"Finally, it's Second Semester." At the same time, she grabbed her bag.
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"New long tests again."
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"OMG! It's like you're reviewing." She joked with the female classmate she was always with.
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"Anyway, at least I'm going into school always unlike someone else."
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Michelle couldn't answer her classmate's foolishness and just stared at the empty chair with worried.
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Michelle Salazar, she is the fashionista in their group, kikay, and well-groomed when it comes to clothing that you think looks artistic. A person who likes to be alone and always hides her feelings especially from the person she loves.
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_____________________
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It's the second Friday of November 2018
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Others, just like before, wake up in the morning, take a shower, take care of breakfast, so on, and then go to school. Go home to do homework, then before going to bed do an assignment or reviewing, reading, and then go to bed early to wake up early the next day.
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But some things have changed ...
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There are some things we can't avoid or have deliberately chosen to be busier than going to school. Be busy forgetting things that no one wants to remember yet. Or, be busy so as not to be bored in a life that you blame for why you are still, you still seem to feel that you have been deprived of a chance in your life as if that one thing is your whole life.
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Why.?
Maybe it's really like that, some things are certain...
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Just like change ...
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"Your first skill ... Second skill, then SS. !!"
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"BOOM! Triple kill !!"
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"You're a monster ... Imba."
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"Oh! Now your manta.!"
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"Yes! That's right."
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"You really are a monster ..!"
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"Bro, it's time for me ... It's time to go home."
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"Ow? You're not going to extend any further?"
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"Not anymore. I've been here 8 hours." And he stood up and then paid. "How much.?"
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"Hmmm ... 8 hours, then two hours is twenty-five pesos... How much is that?" She took the calculator to make sure she computed correctly.
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But before the answer came out on the calculator, Rafael had already calculated in his mind how much he would pay.
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"It's 100 pesos." At the same time, he gave the money and went out to the computer shop.
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"Oh? Raf ?!"
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"Huh?! It's you. All right, I'll go now."
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He dropped slightly the spike of his hat and also left in front of the computer shop. Michelle's eye just followed him until he's gone.
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----------------------
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"I am here."
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It's past six in the evening. Bathed, then he ate well. Her father had prepared dinner before he went to work. After dinner, Rafael picked up his cellphone and read the texts here:
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Mich 11/10/17 10:41 am
Patience is not about how long one can wait, but how well one behaves while waiting...
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Gd morning :)
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Gm .22
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-----------------------
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JR 11/10/17 1:21pm
Hey Raf are you coming on Sunday? we have a DOTA battle, just come with us tomorrow. xD
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| typing...
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Ok _
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|sending...
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After reading, he lay down.
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---------------------
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Rafael Rivera, simple man, quiet but joking. When he was young, he was orphaned by his mother due to illness and he blamed his father for that because he left them when he was young. And when his mother died, with his father he stayed and lived. But because of an incident that seemed to repeat the painful event in his life, everything changed for him. An event that has been a burden throughout his life.
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-------------------
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The next day, on the bus on the way to the Nursing University that they are attending...
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"Hey, Aileen, don't talk to those women anymore. They are always asking you about me." Symon said sitting next to Aileen while looking out the bus window.
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"All right." Aileen replied with a smile.
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"By the way, let's just do the thesis in your place."
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"It's up to you." Aileen replied again who also looked out the window and suddenly saw someone who seemed to know her.
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"Sy isn't that Raf.?"
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"What? It's like ... I haven't seen much." Symon lied because in fact he also knew the person walking on the sidewalk because of his dress and the way he walks that he knew well even though that person was hiding his face in his hat. It seems that not only the sun has been avoided by him even the people who encounter it.
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Then the bus stopped and they got off.
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"Let's go, we're getting late in our first subject."
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------------------------
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Symon Cuevas, he is your dream to be friends. Rich, kind, and cool. Aileen's best friend and of course he's the one who likes to hang out with friends.
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Aileen De Lara, smart, kind, and shy. But when it comes to the gang, she's strong to block, especially with the jokes of Rafael and JR.
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---------------------
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That same morning, Rafael was walking on the sidewalk when he suddenly saw two students on the bus. He immediately lowered the spike of his hat so that he would not be recognized. But they seemed to recognize him because of how it looked at him. Then he turned a corner to make a shortcut towards where he was going. And until he found his destination. After he knocked on the door he waited a few seconds for the door to open.
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"Ow bro! You better come. Come in."
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Rafael went in and sat on the soft sofa that used to be his favorite bed whenever he slept in this house.
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"How are you? What's the news with you.? You seem to be absent often?" JR asked one question after another but the guest he was talking to still did not answer.
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"You still can't accept what happened?" JR asked again hoping that Rafael would answer.
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"How are you and Alex?" Rafael's question was contradictory as if he hadn't heard some of his friend's questions.
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"Alex and I ?? I'm confused when we get back together."
At the same time, he handed a glass of juice to the guest and continued,
"Wait a minute, you're changing the topic ..."
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Rafael suddenly became silent and JR immediately noticed. So he never asked again. And they just talked about Rafael's intentions, the fight they will have in DOTA tomorrow. After that, Rafael left as well. He couldn't even consume the juice because his friend was still going to school.
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"All right Raf, it's tomorrow."
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"All right ..."
Rafael turned around and raised one hand and waved to say goodbye.
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————————————
John Robert Sagala, Rafael's best buddy in pranks and especially in Dota. He is the type of peer that will support you in any problem.
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—————————
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Rafael retraced the alleys he had walked through. He walked even when John Robert or JR's house was far away. His hat catches the warm midday sunshine. And at the corner he had passed before, he suddenly stopped. He looked up and looked up at the sky, and then smiled.
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"Nothing has changed ..." he said.
"It's just like the heat of the sun, of last summer ..."
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---------------------------------