The Love That Could Have Been

11

"And the Overall Best Speaker for Cassiopeia Open Debate Cup XVI is . . ."

The Finals Round had just finished and the tournament host was about to announce who won the Overall Best Speaker Award. After the incident that happened with Omer and me—or Sky, Avery told me that the police arrived earlier to arrest Omer while he was in the middle of his rumbling fight with Caelum. The audio and video recordings of Omer's attempts to hurt me have been forwarded to them live by Caelum while the confrontation was ongoing. It was Caelum and Avery who helped Sky set up everything they needed, from filing a report to the police and calling the emergency services during the confrontation.

Last night, after Avery and Sky talked, she did her research and investigation of Omer and found out that there are a lot of other girls who were harassed and assaulted by him but were too afraid to report to the authorities because of the fear that people would judge them and look any less of them. Avery was able to empower and convince some of them to speak out and stand as witnesses against the debauchery of Omer. Fortunately, he has been successfully arrested by the police and according to Caelum and Avery, he may be imposed the penalty of prision mayor, an imprisonment for 6 to 12 years depending on the severity of the offenses he committed. And with the collective voices of the women Avery gathered, certainly, it would take longer for Omer.

After Omer's assault earlier, I had a mild concussion but I told them that I could manage and insisted on proceeding with the tournament. If there's one thing that I wanted to tell Sky, it would be to thank him for how he encouraged and motivated me to speak out for myself and others. Throughout the weeks that passed, during my screening, whenever I attended a debate round, and whenever I was faced with a difficult situation, I could always hear a voice in my head telling me that I could do it, that I just had to trust the process and believe in myself. And it was only when I regained my memories that I fully realized who owns that voice that is constantly encouraging me in my head. It was Sky's. And hopefully, by proceeding with the tournament, I could show Sky how grateful I am for his help in overcoming my fear of speaking out. And I believe I did. Because I felt proud of myself when I delivered my speech. Yeah, it wasn't perfect and it certainly wasn't the best out there. But I did my best. And I did what I could. For Sky. For Caelum. And for myself.

". . . Caelum Aiden Araceli!"

The host finally announced the name of the Overall Best Speaker for the Cassiopeia Open Debate Cup XVI. And it's no other than Caelum. Earlier, during the confrontation with Omer, he and Avery also helped Sky in reporting the incident to the Equity and Safety Committee and forwarded them the audio and video recordings too. Because of that, they had to disqualify Omer from proceeding to the Semifinals and Finals Rounds. In turn, they revoked the sanctions they had imposed on Caelum and allowed him again to be eligible for winning major speaker awards. The Tabulation Committee had also disclosed earlier the results of the preliminary rounds during the previous two days and it clearly showed how the scores of Caelum were far higher than Omer's. That means that even without the Semifinals and Finals Round, and Omer being disqualified from the tournament, it was still by all means Caelum who'd rank higher than Omer. And now, even Caelum won the Overall Best Speaker Award. With me being the 7th Best Speaker.

The cheers of the crowd erupted and a tidal wave of applause and exultation engulfed the entire convention hall. Avery and I, who were sitting on each side of Caelum, stood up and pulled him along with us. We leap our feet in joy as we hug Caelum and congratulate him.

"Congrats, Caelum! I know you could do it!" Avery shrieked in excitement.

"Congrats, Caelum!" I exclaimed in joy.

Caelum went up the stage to get his trophy as the applause of the audience intensified. Avery and I went by the front of the stage to take pictures of Caelum when I heard someone call me from a distance.