After the second period, Sophie and I decided to go to the school's main canteen for a snack. I couldn't get the incident in Dr. Ramirez's class out of my mind. It's like I feel guilty for being the reason why Dr. De Leon suddenly approached him.
I also didn't notice that Dela Rea entered the second period. He wasn't in the Philippine Politics and Governance subject, and I'm sure because he's one of the faces I remember from my classmates. I don't know why, but every time I think of him, I feel frustrated. That guy is so rude as if he wasn't taught proper manners by his parents.
Sophie just sat in front of me and placed two servings of baked macaroni and two glasses of iced tea on the black tray.
"There, it's my treat. Don't worry about paying." Sophie said with a smile.
My eyes widened, and I felt a bit embarrassed by what she said. We had just met and she already wanted to treat me. I wasn't comfortable because I'm not used to being treated even by people I've known for a long time.
"Don't, Sophie. It's not your birthday, you don't have to treat me." I replied and reached for my shoulder bag to get my wallet.
"I insist, friend. Just this once. It's to show my appreciation for accepting me not only as your classmate but also as your friend." Sophie insisted.
"You don't have to do this, Sophie. I would accept you as my classmate or friend even without this." I said, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks because I wasn't uncomfortable being treated. I quickly took out a crisp one-hundred peso bill from my wallet and handed it to her to pay for the food.
"No, I'm treating you. It would hurt me if you don't accept it as a sign of accepting my friendship." She insisted, still smiling at me.
"But..."
"No 'buts' or 'however,' okay?" She insisted.
"It's just embarrassing, you know? We've only just met and you want to treat me already." I reasoned with her.
"That's fine. Don't worry, next time, you can treat me instead. Is that okay with you?" She asked.
"Okay then, if that's what you want, I'll treat you next time," I said to her.
"Deal?"
"Deal." I agreed.
Sophie is kind, although she's a bit playful, maybe because she's still young. She told me that she just turned fifteen last month. She skipped a grade and was brought to third grade, but she didn't finish third grade because she got sick and almost died. Sophie didn't mention what illness she had, and I didn't ask. What's important to me is that I'm happy to have met her on the first day of class.
I started eating the baked macaroni that Sophie treated me to. I was too hungry to even check if it tasted good. The iced tea was a bit bland, probably because the ice melted completely.
I could hardly finish my meal because Sophie kept talking non-stop about various things. I often pretended to listen to her so she wouldn't get upset with me. Sometimes, I got annoyed by her high-pitched voice, so I pretended to have a phone call.
"...yes, Mom, I'm fine here, and our teachers are just having orientations for their subjects," I said, pretending to be on the phone with my stepmother.
Sophie just looked at me, waiting for me to finish my pretend phone call. She tapped her nose while waiting for me to finish using my cell phone.
"...yes, mom. I'll be out by 5 pm later." I continued pretending to talk to my mom on the phone.
I almost screamed in surprise and dropped my phone when it suddenly rang. Oh no, Sophie would find out that I wasn't talking to anyone. I quickly picked up my phone from the concrete floor. I didn't know if Sophie would get mad at me for getting caught.
After picking up my phone, I immediately put it to my ear pretending that I was still on the line with my mom. Maybe I could still get away with it. But Sophie didn't pay attention to me, instead, she looked at the chairs to her right, smiling.
"Sophie?" I called her to get her attention. But it seemed like she couldn't hear me. "Sophie?" I called her name again.
"Oh my goodness, he's handsome." She said, getting excited while still looking at the man to her right.
"Huh?" was my only reaction, and I shifted my gaze to where Sophie was looking.
I was stunned and my eyes widened when I saw what Sophie was referring to as handsome. I took a deep breath and looked at Sophie, who seemed to be daydreaming while staring at Dela Rea without blinking. If Sophie was getting excited by his good looks, then I was getting frustrated and annoyed every time I saw that rude guy. Well, he is handsome, but I don't care! I just get annoyed and frustrated whenever I remember how he almost pushed me down the stairs. He didn't even have the decency to help me up or say sorry afterward.
All of that was interrupted when the school bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of recess and the start of the third period.
Sophie still appeared to be in a daze and failed to hear me calling her. Her attention was still focused on Dela Rea, whose first name I still didn't know. It seemed like that rude guy had no intention of going to the third period, but I didn't care about him or his life.
"Sophie, come on! We're late for our Reading and Writing class," I said, slightly annoyed. Finally, she turned her attention to me.
"What? Are we late?" she responded as if startled from her deep sleep.
"Yes, we'll be even later if we don't leave the canteen now," I sarcastically replied.
"Sorry, friend. He's just so handsome," she used as her excuse.
"Handsome, huh? I don't think so... and he has a terrible attitude," I said as I stood up from my seat.
"We can just go with him since we're classmates with Mr. Handsome anyway," Sophie suggested, which made my ears ring even more.
"Is that so? Fine, if you want to go with him, go ahead. I'll go first. See you in class, friend!" I replied, irritated, and quickly walked away from Sophie, leaving her somewhat surprised by my actions. I took long and fast strides, with my ears burning as I distanced myself from the canteen.
"Friend, wait!" Sophie shouted and quickly ran after me.
I ignored Sophie's call and left her to exhaust herself trying to catch up with me.
Sophie caught up to me as we climbed the stairs to the third floor of St. Lorenzo Ruiz Hall. The building was newly constructed, so the smell of fresh paint still lingered in the air.
"Friend, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You know I have a crush on him," she apologized, but it seemed like I couldn't hear anything she was saying. I continued ascending the stairs quickly.
I don't know, I guess this is my bad habit. Truthfully, I had no reason to be angry at Sophie, especially since she liked that rude guy, and I didn't care.
Sophie approached me from the front, her face clearly showing her pleading expression.
"Please, friend, I'm sorry!" Sophie begged me.
I took a deep breath and stopped walking. I looked at her. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry too. I'm just really annoyed with that guy, and he ruined my day," I explained to her.
Sophie hugged me. "Thank you, friend," she said, feeling guilty about what I did earlier. Sophie was a true friend, I believe.
"I'm sorry too. I apologize for dragging you into my frustration with that guy. Anyway, if we keep lingering here, we'll be late for class," I said, glancing at my cell phone to check the time. "...just two minutes left, let's go!" I invited Sophie and we headed towards room 303 together.
When we entered the room, our teacher was already there, ready to start the class. Luckily, Sophie and I weren't late. The whole class was silent as we took our seats in the vacant chairs at the back. Upon sitting down, Sophia and I immediately took out our class cards and filled in our names and personal information. After I finished writing, I looked at Sophie and she did the same, then smiled.
Our male teacher stood proudly in his neat uniform in front of the class. He was a handsome, tall, and muscular man, probably in his mid-20s I think. He had his black polo long sleeve neatly tucked into his khaki slacks, perfectly matching his polished black leather shoes.
"Good morning, class!" he greeted us with his cold baritone voice that sounded like a radio announcer.
"Good morning, sir!" we all responded in unison.
"So, before anything else, let me introduce myself. I am Mr. Walter John Pelayo, your Reading and Writing teacher, and also your teacher adviser. You can call me Sir Walter," he introduced himself to the class, impressing us with his fluency in English and pronunciation of difficult words.
My classmates were in awe of Sir Walter's good looks and his English-speaking skills. I couldn't help but feel envious of his proficiency because his pronunciation was so clear and he spoke the language fluently.
"...I will give you an orientation about the subject and the topics we will cover. Don't worry, class. I will make the subject easier for you, as long as..." he smiled at the class. "...you give your best to pass my subject," he added and I was in awe staring at his good-looking face.
I lost my focus on listening to Sir Walter when a guy suddenly drew near the empty seat beside me. He sat down with a thud, and I felt the impact of his left elbow on my right cheek.
"Ouch!" I stifled a shout and looked at him. "What the..." I held myself back from swearing at the guy who had started ruining my day. I held my face because it hurt so much. I stood up from my seat, faced him, and was about to slap that rude Dela Rea.
"Hey?! Can you tell us what is happening?" our teacher-adviser loudly asked, having heard my voice and noticing my intention to slap him. Almost all of our classmates were looking at us, waiting for an explanation from our professor.
I didn't remove my angry gaze from Dela Rea, as if what happened was no big deal to him. I lowered my hand and clenched it before sitting back down. Sophie almost hugged me, especially when she noticed tears forming in my eyes.
"Come on, guys. What's all the commotion about? We're still here, maybe you didn't notice?" Sir Walter restrained himself. "Hey, young lady, will you please stand up then face me, and tell us why you wanted to slap that young man beside you?"
My heart suddenly leaped in nervousness when I heard our teacher call my attention. Instead of responding, I looked back at Dela Rea, glaring at him.
"Enough, friend. Just ignore him. Sir is asking you a question," Sophie intervened, trying to calm me down.
"I'm asking you, why do you want to slap that guy?" our teacher asked me again.
I looked at our teacher, trying to hold back tears. I knew I had done something wrong, but I couldn't stop myself earlier. I didn't have any respect for our teacher's presence.
"Sir... I apologize for my behavior. I was stupid for not considering my actions and being so careless that I didn't even acknowledge your presence. I apologize for disrespecting you in front of the class..." I trembled as I apologized to our teacher.
"Okay, enough with the apology. What I want to know is why do you want to slap that guy?" he asked again, his serious expression making me even more nervous.
I was about to speak when our teacher interrupted.
"By the way, what is your name?"
"I... I'm Andrea Agustin, sir," I quickly replied.
"Hmmm... Andrea Agustin. That sounds familiar to me," he said, seeming deep in thought. "Okay, what is your relationship to Fr. Joey, our school rector?" he asked, probing further. At that moment, I felt a great sense of guilt, as if I had committed a grave offense, and wished it was that annoying Dela Rea being grilled instead.
I felt infuriated because, while I was still fuming, that rude guy seemed unfazed by the situation, and relaxed in his seat. I could still feel the pain on my cheek from where his elbow had struck me.
"Ms. Agustin?!"
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm asking you, what is your relationship to Fr. Joey?" he asked again, barely containing his frustration. He approached me, wearing a condescending smile on his face that only increased the unease in my chest.
"Sir... he's my godfather," I replied.
"Very well then, young lady. It's good to know that one of my students is the goddaughter of our school rector," he turned away and went back to the front of the class. "Why do you want to slap that guy beside you?"
Whispers filled the class as they heard that I was the goddaughter of our school rector. They no longer cared about the reason why I wanted to slap Dela Rea.
I didn't know what was going through our teacher's mind, and my godfather had nothing to do with it. Why was I being singled out for what happened? Perhaps it would be best for me to explain to them what that idiot Dela Rea did, so they would understand why I reacted the way I did earlier.
"Sir, earlier this morning, this rude guy, bumped into me on the stairs and I almost fell. He didn't even bother to apologize or help me up. Then, just now, when he sat down, he hit me with his elbow on my face, as if it didn't matter to him," I recounted the incident to our professor.
"What?!" This time, Dela Rea reacted, further fueling my anger. "I didn't do anything to her, sir. Maybe this girl just wants attention."
"Attention? I don't even know you, and you think I want attention from you? You hurt a girl and then act innocent?!" I retorted.
"Hey! I'm still here, guys!" our teacher-adviser shouted, trying to calm our heated exchange.
"Well, it's his fault!" we both shouted simultaneously.
I could hear the varied reactions from our classmates. Some had smiles on their faces, seemingly entertained by the conflict between him and me. Some were annoyed, and I couldn't understand why. A few sympathized, perhaps with me or with this very rude guy.
"If you don't stop this, I tell you, you will regret it because I will send both of you to the guidance office!" Sir Walter yelled in anger.
His words rang in my ears, and I quickly turned to him to plead.
"Sir, please," I begged.
"Then apologize, both of you!"
Dela Rea and I exchanged glances and hesitantly said sorry to each other. I saw him avoid eye contact with me and instead turn to Sir Walter, waiting for us to speak and apologize to each other. Slowly, he reached out his right hand, attempting to smile.
"So..." this rude guy sighed and closed his eyes. Then he looked at me again and reached out his hand towards me.
"I'm sorry," he said, but I couldn't feel the sincerity in his words. I still felt angry towards him because I wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for him.
"What about you, young lady?" Sir Walter asked me again.
I took a deep breath and exhaled heavily through my nose. I slowly accepted his hand and felt how soft his palm was. I gasped as if I felt a surge of electricity flow through my hand. My heart suddenly raced when I felt him squeeze my hand.
"So... I'm sorry too," I weakly said, releasing his hand. But he didn't let go, instead, he squeezed my hand tighter. "What?" I asked him sternly.
He smiled mischievously. "I can't hear you. Say it loud," he said.
"What? I already apologized, okay?" I angrily replied.
I saw my classmates looking at me, especially our adviser. Once again, I took a deep breath to swallow my pride.
"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed loudly to him and pulled my hand out of his grip.
"Very well then. Both of you, don't let it happen again, because if you do, you'll end up in the guidance office," our teacher reminded us. Turns out our professor knows how to speak Tagalog, and he made it even more difficult for me by making me speak in English.
"Promise not to do that again, especially you, Ms. Agustin," he added.
"Yes, sir. It won't happen again," I quickly responded.
"What about you, young man? By the way, what is your name?" He asked.
"Gem Ver sir, Gem Ver Dela Rea, sir" he responded immediately.
"Next time, show respect to women, especially to your classmates. Be a gentleman, Is that clear?" he instructed Gem Ver.
"Yes, sir!" he replied softly, bowing his head.
"Okay then, both of you, take your seats now," Sir Walter reminded us and the two of us immediately complied.
I still felt upset and frustrated about the situation. But it's probably best to stay silent to prevent the problem from escalating further.