TST, 2020
Two weeks had passed. After giving it a lot of thought, Leo decided to return to TST. Fabian asked Freddie to forgive Leo and Freddie, by a hair's breadth decided to give him what he called the final chance. It wasn’t very good for Leo but he had no choice. Even a ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not why ships are built. At the gate, Baraka was waiting for him.
“Hey, Leo…” Baraka said, waving. He grew a bit thinner. But who else grows fat in school?
“Baraka.” Leo hugged him.
“I was not expecting to meet you again. It’s nice to see you again.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
Leo signed at the gate and walked to the school’s campus with Baraka. Nothing changed much at the school. The paints on the walls were the same, in short everything was as it used to be.
“Hey, I heard about Macy and Daliah.” Leo said.
“Everyone in class is still trying to muddle through.” Baraka said.
“I also heard about Isla.”
“Please don’t blame yourself for things you couldn’t control, sometimes it’s just not your fault.”
“I’ve ruined their lives.”
“You didn’t, they did.”
“I was the cause.”
“Hey, go get some rest.” Baraka said, “Things are a bit of a marathon in class.”
Leo smiled.
Baraka smiled. “Don’t forget to prepare slides for me.”
“Slides…?”
“How to win a girl’s heart without talking much. Not less than 10 slides.”
Leo smiled.
“Hey, I’m serious. Very serious…”
The two hugged and Baraka went to class.
Leo didn’t go to his room. He went to the school’s garden. He sat, watching the tulip flowers. He liked tulips. Tulips are available in various colors which include red, pink, yellow, orange, and purple. The Tulip flower is an 11th wedding anniversary flower and represents elegance and grace. Yellow tulips symbolize cheerfulness and white tulips stand for forgiveness. Purple tulip is synonymous with royalty and red tulips symbolize deep love. It is believed that the black velvety center of the tulip represents a lover’s heart. He couldn’t move his eyes away from the tulips.
He thought about what Fabian told him. Did he have any purpose in this life? If he had, what was his purpose? The aroma of the flowers pierced his nostrils. He had to find his purpose.
“Hello.” The voice jolted him from his deep thoughts. The voice was familiar. Even if you woke him up in the mid of the night, he would never miss the voice.
“Isla...” Leo said. He stood.
“I heard you were back to school, I came to say hi.”
Leo stared at her. “How are you?”
“Alive and better. Thanks to God.”
“I’m very sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“Is it true?”
“Yeah!”
“You have decided to become a sister?”
Isla nodded.
The smile on Leo’s face disappeared. It hurts when your heart is taken away by someone you know won’t come back.
“I feel like I owe my life to God.” Isla said, “Waking up after being in a coma for a month is a great miracle. I want to serve God for the rest of my life.”
Leo looked heavenward. Tears shone in his eyes. His hand was pressing hard on his chest. It’s really painful when you cannot do anything about the situation but cry. You can close your eyes to things you don’t want to see, but you can’t close your heart to things you don’t want to feel. Benjamin once told him that, falling in love is like holding a candle. Initially, it lightens up the world around you. Then it starts melting and hurt you. Finally, it goes off and everything is darker than ever and all you are left with is the burn.
“Leo, I came to tell you it’s over now.”
Leo took a deep breath, tears ran down his cheeks. “Before you came, I also thought the same, it’s all over now.”