Chapter 76: LXXV

Laia was their batch's valedictorian.

She simply couldn't believe it.

As their class erupted in cheers and series of applause from the announcement, Laia sat still and kept her eyes on the paper that their adviser was holding.

Was it really true?

Has she finally made it regardless of the obstacles and challenges that she had to go through?

"Laia, congratulations!" Shane squeals beside her, clapping as loud as her hands allowed her. "You deserve it!"

Brie continued shaking her friend until Laia started to be dizzy. "Laia, you're so amazing!"

Amidst both the chaos and the excitement in their room and among the crowd, Laia's eyes found Samuel who had a genuine, proud smile on his face.

He mouths. "I knew you could do it," He even winks at her, making the girl chuckle at his silliness. "Is your speech ready?"

"Yes," Laia mouths back. She couldn't fight back the grin that stayed on her lips as she watched him do silly movements with his hands again. "You're an idiot,"

"I'm your idiot," The smile on his face was so bright that it made Laia smile back.

It was in moments like this that Laia wished for time to slow down even for just a little bit.

Even for just a few seconds.

And yet, it never does.

Days pass by and tomorrow would be their graduation day.

But for a while, the six are all huddled on the couch without a single care of what tomorrow may bring. An action movie was playing on the huge screen in front of them and yet nobody really bothered to figure out what its actual plot was about.

Laia was absentmindedly playing with Samuel's hair as he rested his head on her lap while his feet were on Jake's lap who didn't mind very much as he was preoccupied with the conversation that he was having with Brie and Vivi who took turns on asking him questions regarding his future plans.

Shane was busy eating junk food with her eyes glued to the television screen. Laia thinks that the girl was probably the only one who understood the current happenings in the movie that was still ongoing.

"Laia,"

Laia momentarily stopped from entangling her fingers with the boy's locks. "Yeah?"

"Are you still going for architecture?"

The girl brightens at the mention of her dream course. "Yeah," She couldn't fight the smile that appeared on her lips. "I can't wait, actually,"

"I'm excited to see you excel," He reaches out for her cheeks with he lightly pinched. "Send me pictures of you studying, alright?"

Laia rolled her eyes. "Whatever," And then she realized that his sudden interest in a topic regarding their college life is a rare occurrence. "What's with the sudden interest?"

The girl's confusion regarding the boy's earlier statements was justifiable since he always tried to avoid topics connected to their college lives.

But then he decides to try diverting the attention of the girl to her favorite food. "Do you want pizza?"

It was obvious that the boy was trying to change the topic but Laia made an attempt to stop him immediately. "Samuel,"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you changing the topic?"

"I'm not," He sits up from his previous position and turned towards the three who were still in a conversation. "Who wants pizza?"

Brie and Vivi raised their hands in unison. Jake replies for the girls. "Us,"

Shane raised her hand as well, temporarily turning away from the movie that currently had a scene of a bloodbath between the protagonist and his enemies. "Me too,"

"Can we at least order a pizza different from what Shane wants? I don't want vegetables on my pizza," Vivi complains, earning a frown from Shane. "Hehe, no offense,"

"None taken," Shane reaches out for her phone and dials a number that Laia presumes to be the pizza delivery. "I'll just order for my own,"

"Okay," Samuel fishes his phone out of his pocket. "Would two boxes of pepperoni pizza be enough?"

"Yep,"

"Uh-huh!"

Laia sighed in disappointment when Samuel wouldn't even look at her regardless of her trying to catch his attention. It was evident that he didn't want her to bring up the topic from earlier but she wanted to know why he asked.

There was just this feeling inside of her that demanded her to know the answer to her question.

To know why Samuel was suddenly interested and then suddenly not.

She decides to think of a different way to talk to the boy alone.

"Does anyone want water?"

"Me, please," Brie says. "Just one glass would suffice,"

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"Alright," Laia stood up from her seat and pulled Samuel with her. She didn't give him an opportunity to escape as she immediately grabbed his wrist and didn't let go until they reached the kitchen and out of the earshot of their friends. "Tell me,"

Samuel sighed heavily and leaned against one of the kitchen counters. "Tell you what?"

"Tell me why you're suddenly interested in my future plans and suddenly not," She bluntly replies, not missing a single beat. When he avoids her gaze, she squeezed his hand. "Tell me,"

He finally speaks up after a few minutes of silence that Laia thought would linger until their pizzas would arrive. "I feel embarrassed,"

"Embarrassed?" She repeats.

"Yeah," He avoids her eyes again but he squeezes her hand back. "I'm terrified of what the future holds,"

His revelation surprised the girl. "Why?"

The words that came out of the boy's mouth genuinely puzzled the girl. Samuel was intelligent, probably even more than Laia if she had to be honest, so it's definitely not because of that.

In all honesty, she might've been disappointed if he ended up being their batch valedictorian but deep down inside her, she knew he deserved it as much as she did.

His fears wouldn't probably be something related to money as well since his family was rich. Richer than anyone than Laia knew, more like. Laia's house was even probably just the size of the Senator's lawn and she's not kidding.

She gestures for him to settle on one of the bar stools, completely forgetting about the glass of water that Brie requested. She can just get it later after her conversation with Samuel.

The boy reluctantly sits down on the stool next to Laia who was still looking at him.

"Why?

"I thought I was already decided on the course that I choose months ago," He sighs. "And yet now I'm undecided again,"

She squeezes his hand tighter. "It's okay to have doubts,"

"And yet you don't have a single one," It was only then through the light directly above them that Laia noticed the dark circles underneath the boy's eyes. "I don't want to disappoint you,"

Laia holds the boy's gaze as she spoke her next words. "You don't disappoint me," She doesn't dare look away from the boy who needed reassurance. "You don't have to be pressured by what I think of you because I know you're doing your best and you're amazing,"

And Laia wasn't lying. Not one bit. Regardless of their competition (that turned friendly and almost nonexistent by now) Laia always knew that Samuel had a knack for everything that he was interested in.

His preferred course definitely wouldn't be an exception.

"What was the course that you choose anyway?" She asks after the boy didn't reply to her earlier statement that she may or may not have heard online in one of the Ted Talks that she watched. "And was it really your choice or your father's?"

The girl knew that Samuel doesn't want a topic that involved his father but Laia knew that at this moment it was vital to know whether the Senator was connected to the boy's growing anxiety over college or not.

Laia may not be able to hit the Senator in the face with one of those overly-large golden figurines that he had on display in his house but she sure can wish him ill for the rest of her days if she ever finds out that he's one of the reasons why Samuel now had doubts regarding his future plans, specifically his college life.

"He's against it," Samuel says in a dry tone, almost as if it wasn't new to him that his father was against what he wanted and Laia's not even surprised at that. Just agitated. "But he doesn't particularly mind very much if I pursue engineering,"

Oh. That was surprising.

It definitely wasn't one of Laia's first guesses that the course that the boy wanted to pursue was engineering. She thought it would be medicine based on how interested he was in playing those doctor games that Laia hated because she couldn't deal with the patient in time and therefore lose the game.

Fuck those games.

"I thought you were interested in medicine," 

"I thought about that," The boy started to play with the girl's fingers. "And then my father found out about it and insisted until I gradually lost interest in it,"

Of course, the Senator never fails to make Laia think of more ways how to hate him even more than usual.

"What did Sawyer say?"

The mention of his older brother's name made the boy's jaw clench. He looks away and lets out a heavy sigh. "We don't talk very much,"

His response made Laia raise an eyebrow. That's weird, especially with how Laia remembered how Sawyer looked at his younger brother with unmeasurable concern and adoration that it almost made her sad that she was an only child. 

How could someone like that suddenly not show interest in having a conversation with his younger brother?

"Oh," Laia decides not to continue the topic seeing how it affected Samuel. "So, what made you doubt your decision regarding engineering then?

The boy lets out an almost shaky exhale. "I'm not that interested in the concept of engineering," His lips formed a thin line. "I also don't see myself loving my future job ten years from now,"

Laia nods in understanding. She had a similar thought before when she was about to choose journalism as her course for college, especially with how much she doubted her writing skills. True that writing was essential in architecture but Laia just had a gut feeling that she would be better suited in architecture rather than journalism and she decided to follow her gut feeling which led her to where she currently was about to be now.

"What career do you see yourself loving ten years from now?"

The boy's lips curl up in a lighthearted smile before he said his next words. "A musician,"

An image of Samuel on a huge stage with an even bigger audience entered Laia's train of thoughts. The boy she liked playing the guitar as he sang into the microphone. The boy she liked was surrounded by people who love and appreciate him.

Samuel living his dream and loving every part of it.

That would be an amazing concept.

He looks into her eyes. "Do you think I can do it?"

She smiles. "You can do anything in this world," Laia squeezed his hand.. "And I will be with you every step of the way."

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