Chapter 37

That revelation about Joshua's high school love became the trending topic online. Many were curious as to who the mystery girl really was, and as a result that video went viral. But for those who know Joshua personally - his friends and his batchmates in high school - there is only one person they can think of as his first love. 'Isn't it that there's only one person whom Joshua likes during high school?" 'Your high school life is not complete during our batch if you haven't witnessed Joshua's undying devotion to his first love." 'Alright! The love story of Joshua and Girl will now be revealed." 'Do we even need to ask? Well, everyone knows it already, but we support Ria so that Joshy can get 1M subs." Those are just a few of the comments on Joshua's video. But aside from that, another thing that exploded was Carla's phone notifications. Carla received enormous text messages, as well as her private messages on her Facebook Messenger. That's how she learned about the video. And after watching it, she couldn't help but get annoyed. Well, she's not mad at Joshua. Or, maybe, she is a little bit annoyed at him. He did not even bother removing that part from his video. If that wasn't uploaded in Youtube, then this issue would not have exploded online. She's mad at Ria, of course. Because of her former classmate's mischief, her life is now a mess. She knows Ria is aware that she hated that part of their high school life. Recently, she felt like they were getting closer to each other, so she does not know why she ended up doing that to her. She got a call from Edmalyn, which is something that kind of appeased her. She really wanted to vent out the stress she is feeling. She wants to lash out, actually. 'Maybe, Ria does not mean harm," Edmalyn said to her. 'Maybe, it was just a joke." 'Joke?! So she won't reveal it if Joshua reached 1M subscribers? So she lied to the netizens? She fooled everyone? She deceived the public?" She could not control herself anymore. Her voice went up a little, and she knew Edmalyn understood. 'Besh, maybe there's nothing wrong if it will be revealed that you are Joshua's first love," Edmalyn said. 'After all those viral photos of us during the medical mission? I could only imagine, Besh. I can already imagine myself trending every day and for sure, those online stories about me and Joshua will multiply." Carla could imagine what might happen had it been revealed about her and Joshua's past. People nowadays are addicted to love stories, especially the young ones. She's aware that people had constructed numerous fictional stories online about her and Joshua. For sure more fanfictions will be written about them, and they can even become an official internet love team. But aside from that, there is that possibility that instead of accepting their pairing, she would be bashed by the netizens. After all, who is she to be liked by Joshua Socorro? Though everything happened more than ten years ago, the only thing people will think about is the present. It doesn't matter if Joshua used to be a nobody and she was the crush of all the guys in CPRU, which in that case is also not true. She didn't expect that Joshua would come for her at TGH. She found him waiting for her in the lobby. She assumed that he was waiting for her because he immediately approached upon seeing her. 'Hi..." Joshua said. He is obviously embarrassed. He looks like a little boy who was caught red handed by his mother. Carla let out a sigh. 'Can we talk?" Joshua asked her. Carla looked around. It was quite early, 7:30 in the morning. That's why there aren't many people in the hospital yet, especially because the employees are just about to arrive. But if everyone saw Joshua, surely, they would not be able to discuss properly. 'Follow me." Carla did not wait for Joshua's answer and proceeded to the side of the hospital, which is a restricted area that only employees and medical staff could go. Joshua obviously does not know what to say. He cannot even look straight at Carla. 'What do you wanna tell me?" she asked him. 'I just want to apologize." Carla knows what he meant by that. 'I saw the comments. I know... I know they were referring to you." Thankfully, no one mentioned her name in the comments section. She did not read her name in any comment about the video. Or, is that really the case? 'Did someone mention my name?" She remembered she didn't read all the comments on the video to conclude that no one mentioned her name. 'There are some, but I asked Jeff to remove the comments," Joshua said. How about on the other social media sites? As if on cue, Carla's phone suddenly buzzed. It was Edmalyn. ‘Bess, you're trending on twitter.' Carla called Edmalyn. 'Your name is number 2 on the trending list. The pictures taken during out medical mission were also attached to the tweets." Carla doesn't have a Twitter account, so she cannot check what Edmalyn just told her. She asked Joshua instead. 'Do you have a Twitter account?" 'Well... yeah..." Joshua took out his cellphone. 'Jeff made me. He's also the one maintaining the account." Carla also looked at the cellphone. 'Can you look at the trending list?" she told Joshua. And she confirmed what Edmalyn said. Trending on the number 2 spot was Carla Labao. She suddenly felt weak. 'I'm... sorry..." Joshua said timidly. Carla did not answer. Instead, she turned and walked away from him. 'Carla! Carla, wait!" Carla stopped on her tracks and turned to face Joshua again. 'Not now, Joshua. Not now." She's not in the mood to talk to him now, especially if it's about the issue between them. Which troubled her the entire day because the news spread to her colleagues in the hospital. Everyone approached her asking about that issue they read or heard about her. 'Doc, are you really the girl that they were talking about on social media? The one concerning Joshua Socorro." 'So you're Joshua Socorro's first love? You really are awesome, Doctor." 'Hey, Doctor! Who in the TGH would think that you are the one who made Joshua Socorro fall in love in high school?" Carla feels like shouting because of the various teasing she got from her colleagues, as well as the patients who knew about the viral posts. If only she could shout at them. Her shift is about to end that afternoon when she had a ‘special patient'. 'Hi Doctor!" Ria smiled at her. Carla felt like all her blood rose to her head. "Doctor, I'd like to have a check-up, please." Obviously. What else will be her purpose in coming there? Unless she just really intends to annoy her. 'My lower back kind of hurts," Ria said while holding her backside. Carla looked at the part she was holding. 'Did you do any strenuous activity?" 'No, I didn't," Ria answered. 'Actually, I'm just sitting all day long." 'It's just feeling numb." She's obviously playing with her, and Carla is getting more pissed. 'That's also what my mom said," Ria said. 'Anyway, I also wanted to talk to you, that's why I'm here." Carla sighed. It's just as she thinks it would happen. 'Are you mad at me?" Ria asked. 'It's okay to be honest. I will accept it." Carla looked away. 'I didn't mean to do you harm." 'But you did!" Carla cut in. Ria was taken aback at her sudden increase in tone. Carla was also surprised at what she did, and she tried her best to calm herself. 'I've been receiving a lot of notifications today that my phone is on the verge of exploding." Ria grimace. 'Sorry." Carla just took a deep breath to further calm herself. She leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms on her chest. 'I understand how you feel, and I'm really sorry. But then, as I've said, I didn't mean any harm." 'You know our story back then in high school," Carla said to Ria, a little bit calmer but still obviously annoyed. 'Didn't it ever cross your mind that those who know about our story would not be able to stop themselves from talking about it online?" 'I admit, I kind of forgot about that," Ria answered. 'I didn't realize it would end up like this. I really did not think about you when I read what was written in the slam book." Carla frowned, surprised at what Ria said. What did she mean by that? 'What was written in the slam note was not your name." Carla's mind suddenly went blank at what Ria said. More so on what she said next. 'Carla, you're not Joshua's first love."