By Theone Tiu (Grade 10- Rizal)
Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I can hardly recognize myself. The person in front of me is now a completely different person. There were no traces of who I once was nor traces of what I was like. The old me had been buried down along the path of my past, leaving only my memories to know. It is all because of her.
We were always in the same class, attending the same lectures, being with the same bunch of people, yet we never crossed lanes. I knew she existed, she knew I existed, but there was never a conversation made. I always thought we were both existing in different worlds. I didn’t hate her; I just never had a reason to approach her nor did she.
One day, everything shifts. There was an unfamiliar atmosphere between us as we were grouped for a presentation in class. It was my first time ever talking with her, but our ideas synced. We were coincidentally on the same page. The unfamiliar yet familiar feeling of someone whom I thought to be so different felt like someone who had been a long friend of mine. The presentation ended well, but our friendship just started.
As our friendship deepens, and as our bonding strengthens, I realized that she understood me so well despite my difficulty in letting out words the way I want to, which also made me discover why I felt like I didn’t belong to my own self. I had kept my feelings for too long enough to make me forget who I really was.
Little by little she naturally released me from my chains that had been holding onto me for years. Her way of talking, her subtle considerate actions, and her mere presence set me free. A lost puppy who didn’t even know it was lost has finally found its home, that’s what the feeling felt like.
We can get lost, we can fail, we can experience happenings that aren’t according to our plans. Yet if it is meant to happen to you, no matter what goes in between, it will always find its way to you.