EPILOGUE

60 days later

Our two-month summer vacation has come to an end. We're back at school and we're now in grade 11! 

"You grin like you’re a college graduate." Nyla appears not to be excited, unlike me.

"At least we’re one step ahead." I love Anj’s optimism.

"Hey!" Rishi greeted us.

"How’s the first day?" I questioned the three of them.

"It went well,” Anj’s short answer. She chose Accountancy, Business, and Management strand because she aspires to be an accountant.

"Hmm… not much but they made me the class president," Rishi replied. He took Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics strand. This boy is has a clever brain in academics, especially in math.

"You're the president? I feel sorry for your classmates." Nyla mocked him. She decided to be in the Information, Communication, Technology strand because she’s interested in computer programming.

Rishi scoffed. “My Artheo relatives are quite uptight. They expect too much from a dopey guy like me.”

I am in the Arts and Design strand, where my talent and hobby will be honed when it comes to drawing and painting.

The four of us are no longer classmates this school year because we’ve chosen four different strands. It may not look like it, but our differences brought us all together, which strengthens our friendship.

"Heavien Luvitos?!" I turned around to see someone who called me.

"Um, yes, why?" I’m puzzled.

“I am your classmate!” She held out her right hand to me. I gave her a handshake. “I'm Jezial Athaliah, a transferee from Sherrin High. I'm sitting in front, so I didn’t have the chance to approach you earlier. Oh, by the way, here." She took something from her bag and showed it to me. "I'm your fan! I was waiting for you to come out after the homeroom to get an autograph.”

She handed me a ballpen. I signed the first page of the book she’s holding.

"Hey, piglet, you're here!" A boy approached us. He’s tall with long, messy hair.

"This creep wants to eat with us at the canteen," responded the other boy with a wristwatch.

Jezial smiled at me. “Lovely meeting you. Thank you for this!" Jezial said goodbye to me, and the three of them left.

I felt both confused and embarrassed by what just happened.

I paused for a bit. Comics? Book?

As I recall, when I was organizing my drawer, there were bond papers compiled. It was a comic, and the title was 'Triumphant Game'. There is a date when it was written, and there’s the name of the author with a signature above it. My name was written there, which matches my signature. There’s also a soft copy saved on my laptop, and it has been published on an online reader website. I got contacted by a staff of the online reader website and was offered to turn that online comic into a physical book.

I just can't remember the comic, which weirded me out. How come a comic that I specifically wrote would slip off my mind?

It was lunchtime.

"You guys go first. I'll go to the CR." I said.

I was walking towards a building when I saw that the comfort room there was closed for maintenance. I walked again to the other building.

I saw a boy sitting on the ground, leaning against the huge roots of a tree. I approached him to wake him up because he might be caught by a teacher or the principal herself.

He was still asleep. He has tanned skin, his hair is neatly gelled, which makes his hair spiky, and his mouth opens with drool on the left side of his lip. His left hand is supporting his head, and his right hand is holding a book. Out of curiosity, I leaned forward to the cover of the book and...

I gasped. I accidentally woke him up.

He sat up straight. He wiped his drool and rolled his eyes, looking at me. "Why?" he asked, frowning while rubbing his eyes.

My eyes widened at the sight. At the same time, the wind is blowing harder, and the dry leaves are floating in the air.

"L-Leon...than?" I asked the boy. I was left stunned.

His forehead furrowed even more, and he brought his face closer to mine.

"Who are you?" I questioned him out of the blue.

I don't know what I am doing, but I'm suddenly nervous.

"Canley” he stated.

"Can... ley?”

"Yes, Canley!” he cleared it out for me. “What or who is that Leon you’re talking about?”

"Huh?”

Oh, wait! Who is this Leonthan I'm talking about?!

Hmmm… Think, think, think... ah!

I have a 2x2-inch picture of that Leonthan in my drawer that has been stuck in my journal notebook. I would have thrown away that picture, but I read something on the back of the picture.

'I, Heavien Cyre Luvitos, shall not throw this precious memento of Leonthan Hortaia’'

I just didn’t throw it away, just to make sure.

He looks exactly like Leonthan in the photo hidden in my journal. I also saw that there was a sketch of 24 people. I don't know who the 23 people are, and I don't know if I was the one who sketched it.

"Oy," I came back to my senses from deep thought.

"Ah, nothing. You just look like someone I knew."

"Why the h*ck did you wake me up? I’m having a good dream."

"I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. The guard or teacher might catch you sleeping here.”

He sighed. “Don’t sweat it.”

I can’t leave him yet because of the questions formed in my head. “What are you dreaming about?”

He looked far away. "I'm supposed to save a girl from the game... haysss! I almost got the good part of it!”

I frowned. "Game?"

"Here, oh," He showed me the book he was holding. ‘Triumphant Game’ is the title of the book that he’s reading. "It's a good one. Have you read it? Or are you even familiar with it? Tsk, tsk, you're outdated if you don't know anything about this great comic book. Haha!" He laughs like he’s mocking me.

"I've read that," Yes. Not to brag, I’m even ahead of you reading it.

"Oh, really? I didn’t expect that someone would also read this. All my classmates and friends know nothing about this story."

He tapped the right side of the ground as if he were inviting me to sit beside him.

"Why?" I asked him because I was not planning to have a long chat with him.

"Come here," he held my left hand and pulled me down. I sat on his right side without leaning on the tree.

He is having fun while telling the story. He even shows hand gestures and sound effects so I can feel his storytelling about the book.

"Right? What a letdown that the story has ended that way. I hope the author will add something more to it," he commented. He looks disappointed.

"Why?"

"The author must be fond of a cliffhanger. It was a bad ending for me. No, actually, it’s the worst ending I’ve ever read!”

I don’t know if it was supposed to be a compliment or a total insult to me. He just mentioned it is a great comic book, yet he considers it to have the worst ending he has ever read. Where should I place myself then? This is the first criticism from a reader that I’ve taken face-to-face.

“I wish for at least one last chapter of it to give me closure."

"I already know what the author will add in case she adds," I replied.

In my peripheral vision, he looks at me. "What will it be?”

"Even if the two are not together, they will learn to live through each other’s memories. They can avoid the destiny written for them but cannot escape it. They shall receive what path that has been prepared for them because they know there's a good ending awaiting. For some, it might be a bad ending, but there’s a reason why the author chose it to be like that. Not every story should turn out to be what the readers expect it to be. If the author always favors the readers, then where’s the thrill behind it? We tend not to always have an ideal ending. And that brings excitement to life because it can be unpredictable.”

Canley is silent and I could see in my peripheral vision that he is staring at me seriously. Did he get my point?

"Hey," I poked on his shoulder.

"Oh, my bad!" He scratched his head. He finally came to his senses. "You are?" he squinted his eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Heavien," I simply answered.

"I thought so!" He pointed at his left index finger in the air.

I got startled at his reaction. "W-Why?”

"You're the author of this! No wonder you look alike.” He pointed out the book he was holding. “Why didn't you tell me?!"

He opened the book to the last page where my face is printed.

"Hahaha!" I couldn’t hold it in, so I laughed at him.

As a form of my apology because I woke him up from his deep sleep, I gave him an autograph. That marks two consecutive autographs for today’s record.

I glanced at my wristwatch. It took longer than expected.

"I'm going to leave," I told him.

I forgot that I still need to pee, and the three are waiting for me for lunch.

I stood up and patted my skirt because of the dirt from sitting on the ground.

"Where are you going?”

"At the canteen. My friends have been waiting for me.”

I was about to run when he took my left hand.

He stood up and smiled. "Pleased to meet you, Author."

He called me Author, just like the name of the hologram in the story. He let go of my hand. I smiled at him, too, then I nodded. I ran fast.

"Miss Author!" I stopped running for a moment and looked back.

"Mm?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Let's meet again and talk about the sequel to your book. I can be your editor, so I should be the first to read the sequel, okay?" I smirked at what he said. “Canley Sablo, grade 11, from class ICT-D. I always spend my lunchtime here. Make sure to hit me up!”

"Looking forward to your volunteering!”

He waved at me, and so did I. I continued running. I stopped running for a moment. I can see the school’s garden from where I am standing. That’s the place where it all started and ended.

The moment I talked to Canley—it was as if the two of us were longtime friends. I smiled at the last part of what he said.

Sequel? Hmmm...

I'll just leave it to your imagination.

I started running again towards the next chapter of my life.

THE END

Character Names Pronunciation

Leonthan Hortaia: Lyon-than Hor-ta-ya
Heavien Cyre Luvitos: Hee-vyen Sayr Lu-vi-tos
Brenille Artheo: Bre-nil Ar-the-yo
Rochevel Javinendo: Rosh-vel Ha-vi-nen-do
Rochedan Javinendo: Rosh-dan Ha-vi-nen-do
Myriana Quevas: Mir-ya-na Kwe-vas
Alexus Pavett: A-lek-sus Pa-vet
Shaunrey Hortaia: Shon-rey Hor-ta-ya
Jecko Noman: Je-ko No-man
Yriel Evirez: Ee-ri-yel Eh-vi-rez
Seyah Miaje: Se-yah Mi-ya-he
Trake Lo Vega: Treyk Lo Ve-ga
Nadine Tarris: Na-din Ta-ris
Karson Lu: Kar-son Lu
Canley Sablo: Kan-lee Sab-lo