Chapter 3 HEART SHAPE SILVER EARRING

Mary Ann suddenly felt her tears flowing on her cheeks. She sobbed. She thought the water washed away what happened earlier but it didn't. She could feel a pain in her heart. She surrendered herself to a stranger.  She surrendered her supposed gift to her husband. How can she face her future husband? That made her cry again. She covered her mouth with her hands because her grandmother might hear her. *Flashback* "Grandma, can I take Mary Ann with me to a birthday party?" The old woman just looked at the girl. Cathy, her best friend, is asking her grandmother if she could take her to Marla's party, one of their classmates. She asked her if she could get her permission because her grandmother might not let her out. Her grandmother is sixty-two years old, she has been her guardian since she's two years old.  Her mom went abroad. She is working as a nurse in a well-known prestigious hospital in the United Arab Emirates.  She has been there for 16 years but she comes home every two years and stays with them for two months.  Her father?  She hasn't seen him since her mother gave birth to her. According to her grandmother, her father and mother met when her mom was studying in Manila.  One day, her mom came back home pregnant without her father. The old woman said her mom didn't say a word about her father. She doesn't know him at all.  When she was in elementary school, she tried to ask but she failed to get an answer. Well, her mom wouldn't tell her any information.  Sometimes, she felt envious of children who had their fathers with them.  She is longing for the feeling of being carried by a father in his arms or even with his shoulders or ride on his back. "Please grandma, I promise to drop her early." She hears Cathy's voice as she tries to convince her grandmother to take her to the party. "Who's party is this?" Her grandmother finally asked Cathy. "Marla. Do you remember her, grandmother?" Cathy asked. " She's our groupmate before where we always do our project. We always went to their house to make our projects back then." "Alright. You won't stop until I say yes, right?" Cathy nodded and smiled at the old woman.  "Okay then. Just make sure to come home early." The old woman answered that it made her so happy. "Thank you, grandma!" Cathy ran in her room's direction. "Mary Ann!" She could hear Cathy's voice up to her room even if she's still in the living room.  Knock! knock! Cathy is Mary Ann's best friend. They are the same age, attended the same school since primary and up until now that they are in college. They both took the same course. Truly inseparable. "Come in." She said as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Hey! Are you ready?" Cathy's face was full of excitement. "Almost done, just give me five minutes," Mary Ann replied. "Are you sure five minutes? Come on, bessy, I know you! Your five minutes is fifteen minutes." She laughed. "Oh, wait! Why do you need to be so pretty?" She rolled her eyes.  She continues what she's doing. Put some powder, little lipstick so she won't look pale and the final touch is she blows dry her hair. While Cathy is busy playing with her phone, she took her time to choose what to wear for the night. Mary Ann chose to wear a pair of heart-shaped silver earrings as her jewelry for the night. This is her mother's gift when she turned eighteen.  They are simple yet it made her look classy. God, she looked all grown up. She looks stunning in her light blue lace knee-length dress that just perfectly fits her body. It only emphasizes her curves and the round neck style just made her sophisticatedly sexy. She's 19 but many say she has a figure that is being dreamed of by every girl.  Cathy turned her head to her, "Gosh, beshy. Is that you?" She laughed."Silly." "No, I am serious, I almost didn't recognize you." "Overreacting. I only put a powder on my face and painted my lip a little bit." She laughed. "You look beautiful too." Cathy is wearing a dress as well. It's a pink princess dress made from satin that looks feminine. She wore a pair of big heart-shaped earrings as well that made her look like a grown-up lady and a pair of studded sling white sandals. "Uh… Ops… I can't zip it." Mary Ann said as she tried to reach the zipper of the dress at her back. "Can you help me?" "Let me see." "Okay! I'm almost done," She whispered as Cathy zipped her dress. She blew dry her hair. This made it look sleek and put it together to make her look more beautiful. "I gotta choose what bag to carry." She found a royal blue bag in her cabinet. She took it and put her mobile phone inside and she won't forget her lipstick and face powder just in case she needs to retouch at the party. "What do you think?" Mary Ann turns around in front of her friend Cathy. "You look like a princess." She could see her friend's admiration in her eyes. "So, do you?" She said and smiled at her friend. "Shall we go then?" "Let's go..." They walked out of the room. She saw her grandmother talking on the phone in the living room. She could see that her grandmother was very surprised to see how she looked. Her eyes brightened when she saw her. She smiled at her. "Grandma, we have to go." She said without making any sound and pointing at the door with her finger. She doesn't want to disturb her with her phone conversation. Her grandmother covers the mouthpiece. "Okay, take care, honey." She said before they went out to the front door. We are almost out," Please don't come home late." She said and looked at Cathy. "Don't worry, grandma. We won't be." Cathy said and smiled at her. They finally left their house. Cathy and Mary Ann felt relieved because they can both go together to the party. Mary Ann thought that her grandmother wouldn't say yes to Cathy but she guessed her friend's charm worked with her grandmother. A black car is waiting for them outside.  "Oh, by the way. Do you have the gift?" She suddenly remembered asking Cathy. "Oh, come one. You won't forget a gift when you come to a party." Cathy said to her. "Great then." "We can go now," Cathy said to the driver who is just waiting for her to say go to start the engine. The driver nodded and finally started the car's engine. Cathy's house is just next to them. Her father is a businessman while her mom is a plain housewife. They were already in the place when Mary Ann and her grandmother moved in. That's the time when her mom started to work abroad. They are neighbors turned to friends. Cathay isn't just a friend to Mary Ann. She is like her sister from another mother. She could still remember before when she was still small her grandmother would leave her in Cathy's house every time she needed to go to the city and pick up her mother's remittance. Her grandmother doesn't like to take her because she might get lost. So, she just asked Cathy's mother if she could be with them while she is away. Since Cathy is just her age, Cathay's mom thought it's a great idea since Cathy can play with her. Sometimes, she also sleeps over at Cathy's house or Cathy sleeps at their house especially if their exam day is approaching. They will both study and they both get high scores in exams. Mary Ann sometimes gets first place or it will be a tie score. But, this didn't stop them from being friends. It has always been a healthy competition for the two of them. Cathy is happy and supportive of whatever she achieves so is Mary Ann with Cathy's success. They graduated both with flying honors. Mary Ann is the valedictorian while Cathy is the salutatorian. "For sure, there will be a lot of people there." Mary Ann said. She is excited to see old faces. "Yeah, knowing Marla, she must have invited the whole school," Cathy said laughing. "Well, I was thinking her birthday would look much more like a reunion than a birthday party." "You're right. We will be seeing our old classmates. Why haven't I thought of that?" Cathy said that made her laugh. "Silly. You should be expecting that." She said as she shook her head. She really enjoys Cathy's company even up to now that they are really grown up. She always makes her laugh and smile even with just the little things that she says.