BROKEN MASKED-HEART.

"Are your parents coming?", again a teacher asked me. I didn't recall when I had became a very important person here. I supposed getting a good grade here was a sin to me. That was my punishment for being too good. Almost all the teachers had been asking me the question again and again. "No, teacher", I answered emotionlessly.

It was still early in the morning. If my parents happened to have free time, they still got time to arrive here before my graduation ceremony started. Most of my friends's parents already here. I was alone, wandering around the Continental Hotel's ballroom hoping for an impossible wish.

As long as remembered, my parents never came to my school activities, not even to parents-teachers meeting, not even once. At first I did ask them to go, but when they didn't turn up, it just broke my heart. Back then, I wasn't as strong as today. I was fragile. Therefore, since then I decided to not even showed them the invitation letters. I thought that it was better to be punished by teacher rather then having my heart broke apart.

For today's event, I did ask my parents to come for the sake of one of my beloved teachers. She really wished to see my parents and pleaded me to ask them to come. I could not refuse her wish. But as usual, the answer never been positive. It just as expected even though deep in my heart, I too was hoping them to say 'yes'. Today was a special day for me, I was hoping to share my success and triumph with them.

The ceremony started. I was already on the stage. I could hear one of my teachers was narrating my personal and academic backgrounds behind me. I was awarded as "The Best Student Of The Year". Then suddenly, on the principal's request, she announced for my parents to come onto the stage. I was shocked. I thought I already told her that they was not coming. "Maybe she forgot", I told myself. I turned to her and shook my head, signposted that my parents were not here. But the principal insisted my teacher on calling my parents. I clenched my fists to get hold of myself when my parents were called. There was no need to burst into tears here. I didn't want my friends saw me as a weakling. The problem was solved by asking my homeroom teacher to come instead of my parents.

After the ceremony, I rushed back to my room. I didn't think that I could hold myself any longer if I continued on observing how happy were my friends to be together with their parents at a celebration like this. On the way back, I bumped into one of my friends. He asked me to accompany him to go for a walk around the hotel's compound. We found a nice garden to sit down.

"Eri, if you want to cry, then just cry. No need to hide it. My parents didn't come either, but at least their names not been called. Therefore, somehow I know how you feel". I was a little surprised. I thought I had completely masked my heart but he could see through it. Maybe that was what people called a true friendship.

We stayed there for the whole evening, consoling our broken hearts. Again, for me, being too good was a sin. Getting good grades was as equal as breaking my own heart.