Letting my imagination run wildly..

The rest of day seemed to pass in slow motion. I had four classes and it felt like the hours were dragging, prolonging my agony. The lessons weren't interesting enough to distract me; not even Literature, my favorite subject, can save me from drowning in my despair. Once or twice, I'd let a sigh escape my lips and I knew that Angela and the others were watching me; probably worried that I was going to pass out or something. But I wasn't completely "lifeless"; I'd raise my hand and answer a question once in awhile just so I could think of something else, even for just a few seconds. I'm not exactly on the honor roll, but I try to keep my grades up.


Professor Torio was my favorite professor so far; she's got visible traces of an American heritage in her family, short, squat, with a beautiful heart-shaped face, big blue eyes and she always smiled at everybody. She had this loud, booming voice that commanded your attention; I am pleased to say that no one has ever fallen asleep during her time. Well, not yet, anyway. Her lessons always involved us; she'd fire questions at all of us and almost half the class would clamor to call them so she can hear their side. And most of them didn't even do it for the sake of getting a grade for reciting; they just like answering her questions, which, truthfully, rarely happens in our other subjects.


I tried to answer her questions as enthusiastically as before; she liked to comment at how much thought I've put into my answers, but I knew that even she noticed the way I said my answer in an almost sorrowful tone. I saw her raise her eyebrow at me but she didn't say anything; I shrugged it off. At least I still bothered to share my opinion, right?


"Okay, class, that would be all for today", she said. "I'll see you on Friday".


Her last words were drowned by the sound of chairs scraping and people calling to one another. I slung my bag over my shoulder and looked behind me to see if my friends were ready to leave; but before I could say anything, someone tapped on my shoulder.


A tall, bushy-haired girl stood before me and she had a small grin on her face. Her violet eyes, contacts no doubt, were sparkling. We forced her into representing our section in this year's inter-collegiate beauty pageant, where she garnered the very respectable second runner-up position, out of ten other contestants. Not bad, eh? I once overheard some of my classmates already talking of entering me in next year's pageant but I flatly refused. That didn't seem good enough though, since they still keep on hinting that I would do a good job. Looks like I've got a lot of fattening up to do over the summer; hope that'll convince them.


"Hey, Kelsey, Professor Torio would like to have a word with you", she said cheerfully.


I looked at the professor's table, and sure enough, she was still there.


"Great. Just great", I muttered.


"Are you okay? You seem a bit off", she said, her brow furrowed in concern.


"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a rough night", I said, echoing what Angela said earlier. "Thanks, Christina", I added with a smile.


"No problem", she answered before turning back to her friends.


Angela appeared at my side. "We'll wait for you outside", she said gently.


"Thanks", I automatically replied.


I walked toward Professor Torio as fast as I could. The sooner I got this over with, the better. Everyone was gone now. It was just me and her.


"Ah, Miss de Torres", she said as I approached her.


"Good afternoon, Ma'am", I said politely.


"Should I be concerned or not?" she asked quite bluntly as she surveyed me through her glasses.


"I should say not, Ma'am", I answered dutifully. "It's a private matter".


She held my gaze for a moment, measuring me with her eyes.


"Does it have anything to do with Mister Reyes?" she said softly.


I flinched ever so slightly before I blinked and looked away. "Yes, Ma'am", I said dully. Almost everyone at the faculty knew about us, since we've been under most of them for the past four semesters. It's not like they have anything to say against us, they leave us alone most of the time. And when we're out of the classroom, they'll give us the occasional nod, or wave, if their feeling generous.


Even though I wasn't looking at her, I could tell that her face softened; she reminded me of my dear old grandmother before she left us. Stern at first, but loving and gentle later.


"He broke up with me just last night", I continued in the same tone.


She didn't say anything at first; probably because she noticed that I wasn't breathing very evenly. My chest heaved madly before I could stop myself. I had to grasp the side of the table to keep myself from hurtling the desk behind me against the wall.


"So much for trying to stay calm", I said, with a weak chuckle.


Something warm covered my left hand. My head snapped up and it was then I realized that she placed her hand over mine. I noticed that she looked at me in an almost motherly way, which I supposed came natural to her.


"Miss de Torres, you are one of my best students in this class; and I'm saying this not just as a professor, but as a friend as well", she said seriously, but gently. "Your young, you have your whole life ahead of you. One day you'll look back on this and laugh at yourself. The world is full of possibilities; don't be afraid to explore them. Never think that because he broke it off with you, that's enough reason to make you regret that you were ever born. Don't let him be the cause of your downfall. Your stronger than that, I know you are. There are others out there who are just waiting to reveal themselves to you. And quite frankly, my dear, your looks alone can make every man make a triple-take as soon as you walk by", she ended with a wink,


I smiled at her, hesitantly. I didn't take compliments very well, but I still appreciated what she said.


"I'm not going to force you to forget him right here, right now", she continued; "a blow like that usually takes time to heal. But next meeting, I want to you to answer my questions with the same vigor that I so admire".


"I'll try, Ma'am. Thank you", I said, my voice dripping with gratitude.


She merely nodded, gave my hand a final pat, gathered her things and left the room; I stared after her as the door swung shut behind her.


I took a deep breath. She was right. I need to overcome this. And it didn't matter how long it took, as long as I achieve my goal, and that's enough to lift my spirits. Feeling slightly happier than when I first woke up this morning, I secured my bag on my back, and walked out of the classroom.


I found Angela and our other friends sitting on the floor near the stairs, where I sat earlier in the day. As soon as they saw me, they slowly got to their feet, still engrossed in their own conversations. My friend, Ellen, approached me, her long hair whipping her face as she did so.


"What did she want?" she asked briskly. "I hope she didn't tell you off or anything; your answer was pretty good", she said as she narrowed her gray eyes at the invisible trail that Professor Torio left as she walked away earlier.


"No, she didn't tell me off", I said with a hint of sarcasm. "She just offered me a piece of advice".


"Nothing escapes that woman", she said through her nose.


"Apparently not". I chuckled at her reaction. "I thought you guys were gonna wait for me outside".


"It was drizzling awhile ago so we went back here", Ellen explained. "Which is a good thing we did".


"Of course. You wouldn't want to get wet, right?" I joked.


"He was there", she said as off-handedly as she could, but I could feel her looking at me a little warily.


I raised my eyebrow. "Is that so?" I said, trying to adapt her tone; I shrugged. "You could have given him a slap for me", I said as I smirked.


"Oh, trust me, that's not the only thing I would have be given him", she said with a mischievous smile.


I laughed as I led Ellen over to the gang and we just stood there for a moment, talking and laughing at nothing in particular.


Angela was talking to Amy, a rather plump girl with freckles, black hair with blonde highlights, but she has this smile that can brighten up the whole room; she had the sweetest temper among all of us, aside from me, so they say. She hardly gets mad at anybody no matter how grave the offense was; you could murder her mother in front of her and she wouldn't even frown.


Standing next to her was Carly; tall, graceful, with chestnut brown hair that fell almost to her waist and bright green eyes. She had the body of a swimsuit model, having taken ballet as she grew up. Carly was the nerd of the group; she'd pester us into stopping us from procrastinating, which we do more often than not. She gladly offers her help when we don't understand the lesson, suggesting group study sessions at the library or somewhere around the school. Needless to say, we've never had failing grades thanks to her tirelessness and perseverance in making us grasp the concepts and theories than challenged us.


Another group stood to one side, but they were part of us. Chad, was part-Chinese, his eyes almost disappearing when he smiles. He's fair like his ancestors, a little over six feet tall and quite lanky. I still find it a miracle that he's still able to find time for us since he's part of the university's basketball team. He usually heads off to practice after class but he informed us earlier that their coach was giving them a break since the season was almost over and the exams were looming ever closer. Chad's the kind of guy who'll listen to you even if you call him at three in the morning; he won't interrupt unless he's sure that your done with your ramblings. He's every girl's "fantasy friend"; but of course, being a basketball player, he's also considered a "heartthrob".


Next to Chad was Rosie, who was laughing at something he said. She's almost as tall as Carly, but she has this sort of awkwardness when she walks, like she can't balance herself right. Rosie's the loudmouth of the group, there's no denying that and it often gets her into trouble. She'd blurt out something in the middle of class which would earn her glares from her neighbors and the professor. When she laughs it's hard not to laugh along with her, a sure way to keep you away from gloomy thoughts.


Angelo stood near them, his black hair put up in little spikes and his boyish grin showing off his dimples, as he leaned against the wall. If Chad's the heartthrob on the court, Angelo's the heartthrob at everything else; he's intelligent, he's good at almost every sport and he's a real gentleman. He enjoys the attention that he gets from the girls who gawk at him but he's no player. He claims to be waiting for the "right girl" before he can make his move. We keep on teasing him about the girls who like him, but he just shrugs and laughs along with us.


Beside him was another tall guy with a friendly face, short brown hair, and whose braces shone when he smiles: that's Bradley, Chad's schoolmate back in high school. He's usually the quiet one, but when he speaks up you can't help but swoon at the sound of his voice; smooth and gentle. He can play the guitar, too; very well, if I may add. And he sings. How lucky can he get? He's not as handsome as Angelo, but his looks are enough to send any girl's heart all a-flutter; he's very sweet, too. He makes sure that your not alone when going off somewhere, and he always texts to make sure that you got home safely or just to remind you to be careful.


Looking amused at the sigh of Rosie's laughing face was Bear, and his description fits exactly that of his animal counterpart; he's a pretty big guy, he once admitted that he weighed a little more than a hundred and fifty pounds, with a wide torso and short legs, but he was nearing the six-foot mark. At first glance, you'd think that he was somebody's bodyguard that just went astray at a school but once you get to know him, he's a really nice guy. He grew up with two sisters so he knows exactly how to treat a lady and he likes giving bear hugs--no pun intended--to anyone who was feeling blue.


The one leaning against Bear was Roger, the last, but not the least of the group. He's the adventurous type; he loves to wind-surf and go bungee jumping. He just loves the adrenaline rush that the extreme sports offers. But behind that exciting exterior, lies a heart of gold. He never hesitates to lend a helping hand and he hardly takes "no" for an answer. And he's always the over-protective one, which earned him the title "Dad" from all of us; as long as we call him that with fondness, he doesn't mind.


Until now I still can't remember how we all came together in the first place. But I knew it didn't really matter. We've been friends since our freshman year in the university, and now, a year later, we still are. That's all we need to know.


None of them mentioned Chris after Ellen had. That's what I love about these guys; they wouldn't say anything unless I spoke about it first. Their giving me space to deal with it in my own way and they know that I can spill my heart out to them when I want to. As I looked at our group, my brothers and sisters, my heart swelled; I knew that the love and support they had for me, though unnoticeable, was there. And I couldn't ask for anything more.


"Hey, aren't you guys hungry yet?" thundered Bear to the group at large.


Most of us laughed. Typical, Bear.


"Alright, alright", said Chad. "Everyone's here, right?" His gaze lingered on me for awhile before giving me sly wink. "Okay, forward, march!".


I rolled my eyes when I thought at how trivial we must sound to other people, but hey, we enjoyed doing it.


I linked arms with Angela and Carly as we, as Chad said, marched out of the building.