That Old Time

We both hung out virtually together for the rest of the day. And time passes away all of the sudden. Reminds me of the days. Then Randy sent a picture. It was an old photo back when we were living in that town. It was my birthday party and the last day before I moved. There were him and I, and other friends, and my sister and her friends, along with someone I knew very well without having to look at her face.

I smiled, "It's the boys,"

"Hell yeah, you still remember?" Randy asked.

"Not all of them, no… and it was really awkward, especially with her,"

"Eliza? Yeah, she's the only one in our class that is a female who came,"

"And I was the one who invited her and the others," I gave myself a facepalm as I remember the event. I gave few other girls invitations a day before the birthday. And none of them came except for her. Then I looked at my bookcase in my room and I still have her present, which was a small teddy bear. She gave it as a memoir, and if I didn't like it, I could always give it to my sister.

I kept it.

"Well, I'm going off. Nice meeting you again, man," Randy said.

"Alright, cya later dude," and he disconnected from the call.

I slide towards the bookcase with my chair and grabbed the teddy bear. I held it and remembered the events when she gave me the bear.

"Here's your present," she said while taking her present out of her backpack.

"W-Why here? You could've just put it on the table there where all the presents go?" I asked.

"It's- a very embarrassing gift, and I want you to open it right away,"

I shrugged and started to unwrapped her gift.

"It's a bit light," I commented.

Then I opened the box and it revealed a furry brown teddy bear. I reached inside the box and held it on my hand.

"A teddy bear?" I raised my eyebrow at her. She started to blush.

"W-well, I give this to you as a memoir. I don't expect you to like it, so you can give it to your sister if you like,"

"Wow, and by the looks of it, it had been worn out. Did you just grab this out of your shelf or something?"

"Hey, it's a teddy bear I got when I was a kid. So of course it'll be worn out,"

I looked at her eyes, it seems like this was a genuine gift she wanted to give to me.

"Are you sure?" I asked, she nodded quickly. I put my gift back in the box and said, "Thanks, I'll… cherish it forever,".

It was the most awkward moment of my life, and was a bit sorry for her. But I kept it for her, she definitely wanted me to remember her, right?

He puts the teddy bear back where it was, and slide back to his laptop. Next to his laptop, was his phone that rung a notification. He grabbed his phone and looked at the notification.

(1 Message from Eliza Felicia)

I was surprised, because usually, it would be me who will start a conversation between us. But it looks like she wanted to talk about something.

I opened it and read her message.

"Hi," she wrote.

I replied, "Hey, how are you?"

Then after ten seconds, she replied back.

"I'm good, what about you?"

"Never better if it's not because of quarantine, otherwise I'd feel drawn because of school,"

"Oh, I hope you didn't push yourself too hard at school,"

"Don't worry, I always get my six hours of sleep,"

"Six!? Do you stay awake late all day?"

"No, I just wake up early that's all,"

The casual chat with Eliza continued for a few hours. I talked about her high school, and it was still the same school from when we were young. And then a little bit about our future, and then our hobby. And then I asked her about her suddenly chatting me.

"Hey, did you have something to say that you suddenly messaged me?" I wrote,

"Huh?" she replied.

"Usually, I would've been the one who would start a conversation with you,"

"Oh, I was just checking you out, that's all. And by the way, you should really check out my music cover. I actually did a cover on that song you liked a long time ago,"

"Oh really? What's your channel's name?"

"It's just ElizaMusic,"

I opened the browser on my laptop and searched for the name. And it showed up on top of the search page.

"You are famous, 80 viewers on your recent videos,"

"Hahaha, maybe I'll have a fan one day?"

I watched her video. She has grown up. She had become more beautiful. I felt something beating on my heart again.

"You've grown up! Never mind, you still look the same. And your hair is still short," I wrote.

"What!? I got taller, and I have totally changed!"

"What I mean is you're not getting uglier because of old age," and "I'm sorry if that sounded harsh, what I meant is you're still pretty,"

She didn't answer after a few minutes had passed. Was it wrong to say that? Ugh, I wished I didn't say that, I mean I could just delete it.

"Thanks," she replied. I instantly read the message, I was happy. "Was it a good cover?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was great,".

I talked with her for a bit then she had to go take a shower. I told her I had to do… something. We ended the chat and I sat there feeling a little better than before. Chatting isn't a great thing for reunion but it's better than nothing. I was happy she's doing well, I felt a bit at ease that nothing bad is going on for her.