"Indigo!!"
Oh, my mother again, what does she want this time? Lovermines determination is the ability to focus on one's goal despite any difficulties, challenges, and DISTRACTIONS like my mother and her obsession with my name. Don't get me wrong, she's "mi favourita" but jeez, does she know how to bother me.
"Indigo there's mail for you!!" OK, that sounds really important.
"Hope you have everything " my mother asks "Of course I do" "Let's go through the list again" Clothes, toiletries, books, my suitcase, kitchen essentials, and Polly? Oh, Polly, danm it, I knew I was forgetting something.
My name is Indigo, an ordinary brown haired grey eyed girl from galicia spain.
I received a life changing mail last month from madrid. Yes I got a scholarship to study to computer science in autonomous university of Madrid, and before you go oh she's so smart bla bla bla no I'm not, at least i don't think I am.
So I lost my dad 3 years ago to a fire accident in a company he worked at in Madrid that day I thought I've lost it all, my favourite person in the world and all my hope to further my education and later on become a scientist has gone down the drain.
Until last month, when the mail came in. The company my dad worked for will be paying for the whole 4 years of my education as long as I maintain at least average in my CGPA. I've promised myself I'm going to use this opportunity and change my life and that of my poor mother forever. I promise to ace my studies and take my mother out of this village, irrespective of whatever challenge. So here, I am packing up my little life and preparing to move to Madrid. Ah yes, polly my lucky charm ( a bracelet my dad gave me). I must not forget you, my love.
"Indie baby, where are you?" That must be Rosie, my childhood best friend ,"right here in my room, Rose."
" Indie, don't tell me you want to leave without saying goodbye to your friends for the last time," Rosie asked.
" Of course not, baby. I would never do that. " I left my mom to complete the parking for me as I went with Rosie.
"You're late," they said, pulling her into a tight hug anyway. "Future Madrid girl shouldn't keep people waiting."
Indie laughed softly. "I'm still Galicia girl for two more days."
Kira, Manny, and Ruth were already there, drinks are scattered across the table, voices overlapping as they greeted her. The warmth of their teasing wrapped around her instantly, the same jokes, the same chaos she had grown up with. For a moment, it felt like nothing was changing, but she knew she would miss this badly.
Then she noticed Phil.
He stood slightly apart, hands tucked into his jacket pockets, watching her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. When their gazes met, the noise around them faded.
"Hey," Indie said gently.
"Hey yourself," Phil replied. "So… Madrid, huh? Big city."
She nodded. "Yeah. Big everything."
An awkward silence lingered — filled with things they once said easily when they were together and things neither of them knew how to say now.
Rosie clapped loudly, breaking the tension. "Okay! No sad faces. This is a goodbye party, not a funeral."
Manny raised his drink. "To Indie who will one day become rich and famous and pretend she doesn't know any of us."
"Please," Kira added, laughing. "She'll come back speaking better English and correcting our accents."
Ruth nudged Indie. "Just don't forget Galicia when you make it out of here."
Indie smiled, but her throat tightened. "I could never forget you guys."
Phil finally stepped forward. He hesitated for a second before pulling her into a hug — longer than the others, quieter too.
"I'm proud of you," he murmured. "Even if I hate that you're leaving."
She closed her eyes briefly. "I know."
One by one, they all joined in, arms overlapping until it turned into a messy group hug filled with laughter, complaints, and someone nearly spilling a drink.
"Take pictures!" Rosie shouted. "Proof we knew her before she became important!"
Indie laughed through the emotion rising in her chest. Surrounded by her friends, by Galicia, by everything familiar, she realized goodbyes didn't mean endings, just stories continuing somewhere else.
And hers was about to begin.