ANGEL
This story is DEDICATED TO a friend of mine. Today is her birthday. :)
…
It was Tuesday. He was running from corridor to corridor.
'Damn, why does our classroom have to that far…?' he complained. It was his freshman year in high school. It was even his first day. He doesn't want to be late for the General Assembly.
After minutes of running… he realized he was lost.
'Shit.' He cursed in his mind. He wiped the sweat beads from his forehead. Great. Just great. Now, he's going to be late.
"Excuse me." He looked up to see a girl standing in front of him.
"Are you lost?" she asked as her pale blue eyes scrutinized his face. Her black hair hung above her waist, and she had a skin as fair as Snow White's. His cheeks flushed at her beauty.
"Y-yeah…" he stuttered, "I'm a freshman of highschool. M-may I know where class 1-A is?" she smiled.
"You asked the right person." She said, "I'm from class 1-A, too. Follow me." He nodded and tagged along with her. He was in luck. She was beautiful, sweet and kind. For him, she is an angel.
"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Arabella Fernandez. It is nice to meet you." She said, as they stopped in front of their classroom, "What is your name?"
"K-keith Ramos." He stuttered his name again, "N-nice to meet you."
They shook hands. She is the first friend he made. He hoped they would cooperate well with one another.
"You're the newbie, right?" Arabella asked. She opened the door and called her classmates.
"I found the newbie!" she said. One by one the students greeted him, giving a small hi or a high five and their names. He memorized their names. All of them.
The teacher came in and all of them went back to their seats. Homeroom begins. There was no General Assembly because it was raining outside. In 3 hours, the homeroom ends. It was recess.
"Hi," Arabella approached him again, with a small wave, "Would you like to eat with me?"
"S-sure. He cursed himself for his stuttering.
"I'll come too! I'll come too!" Piper piped in. she had pretty orange-blue eyes and had red hair. She may be cute, but for him, Arabella was still beautiful.
They ate at the cafeteria and talked about anything. They laughed and made jokes until Piper had to leave them to join with her other friends. Silence once again dawned upon them. Arabella decides to break the tension.
"So, how do you find your first day here, so far?" she asked timidly.
"It's great!" Keith exclaimed while a huge smile formed on his face. He didn't stutter or feel nervous around her anymore, "I like this school."
She smiled that gentle smile, as if she knew him well. "I am glad you like it." She replied.
"You're a good acquaintance, Ara." He said, his smiled never leaving his face, but her expression changed but gave a sad smile.
"I am glad you enjoy your time with me, Keith. My time is short." She muttered the last sentence, but Keith paid no heed to it. He likes her. And they told jokes, shared their memories, whether good or bad, and talked about their favorite things.
When it was class time, they passed each other notes. The teacher noticed but ignored it, deciding that it was better that way.
Then, it was dismissal. He realized that Arabella was the girl who lived near his neighborhood and decided that they commute together. The girl reluctantly agreed.
As they arrive their destination, Keith offered that he should accompany her to her home. She smiled that gentle smile once more and agreed. They continued walking like it was nothing.
"Let's do this everyday." Keith said, his dark brown eyes glimmering with glee. Arabella noticed.
And there it was again, that sad smile.
"We'll see." She replied cheerfully, but he could tell a sadness radiating from her face. He didn't push her to talking anything serious, and so they left it as it was.
…
"Thank you for bringing my daughter safely home." The mother said, "I was getting really worried for a moment."
"You're welcome." The boy said, and then he turned to Arabella.
"Thanks for making my day feel happy." She said, "I am glad that I spent my time with you…"
"I'm glad too…" he smiled back, still sensing the sadness within her.
"See you tomorrow." He said goodbye and walked off, while she watched him leave.
That night, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He remembered everything about her. He remembered her favorite songs and how she talked so much about Taylor Swift. He remembered of how she smiled and how her eyes sparkle when he mentions her name. He remembered her laughter and her jokes. He remembered… the memory is alive as ever.
Then, he had a dream.
He was surrounded by white walls and white ceiling. Everything was white. He was wearing white, as well, but he didn't know where he was, or why he was wearing white clothes.
He saw "her". She was standing in front of a doorway, leading to nowhere. She was wearing all white, but it was a dress. Something surprised him. She had wings on her back. REAL wings.
She smiled.
"Keith." Her voice echoed through the vast white walls, "It is so nice to see you one more time." Her voice wasn't the same. It had a voice of an angel. She is an angel.
"Is this a dream?" he voiced his thoughts out in the open whiteness, but did not echo like the angel's. She laughed.
"Yes and no. It depends whether you believe it or not." She replied heartily, "Today is my last day on Earth. I came to say goodbye. I enjoyed every bit of our time together. Thank you for that…" he widened his eyes, not believing what she said.
"You're going…? I thought… I thought that we'd go to school together, that we'd be friends…?" he felt a tear falling down his cheek. She gave a sad smile.
"I am very sorry that I will be leaving you, but have to go. He is calling me."
"But I'll see you again someday, right?" he called out to her, who was walking further away from him.
"Of course… someday, I will meet you."
It was morning. His eyes were swollen from crying. His first friend is gone, and gone forever. Outside, she wasn't there. There was no record of the Fernandez family in his subdivision, his mother said.
School started normally as well, but no one heard of a girl named Arabella. She was forgotten. And so, it was a dream after all. He was saddened. At lunch, he ate alone. During class, he paid attention to what the teacher was saying. The teacher noticed and nodded at him. Keith nodded back. At least there was someone who remembered. He thought, but that didn't mean anything.
When it was dismissal, he commuted alone. It went on like that. He sighed. It really was a dream.
"Keith." Someone called him, as he walked down the FX car. He turned around to see no one. He sighed once more.
"Keith." He ignored the uneasy feeling. It was only a dream.
"It may SEEM like a dream, but it wasn't." it is real. Keith turned around once more only to see a picture of Arabella. It felt as if she was smiling at him, telling him that she'll watch him from above, because she is his guardian angel. She will always be his angel.