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    It was yet another rainy morning when we got to my new home in the city. I felt a sense of excitement and fear about what was to come. My fiancé and I had decided to move here to Manila since he was offered a job in a big company as an architect while I found work as a pediatrician in a hospital near here.

  "Ms. Beatrice Li, kindly sign these papers as proof that all of your belongings were dropped off", said the bearded man from the moving company we hired. "Thank you for your help!", I said to the man with a smile.

  Today was my fiancé's first day at work and since I decided to lay back a little before working again, I had more time to kill. I presented to be the one to arrange the things from the boxes.

  *Ding Dong*, the doorbell rang. I quickly rushed to the door to greet my guest. A small smile slowly formed on my lips as a little girl with a pink shirt and pigtails greeted me. "Hi, tita! Welcome back to Manila!", my niece cheerily said as I gave her a tight embrace. Oh I really miss this child, "Ang laki mo na ah, huling kita ko sayo sa video call bungi-bungi at ang liit mo pa, kay bilis mo naman tumangkad, Ella!" My sister and I once lived in this busy area of Manila. She was a university student while I studied in high school. Our mother was constantly ill and my father was tasked to look after her. That's why we were alone here back then. When I graduated from high school, my mother got severely ill which was why I went back home to help take care of her and finish my college degree there. My sister had landed a good, well-paying corporate job in Makati and decided to stay in order to help with our finances. At the same time, she also got married and bore this little bundle of joy. 

  “Nasaan na pala ang mama mo, Ella?” I asked out of curiosity since it was impossible that my sister left this 8 year old child to come here on her own. “Ah, ibinaba lang po ako ni mama sa pinto niyo, nagmamadali po kasi siya sa trabaho. Bibisita na lang daw po siya mamayang gabi.” She replied while rummaging in some boxes. While I prepare some milk and cookies, she entered running “Tita, tita! Ano po ito, ang dami pong pictures!” she said while raising a thick green book with her two little hands. “Yearbook ko iyan noong high school, Ella. Tingnan natin mamaya pagkatapos ko rito” She scurried away and I was left to my thoughts. I actually forgot that I had kept that yearbook with me after all these years.

As I sat on the couch with my niece, we started to browse the yearbook. When she reached for some cookies on the coffee table, the book fell from her lap. A small photograph that was stuck inside the book fell; it was a shot of my high school barkada and me during our graduation day.

“Tita, this is you right?” she said with a little curious tone while pointing at a girl with braces. “Yes Ella, that is me.” I replied while flashbacks of that memory with my friends crossed my mind.

“Trice! Arat na malapit na tayo mahuli sa graduation.” my friend Khloe told me as she dragged me towards the auditorium, running. “Jusko ka talagang babae ka, hanggang ngayong araw ba naman antukin ka pa ren,” my other best friend, Lynn, said while giving me a dirty look. “Pasensya na guys, wag na kayo magalit saken. Uy Lyndsey…” I dramatically batted my eyes like a puppy at the same time poking Lyndsey so that she wouldn’t get angry anymore. “Fine fine, pero libre mo kami ng barkada mamaya,” oh boy, there goes my month’s allowance, I thought . 

As we reached the auditorium, we were already sweating buckets from running as fast as we could. Good thing we still got a little time to retouch and fix ourselves. 

One by one, my classmates and friends were called on-stage. “Beatrice Li” as I heard my name, I stepped up the stage to receive my diploma. I could not get the smile off my face as it was the most satisfying moment of my life so far since all of my tired days and sleepless nights paid off in the end. However, that smile did not last. Tears and muffles filled the auditorium when our valedictorian and my friend, Cameron, had his speech. I could not help shed a tear when I heard his tribute to us, his closest friends. “I really cannot express how thankful I am to the most wonderful people that I have ever met. Without you guys, I cannot imagine how my high school life would have turned out nor would it ever be bearable for me. So, thank you for staying with me through thick and thin. All of you will have a special place in my heart, always” he ended his speech while wiping those tears away. The graduation ceremony ended with us throwing our toga hats in the air, “Congratulations batch of 2022!”, our principal rejoiced.

As we left for our after-party, we started talking about our future plans and our long-awaited last hurrah before entering college. Sadly, I was not able to attend this since I needed to go back to the province to aid my ill mother. It was a bit difficult to reach them during that time since we did not have stable internet nor good signal in our area, which is why with time, I just slowly drifted apart from them. I haven’t communicated with them for a while now and I guess with our busy lives, we really don’t get the chance to. Maybe that was just my reason, maybe I was too ashamed to face them once again after so long. However, at this moment, I got this sense of nostalgia with all the memories flooding my brain. Something came over me that sparked my courage, I quickly got my phone and pulled up our old messenger group. 

“Hi guys, kumusta na kayo?” I sent with a smile.