FAREWELL

Mr. Barry stayed in Red's apartment for a total of four days. On the fourth day, Nana was discharged from the hospital, but Red realized that they could not simply leave with Mr. Barry right there and then.

Mr. Barry left alone carrying Red's commitment that they would be coming with him on his next visit.

That time would be only a little bit more than three weeks.

It would give her and Nana leeway to close all the loose ends regarding the apartment rental and all the people they would leave behind.

Before Mr. Barry left, Red had already explained – ever so vaguely – the circumstance of them leaving. "Nana, please go with me to where my father is."

"What are you talking about, child?" Nana quizzically studied her face.

She presented the letter she had received a month ago to Nana and went on as to how she had experienced extraordinary stuff. She revealed everything piece by piece in the gentlest way possible so that she would not be too shocked.

Even then, she went frozen, just staring at her with wide eyes.

'Maybe Nana thought that I already lost my mind.'

She had called Mr. Barry to explain some more stuff and to back her up with her story.

Nana fell silent for a long while, deliberating internally on the situation at hand. When she spoke, she took Red's hands in hers, "Meredith, I will go with you if you want me to come with you to meet your father. You have every right to meet him, dear. All the things you are saying now do not make sense. All the more should I accompany you. No matter what, you still have me."

"Oh, Nana." She hugged her and thanked her for supporting her decision.

In the remaining days, what was left to do was to say goodbye to her friends.

She broke the ceramic piggy bank that she had been feeding with loose cash and coins over the years with the intention to treat her friends to a generous meal and maybe a trip to the amusement park or sing-along bar.

After class, she gathered Duru and Maureen in front of the school gates. "Ready, guys? It's my treat! What do you want to do? Do you want to eat something special? Name it!"

"Wow! What happened to Ms. Frugal?" Maureen seemed impressed.

"Yeah, I know. My budget isn't much. But as long as within my budget, it's on me today! Let's splurge!"

"Are you sick?" Andrew put his palm on her forehead. Even if she wasn't feeling hot, her cheeks felt like they were burning. Out of reflex, she swatted Andrew's hand away.

"No, I'm not. Maybe I'm just a bit drained from the past days when Nana got sick. I want to unwind and relax. Come on! Let's have some fun today!" She marched uncaringly into the thick of the crowd along the busy streets of East Sechoia County Central Square.

Maureen and Andrew exchanged surprised glances. On most days, she would not have the guts to confidently walk along the busy streets for fear of getting much-unwanted attention due to her absurd hair color.

Andrew and Maureen just shrugged thinking that maybe the baby of their group had finally grown up a bit and had learned to ignore people's stares.

The truth was that Red realized some things were more important than others. That day, she promised nothing could hinder the three of them to enjoy their last bonding time together. If it required her to be more thick-skinned, she'd gladly turn into one.

They ended up renting a sing-along room with in-house platters of food for a minimum of three hours. She knew they would end up singing and dancing because Maureen was an avid boy group fan. Right from the moment they entered, Maureen already snatched the microphone and punched in the code for her favorite songs. She raved and danced in the middle of the room while Andrew and Red either played the tambourine or munched on the finger food that was served.

Leisurely, Andrew offered his hand, palm facing up, which was resting on his left thigh. He bobbed his head to it at Red who sat by his left side. He wanted to hold Red's hand.

Red gave him a small grin, then slipped her right hand onto his. He gave it a squeeze and smiled back at her.

'I will miss him.'

Her heart ached like it was being pricked by thousands of needles. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. With her free left hand, she grabbed her red lemon iced tea and took a gulp. Yet, a tear still escaped. Good thing that the room was dim-lit. She feigned a happy aura and gave Andrew a smile who also smiled back.

Noticing that she was the only one performing, Maureen tugged both of them into the center of their room. Since there were two microphones, they shared and passed one to the other while the one without the microphone played the tambourine.

It was an amazing get-together. 'I will remember this day as long as I'm alive.'

"Phew! That was fun!" Maureen commented while they exited the establishment.

'Maureen.' Red took in all her energetic actions and facial expressions. 'The girl who defended me from those kids who teased me 'Blue' before. She's the one who started calling me 'Red' and the others followed suit. Thanks to her, I could borrow some of her guts and be cheeky too sometimes.'

'She's more than a sister and a friend.'

Her heart was too heavy to mask her sadness with a smile.

Before the day ended, they took a photo together to commemorate that day. All three of them entered a booth where in four poses could be captured with a timer. They all cramped inside, but it's alright since they could connect physically. By the side of the booth, props and costumes like wigs, oversized lens-less glasses and banners were provided. They chose whichever they felt like in between laughter and the pressure of the ticking timer.

Certainly it was a day to remember, and if any one of them had forgotten about it, a nice photo was captured to remind them of it.

In the middle of Maureen's blabbering right before they parted in front of Maureen's house, Red threw her arms around her friend in a bear hug. "Thank you for everything, Maureen. Take care of yourself."

"You are acting strange, girl." She responded in a tranquil voice, her arms wrapping around her friend, reciprocating her hug.

"Just a bit emotional these days." She sniffled while chuckling. "Don't mind me."

When Maureen went home, Andrew and Red were left to walk home around the neighborhood. Since they just went near, they did not need to drive around. They enjoyed sauntering under the moonlight in the cool embrace of the spring wind.

Andrew grabbed her hand. She did not seem to protest so they continued their walk in that fashion. When they reached Red's apartment building's front door, like what she did to Maureen, Red also hugged Andrew, but this time, more timidly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "Thank you for everything, Duru. I am afraid this is where it ends."

Stunned, he parted his mouth but no words came. He clung to her with utter desperation he could not describe.

When he recovered from his initial stupor, he looked at her and saw her cheeks wet with warm tears, and her face scrunched with all the pain she was feeling inside. He wiped the tears with his thumb in silence. His own visage was crumpled in a frown, mirroring the pain she exuded. "Didi... End? What?"

"Goodbye, Duru. You will always have a special place in my heart."

She pulled away then ran inside their building up the stairs to their house in such haste. Andrew was left in another episode of stupor. His feet anchored to the ground as his heart sank to the deepest corner of the ocean floor.