Mariely couldn't keep still—today was the day they would find out if she passed or not. On top of that, she also had class. To calm her nerves, she tried to focus on other things.
She and Veron were also avoiding talking about that topic, because both of them were just as nervous. She had even turned off her phone earlier.
"Faith, are you done checking your outputs?" Veron asked her.
"I'm just finishing it now. I'll also be recording later," she replied.
Veron simply nodded at what she said. They quietly continued doing their work. She had already taught her first class that afternoon. She noticed the other teachers in the faculty room were starting to get rowdy too—they also had a colleague who took the board exam.
I don't want to look at the results.
She walked straight ahead, trying to ignore the anxiety building up inside her. Luckily, she had a vacant period while Veron was in class, so she just waited quietly while inputting her students' scores into her class record.
She checked the time—it was almost four in the afternoon.
"Hey! The results are out!" she heard one of her co-teachers say.
She broke into a cold sweat. Her palms were shaking. Mariely stopped what she was doing. She remembered she had turned off her phone.
"Faith!" Veron suddenly said, startling her.
Veron hurriedly sat in front of the laptop.
"Are you going to check your name now?" she asked her.
"No choice. Stop it—you know I'm just as nervous as you," Veron replied.
It was obvious by Veron's actions that she was really anxious too. Mariely sat beside her as they opened the website where the names were listed.
"It's still updating," Veron told her.
She nodded. Sweat was pouring down her forehead, her heart pounding wildly. Her throat felt dry.
"Looks like they're posting elementary results first," Veron commented with a slight cough.
"Open your Facebook. Maybe someone from your batch already posted the results."
"I don't want to. I'm scared. That's why I turned my phone off in the first place," she answered.
"I'll do it then," Veron said.
They opened the news feed and saw posts from some of Veron's batchmates.
"W—What letter are they on now?" she asked.
"Hey, it's already at letter C."
"Stop scaring me!" she snapped.
"I'm not! Look—there's already a link. Shall we click it?" Veron asked, glancing at her.
"L—Let's just do it together," she suggested. "You might be on the elementary list."
"I'm secondary, you fool."
"Wait, besh, I'm not ready. Let's wait until the R's," she suggested again.
"O—Okay, I'll check your name, and you'll check mine. Deal?" Veron proposed.
She had no choice but to agree. "Hold on, I'll open my laptop."
She grabbed her laptop and sat beside Veron, her anxiety intensifying.
***
Veron's palms were icy cold. She kept refreshing the website to see the list of names of those who took the board exam.
I'm so nervous, she thought. They weren't going home today without knowing the results.
Just calm down. Think positive. You and Faith will pass. Calm down, self, she mentally reassured herself. In the background, they could already hear cheers and cries from other teachers who had passed.
"Besh, they're already at R," Mariely said to her.
Veron nodded. Together, they clicked on the link where the names were posted.
She took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking. The website was loading slowly—likely because of the traffic from so many people checking all at once. They waited patiently. She started looking for Faith's full name.
Celestial, Celestial, where are you? she murmured in her mind. She was already at the "CE" section, but the page loaded again.
Patience, patience, patience, Veron, she reminded herself. She was still trembling when the page finally finished loading. She scanned the list again.
Her eyes widened as she spotted the full name:
Celestial, Faith Mariely Abad
She held her breath. She looked at her friend, who was also looking at her. She had already taken a screenshot.
"Faith, you passed," she said.
"Y—You too," Faith replied. She showed her own screenshot, and there was Veron's name. Veron showed her the screenshot with Faith's name in it.
They didn't know what to do. Their knees felt weak—they both passed. Faith suddenly hugged her, almost in tears, which made Veron tear up too. She couldn't believe they both passed.
"W—Wait, why am I crying?" Faith said with a laugh as she wiped her tears.
"Me too. Who's chopping onions here?" Veron joked.
She could still feel her friend's trembling hand.
"We passed, besh," Faith said again.
She nodded in agreement.
"I guess you both passed? Congratulations!" one of their co-teachers said.
"T—Thank you, Ma'am," they both replied, smiling.
"What are we going to say? It's only Saturday tomorrow," Veron said.
"I—I don't know. I still can't process that I passed, especially after everything that happened," Faith replied.
"Hey, we were both drunk that night, remember?" Veron teased.
"Besh, want to stop by the church today?" Faith asked her.
She nodded. "Let's also buy some drinks to celebrate," she added with a chuckle.
"You're really something," Faith laughed.
That afternoon, they left the school as board passers—with licenses just within reach.
"Miss Celestial, Miss Ronda." A voice called out to them just as they were leaving. It was like the two of them were walking on air.
"Y—Yes, Ma'am?" Faith responded to Becca.
She smiled warmly at them. "Congratulations, both of you. Your hard work paid off. Well done!"
"Thank you very much, Ma'am," they both said.
Becca patted them on the shoulder. "You deserve it all," she told them.
The two smiled, touched by her words. Becca left soon after—she had waited just to congratulate them.
They got into a ride and headed to church first to give thanks to the One who gave them the chance to become teachers.
"Faith, I'm giddy with excitement," Veron said.
"Crazy girl," Faith replied with a laugh. "We've got licenses now. We'll be doing our oath-taking together!"
"Of course," Veron beamed.
Even the heavy traffic didn't bother them—they endured it just to reach the church. They were also planning to buy food and drink later to celebrate—just the two of them, at Faith's house. That was more than enough for her.
Thank you, God… You let both of us pass, she thought with heartfelt gratitude.
It felt like a huge thorn had been pulled from her throat.