As I am approaching the lobby, I wipe my cheeks, making sure there's no stain of tears on my face anymore. I don't want to appear messy in front of Maddox. For my best friend Lea, it will be fine. She's been my confidant ever since we became friends, so she knows me well; I could be vulnerable when it comes to Max.
Maddox and Lea seem to be cool with each other's company. They must have a good conversation as the two face each other; while Maddox is holding Logan's leash. "Hey, guys."
They both shift on me, and I don't have to ask them, but it seems they noticed my swollen eyes. "Let's go?" I say as I look away, avoiding any questions from them.
"Angel, what's wrong?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Lea repeated Maddox's ques
The following week, Max still shows a negative response, and it's taking too much of my thoughts for weeks already. I'm not expecting a much worse morning, but a devil dressed as an angel appeared on my way to our building. Wearing her trademark heavy make-up, raising an eyebrow and her lips pouted like a stubborn child."Hey transferee, I heard you're in such a dilemma with your dog now. Poor furbaby, she has an irresponsible owner; I bet he won't leave long," Cassy says as she's approaching.I don't even know how she gets her information; she must be eyeing me even outside the campus. I snort. "I didn't know you have so much time collecting information about me. Am I that important to you?" I reply in a sarcastic tone, intentionally to annoy her."Shut up, transferee, disg
My eyes caught Mad entering our room and walking closer to Sam and me. "Hi, I saw you and Cassy talking. What did she do now? I wasn't able to catch you since I had to park my car." Mad asks me while Sam is listening."Nothing to worry about, Mad; I can handle her." I give Mad a side smile, my way of convincing him that I'm fine."If you say so.""Goodness, Cassy hasn't changed, such a bully. Don't worry, Angel, we got your back, me, Luke, and Mad." Sam reassures me as she squeezes my hand. Sweet girl."Thank you guys, but I'm perfectly fine. You don't have to think about me; I don't intend to be a burden...""No, you're not; Angel, we're friends.
The following day, I'm having lunch in the canteen with my friends. It's a typical lunch; the place is quiet as everyone settles on their own table. I'm starting to get used to it since I have Maddox, Luke, and Sam."Mad, have you asked Angel?" Samantha says when we start lunch. She looks at me and then at Maddox. I look at her back, squeezing my eyebrows, wondering what Maddox has to ask me."Oh, I haven't. Angel, I'm inviting you to our afternoon basketball practice after class. I can drop you home if it's convenient for you.""Angel, please come; we can watch together; Luke is also one of the players." Sam chime in.
We are excited about the basketball practice as we head to the gym. Samantha and I hand clasps while Maddox and Luke behind us are already wearing their royal blue jersey. I am comfortable joining them as mom had given me permission to do so when I called her. And I already informed the driver not to pick me up since Maddox will surely drop me home."We should sit close to the players, so it's easy for us to assist them when needed." I didn't know we got a role to play here, probably an assistant or water girl.Sam is funny, but I guess it would be expected for her as Luke's girlfriend and me as Maddox's friend. "Yeah, I'm sure there's plenty of seats since this is just a practice.""Guys, we will join our team; you two find your seats there," Luke says, and then he
"Cassy is getting really annoying every day," Mad says, shaking his head in disbelief."Was Cassy like this even before?"Maddox scrunches as he presses his hands on the wheel. "Not really, she used to be a nice girl, not arrogant and a trouble maker, but I guess I didn't know the real Cassandra before. And now, she's showing it to everyone.""I guess so, Cassy is a brat who would do anything she desires and doesn't care if she offends people around her. Such a childish act; I don't know when Cassandra will learn.""That's her moral obligation, not our problem anymore. Anyway, we're close to Max's clinic. I'm excited to see him again; I hope he's doing fine already so we can continue rescuing dogs on the street."
The following day is hectic as we are preparing for the intramurals and exams is not so far. I come home late and exhausted when I receive a call from Dr. M's Veterinary clinic. "Hello, what is it?" "Ms. Carpio, we are waiting for you since you dropped by at this time. But we couldn't wait and wanted to inform you that Max is not in good shape now. Would you please come to the clinic now?" It's the front desk staff as I recognize her voice. "Yes, I'll be there, thank you," I responded and immediately cut the call. "Mom? mom?" I call out mom as I head out of my room, still wearing my school uniform.
The next day is tiring and unmotivating, but we have to go to the cemetery as early as 5 in the morning to bury Max since mom couldn't skip her work and I can't skip school. Lea comes home early as promised when I talked to her on the phone last night. She immediately wraps her arms around me, seeing me sitting on the couch. "Angel, I'm sorry I wasn't by your side last night. It was hard for me to come in the evening, and I had a bunch of school work too." Sadness clouded her features. Lea might not be a dog lover, but she feels what I feel about being her best friend for a long time. She's the sweetest. "You're here now. Don't worry about it; I understa
The silence is deafening. Unlike when Max was still around, he used to be our own alarm clock; and sirens rolled into one. Max stomps his feet on my face if I don't get up after a few scratches. Sadly our unit is lacking a spark for us to call it home. Max's photo on my side table catches my attention; he was still young, small when I had him on my birthday. My heart constricts thinking about him again, but I refuse to cry anymore. I want to remember all our beautiful memories together instead of just centering my thoughts that he is no longer with me. I fix all of Max's things, his sheet, pillow, and clothes, and put them in a box before I rush out of my room, starving. Mom leaves early for work, so I am left alone having breakfast by myself, which doesn't help my poor appetite. I only have cereals and milk for breakfast before I start cleaning the ho