend rolled into one'.

She is so glad that she's found a friend in Belle. She could see her younger self in Belle. Bubbly, responsible, competitive, a dreamer and a goal-getter. And the more time they spend with each other, the more that she learns how deep of a person Belle is and how solid her upbringing is. Her parents raised her well.

She could say that Belle is one of her closest friends in the US. There is that something about Belle, or maybe it's her personality that makes her lovable. She felt that Belle is someone she can trust.

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Their conversations would range from their topics in class, to their favorite hangout spots, to the food they love and the food they hate or do not eat at all, to their dream travel destinations, to Filipino culture, to the latest movies and Netflix series, to anything under the sun. But when it comes to celebrities, she tries her best to evade that topic. She also noticed that Belle is not interested in it and she is grateful for that.

In one of their conversations, they were talking about weddings since their topic in class is bridal bouquet and they were to design their bridal bouquet.

"I want a modern Filipiniana themed wedding. Everything, I want my gown to be a modern Filipiniana wedding dress and my groom's suit to be Barong; I also want my entourage to wear Filipiniana gowns and Barong. I want to be married in one of the big churches in the Philippines, Manila Cathedral maybe? I also want the food to be Filipino dishes, of course there should be lechon and my favorite Pinoy dessert - leche flan."

She can't help but shake her head at Belle's whimsical imagination. "You're still young Belle. You still have a long way to go. You might change your preferences in the future."

"Well, but dad tells me, I should be proud of my roots, so I figured, I'd want a modern Filipiniana themed wedding. Plus, that would be cool, only a few Pinoys do that, Filipino weddings in general are already westernized." Belle argued.

She has to agree with Belle though. In her younger years, she also dreamt of a fairytale wedding. She dreamt of marrying her prince charming in a princess cut gown like that of Cinderella or Princess Aurora but that didn't happen. She dreamt of marching with her parents while walking down the aisle but that did not happen. She dreamt of being surrounded by her friends and relatives but that did not happen. She dreamt of flying to their honeymoon destination, Maldives, specifically but that did not happen. She dreamt of a happy marriage but..

"How about you Ash, what's your dream wedding? Or are you already married? But I don't see you wearing a wedding ring." Belle asked her, distracting her from her reminiscing.

She is still not comfortable confiding a topic as complex as her marriage to a young, sweet, innocent girl. So she chose to answer just some of her questions.

"I just want a simple wedding. Just me and my groom."

"Aww...that's sweet, but c'mon Ash, I need details here," Belle groaned.

She laughed at Belle's reaction, "Ok, ok, I want a modern minimalist wedding with a very few visitors, maybe 30 and below visitors, just my super closest friends and family. I still want my parents to march with me..I'd be wearing a modern minimalist serpentine cut wedding gown and I want the wedding to be at sunset. I want fairy lights around the reception and I just want a simple table setup, just an arrangement of white flowers and greenery with candles or little lamps. And, I want to make my own wedding bouquet made of white tulips." She answered dreamily. She didn't realize that she was really describing her grown-up dream wedding.

"Whoa! Is that why you are taking this course?" Belle asked out of nowhere.

She shrugged her shoulders. "We never know," she smiled while adding in her thoughts, 'Some dreams do come true while some do not. Let's see.'

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"Hey Ash! I got you something!" Belle eagerly approached her upon entering their class.

"Tadaaaaaa!" She was holding two bracelets each held by each of her hands.

"Anu yan?" She asked clueless.

"Friendship bracelet! I made this, I gave my best effort so I hope you like it. See I even have the first letter of our names in it. A for Ash and B for Belle!"

"Whoa! Thanks Belle, I love it!"

Both girls wore their bracelet on their right hand. She's again amused at how sweet and childish Belle is. Belle calls it their friendship bracelet, and she made her swear that no matter what happens they'd be wearing the bracelet and should protect it at all cost. Both girls, feeling playful, raised their right hand and swore to the heavens that their friendship will be forever and as a symbol, they should wear their friendship bracelet always.

After their ceremonial oath, both girls were giggling with laughter at their craziness.

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A/N: This chapter is for the friendship of Ash and Belle. Could you guess who Belle is? They had already been friends for a year ever since their first meeting at their Floral Designs Fundamentals class. :)