He knew something changed.
The way he looks at her before and now made a huge difference. Somehow, after that night at the Retreat house, his eyes opened to the truth and the real story behind the girl named Sally became his concern.
Sally passed by his chair and gave a small smile, but even that very small thing she did gave Matt a warm feeling, and he smiled back at her then stood up awkwardly from his chair.
“Sally, wanna go to the Canteen with me?” He offered.
Sally smiled again. This time, it was a real smile. “Of course, Matt.”
It was their last year in High School, and in any traditional school in their country, they always go to Retreats.
And in any ordinary class, there’s always excitement and anticipation as each student climbed inside the van. The boys were talking about missing an important basketball game because of the Retreat, while the girls talked about the dresses they were gonna wear after the Retreat and their plans for the night.
Sally sat inside the van and made herself comfortable. She talked to her friend, Madison, about insomnia and joked that nobody would really sleep during the night because they will just talk and talk or tell ghost stories.
Matt was running around the van with his friend’s iPhone and waving it in the air like a retard. The other guys were laughing like monkeys then threw their bags in the van.
To summarize the scene of departure, it was ordinary and it is something that happens every year, in every class.
“Matt! Boys! Get inside. We’re leaving.” The teacher announced. Matt gave his friend’s iPhone back and went inside the van, followed by the rest of the class.
Sally was looking at a picture of San Sebastian Retreat House, and wondered if something extraordinary could happen in the place.
The councilor wore a black t-shirt and loose khakis. He wore glasses and he has braces. At first impression, the class thought of the same thing: NO WAY.
But when he started talking, funny jokes, quick remarks and punchlines came out of his mouth that they just had to laugh. He made the students join in his games and activities. They all had fun. They had a break and ate hot soup in the canteen. Some of Sally’s classmates were laughing about Jeric who rolled on the floor on one of the games called “Rope Game” wherein everyone was supposed to put their foot in a closed rope. And to think, they were about 42 students, and the rope was just half a meter long, and so when Jeric was about to put his foot, somebody else’s foot brushed by his and he got kicked out of the huddle and rolled to the farther corner of the room. Some were just eating, while some explored the place further after they ate.
Night came, and everyone was inside their rooms. There was about 10 rooms, and each room contains 4-5 students. Boys and Girls were separated from each other.
And as predicted, nobody slept until about 11pm. They went to their beds at 7pm and after talking for 4 hours with their bunkmates.
Sally was one of the few students who fell asleep early, so when she woke up at midnight because she was thirsty, she saw that everyone in the room was asleep. She stood up from her bed and looked around. It was very dark but the night light seen from the window gave enough light for her to find the door and get outside quietly.
She walked towards the bathroom first and washed her first so she may be able to see clearly. Then, she passed by the other rooms in Hallway A. She noticed that all were quiet. It didn’t bother her, though. She was never the type of person who believes in ghosts or apparitions and stuffs like that.
After a few minutes of strolling and looking for the kitchen, she got lost in the series of stairs and hallways. Instead, she stumbled upon a hidden balcony over looking the huge full moon and the mountain range near it. She stopped and looked around and found that the place was so peaceful and the breeze was passing through the thin strands of her hair.
She was feeling the cold winds against her skin when suddenly she heard a noise. Startled, she looked behind but a pair of cold hands grabbed her mouth preventing her supposed-to-be a blood-curling scream.
“Sally. Shh. It’s me, Matt.” The owner of the pair of hands said. Then when the voice registered in Sally’s head, she stopped fighting the assailant and saw that it really was Matt.
“Matthew. Why on earth—” She started.
“SHH.” Matt held his finger to his mouth.
“Wha—”
Matt covered Sally’s mouth again. Sally removed it, then in a hushed tone, she said “OK, OK, I understand. But why are you here?”
“Why are YOU here?” Matt asked.
“I got lost.” Sally muttered, then explained that she cannot find the kitchen.
Matt didn’t say anything. He turned around instead and faced the beautiful view of the stars and moon. Sally looked at him with a questioning face and also didn’t say a thing.
There was a few moments of silence before Matt spoke again.
“You got lost.” He murmured.
Sally nodded. “Uh, yeah.”
Matt smiled. “I found you.”
Sally had to cover her mouth so she can’t laugh aloud. If someone hears them, they’ll be dead.
“Matt, you’re so weird.” Sally murmured.
“Nah. I’m just bored.” Matt said.
“Bored of this retreat?”
Matt nodded.
“But you looked like you were enjoying all the games.” Sally countered. She gathered her loose brown hair on her back and leaned on the railing of the balcony. Matt secretly looked at her and studied how the moonlight reflected on her beautiful face. He quickly looked away when Sally turned her head.
“I guess I was. But,” Matt replied, “you know, its the kind of happiness that doesn’t really last.”
“Then what kind of happiness lasts?” Sally asked.
Matt looked down and asked the question quietly to himself. “I don’t really know. But I know how we can find out.”
Sally stood up straight. “How?”
“Let’s play a game.” Matt suggested. His sheepish grin spreading on his face.
“What kind of game?” Sally asked.
“Its a stupid game I used to play with my ex-girlfriend. It goes like this: I’ll tell you something I have never told anyone about, then you say something like that to me too.”
Sally thought for a moment then squinted her eyes. She ran her fingers through her hair and laughed softly. “Before that, are you sure you’re not gonna fell of this balcony because you’re too sleepy?”
“What? No. Of course not.” He chuckled. He explained that he had fallen asleep earlier than any of the guys in their room and that he woke up in midnight because he needed to walk around. Matt placed his hand on the balcony railing, a few inches away from Sally’s translucent hands.
“OK. You start.”
Matt pushed himself up so that he can sit on the railing. “I’m afraid of clowns.”
“I hate yellow clothes.” Sally said.
“I pushed my cousin from the stairs and I didn’t tell anyone.”
Sally’s eyes widened, but she continued. “I secretly hoped the guy who pushed his cousin off the stairs won’t push me off the balcony.”
Matt’s husky laugh echoed in the hall. “I won’t push anyone off the stairs unless I hate them.”
Sally made a fake sigh of relief and said, “I like guys with hazel eyes.”
“I like girls with brown hair.”
Sally raised one eyebrow, but then, quietly said: “I don’t know who my mother is.”
Suddenly, Matt’s smiled vanished. After saying that, silence hung in the air like a dense wind after a summer’s afternoon. The breeze echoed in the hallways of the retreat house and Matt shuddered because of the cold. Sally remained looking down, her brown hair hanging in front of her face, and her hands clumped together.
Matt didn’t know what to say, but he knew he had to say something.
“I-I-I have always liked the girl sitting behind me. And now, I like her more than ever.”
The silence that followed what Matt said was far longer than the previous statement. Of course Sally knew that the girl sitting behind Matt was her. She just don’t understand why all of a sudden he had the guts to say that aloud, and in front of her.
“I wonder why Matt likes this girl more than ever.” Sally tried to continue the game.
“I realized she’s a very strong person who manages to smile even though most of the time it doesn’t reach her eyes.”
Sally smiled. “I wanted to thank whoever would say that to me.”
Matt got down again and walked closer to Sally. “I wonder why she doesn’t know who her mother is.”
Sally sighed and muttered quietly: “I wonder if I will regret telling it to some guy who sit infront of me in class.”
“I promise that if some girl tells me a secret, I won’t tell it to anyone at all.”
With those simple words that Matt said, Sally told him everything. And the stars in the sky twinkled more than ever as the moon hugged the two teenager on the balcony, pouring their hearts out to each other.
What the two didn’t know is someone was watching them the whole time, starting from Sally’s discovery of the hidden balcony up to the time Matt hugged Sally when she started crying. She was a nun. A window directly opposite the said place shows clearly Matt and Sally. This nun didn’t do anything. She did not chase them away nor accuse them of doing something like displaying of affection. She simply stood behind the curtain watching them. She knew what was gonna happen. “It happens every year”, she whispers. Then she closed the curtain and went back to her bed thinking that God made the retreat house another memorable place.
As Sally ate the ice cream Matt bought for her in the canteen and her hair falling perfectly on her shoulders, he can’t help thinking about all that she have said a few nights ago in the retreat house. There in front of Matt, smiling and laughing, is a strong girl who survived 13 years of no mother to call. A girl who was only 3 years old when her Mom had amnesia, ran away from their house, never came back, and was never found. A girl who had no parents for half a year because her father experienced a trauma when her Mom left. The very girl who tried to act like she’s happy is now Matt’s inspiration for a pursuit of something even more valuable than happiness that lasts, but a thing that cannot fade away in time. A thing he felt in the presence of Sally in the Retreat house. A thing called love.
(Source: thatcrazyrockstar)
