Liana Cordova My enemy turned best friend turned sister

A oneshot story by yours truly. Author Saddy.

"Lianna Cordova, my enemy turned best friend, turned sister."

It was September 4, 1990 when I first met her. I was in the sixth grade and I just transferred from my recent school in California. At the very first day of school, she was the one I first saw. And I quickly despised her and her behavior. I mean, who would like a bully who made you her number 1 clown.

SEPTEMBER 4, 1990

"Please stop." A girl in thick glasses whispered. Tears ran down her face and her books scattered on the hallway floor. "Why nerdy? What if we don't? What will you do 'bout it huh?" A girl with silky and curly hair mocked. Her smile grew wider as more tears flowed from the girl's eyes. "Isn't this too much Lia?" Lianna's friend asked. "No, she deserves this. This is what she gets after thinking of ever competing with me." Lianna answered. "Please Lianna, I'm sorry. Please stop." Lianna smiled at the girl's surrender. "Next time Jenny, don't even think of surpassing me!" Lianna said as she threw a book at Jenny's face. She turned around with her 2 friend in triumph, but after merely 2 steps a deafening sound occupied the hallway. Lianna's mouth fell open as she looked down and to the girl that threw a book on the back of her head. "Did you just hit me with a book?" She asked in disbelief. 'How dare she?!' She said in her mind. "Yes! So what are you going to do 'bout it, bully?" The girl with the red ribbon mocked. The 2 girl's at Lianna's back gasped. No one has ever dared of talking back to Lianna. "Who do you think you are?" Lianna asked, fuming mad. "I'm Rhianne Vasquez, and you Miss Lianna do not have the right to bully nor hurt anybody just because you think you're a somebody." Rhianne said.

That was our first encounter. One, that would lead to many more. She became my enemy. My number one rival in everything. We would always fight in class, in debates, even in which formula is best in a math problem. In every academic competition I'd join, she would too. We were rivals in everything except singing and dancing competitions. Because, I don't dance and she never sings. I was a part of the choir and played the piano. While she was the head dancer of our dance sport team.

Years have passed and it was already the end of the school year. We were already in the tenth grade and our teacher just announced the valedictorian of our class. Although I wished, hoped and prayed it will be me, I was still surprised when our teacher called my name. I was ecstatic, but when I saw Lianna I didn't know what to feel anymore.

MARCH 29, 1996

"So our valedictorian is..........Rhianne!" Our teacher announced. Cheering and applause was the only thing you could hear in the room. I was beyond happy, but then my eyes landed on Lianna. Tears filled her eyes and sadness enveloped her face. I didn't feel so happy anymore. I know she worked hard to surpass me and be the top one, and I didn't mean to hurt her like this. She slowly left the room and I was quick to follow. But my classmate's congratulations slowed my pace. When I got out of the room I quickly ran through the hallways. Looking left and right trying to find Lianna. I ran out of the building and went to the abandoned building behind the school. I hope she's in there. And she was, in front of that small fountain in the middle of a small garden. She sat on a bench crying. My pace slowed down as I realized how much pain my victory cost. She's crying, and I never saw her cry. Not when I won the debate, not when I was chosen as class president against her, not even when we were fighting. Just now, in this very moment. I saw how vulnerable she is, that no matter how strong a person may seem. She's still a human being, who can feel pain and suffering.

I didn't know what came into me but I approached her. I was behind her while she was crying. Without even realizing I was already offering my hanker chief. She looked up at me but quickly looked away. "What are you doing here?" She asked trying to sound like she didn't just cry. "Just take it Lianna." I said. She took it harshly from my hand and I gradually watched her wipe her tears. I sat down beside her and fidgeted with my finger not knowing how to start a conversation. "Uhm" I said. I heard her sigh before she gave me a bored look. "If you're going to make fun of me just do it, then leave. I'm not in the mood. I berthed heavily before answering. "I don't even know why we're still fighting. We're not kids anymore Lianna, can't we just be friends?" I asked.

That was the question I asked that gave a spark to our friendship that kept burning for years. I didn't even realize that she has become a laminated figure in my life. She became my best friend. Our friendship went well and we discovered that we had so much in common. Our friendship deepened, to the point that we took the same strand in Senior high. STEM, that was our strand. I strived hard for my dreams and so did Lianna. But I guess fate had another path for her.

October 17, 1998

"Rhi-rhi! Help me, how do I solve this equation?" She asked. We're in a coffee shop near our school studying for an advanced calculus test. "Lily it's in the book. Kindly read page 352 and I'm sure you'll get it." I said not even looking up. I'm trying to find a suitable formula for this problem I'm working on. "Huh-hmm" I heard Lily yawn. "I need a break, and coffee. Do you want some too Rhi?" She asked, and I just nodded in return. I saw from my peripheral vision how Lianna stood up and walked to the counter. A few minutes passed and a small commotion grabbed my attention. It was Lianne and some guy, and from the looks of it. I think they bumped into each other. I was about to stand up when I saw Lianne's reaction. Is she smiling? Usually she would've punched the guy but this. Gosh! This is disturbingly different.

The guy she bumped to was Gabby. Gabriel San Diego and he's a year older than Lianne. He was also a first year engineering student, and there and then. I knew, something will change.

APRIL 9, 2000

After Lily met Gabby her life started revolving around him. She started spending more time with him than hanging out with me. She was head over heels for him to the point that she didn't pursue medicine. Gabby told her to take engineering after our graduation, the same course he's in. Being the good girlfriend that she is she did. While I pursued my dream course, medicine.

"So, how are you?" I asked. We're in the same coffee shop we always went to in high school. "Good, you?" She tried to sound enthusiastic but it came out hurt, very hurt. "Lily." I said as I reached for her trembling hands. I know she's holding it in. When I did hold her hand, she burst into tears. "I don't know any more Rhi! My life's become a mess." She said crying her heart out and all I could do was hug her. "I'm having a hard time with my course, especially now. Besides, my heart is in medicine not engineering. I wanted to save lives not build homes. But when I opened up about switching my course with Gab, he got mad. I'm really confused Rhi! What should I do?" There it dawned to me, for once in my life I had no answer to give. I was speechless. How can I tell her what's right when I don't know how she feels, I'm not living in her life to know. It was a question that broke my heart. Lily has become my sister by heart and it crushes me knowing that she's hurting like this.

Life played a deadly game and my Lily was fighting for her life. A fight I cannot intervene.

October 26, 2004

I drove my car as fast as I could to the coffee shop we always went to. I'm always busy but not for Lily. It's my first year in residency and I know it's bad for my record to be tarnished, but Lily needs me. I parked my car quickly when I got there. I went out of the vehicle and entered the shop. I didn't even care about the pouring rain. I looked around and saw Lily soaking wet at the corner. I quickly ran to her aid. I hugged her tight and said. "It's okay Lily, I'm here." I said as she hugged me back. "Rhi, I promise I did my best. I crammed up day and night. I locked myself in my condo. I studied hard; I don't know why I failed." She explained crying. She took her second bar exam and I guess she failed to pass. "It's okay Lily, there's always next time." I said and hugged her tight. "What if there's no next time rhi? Will I be stuck like this?" She said crying. I didn't know what to say so I just shut up. I didn't know how to comfort her with words and my only hope was that she can feel my support through my actions.

I don't know why this happened to her. I know she tried her best, I know she's striving. What I also don't understand why is her man not here? Isn't he supposed to be her first line of support? At first glance I knew he was no good, but I kept mum, because Lily loves him. Also, I have no right to judge a man I do not know entirely.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

I'm a professional doctor now, a neurologist. Yet my best friend, she's still there. Life really has its own way of bringing you down. We're at an abandoned coffee shop. Looking out to the night sky through a big hole in the ceiling.

"7 tries in 8 years, yet I still failed. Rhi, I tried everything. I studied hard, I prayed to every saint, and I even tried to rest for a whole year thinking that maybe my brain's just tired from all the fuss. But it didn't work. I'm here, just here. Standing alone, while my whole life falls apart around me. My dad died 2 years ago, and I never got to make him proud. He's already with my mom in heaven, and Gabby was all I had. Now, he's gone too. You know what he said? "My life can't stop, just because you're stuck." That's what he said." She smiled bitterly as tears form in her eyes. But the most painful part of it all was the realization that she didn't feel I was there. "Lily I'm here." I said almost in tears. She looked at my direction as her tears gradually fell. "Yeah, you were and that makes me sadder. I'm sorry Rhi, you were always there, and yet I always envied you. Your life seems like a dream to me. A dream I wish I had. A dream in which my life was perfect. A dream that will always be a dream. You know what? I'll stop dreaming; maybe that's what's holding me back. Maybe I should live in reality and not swim in fantasy." And then she smiled at me. A smile worth millions of pain.

After that she tried to fix herself, her life. She entered med school again, and yet fate played with her again.

December 22, 2015

Brain tumor, two words that broke my heart and made my world crumble. Why? Why now? Why her? That was the thoughts that kept circling my mind. From slumber to wake.

"Hey Rhi, don't be so sad. It's your wedding, you should be smiling. Wipe those tears please." Lily said as she gave me a hanker chief. "Oh, and Rhi? Lose the ribbon please. You've been wearing that for ages!" She joked that made me smile. I looked at her in amazement. Through all the things that happened to her she managed to stand up and fight. She still managed to make me smile. Maybe they are right. Maybe pain really does make you strong.

March 23, 2020

I looked at Lily as she holds my hand. "I'm sorry Lianna, I failed you. I studied years of neurology yet I couldn't even save you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I apologized. "It's okay Rhi-rhi, you did your best and that's what matters. You've always been there, I'm sorry I can't be with you anymore. This is where my part in your story ends. Please continue to the next chapter without me, Rhi." She smiled. I couldn't even look into her eyes without tearing up. 5 years and yet it still wasn't enough time to find a solution. I always had an answer to every problem, to every question. Yet this is the only question I cannot answer. Why? Why her?

APRIL 11, 2020

"This year marks the 30th year since I met her. Since I met my Lianna Cordova, my enemy turned best friend, turned sister. She is and will always be the bravest girl I've ever met, and she will always be remembered." I said as I looked at Lianna in her coffin. I smiled as a single tear escaped from my eye. At least she's at peace now. "To my Lily, thank you so much. Thank you for being with me, 'till your last breath. I love you, goodbye." I said ending my eulogy.

Lianna will always have a place in my heart. That's a covenant.

In memory of ms Cherie Gil

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