“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” – Andy Warhol
Almost a year had passed and things… well weren’t the same
but also weren’t different. Well, first of all I was a graduating senior, who
was awarded two scholarships, one was for my art portfolio and the other was
for my academic achievement and second of all, I was in a relationship with Ricardo.
I was in shock myself in accepting him because, as you may recall, after Diego
I told myself I was not going to allow another boy distract (hurt) me again.
However, over the summer, I realized that I could not allow myself to be full
of hate because of one boy; I had to shake it off and let it go.
The summer that followed, Ricardo and I became good friends,
and after a while of hanging out, we started to have feelings for each other
and one day he asked me to be his girlfriend and I accepted. It wasn’t easy to
say yes, even though I knew my feelings for him were strong, I still had my
trust issues and he knew that. But despite that, Ricardo was willing to wait
and he did.
In high school, most of my time, 89%, I would spend on studying, mostly because of the vigorous courses that I was taking, AP English, AP Calculus and AP Physics. No, I was not crazy, but I like to challenge myself if not what’s the point of learning if everything comes easy. One of my favorite places to go in school was the library, not because that’s the place that all nerds go but something I was fond of books and their knowledge. Ever since my parents divorced, I spent a lot of time in the public library, I read books as a way to escape reality for a couple of hours.
Thursday,
April 2010
3:55pm
Despite that Photography class had been cancelled, and being the overachiever
that I was I stayed afterschool to get ahead/catch up on assignments. In high
school I had to balance work, school, friends and extracurrilar activities, and
there several occasions that I would get behind in my school work. For example,
that day I had to finish a writing response for my AP English, thankfully I
gained trust in my teachers to give me extensions on my homework otherwise I
wouldn’t know what to do.
“Hey,
what’s taking you so long?” Ricardo sat in the available seat next to mines. “Sorry,
I’m almost done. I promise.” As I type my conclusion paragraph, I saw how
Ricardo was staring at the screen, “Is that your English homework?” he asked. “Um,
yeah.” I replied. “I thought you finished it last night.” I smiled. “Nope. I
was too tired from work.” I said as I continued to write my thoughts. I couldn’t
see the look in Ricardo’s face but I could imagine it. Ricardo worried that I
overworked myself and sometimes he tried to convince me to let some activities
go but I told him not to worry that I could handle it.
I
began to feel hands in my shoulder, “What are you doing?” I asked him. “I’m
trying to make you relax a bit… you’re a bit tense.” I smiled as I finished my
assignment. Ricardo was a great boyfriend and I really liked him; he would do
the smallest thing to make me feel better. “Okay. I’m finally done.” I told
Ricardo but he wasn’t there anymore. “Ricardo?”
Suddenly
I felt two hands around my waist, “I’m right behind you.” He whispered in my
ear. I smiled. “I thought you left.” I turned around and realized that he was
holding a flower that seem to be fresh cut from the school’s garden. “No, I
wanted to give you something when you finished.” Ricardo kissed me. “Ricardo,
let me go, I have to go turn in the paper.” Ricardo held me tight, like he was
going to lose me or something. To be honest, I wasn’t really a person who
enjoyed showing public affection that’s why I felt a bit tight. “I’ll wait by
the car.” He kissed me and left.
Ms.
Delgado was among my favorite teachers in high school, she wasn’t only my teacher
and mentor but I considered as a friend. She deeply cared for each one of her
students; she never gives up on them and that’s what I admire about her. I
walked over to Ms. Delgado’s classroom, “Ms. Delgado…” I open the door. “Come
in, Reyna.” I placed the paper in her desk, “Once again, thank you allowing to
turn the assignment late.” “I understand Reyna, you’re a dedicated student who
despite working a part-time job you manage to complete your assignments.” I
smiled. Ms. Delgado skimmed through my assignment. “Excellent analysis Reyna.
Why didn’t you speak up in class today, this would have been an excellent
discussion?” she asked me. Back in high school, I was not much of a class
participant, I was a bit shy and reserve and didn’t like the attention, however
due to my lack of participation I compensated my thoughts and opinions in my
writing. “Doesn’t matter. Reyna you’re a good writer.” she added. “Really?” I
questioned it because I was never good in writing; I always had a difficult
time in expressing my thoughts without any grammar issues but when teachers
like Ms. Delgado commented in my writing I felt proud. “Yes, I’m sure of it.
You should really think about majoring in English. Have you decided what school
you’re going?” she asked me. “I don’t know. My acceptance letter from USC
hasn’t arrived. Maybe UCLA.” I replied. I walked towards the door, “I almost
forgot, were you able to write the letter of recommendation for the program?” I
asked. “Yes, I did, last week.” She replied.
Ever
since I got together with Ricardo, my feelings towards Diego slowly
disappeared; at the beginning it was not easy to see him every day but then the
awkwardness just went away, well that’s what I thought. Diego and I hardly made
eye contact, and it was weird when we did, it’s like we were two perfect
strangers that never knew each other. I walked towards the parking lot to meet
with Ricardo when I spotted Diego walking the opposite direction, there was no
need to avoid him but that day I decided to make a left turn towards the gym to
avoid him looking at me. I had no clue why I had done that.
As I kept thinking
about what I did, I glanced towards the parking lot and realized Ricardo was speaking
to his ex- girlfriend Stephanie. I marched towards Ricardo, “Hey, I’m
ready.” I took Ricardo by his hands. “Reyna… hey.” Stephanie greeted me.
“Stephanie. Hi.” I smiled. Even though Ricardo and Stephanie had ended in good
terms, I felt it was weird for them to continue being friends. “I was just
asking Ricardo if he wants to dance in my sister’s quince.”
“Oh…
really?” I gave him a look. “Yeah, I’m just waiting for me to answer me.”
Stephanie said. “Well… okay, tell Denise I’ll do it.” Ricardo replied. I
wanted him to say no, I know that’s selfish for me to say but I couldn’t stand
him hanging out with Stephanie. “Awesome perfect. Practices are every day at 5
til 7 at my house.” Stephanie said. "Okay, I'll be there."
"Great. See you there on Saturday then." Stephanie walked away.
"Ready?" he asked me. "Yeah." Ricardo kindly open the door
for me.
“Hey,
you’ve been quiet the whole ride over here, are you okay?” The whole ride to
the movies I wanted to tell Ricardo how I felt about him hanging out with
Stephanie but I didn’t say anything. “Yeah.” I smiled. “Are you sure?” he asked
me again before we got off the car. “Yeah, I’m sure.” I lean over and kissed
him. “Let’s go.”
{From
now on, I'll be posting extra dialogue to my story, I don't know if that
exactly happen but that's how I imagine it did. Thanks for reading.}
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