Tears. So many tears. Like that's the only thing I got from my relationship with Aria. But to be honest, it wasn't like that. The past three years with her were almost blissful. I can remember my memories with her as if it happened yesterday.

I look back at the day I first saw her. It was during the summer before my first year in college started. We attended the same university. The said university held a week-long orientation for incoming freshmen students. The whole week was filled with activities. They helped freshman students bond with each other. During that week, I became friends with a group of boys. Their names were Sancho, Roby, Chris, and Patrick. We always hang out every lunchtime time and sometimes even after the orientation.

One lunchtime, we decided to eat at the university cafeteria. The said place is located near the quadrangle field. The quadrangle field is the center of the university and it's an absolute beauty. The best part is that the cafeteria is actually a spacious building. It has not only a buffet type of cafeteria but also food stalls of famous food franchises. In short, a food paradise, if you have a lot of budget for food that is.

My new friends and I immediately found us a new favorite spot to sit and eat. That is a gazebo-type dining table outside the cafeteria building. As we ate, I listened to their stories. They were already classmates during Senior High so they are already closed. I happened to sit beside Sancho during the first day of the orientation. We talked. Then when it was lunchtime, he found the other three and invited me to join them. It turns out we all enrolled in the same course and the same major. Since then, they had included me in the group.

Roby was talking about an experience he had. It was about working part-time at McDonald's when Chris suddenly spoke.

"Hey Patrick, isn't that Aria over there?" Chris said while pointing with his lips at a direction behind me. We all look at where he is pointing at.

I saw the girl Chis referred to as Aria. She was sitting a few tables away from us. She was also with her friends eating and chatting. She didn't look any special to me. She seemed like an ordinary girl, a freshman like us.

"Yeah." Patrick acknowledged.

"I didn't know your girlfriend also enrolled here." Roby commented.

"I didn't know too. And she's no longer my girlfriend." Patrick revealed.

The other three screamed "What!" while I look at him, then, the girl.

"What happened? I thought you're both okay. You two were even the couple goals in our high school!" Chris exclaimed.

"We broke up two days before graduation. It was a mutual break-up. We both want to be just friends. And besides, we'll meet more and better people here in college." Patrick explained.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's leave our high school lives behind and begin a new chapter of our lives here in college. Cheers!" Sancho concluded while raising his can of soda. We all raised ours to meet his and exclaimed "Cheers!".

We all took a gulp of our drinks. I was the first to finish. As I wait for them to finish theirs, I took another look at Aria. Then, I completely turned back my attention to my friends.

A few days after the orientation, I had moved into my new apartment. Once I was settled, I went out to the shopping mall to buy groceries and school supplies. I first went to the school supplies store. It was easy to find all the things that I needed because every shelf was properly labeled and also I had a list.

I went to the cashier to pay for my items. There were two cashier lanes and both were pretty long so I took the one that has lesser people in line. As I was standing in line waiting for my turn, I turned to look at the other lane. I was surprised to see a familiar face at the other lane. It was Patrick's ex-girlfriend, Aria.

Based on what she's planning to buy, I guessed she's also getting her school supplies early. I look again at my front and saw that the one in front of me is already paying for his items. It was now my turn. I only bought items good for one month because I can always buy more when I run out. I was waiting for the cashier to punch all my items when I heard a slight commotion at the other lane.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but we won't be accepting credit cards today. Our POS for cards is currently offline. We will only accept cash."

"But I only brought Php 100 and this is my commuting money. Is there any other way for me to pay with my credit card?"

I turned and saw that it was Aria who was speaking. The cashier refused, saying that there was no other way to pay than cash. She even offered Aria to keep her items on reserve until she comes back later or tomorrow with the cash. Aria explained that she was in a rush and she may not come back anytime soon. But the cashier still can't help her.

I didn't know what came over me but I decided to help her.

"Excuse me..." I said trying to get their attention. Aria and the cashier both looked at me.

"How much is her bill?" I inquired.

"Php 510" the cashier answered.

"I'll pay for it." I said while pulling out money from my wallet. Then, Aria spoke.

"No, thanks. There's no need to pay for me."

I looked at Aria and smiled at her then said...

"Don't worry, Aria. You can pay me later."

Aria's eyes widen as she heard me say her name. This time, she didn't refuse anymore. Soon enough, we were both out of the store.

"I'm so sorry for causing you trouble. I'll pay you back as soon as I can." Aria pledged.

"Sure! Just message me. I'll give you my phone number." I assured. As I was inputting my number on her phone, Aria suddenly voiced her question.

"How did you know who I was?"

"I'm friends with Patrick. He mentioned you to me once when we saw you at the university cafeteria." I explained as I called my phone number through her phone to get her number.

Realization dawned on Aria's face as I mentioned her ex's name.

"Oh! You're that new guy I saw hanging around with Sancho's and Patrick's group." she recalled.

"Yes, I'm Justin Cyrus by the way. You can call me "Justin" or "Cyrus" I respond to both." I confirmed and introduced myself as I gave her back her phone. Aria gave me a small smile.

"Guess, I'll just wait for your text then." I added.

"Yeah, but I promise you that you won't wait for too long. Thank you so much again. I'll message you as soon as I can. I really need to be going. Nice meeting you. Bye!" Aria beamed with a smile that made her beauty popped out.

"Goodbye!" I uttered as I watched her walk away out of the shopping mall.

Who would have thought that our simple encounter would take a romantic turn?

The next day, Aria messaged me and explained she's out of town and she'll be back in two days to give me the payment. We started texting back and forth. We did the same thing for the next two days. We talked about ourselves. Our topics are about our hometowns, favorites, and high school lives. We even went as far as to ask each other some personal questions.

By the time we met again face to face, we felt like we knew each other for a long time. Then, we started hanging out and seeing each other every time we got the chance. We always talked on the phone every day. We were really fond of each other. The next thing I knew I was contemplating whether I should ask her on a date just a week later.

I sought advice from Sancho whether I should ask Aria out. He said that it was okay since her and Patrick's break-up was mutual. But, he still told me to ask Patrick if it was okay with him. And that was what I did. Patrick was surprisingly happy about it. He said that I'd be perfect for her. He also mentioned that he had been seeing someone recently so no harm is done.

Because of that, I gained the confidence to ask Aria out. I asked her to watch this movie with me that she had been planning to see. She agreed. To explain our first date in a short way, we had a blast. I asked her to be my girlfriend in a park outside the movie theaters. She was surprised but she did say yes. By the time school began, we were already dating for a month and a half.

Since then, our relationship had been smooth. There were times we had a few misunderstandings. But I made sure we both talked it through and made up before the day ends. I was so happy with us. I even planned to introduce her to my parents this year. I was even daydreaming about our future after we graduate.

Who would have thought all those will just fall into nothing?