A/N: I so miss the class photos I used to have back in the Philippines. Ughh... No time for reminiscing my highschool memories.

Iggy: You have it bad, girl.

Max: Leave Aya alone. She just remembered the photos today.

Fang: Give her ice cream and she'll be fine.

Chapter 21

Max POV

Not even Usher singing DJ Got Us Falling In Love can bring me back to life.

I was right all along.

It was just another. . .

"MAX! STOP MOPING AROUND AND GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE! I NEED YOUR HELP!"

So much like Aya to ruin my sulky mood. Can she not see I'm about to make a dramatic moment?

"BACK OFF AND LET ME SUFFER MY DEPRESSION IN PEACE!" I yell back to Aya.

I hear Aya pound on the door. I'm too lazy to stand up and let her in. She let herself in, but I don't make myself see her. I can just feel the anger and annoyance seeping out her pores; it's hot, let me tell you.

Aya yanks the pillow off my face and hauls me up. I limp in her arms. She brings me back to reality by pinching my arm.

"OW!" I pull away from her and rub off the pain in my arm.

"You listen to me, idiota. Now is not the time to grieve over something that happened three weeks ago. You are just ruining your I'm-stubborn-and-I-hate-girly-things ego. Move on! Eat your damn cookies! Get a shower! You're acting like a teenage girl who just got dumped for the first time!"

Did she just call me an idiot? "Hurtful. . ." I murmured.

Aya shakes my shoulders vigorously. "Wake up! These things happen! It's inevitable! It was bound to happen. That's what the word 'inevitable' is specifically for!" Then in a softer voice that I immediately feel calm, she say, "Max, I'm sorry. Sometimes, people choose to leave not because of selfish reasons, but because they know that things will get worse if they stay."

I smile sadly at her. "I want to cry. I badly want to do so. But I guess my body is incapable of making tears."

Aya gives me a small smile and strokes my hair. "You are a bad liar, Max."

"You're right. I lied."

Aya nods. "I saw you. You were crying and -"

I shake my head. "No, not that. I lied."

Aya gives me a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I lied when I told you I didn't think about Fang when I left London when I was eight. Truthfully, I kept thinking about him since I left. I didn't know what it was at the time; I thought I just a little homesick. Then, I went through puberty. It was like a splash of cold water in my face," I look at Aya, and she looks back, her face indecipherable. "I was in love with him. Ever since I left."

"Do you want me to say something?"

"Just tell me you won't leave too."

"I won't. I'll never."

Quite confusing, isn't it?

What happened? Wait, what? Who's 'he'? You cried? Why did 'he' leave? Why did you lie? WHAT HAPPENED?

It's not easy. Talking about it, reminiscing it, feeling the emotions all over again; it's hard. To make the long story short: Fang left.

Actually, I knew he was going to. He told me. I did not take it seriously. I guess, it was because of the time. It was New Year's Eve. At the time, I was living the moment. I did not think about the future, the past; I was enjoying the present.

Ugh, worst decision of my life. Even worse than the time I let Lissa put me in that hideous yellow dress.

But you know what? I didn't throw a tantrum. I did cry, just a little. After I cried, I hugged the pillow he slept on. I hugged it and slept, like everything was just a bad dream. . .

We slept together, that night. In both the literal and the other sense of the phrase. Just as we were going to sleep, he said, "I waited. I yearned. I didn't know destiny would bring you here," I felt him smile against my hair. "You could say it was 'the end of the world'. Destiny sure was sneaky. But you can't deny reality. When someone is your soulmate, you have to be with him or her. But sometimes, there are reasons why you can't be together."

I just grinned at him and told him, "Life sure is harsh, right? Two people in love shouldn't be forbidden to be together."

Fang kissed my forehead and replied, "I know."

I didn't want him to go. But he did. I asked him where he was going, and he just said, "Somewhere."

It's useless to mope around. I'm supposed to be hating him, but I don't.

When Aya leaves to do my rounds, I continue to lie on my bed. Despite the fact that Fang left, I'm still smiling. Hey, there's always a bright side in everything.

Someone knocks on my door and I stand up to get it. Tess is on the other side, breathless. I look at her questioningly.

She takes a few breaths, to settle her breathing. When she does, she says, "Mail."

"What?"

"You have mail."

"I don't get mail. Unless it's a basket from Mom. Is it? I'm still not done eating the last basket she gave me three weeks ago."

She shrugs. "It's not a basket. And I don't know why you have mail."

I frown. "Who is it from?"

"Why don't you get it?" I hate when I have to do stuff myself.

I groan. "Ugh. The post office is a long walk from here. I'm too lazy," I grin at Tess. "Come with me?" I flutter my lashes and Tess laughs.

"Fine, fine." I take her arm and we walk to the post office.

There, I open my mail box. Sure enough, there's only one white envelope there. I take it out, looking for a name. There isn't any.

Tess goes, "Maybe it's a prank."

I look at her. "Why would it be a prank? Who would prank me?"

She shrugs. "You never know. You probably have enemies."

I gasp, offended. "I do not have enemies! People like me! Everyone likes me!"

Tess laughs. "No, not everyone, Max. Iggy hates you."

I wave the envelope at her. "Good point. I don't get why he doesn't like me. I'm nice."

Tess crosses her arms across her chest, taunting me. "To him? No, no, no. Every word you say to him is an insult."

I grin. "I can't help it! The person is just full of flaws."

Tess dramatically sighs. "I think I know what Iggy is going through."

"Whatever." I look at the envelope in my hand. It's not that thick. I hold it up to the light and I see that there's a letter inside.

"What's inside?" She asks, curious. She moves beside me and looks at the envelope. "Looks like a letter. You should totally open it."

Inside me, conflicting emotions are going through a war. I want to open it so bad, but I also want to not open it. "Uh. . ."

Tess nudges my side. "You know you want to. Come on. You're not the only curious person in here. Come on. . ."

My face breaks into a smile. "The heck! Let's open it! You have a letter opener?"

Tess's smile falls. "Who owns a letter opener here in Dev? What are we, old-fashioned girls? Max, it's the twenty-first century. You just rip the letter open."

"Another good point." So I rip open the envelope. A white piece of paper folded in half falls to the floor. Tess and I both look down. We glance at each other and nod.

I pick it up and hold it in front of us. We both take a deep breath and let it out. I slowly open the paper.

"What the heck?" Tess says, shocked.

I don't say anything. I continue to read the words that are on the paper: No, the sky doesn't leave the sun when it doesn't shine. Even if it rains.

"What does that mean?" Tess asks me, as she watches me smile.

I look at her brown eyes. "It means, Tess. . ." I turn my head to watch the peaceful sunrise. "It means that when people leave, it doesn't mean that they're gone forever. Even though they're gone, they're still there for you. You have to believe that they still care for you."

Tess smiles warmly at me and gives me a hug. I lean on to her.

You know the saying "If you love someone, let them go. If they love you back, they'll come back."?

I am deciding to let him go. Why? Because I know he loves me. He's going to come back. Because he's going to be there for me.

Tess pats my head and tells me, "He's head over heels for you. That damn Fang."

I laugh.

She grins. "He'll come back. We all know he will. You just gotta wait."

I groan again. "Oh, no. Not again with the patience talk! I'm sick of it!"

Tess's laugh makes my day even happier.

Third Person POV

Far, far away from the post office of Deveraux Academy, a boy with dark hair rests his chin on his knees, while sitting on top of the roof of the guard house. He looks through his binoculars once again; his handsome face crinkles into a smile.

The boy's heart swells with love, as he watches the dirty blond-haired girl laugh with her brown-haired friend.

He swears to himself, "I'll come back. I'll be there for you, Max. Hintayin mo ako."

He looks again, his dark eyes still on the blond-haired girl.

Time never waits, they often say. But in love, you know it may. . .

A/N: Not the ending you quite expected, huh? Me too. Guess my imagination doesn't work well with my decision making.

Max: It never does. Look at how your stories turned out.

Me: Yeah.

Iggy: When are you going to write a new one?

Me: Summer? Or maybe spring?

Fang: I know you won't be able to stand not writing for a month.

Me: (grits her teeth) I can too, Fang.

Iggy: (sighs) ALL TOGETHER NOW!

All: THE END! THANK YOU ALL FOR READING AND REVIEWING! For the last time, RnR?