Chapter 76 Recognition

KIA

After our dinner last night, we also drank some wine, and I ended up getting extremely wasted. I had no idea what happened after that; the only thing I can recall is Miaree and I dancing wildly. My head is aching from just waking up. I can feel my throat getting dry, and all I want right now to get over this hangover is to sip on some hot soup or coffee. My body feels really worn out, and all I want to do is lay in bed all day. Wait —Do I have class today?

I searched for my phone using my hand and as I grabbed it I immediately look at the calendar. Sh*t! I have one class this morning!

I already need to take a shower. I got up right away and went to the bathroom. I wake up feeling incredibly disgusted since I still wear the same dress I was wearing the night before. Ares was obviously drunk the previous evening, which is why he was unable to change my clothes. As soon as I turned on the shower, warm water began to stream across my body. Although I would like to take a really long shower, I have to hurry because I have a class to attend. As I was taking a bath I suddenly heard my phone ringing. I forgot to bring it with me but I put it on the table.

I suddenly heard Ares saying, “Hon? Where are you? Your phone is ringing I think someone is calling you.”

He must be awake.

“Can you answer it for me? It will take time for me to finish taking a bath!”

“Are you sure? It’s a call from Miaree!”

“Yeah! Just inform her that I am still taking a bath.”

“Alright!” he answered.

The moment I got out of the bathroom and walked to the kitchen, I saw Ares had already prepared our breakfast. I don't know how long it took me to complete my bath, but I am sure it was a long time seeing the breakfast he prepared. It’s a mushroom soup.

“Smells good!” I said.

“You’re done? Oh — By the way, Miaree said that you should be at school as early as you can since there will be a ceremony this morning. Oops — I almost forgot, she also said that be ready when you got inside the school.”

“Be ready for what?”

“No idea. That’s just what she said before dropping the call.”

“I see, I will get dressed first.”

I headed back to our room and wear my uniform and after that, I apply a simple making just for me to look presentable even though my eye bags are popping out because of healthiness. After I was done I head back to the kitchen and saw Ares making tea. I walk towards him and as I got closer I tiptoe for a kiss. I gave him a kiss on his cheek. He look at me and smiled.

“Good morning!” I greeted.

“Good morning, hon. Breakfast is ready. You must be starving. Take a seat.”

As soon as I sat down, I started eating breakfast, and when we have finished Ares drove me all the way to school. When I entered the campus, I noticed that the students are gathering around our department.

What is happening here?

As I was walking toward the department a girl suddenly approached me. She smiled at me and handed me a box. “For you!” She said, smiling.

“For me? What for?”

“Yes! Well… I just want to congratulate you on acing the midterm exam.”

“Oh… Thank you!”

“Yeah! You’re welcome. I am just wondering if you can teach me things like tips on how you study and stuff… hehe…” She uttered while she was scratching her head.

“Tips? Oh — I just… You know… Study? I mean I don’t know what to say to you because what I did is just review the book and that’s it. Maybe, one thing that I can advise you is to have faith in yourself. You can do anything if you believe you can.”

“Kianna!”

We were both interrupted by Miaree suddenly screaming my name.

“I have been waiting for you! I told your husband to make you go here as early as you can — Oh, wait. Who is she?” Miaree asked while smiling at the girl who gave me a gift.

“I actually don’t know, I’m sorry what is your name again? By the way, thank you for this!”

“I’m Kyla… Yeah, sure, no problem. I— I gotta go. Thank you for the tips, Kianna!” Kyla said while she was running away.

“Oh, she gave you a gift?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s inside—”

“Open it later. You still need to attend a lot of things today. Let’s go!” Miaree suddenly grabbed my hand and we ran going to the gymnasium.

When we entered the gymnasium there are a lot of students gathering inside and when they noticed that we entered they started shouting “She’s here”.

“What is going on?” I innocently whispered at Miaree.

“Just follow me!”

We went to the stage and sat beside the dean. I smiled at her and greeted her with a good morning. She responded with a smile and she suddenly stood up. She raises her hand, making everyone focus their attention on her.

“Good morning, students, professors, and faculty teachers. We are here today for the recognition of our great student who excels in their midterm exam. As everyone knows, your midterm exam is your qualification exam whether you will be able to continue with your program. With that, we expect that everyone will do their best to stay in the respective program that they are taking. But we didn’t expect that one of our students will ace that test. She got 99 over 100 on that exam. Only one mistake. The news had spread and it got to other universities because of that they wanted to offer that remarkable student a scholarship and an invitation to take part in the upcoming quiz bee competition that will be held in the most prestigious school in our country. The winner of that competition will be given a scholarship award to Harvard university. So, everyone, let’s welcome our ace, Ms. Kianna Myst Saavedra!”

I heard my name abruptly called and stood up to the applause of everyone. I can comprehend everything clearly, but it hasn't really sunk in me that I would be given this award.

“Would you like to say something, Ms. Saavedra?” The dean asked while handing the microphone to me.

“Ehem— I— I actually didn’t expect this… I wanted to say thank you to everyone who came here. I appreciate every one of you. Thank you to our incredible dean who always supports her students on the path that they were taking. I won’t be able to achieve this kind of achievement if it is not because of our dean… Thank you…” My speech continued as I thank everyone. After the recognition event that they prepared for me, the dean approached me.

“Ms. Saavedra, have you thought about the quiz bee competition that I said earlier?” The dean asked.

“Uhm… Actually, dean, I really don’t know. It is such a big opportunity and I have no idea if I am able to handle it—”

“Don’t say that. I know you can do it… This opportunity is such a great opportunity for you, Ms. Saavedra. You don’t have to pressure yourself to win that competition, I just want you to take the experience and learn from it. If you win the grand prize that is also great but the experience is the best prize you will be able to get here. Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something. So, I want you to think about it, okay?”

“Yes, dean…”

Everyone enjoys success, but not everyone is willing to accept failure. My ability to accept my failures has been my greatest life achievement yet. It is motivation. It makes me stronger, more deliberate in the decisions I make regarding my course of action, and more driven to excel in my upcoming endeavors.