Strings (ongoing title, still thinking about it, its a fiction)
Mama—my mother—always told me, ever since I was a kid, that I shouldn’t trust everyone, including her, except myself. I never really understood what she meant back then, but now, I finally do. It’s not about having trust issues or just being cautious—though, of course, we should always be careful—but this, this is different.
My mama works at a company where she met all of her work friends. If I calculated correctly, she has been working there since before she got pregnant with me—so, almost three decades now. She has real friends there, but some? Nah. Some are just show-offs and fakes, though I can count the ones who genuinely care about her. We’re not rich like some of her workmates, but the real ones never looked down on her. They saw her as a true friend. The others? No comment.
Every May, the company holds a Family Day, where some of my mama’s co-workers bring their kids—including me and my brother. I got close to most of them, but my best friend among them was Veronica. She was one of my mama’s co-workers, though they weren’t particularly close. Veronica was cool—kind of tomboyish. She loved playing games on her big tablet but preferred physical games even more. She was sporty, while me? I didn’t really have any particular talent as a kid. But I did love coloring books. It was relaxing and rewarding, especially after finishing a page.
There was this one time I was busy coloring when this boy—one of the "company kids"—kept annoying me. But his sister? She was different. Quiet, pretty, always watching me from a distance. I wasn’t sure if she was silently judging my coloring skills, but she gave me the creeps. She had long, shiny hair, bangs covering her eyebrows, and the longest, curliest eyelashes I had ever seen. She wasn’t just pretty—she was gorgeous. All of my mama’s co-workers adored her. But I wasn’t jealous; she was kind and even gave me snacks sometimes.
Anyway, back to her brother—Zeke. He was annoying and loved teasing me and the other girls in our little group (yes, we called ourselves a "group" since we were always together at company events). But oddly enough, he was very protective of his sister.
May and December were the months when all the “company kids” would gather—May for Family Day and December for the Christmas party. I was 10 years old when I met my real circle of friends. We were all children of my mama’s closest work friends—eight of them in total. That made 14 of us in the group, including my brother. First, the twins, Bella and Ella. The quiet girl (Zeke’s sister) Zyra. The annoying kid, Zeke. The quiet boy who always played on his psp, Steven, like the Steven Universe show. The musician and the soccer player siblings, Leah and Joshua. Veronica, my closest friend at the time (but we’ll get to that later). The artist girl who loved to draw, Shaira. The SpongeBob fanatic who later got me into the show, Jerome. The guy who played instruments (Leah and Joshua’s cousin), Caleb or Cali, and his little sister Michaela. And of course, my brother Nat and me.
It sounds unreal, right? But this kind of thing happens in real life. Over the years, with all the annual gatherings, birthday parties, and sleepovers, we became inseparable—even that annoying Zeke turned out to be a nice guy. He even had a crush on Shaira, the artist girl.
But as we grew older, things changed. Veronica moved away when I was 13, We promised to stay in touch, but we didn’t. She found new friends, and that was that. At first, I was sad and disappointed, but my other friends comforted me, and I moved on.
At 14 years old, I started learning to play a musical instrument. I felt left out because I was the only one in the group without any talent. So, my mama signed me up for guitar lessons—with none other than Leah and Joshua’s father as my teacher. Their mother, one of my mama’s closest friends, was also my godmother. That’s also when I got closer to Caleb (Cali), their cousin, who played multiple instruments and had an amazing voice. He was two years older than me.
I practiced guitar until I was 16. We even played together like a real band. But then, COVID hit. We were all separated. Some moved to other cities, others left the country. Some of us simply grew apart.
Today, only eight of us remain in the group. It’s sad because we literally grew up together—we shared food, sleepovers, and inside jokes. My brother? He’s still in the group but doesn’t talk much anymore. He just ghosted us. Let me reintroduce everyone so things don’t get confusing. The twins.Bella & Ella. Zyra (the pretty, quiet girl) & Zeke (the former annoying kid)—now living in Cagayan de Oro with their dad. Leah & Joshua—still here, still my close friends. Steven (the PSP guy)—moved to the U.S. to study medicine but still keeps in touch. Shaira (the artist girl)—now studying architecture in CDO. Caleb (Cali)—still playing music, still like a big brother to me Michaela—not "little" anymore. Jerome… passed away. COVID took him, but I still doubt that was the real cause. I remember seeing him in an ambulance once, his mom crying over him. I never found out what illness he had, but I miss him so much. He was the kindest person—he used to share his Crayola crayons and snacks with me when we were kids.
And then there’s my brother, Nat, and me.
Hi, I’m Nicole, I’m 20 years old, and I’m studying at the best university in our country—my dream school. Is it hard? No, I don’t think so. And this is my story.
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