Chapter 18 — Seeds After the Rain

Saturday, one day before the event, Gia Huy still hadn't made a final decision, even though he knew he couldn't delay any longer. In the afternoon, while he was in the garden helping complete the final preparations, his phone continuously vibrated with a series of messages from his group of friends.

Dang Khoi privately sent him a long text message, his tone completely different from the previous coldness: "Gia Huy, I've thought about it again. I know I've been a bit too much with you in the past few days. But honestly, I'm under a lot of pressure from running for the union executive board, and I really need you by my side on this trip, not just for the image, but because I need a close friend who really supports me right now. If you don't come, I'm afraid I won't be able to support myself. believe in facing everything."

That text message made Gia Huy pause. This is the first time Dang Khoi has shown his weakness and need for support in such a direct way, completely different from his usual self-confidence and assertiveness. Gia Huy felt a deep torment — he understood that behind Dang Khoi's appearance that always valued his social image, there were probably private insecurities that he rarely showed.

That night, when he got home, Gia Huy sat idly in front of his desk for a long time, reading Dang Khoi's message over and over again. He thought of the scene where Dang Khoi stood alone in the middle of an important recording session, without his close friend who had always been by his side cheering him on throughout the school year. Then he thought of Quynh Nhu, of the event that the whole group had devoted all their efforts to preparing, and of the important role that she had entrusted to him.

He called Minh Quan, asked for more details about the trip schedule, trying to find a way to be able to participate in part of the morning at the garden and be present in time for his group's important recording session. But Minh Quan said, the recording session was scheduled at nine o'clock in the morning, as soon as the group arrived, to take advantage of the best light of the day, and could not be rescheduled because it depended on the schedule of the outsourced cameraman.

If he wanted to make it to the nine o'clock recording session, with a journey of more than three hours, he would have to leave home early in the morning, which meant he wouldn't be able to stop by the garden even a little the next morning.

That night, Gia Huy couldn't sleep. He reopened Dang Khoi's message, then opened the conversation with Quynh Nhu, looking at the last text message she sent a few hours ago: "Let's meet tomorrow at seven thirty to prepare before the guests arrive. I'm so nervous, but with you there, I feel much more secure." Include a gentle smiley face emoji.

He looked at that message for a long time, clearly feeling the weight of her trust in him. But then, in his weakest moment, the old fear - the fear of losing his place in the group of friends that had been his first and most solid support at this school, the fear of having to once again experience the feeling of being left behind, of being forgotten that he had become so familiar with through many times of changing schools - won.

He texted Dang Khoi around midnight: "Okay, I'll go with everyone. Let's meet at the meeting point tomorrow at seven o'clock." Almost immediately, Dang Khoi texted back with a series of happy emojis: "Amazing! Thank you so much, Gia Huy. You don't know how much this means to me."

But as soon as he sent that message, a feeling of emptiness and vague regret immediately invaded Gia Huy's heart. He looked at the conversation with Quynh Nhu, his hands trembled across the screen, trying to compose a text message, but every word he typed became empty and fake, unable to fully express the complexity of the decision he had just made.

In the end, he just typed a short line and sent it at nearly 1:00 a.m.: "Sorry Nhu, I can't come to the garden tomorrow. There's a family emergency." He knew clearly that it was a lie, a lie that he hated as soon as it was sent, but he didn't have the courage to directly face the truth, didn't have the courage to see her disappointed reaction when she found out he chose an outing instead of the most important event that the whole club had put all their heart and soul into preparing.

He put down the phone, turned off the screen, but didn't dare turn it back on to see Quynh Nhu's response. He lay there in the dark, heavy with a guilt he had never felt before, a feeling he knew wouldn't go away easily, no matter how many times he tried to convince himself that he had done what was necessary to preserve another important friendship.

The next morning, when the alarm clock rang at five thirty, Gia Huy looked at the phone screen and saw a single text message from Quynh Nhu, sent at five in the morning, when she must have also woken up to prepare for the important day: "It's okay, family is more important. Hope you solve the housework well. We will try our best." No words of reproach, no sign of anger, simply absolute understanding and trust — something that made Gia Huy feel a hundred times worse than being directly reprimanded by her angrily.

He sat quietly on the bed for a long time, clutching the phone tightly, feeling a deep torment tearing his chest. There was a moment, he almost texted Dang Khoi back to change his mind again, his fingers hovering over the keyboard, but then he thought about his friend's happy face last night, about what he had promised, about how withdrawing his promise for the second time in less than twenty-four hours would make him look so indecisive, so unreliable in the eyes of both sides. He turned off the phone screen, telling himself that everything would be okay, that Quynh Nhu and the whole club had prepared so carefully, it would definitely be okay even without him alone.

But as soon as he thought about it, he remembered that his role was not simply that of an ordinary helper - he was the only person assigned to welcome the ward representative, who had experience in communicating and improvising in unexpected situations. Quynh Nhu, although good at her profession, was not really confident when facing strangers, especially guests with important positions such as local government representatives.

He stood up, went to the bathroom to wash his face, looked at himself in the mirror with dark eyes due to lack of sleep. The reflected face looked stranger than ever, as if he was seeing a different version of himself — a Gia Huy who had chosen the safe, familiar path, instead of the path that required true courage. He thought to himself, maybe I'm just imagining things too much, maybe the event will still go smoothly, maybe this worry is just a fleeting feeling of guilt that will soon subside.

His mother, seeing him preparing his things early in the morning, asked a few questions about the trip, unaware of the struggle going on in her son's heart. "Remember to bring a jacket, the ocean is very cold at night," she advised, then returned to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, completely unaware that her son had just spent a sleepless night filled with torment because of a decision that he wasn't sure was right.

Gia Huy looked out the window and saw the dawn just breaking over the horizon, at the same time he should have been in the garden, with Quynh Nhu and the whole group making the final preparations before the guests arrived. He imagined her busy arranging tables and chairs, checking the sound system, her eyes occasionally glancing towards the garden gate, waiting for his familiar figure to appear, and that wait, he knew, would never be answered this morning.

He sat quietly on the bed for a long time, clutching the phone tightly, feeling a deep torment tearing his chest. He wondered, if it were Quynh Nhu faced with a similar choice, would she hesitate for so long, or would she immediately choose what she believes is right, no matter whose disappointment she has to face. That question made him even more embarrassed with himself, but it wasn't strong enough to make him change his decision at the last minute.

But then, when he heard Minh Quan's car horn ringing outside his house gate, signaling that the departure time had come, he still stood up, put his backpack on his shoulder, and walked out of the house with heavy steps, carrying a decision that he knew, deep in his heart, he would regret for a long time.