Bianca and I entered Cups & Couches, a rustic-themed coffee shop where Lily was working as a barista. We had agreed to set the meeting here so we could hit two birds with one stone—plan the reunion and visit Lily at work. We immediately spotted Jeff sitting by a beige couch in the corner spot, sipping a cup of what I presume was black coffee.

When we approached him, he put down his cup to greet us. "Hey, you didn't tell me what drinks to order for you so I trusted Lily's choices," he explained, pushing the cups of frappe on the table towards us.

"Thanks," I replied, picking up the cup labeled with my name and punching the straw on the straw hole.

"Where's Elisa and the others?" Bianca asked, sitting beside me.

"On their way," Jeff answered before smiling at someone behind Bianca and me.

I turned my head and saw Lily approaching our table.

"Hey, Lil! It's so nice to see you at work," I greeted her.

"I can't sit down," she explained as she rested her palms on the table and leaned forward. "But I'm glad you decided to meet here. It feels like I'm part of the planning."

"Of course, we wanted you to be part of it too," Bianca replied.

"I just checked in on you guys but I have to get back to the counter. But I'll try to join you when there are not many customers."

"Sure. We don't want you to get in trouble."

"Don't worry," she laughed before whispering, "The management loves me."

After a couple of minutes, Elisa and Noah arrived. It was good seeing both of them. I couldn't recall the last time I had seen each one of them so we began catching up. They all had graduated already and looking for jobs right now.

"You should stop by at the boutique sometimes," Bianca suggested when they found out that she was now managing her own clothing business.

Elisa agreed and asked jokingly if she could get discounts.

"No problem," Bianca assured them.

"How about you Kane? What are you up to these days?"

"I'm still in university."

The two of them widened their eyes in response.

"What?" Elisa asked. "Oh, because you're in med school, right?"

I chuckled uncomfortably. "Uh... No, I shifted to a new course."

"Oh," she uttered.

It was that 'oh' people say when they didn't know what else to say to you. I was accustomed to this kind of response and some impolite responses when people found out I decided to ditch my pre-med course.

When you're an honor student, there's like an unwritten rule wherein you're not allowed to change your mind. As if what you've decided before should be your final decision for the rest of your life. People have high expectations of you. They always assume they know what you want to do in your life, expecting you to follow their high expectations of you. Even if they don't know what you want.

"It's alright. I didn't want to be a physician anyway," I explained with a soft laughter, trying to make the situation feel lighter.

I grew tired of following what other people want me to be. I was also sick of explaining myself to everyone who questions my decisions. I thought I was done speaking for myself. But there were still instances wherein I felt defensive like I had to insist I did the right thing by following what I want, just like today.

"I think journalism suits Kane better," Jeff added, and his voice was a little stern. He exchanged glances at me before continuing, "After all, it's what she is passionate about."

"Yeah, I think it's nice that you went after what you're passionate about," Noah politely agreed. "And you used to be the Editor-in-chief of the Eastview Gazette in our senior year, right?"

"M-hm," I replied, nodding.

"Yeah. We should pursue what we want," Bianca started. "Look at Lily. They're a family of lawyers, I think. But she's working as a barista and she's also a part of an indie band and she's happy."

We all glanced at Lily who was busy preparing a customer's order.

"That girl's a rock star," Jeff commented. "Why don't you order something first then we'll get started on planning?"

The two agreed and they left the table to line up at the counter.

"Thanks, you guys."

"For what?" Jeff asked nonchalantly.

"I think you know why," I replied before taking a sip of my dark chocolate frappe.

"Nobody questioned me when I started my photography gig while I was still in university. I knew I would be a photographer even before I graduated with my computer science degree and nobody questioned it. Nobody questioned Bianca when she decided to manage a business instead of applying for a regular job. So, nobody should question you why you decided to quit biology."

"We'll focus on the reunion," Bianca assured me.

"We know you've already got a list of things we need to talk about," Jeff added. Then he smiled at me and his dimple appeared on his right cheek.

I pulled out my tickler notebook from my satchel and opened it on the page labeled 'Homecoming'.

When Elisa and Noah went back to our table, I showed them my list of the things I thought we needed to prioritize first.

Finding out if our classmates would be interested in a high school reunion was on top of the list. We shouldn't waste our time planning it and find out later on that we wouldn't push through it. Besides, I already daydreamed a lot about it that I didn't want to keep my hopes any higher.

"I agree with Noah," Jeff approved. "I think it's best if someone creates a group chat and adds everyone from our class."

"It's the most convenient way of communicating," Bianca added.

"On it," Elisa mumbled, picking up her phone from the table. "I'll add everyone and start a poll."

"Tell them we plan to have it next year and ask them who would be interested," I requested.

"Oh my God," Bianca exclaimed. "I mean, we're just getting started but I'm so psyched already."

I smiled as my pulse raced.

It's happening.