Senioritis: Prologue

Graduation Kiss

“I’ll miss you,” she said while looking me in the eyes. She didn’t exhibit even the slightest hint of tears. That was her, hardly the type of girl who cried easily. In more than a year that I had known her, I never saw her cry. Not even a single tear.

“I’ll miss you more,” I answered with the kind of smile she liked best. I knew it made her heart race as she would always tell me how much she liked my sincere smile that I showed her every day, but it was obvious just how much she tried to suppress the feeling. Blushing in front of me was perhaps the most embarrassing thing for her. For what reason, I wasn’t sure.

 

She looked away and scanned the venue of the graduation. Maybe, she was pretending that something suddenly caught her attention, so I couldn’t see the emotions through her eyes. While she was peeking around, I just stared at her beautiful face. Those eyes that tried really hard to hide her real emotions, her cheeks I used to pat and touch gently whenever I felt like to, that nose I loved to pinch—I would certainly miss them all. And yes, even those red lips I would like to kiss at the moment. Especially those lips.

I wasn’t sure if that romantic kiss would happen right there at the graduation ceremony. Still, I tried to concentrate and use mental telepathy, so she would cling to me and touch her soft lips to mine.

Come on, kiss me now, I tried to tell her through my mind. Just one sweet and passionate kiss please.

“You look like you’re going to dump a mass any moment,” she said as she chuckled while teasingly looking at me.

I suddenly awoke from my daydream which apparently became obvious, maybe because of the redness on my face caused by the blood rushing to my head.

“Oh no, I’m not,” I replied in an embarrassed tone. I continued gazing at her. We would be apart for quite some time. I didn’t know exactly for how long or when we would see each other again, but I knew it would be a long time away from each other. She was set to transfer to another school in Manila, which meant she would have to leave the province and live there with her family. Her transfer credentials were being processed already. A university in Manila was awaiting her. Clearly, everything was in motion.

As for me, I wasn’t sure yet what I would do after the graduation. My resume was ready, but I had no final plan yet as to where I would submit it. Yes, I wanted to pursue the media, apply my knowledge and skills there, and enjoy the time I would spend on television productions and other shows. The looming question though was: Could I survive the competition?

What the hell was I doing? It was graduation day and all I must do was savor my final day in college after four years of seemingly endless struggle and strife. Plus, I was standing in front of my lady love, so I must make her feel I was present, physically and mentally.

I’ll plan later, I firmly told myself. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the moment I have here with her.

Without thinking twice, and without even giving her a sign of what I was about to do, I grabbed her by the waist, pulled her towards me and kissed her on the lips. That sort of caught her off guard as she gasped for some air, but she responded after a few seconds. We shut our eyes, hugged each other tight, felt every inch of that romantic moment and let the sweetness engulf us.

Then, the happy graduation song played in the background.