Chapter 33: Chapter 33

Isabella's p.o.v;

After 2 years,

The graduation day,

The day I woke up realizing it was my graduation day, I was smiling all day long knowing that I'm going to make my dream come true after this.

I made myself look better than the other casual days by wearing makeup and doing my hair matching my outfit.

"You look beautiful today." Rose said while I was coming down the stairs.

I smiled and said, "Thank you, where is Mr Martinez and Big brother?"

"They asked me to inform you that they have a meeting so they left for the office early today."

"Okay."

While I was eating breakfast at the dining table, Kirk asked me, "When will you come back from college after graduation? Do you have any plans to go out with your friends after graduation?"

"You sound suspicious." I moved closer to him and sniffed on his clothing.

"What are you doing?" He asked me while blocking my head from sniffing his clothes.

"Did you prepare something delicious that you want to hide from me?" And sniffed again but i didn't get anything except the aroma of ravioli that I'm eating right now.

Rose asked, "Will you bring your friends to the house after graduation?"

"I didn't ask them yet. I don't know whether they'll be interested in coming here…"

While I was answering Rose, Chuck walked into the kitchen while asking, "Where should I keep this cake?" And stopped when he saw me and asked Rose, "When did she wake up?"

I stood from the table and walked to Chuck and got the cake from him and said, "At 7 am."

After placing the cake on the table, I opened it to see for whom it was. My name was written over the cake with 'happy graduation' words.

When I looked at them, they started stuttering.

I gave a hug to each of them and thanked them.

Rose, "I thought you'd get mad."

"Why should I? You bought a cake for me. Except for my mother, no one bought a cake for me. Thank you once again."

Rose pinched my cheek and said, "Hey, we're your family too."

"I know. And, what did you guys plan to do?" I asked excitedly.

Kirk said, "We only planned to cut a cake since Mr Martinez doesn't like people coming to his house."

"But he once invited my friends over…"

"You yourself said 'once'. You can't change it easily like how you change other things."

"Let's see." And made a smirk at them.

In the college,

Our classmates gathered for the graduation ceremony, chatting away excitedly and all had their phones ready. It was time for the final year of college. Most were happy, others weren't so sure about what awaited them in their life.

“Are you excited?” Tracy asked me, who sat across from me.

I nodded, "Yeah!"

The principal introduced us all as we walked past each other in line. Our names were called by name and we would take our seats in the audience and it was only a few minutes after they started their speeches that you noticed something. You had never been one to be nervous about the future before you, all the fellow students who have gathered here too.

After we got our graduation certificates from the principal, we had a little party in our playground with all the final year students. Some were still taking pictures of them in the gown and cap with their friends and families, some were celebrating the graduation by dancing in their gown, some were eating at the stall.

Mike gathered our class members and was talking about something rubbish like he always does. While I was struggling to find a way to escape, Jose whispered, "Come with me."

He's been walking for so long. Where is he taking me to? After a while, we came to the back of the juniors building. Will he stop here or is he going to walk again?

"Hey, where are you going?"

He stopped walking and turned to me and said, "I… I don't know how to begin this."

"What is it?"

He let out a sigh and said, "My father didn't work in a studio from the beginning. He was a reporter in a news channel but he lost his job since everyone said he gave fake news to them. The fake news was an affair between the CEO and a High-Schooler…"

"Jose…"

"Wait, let me talk while I can. Even though my father adapted to his new job, the people who talked bad about him didn't stop. It followed us everywhere. Which made me get angry at the person who did that to him. I wanted to get revenge. So I did a little research on the CEO and the High-Schooler who was mentioned in the affair. Later, I found the girl in my college so I tried to become friends with her to find out the truth. When I took her home, my father was surprised to see her. I said what I wanted to do with her. He scolded me to drop the idea whatever i had in my mind. But I didn't. Later, without my concern, I started being a friend for real. The way she treated me made me forget about the revenge I wanted with her. I made myself believe that the affair was a lie. Some days later, I saw the CEO appear in front of my house with that girl holding the guitar for her. When that CEO told me that he's her boyfriend, I was confused again. So I asked her about him to know what's the real story. When she told me the whole story, it hit me hard. I felt guilty for what I did. I'm sorry for betraying you, Bella."

I smiled and tapped on his shoulder and said, "It's fine. Tracy was looking for you so go and meet her first."

"Aren't you mad at me?"

"For what?"

"For betraying you?"

"You didn't do anything yet. And, Hey, you did it for your father. That's how a son should react if any father faces something like that. What you did wasn't wrong, so I'm okay with that. I'm sorry that your father lost your job because of me."

"I'm the one who has to apologise, why are you doing that instead of me?"

"When I joined the college, I couldn't talk with anyone since everyone was younger than me. It made me feel lonely. I was always surrounded by my friends so when I sat in my class and the cafeteria being alone, it made me feel lonely. Even though you approached me for some reason, you approached me as a friend. Moreover, you yourself said that you forgot the revenge and became a friend. So how can I get mad at my friend? Actually, I've been hearing so many things these days. It feels like it's the truth revealing year for me. Hahaha. Hey, Jose, it's okay. Now, go and look for Tracy. Don't be late and make her go crazy."

He gave me a hug and I hugged him back and patted on his back.

He broke from the hug and said, "Okay, I'll go to Tracy." And left.

While I was looking at Jose leaving, "Happy graduation day." Mr Martinez whispered to me from behind.

When I made a turn to look at him, he gave me a bouquet of flowers with a bright smile on his face.

I received it and said, "Thank you. The flowers look beautiful. it's from your garden, right?"

He nodded and said, "Our garden."

I let out a sigh and asked while looking around, "What about Big brother? Where is he? Didn't he come with you?"

"He went to attend PTA for his daughter. He'll come here along with her once it's over."

"Okay."

"What were you two talking about?"

"Some stuff."

"Your face looks like he said everything."

"You know?"

He nodded and said, "Yes."

"Thanks."

"Is it for helping his father?"

I nodded at him.

"He didn't do it on his own, I know Olivia was the one who was behind it. I tried to stop spreading the news but I didn't know that someone was going to lose the job because of me so I offered him a deal."

"You're really a good person."

He smiled at me and said while pointing in a direction, "Your brother came."

When i looked, Big brother was walking along with Yuyang to the venue.

Big brother patted my head and said, "Finally, you did it!"

Yuyang gave me a hug and said, "Daddy said that you're graduating today, happy graduation day, Bella." and gave me a peck on my cheek.

I asked her, "Where's my graduation gift?"

"Close your eyes."

I nodded and closed my eyes. She raised my hand and kept something on my palm.

"Now, you can open it."

When I opened my eyes, I saw guitar picks.

"What is this?"

"I know that your guitar pick broke so I asked Daddy to buy me the guitar picks. There are five guitar picks in your hand. Don't break it."

I laughed in happiness and hugged her tightly while asking, "Why are you so cute?"

I asked Big brother, "What about you?"

"How would I forget that? You've been nudging me for the past whole week."

Big brother took a box out of his pocket and gave it to me while saying, "One step closer to your dream."

I received the box and opened it to see what the gift was. When I opened the box, I saw a bracelet.

"Bracelet?"

He took the bracelet out of the box and tied it on my wrist while saying, "It's a charm bracelet. Keep it close to you."

"When did you become so lovely?"

He patted my head and said, "Don't lose it. It was hard to find this."

"We can get charm bracelets anywhere. Who are you trying to cheat?"

"Take a look at your bracelet."

I saw the bracelet on my hand and asked, "What's so special about this?"

I saw something imprinted on the bracelet, I read out loud, "Connected by heart, joined by love. Big brother."

Big brother said, "It's customised so i don't think you can find this anywhere…"

I hugged him tightly and broke out in tears.

Big brother patted my back and broke the embrace and looked at me. He asked, "Why are you crying? It's your big day. Do you know that You look ugly when you cry?"

I hit him on his shoulder and wiped my tears using my hand. Mr Martinez gave me a tissue to wipe my tears. I took it from him and wiped my tears away.

Yuyang said, "Let's take pictures."

I took my phone out and looked around for someone who's free. I spotted Mike who was having a drink. I asked Mike to take pictures and he accepted.

Big brother, Mr Martinez and I stood together for a picture. Yuyang stood beside me while holding my graduation certificate.

Big brother asked me, "What did Mr Martinez give to you?"

Mr Martinez said before I answered, "I have prepared a big gift for her."

"Really? What is it?"

"I don't have to tell you."

I hit Mr Martinez and said, "Don't talk like that to him."

When Mr Martinez rubbed his shoulder, Big brother asked him, "Does it hurt, Mr Martinez?"

I let out a sigh and said, "What's going on here?"

Mr Martinez said, "He's my secretary. Did you forget?"

I gave a tongue and squatted down in front of yuyang and asked, "Do you want to eat ice-cream?"

She nodded hurriedly with a smile on her face.

I held her hand and said, "Then, let's go."

Big brother said, "Don't let her eat more than two. She has school tomorrow."

"I'll take care."

After the graduation party was over, Big brother took Yuyang home along with him.

While Mr Martinez was driving the car, I leaned on the seat and asked, "Ahhh! I'm feeling tired. When will we reach the house?"

"In a few minutes."

I let out a yawn and closed my eyes to take a nap.

He shaked me up and said, "Don't sleep."

I sat straight and asked him, "What was that for?"

"Stay awake."

I leaned back on the seat and said, "I won't!" And closed my eyes but i couldn't sleep.

I sat straight and looked through the window.

"Aren't you sleeping?"

I gave a death stare and said, "No." And went back to looking outside the car.

In Mr Martinez's house,

As soon as I entered the house, Kirk, Rose, Chuck, Mateo shouted, "Congratulations, Bella!!" And blasted party poppers in the air.

I laughed and said, "Thank you guys. Now, Where's my cake?"

They broke out in laughter. Rose said, "I'll bring it." And walked towards the kitchen.

Mr Martinez entered the house and saw the confetti on the floor and asked in a firm tone, "Why's the floor like this? What's happening here?"

I said, "They're celebrating my graduation."

"I'll head to the room."

I held his hand and said, "Don't go. Stay here until I cut the cake."

After seeing Rose bringing the cake, I let go of Mr Martinez's hand and slided the table to the centre of the house. Rose kept the cake on the table and gave me a wooden knife to cut the cake.

I received a wooden knife from her and tried to cut the cake.

Rose said, "Wait, let's take pictures."

When she took out the phone, I posed with the wooden knife and asked, "Can I cut the cake?"

She nodded while holding the phone camera.

I blow out the candle and cut the cake to make a piece. I took the piece in my hand and looked at everyone and thought who should I feed it to?

Rose, "What are you waiting for? Give it to Mr Martinez."

"Huh?"

Kirk, "Yes, give it to him. He's waiting."

When I looked at Mr Martinez, he looked away from me. I walked over to him with a piece of cake in my hand. I raised my hand towards his mouth and tried to give the cake to him but he was looking away. Where is he looking at? Was he shy? Don't be shy and make me nervous.

"Mr Martinez?"

He looked in the eye and asked, "What?"

"Cake…"

He nodded and took a small piece from the cake and ate it.

Kirk said, "That's not how you give the cake."

I fed the cake to Mr Martinez, he took a bite from the cake while looking directly at me which made me shy. Why does he look hot even while eating the cake?

We took pictures, ate cake and celebrated the graduation happily.

After a while, everyone left except Chuck.

I came to my room and dropped on the bed and looked at the ceiling. Finally, I graduated!!!!!