After the hug a while ago, we were just silent...but there's a sense of comfort. It feels good to unleash the ghost of the past. I hope he can, too. But seeing the genuine smile painted on his face, I think we're on the same page now.

The tears we shed, I hope, can grow into a full bloom of new beginnings.

“All for you, my Daisy?” he tries to sing. Now, he's giving me a flower wherefore I don't know where it came from.

“Hey, where did you pick that up? It's not even a daisy."

He points to the low bouquet of the plant. It is full of white and small flowers. My eyes widen as I remember the ones I used to play when I didn't have a slingshot. I would place my thumb over the uppermost part of its stem under the flower and dispel the entire flower itself off to my seatmate's face. I just can not remember the name. Though, it resembles a daisy but a tinier version of it.

“It can be if you think that it is. It's like a mini version, though,” he says.

“Yeah, right! But-”

“But I know you won't think of it that way. Of course, why would someone call it a daisy when in fact, it has its own name? If I also had my own name, I wouldn't want to be called by another name.”

“That's what I'm gonna say!”

“But I've said it first.”

“Congratulations, then.” I roll my eyes at him.

“So . . .” he pauses.

“So?”

“So, where's my reward? You congratulated me.”

"I don't know what you're talking about. Get lost!" I quicken my pace.

“Hey, I was just kidding!”

I feel him chase me until he was positioned next to me again. My cheeks blush furiously as I keep a straight face.

“There are only two years left, where do you plan to go to college?” he asks suddenly.

Yeah right? I shrug my shoulders off and force a laugh. “Actually, I don't even know if I'm going to take a course, e. I'm not even planning to go to senior high.”

“There will be a time, you're gonna know about it,” he said.

I hope so. How about him? Is he already sure about the pathwe wants to take? Of his caliber, for sure he is going to choose a prestigious university. There are so many opportunities waiting for him ahead. Would he just stay in St. Angelus? In this small-town life?

“Uh,” I bite my lip. “You, what course are you going to take?”

“Right now, my mind is still divided by . . . maybe eighty percent? Austronautics fascinates me but I really want to be a chemist,” he answers.

I can clearly see the passion that twinkles in his dreamy eyes. My insides suddenly feel hollow and worries rush down on me as I listen.

“You know, I once said to my mother that I wanted to be an astronaut. I just said that jokingly, ah but you know how she reacted?” he wiggles his eyebrows as he sheepishly grins at me.

I shook. “Did she get amazed?”

He chuckles. “No. I was scolded. They said I was crazy. It would have been better if I hadn't left my family. There are many other professions out there.”

“Are you fine about it?”

“Of course. There is a little regret but . . . you know, a mere fascination is different from what really urges you to become successful. I really want to be a chemist, those in perfumes, ah? Imagine, those you consider artwork and masterpiece, worn by people every day or on the special occasions in their lives.”

There are really people who exist and know what they wanna be in the future, like they already know what their purpose is in this lifetime. They've been driven by passion and inspirations. They have good grades in academics. They perform well in school.

How about me?

But then, not all of us are destined to attain white-collar jobs and reach the highest point of the triangular System. I grit my teeth.

System. That one is indestructible, huh? I gawk at him as he continues to stare somewhere. Some sun rays are casting shadows on his face while the irises of his eyes illuminate and dilute more, making the cognac hues become lighter than ever.

“Aren't you tired living for numbers?” I ask.

He shots me a questioning glance. “What do you mean?”

“Grades, ranks, honor rolls.”

“I am, but I don't primarily persuade those things now, unlike before. I do live for my dreams.”

“Your expression screams a glimpse of worry.”

I smile as I shake my head. “Wala 'to, 'no.”

“You can tell it to me. I will listen...even if I may not understand.”

If I did not see the willingness to listen in his eyes, I would have run away and avoided where this conversation might lead to. Yet here am I, genuinely talking to him.

“It's just about this certain shape. Triangle.”

“Yeah. What about it?”

*Nothing. I just imagine that shape to be the System's face, you know, uh- those who are privileged and smart on top, the mediocre minds in the middle, and those who aren't will just stay on the lowest.”

I clasp my hands, nervous I might stutter and my lips would quiver along the way and I might get him confused but his eyes...they stare at me with patience, waiting for me to continue.

“I am just wondering about odd what ifs, like what if I was one of those who are destined to be in the lowest just to make way for you, smart minds, to reach the top?”

He smiles at me and runs ahead. Look at how nicely talks to me! I am very surprised when he picks such a flower again, now more. I frown as I approach where he is. I notice that he breathes heavily countless of times as I walk my way towards him.

Base on the way he holds the flower, I already know that he might dispel it off of my eyes so I quickly dodge before he can do it.

“Gotchu!” I laugh. That immediately disappeared when his stare became serious.

“Honestly, I'm bankrupt with you. Whatever I say, I can't promise that I can answer with a point everything you said. I just want to say that, not because I am an honor student, my thinking is already better than yours. Perhaps I am just studious but I lack stands on certain arguments. You see, I didn't even know about the classroom's system til you dropped them down for a conversation like this.”