Chapter 2

The conversation of the Night

That was a magnificent night for me. It was so majestic and was so awesome! It might be the most memorable night that I had in my whole life. I can say this with confidence because I haven't had the future yet, and the future might be a better threshold of lasting memories. Nevertheless, a magnificent night will always be magnificent even when it's already over.

The night was very remarkable and unusual that it inadvertently stayed in my senses. I can still imagine her beautiful figure in the air including her oh so wondrous face! I can still clearly discern how her long straight hair fell down to her shoulders! I can still smell her odoriferous scent that seemed to stay on my clothes and my hands no matter how frequent I washed them. The scent was ethereal and I felt I was in heaven! I can still taste her lips that were so smooth, so delicate, so tempting. Every bit of detail I can possibly perceive registered in my brain. Maybe, this is one advantage of having the eye of an artist! You sense completely the great picture in small, minute details without unrecognizing anything! I can say no other masterpiece can equal their worth and grandeur with this girl's face.

After our passionate kiss, she somehow felt awkward and distanced herself from me. She sat on the floor and continued crying. She was crying out emotions I did not know then. Unmindful because she was crying, Helen did not notice that I was starting to sketch her face. Together with my report materials were my sketchpad and my worn-out pencils that I never threw. Her head was slightly concealed by her hand. It gave a hard time to sketch. Add to that my shortened pencils that seemed to give in already to excessive use.

Her being the exact opposites during school time and that night may be absurd but that was how she really was. Just like in the famous fable, she was an ugly duckling that turned out to be a majestic swan. But that same night, all my illusions, fantasies, and the comparisons I made crumbled into pieces because of a much-unexpected revelation I heard. She was not a duckling transformed into a swan. She was actually the other way around.

While she was crying, she emptied her burdened heart of all the emotions she was keeping and I, in turn, became the recipient of all those emotions. I learned many new things from her. Helen was the youngest child of her parents among the three siblings. Unfortunately, her parents died due to an unknown cause, and the gargantuan task of providing the basic necessities for them was left to his older brother, th eldest among them. During the first month, everything went well because they still had their saved money that will make them last for a couple of months. However, her brother entered as a worker in a canning factory and tried to assure their future. Everything seemed to be fine until her brother disappeared for a long time. According to her, she looked desperately around the place and inquired for her brother at the factory where he used to work. To her dismay, the company informed her that her brother was part of the group they sent to work under the same company but in a factory built in the US. Helen suffered a lot from this tragic event. His other brother was a retarded fellow that made Helen's life harder and miserable. She worked in a nearby cafeteria all day and all night long just to earn even a meager amount for their food and her brother's medication. But her wage was insufficient for both of them. They don't have any relatives and they were forced to sleep in slums. Because her brother's medications was too costly, she wasn't able to maintain his medicines. Her brother died three months after. Such a miserable condition!

Immense strength emanated from her and drove her to work for herself and survive the cruel world alone! Left alone and unprotected, and of a very young age, she resorted to prostitution. She was too beautiful so many patrons get her and pay her a huge deal for a short service for a single night. She earned comparatively larger amount of money because of her freshness and youth in her that was already missing with the other prostitutes. The money she earned was what she used for her education and expenses. With all these stories, I deeply admired her strength instead of cursing her or mocking her! I have known no one who can be that strong.

"Jack, you know, I still do it even here in school. It may be a shameful thing but I cannot do anything! Some of the seniors love my beauty and I use that opportunity to earn more money! I hook up with them just like what you saw a while ago!" Helen explained.

"But don't they notice you? How about the way you look?" I asked.

"Oh Jack, how would anyone notice a nerdy person, a girl with uncombed hair, and a person who does weird things? That's what I did. I used that kind of tactic! I try my very best to appear different from anyone else to avoid being recognized. Imagine how hard my life is?"

"I'm sorry!" Just at the same time, I finished sketching her. I approached her, caressed her hair, and embraced her so tight. I was touched by her story. I've never known anyone as strong as her. "Look at my sketchpad. I drew your face while you were crying. It's such a wonderful face that goes unnoticed by the people around you! Those horny guys don't deserve your beautiful face. Your friends do!"

"But I've got no friends except for the girls in the prostitution house I entered. You are my only friend in school, well starting tonight!"

"Then I do! Honestly, I really fell guilty whenever you are being bullied. I hope you can smile now that you already have a friend."

"Yeah, I will! Please don't tell them what you saw tonight!"

"I assure you. No one will know this! But before I forget, I'm gonna give you this sketch so you will always remember that you have a friend. If you want, I can draw you more!"

"Thanks!"

Such a wonderful night indeed for Jack Dawson had happened. Not only because I found someone to help me in my Chemistry report but also I found a new friend! Such great impact she has on me with or without her glasses on. Sketching her that night was very enjoyable and continued to amaze me. Now, every time I look at her, she seems to be the most beautiful girl for me even at school where she had her glasses back on!

Staying in my room together with my pencils and sketchpad, I spent most of my time drawing lovely pictures of her. I drew both her swan-like image and her duckling features. As I sketch pictures, I noticed I improved a lot! I wondered! Was it because I have a beautiful girl as my object or I am just in love?