Away!

Gabriel had been bombarded with messages for a few days, most of which were apologetic ones saying saying the person could not go. He was not too surprised since he picked the day right after his last class day, not considering the last class day of those who went to different schools. Only two people confirmed that they would go, and a few had not gotten back to him yet. Some of those few were the 'friends' that he was not really close to at all and just invited out of courtesy, but his childhood friend, his best friend Williana, was also one of them.

The two were neighbors and were the only ones who were within the same age group among the families in the surrounding houses. Both were also the first born, making their mothers instant friends, sharing parenting woes together. When they were old enough to go to school, their parents naturally made them go together so they always had a little bit of home along with them.

Yel was not exactly sure when this happened, but he started liking Williana in a way that went beyond just friendship so even though their parents did not force them anymore, Yel accompanied Williana to and from school. That only stopped in college because they went to different ones. He stayed at a local college while she went away (her mom went with her) to the same college as Aimee. Yel knew Williana's strict upbringing and knew she was not allowed to have a boyfriend so he hoped his feelings for her would go away. But no matter how many pretty girls he had a crush on, at the end of the day, he only thought of one girl.

This get-together he planned was mostly to feed his wishful thinking that since they were already in college, Williana's mom would lighten up a little. (He secretly added the “I miss you all” to his text message to her.) That was why he was on his way to her house.

While walking, he wondered what he would say to Williana's mom if she would be the one to open the door. “Good evening, ma'am. Can Williana come out and play?”

He chuckled to himself. Even just the thought of Williana's mom made him feel like he had to be the most obedient, respectful little kid.

He found himself in front of the familiar green gate, his eyes level with the doorbell. He was about to press it, but withdrew his hand when he realized there was a big possibility that the mom was still as strict as ever. After a few minutes of debating what to do, he decided to send her a text message. She replied immediately this time with, “Yup! :) stay ther.”

It took Yel's breath away and he started jumping excitedly in place. He did not notice that Williana already went through the gate and was right behind him until she giggled and asked, “What are you doing?”

Yel spun around to face her, embarrassed, but quickly thought of an excuse. “Uh... exercising! I'm sure that's one of your mom's many lectures so you should be familiar with it,” he said in a mock condescending tone.

“Ugh, don't mention my mother right now. She'd kill me when she finds out I'm trying to be a normal teenager and hang out with friends. Now get on with it.” She said the next thing with a huge smile on her face, placing her hand in his like how Yel's mom used to place them when they were little kids because she said they were just too cute. “Take me away!”