Another day at Bannister Academy.
JA was in hurry to go to her class, when she suddenly bumped into someone. She wanted to be in the classroom before her time because she knew, the kids were already waiting for her.
"Sorry", she apologized.
The man looked at her.
"JA? oh, hi!", he greeted.
She tried to figure out who it was since he was wearing a mask.
"Ace?"
He nodded.
He asked her why she was here in school. She told him, she worked here as a psychological counselor for the kids in Section A, and that she had already quit her job at JJ tech.
"Oh, I see, so, you are the teacher of my nephew?", he asked in astonishment.
He told her everything about his nephew and how he became the guardian of that child.
The 13-year-old boy became an orphan at the age of ten when both his parents died in an accident.
Since the child is his nephew, (son of his sister) he's the one who's taking care of him. The child suffers depression since he lost his parents, that's why most of the time the child is lonely and does not talk to anyone.
After a few minutes of chatting, they bid goodbye to each other.
"Um, JA, I'll be picking up Josh right after his class, can we invite you for a dinner?", he asked.
But JA need to find a reason to refuse.
"I'm sorry Ace, my brother and I will be going to a birthday party later", she said.
He just nodded.
"Okay JA, can we have it next time? please?", he pleaded.
She just said 'yes' just to end the conversation but actually, she's not really planning to accept his invitation. That would only make her uncomfortable knowing that he is Trixie's boyfriend.
She went inside the classroom, and as expected the kids were already waiting for her.
"Good afternoon teacher", they greeted.
"Hello kids, how are you today?", she responded.
They stood up and approached her.
"We missed you cher," they hugged her.
JA looked around and she noticed someone is lacking. She counted them all but they were only nine.
She started to call their names one by one and she found out that the 10-year-old boy is not around.
"Is Chris absent?, she asked.
"He was here a while ago cher", the 11-year-old girl said.
JA started to get nervous.
"My God, where is this kid?"
She needs to find him as soon as possible. She had this feeling that something wrong might happen to him.
She looked at his seat, but his things were not there. She tried to look for something that belongs to him. This time she needs to use the extrasensory perception again because she was so worried about the kid.
Until she found a handkerchief under his table. She instructed the kids to close their eyes because she doesn't want them to see what she's going to do coz they might get scared of her. Gladly, the kids complied what was being told to them.
She took a deep sigh, as she was holding Chris' handkerchief.
After a few minutes, she ended it. And hurriedly went out of the classroom. Her heart was pounding so hard as her tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"Cher, where are you going?" the kids called her.
But she did not answer. She hurriedly took the elevator going to the 3rd floor and quickly climbed up the stairs heading to the rooftop.
**********
There, she saw the 10-year-old boy, standing on the rooftop balcony, crying out so loud.
"Sweetheart please don't do it.", she shouted pleading so hard.
"Please...please"
"Please, don't move. I'll come to you okay", JA started sobbing.
The kid whined even more.
"I want to die. Nobody loves me. They only love my baby sister", he cried.
"No, it's not true sweetheart, your dad and mom love you so much. They love you and your baby sister"
"No, they don't love me", the kid continued crying.
She made a few more steps towards him.
"My parents don't love me anymore since my baby sister came", he continued sobbing.
"I'm here for you sweetheart, I won't leave you. Do you trust me?", she asked.
JA feel so nervous and her palms were already sweaty as she looked at the boy who was standing there. Her blouse was already wet with both tears and sweats. She felt a little dizzy, but she needs to gather her remaining strength to save this kid. Once she failed, she would totally feel that she's worthless.
"Oh my God, please help me.", she whispered in prayer.
She really had to try every possible thing she could do for this kid.
"Please don't move. I'm coming, sweetheart. Please look at me. And hold my hand, okay?" She pleaded once more.
He turned around and looked at her.
She closed her eyes and sing the lines of the song she sang to them last time hoping that this would somehow touch the heart of an innocent soul.
"One day in your life, you'll remember a place. Someone touching your face. You'll come back and you'll look around you. One day in your life, when you find that you're always lonely. For the love we used to share, just call my name and I'll be there", her voice quavered, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Suddenly she felt, his cold hands touching her hands. She hurriedly pulled him a hug and lowered him down from the balcony.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she caressed his back and wiped his tears.
"Don't cry sweetheart", she comforted him.
The kid gave her a tight hug.
"Thank you, teacher. I love you".
She pulled him a hug and kissed him on his cheek. She explained everything to the child that her parents always love him, even though he has already a baby sister.
"Do you understand me sweetheart?", she asked while wiping his tears with her thumb.
The kid just nodded.
She combed his hair with her hands and took a face towel from his bag and wiped off his sweats. She looked around because she felt like someone was watching. And she was not mistaken because the kids were there too, crying while looking at them. She didn't know that they followed her.
"Kids, come", she told them.
They hurried over and hugged her.
Suddenly she felt like she could hardly breathe. She was running out of air. She felt so weak and dizzy.
After that, she did not know what happened.
***********
She realized she was in bed, but definitely not in her bedroom.
She looked around and there she saw the kids sitting at the corner. They hurried over and gave her a hug.
"How are you teacher? We are worried about you. Are you okay now?", Josh asked.
"Yes cher, we are worried of you. You fainted on the rooftop, so we called the school's infirmary", said the other kid.
"Thank you kids", she said in a soft voice.
"Are you sick cher?", asked Chris.
She just shook her head and told them that she's fine.
After a moment, a man entered the room.
"Uncle", Josh called.
Ace stared at her, looking so intensely.
"Babe, how are you, are you okay?", he asked.
The kids wondered as they looked at her and then to Ace.
"Uncle, why you're calling teacher, babe? Is she your girlfriend?", asked his nephew.
Ace then realized; he was wrong.
"Um, we're friends", he muttered.
After some time, another man entered. It was the school's director Lester Mendoza.
"Miss Jannah, I heard you fainted a while ago. How are you now?", he formally asked.
"I'm fine sir. Thank you", she responded.
"The kids told me everything. Thank you for saving a child's life. You are impressive Miss Jannah", he complimented.
She just smiled. And then she looked at her kids who were still there, smiling at her.
"Kids, thank you for not leaving me here", she uttered.
"You may go now sweethearts, I know your family is already waiting for you outside to pick you up. See you on Friday", she said to them.
"Bye teacher, take care", they said all together.
"Bye JA, see you around", Ace said.
"Um, by the way, I called your brother, and anytime soon, he will be here", he added.
"Oh my! Ace called my brother. I'm sure he is so worried of me."
There was a moment of silence. JA felt uncomfortable knowing that the school's director was still around. She stood up because she felt awkward. He kept on staring at her from a distance and she exactly know what that means.
"Miss Jannah, can I ask you something?" he said, as he stepped closer to her.
"How did you know that Chris was on the rooftop? I asked the kids about it, but they just told me that they didn't know what happen because you let them close their eyes. After that, they saw you come out of the room. So, they followed you and took the elevator".
She did not respond. She did not expect that he would ask her such questions.
He stared at her, waiting for her answer.
She was about to say something when someone was knocking at the door.
"Please come in", Lester said.
Gladly, her brother Jareed came so she was saved by the bell.
"Sweetie, my God what happened to you? You know how worried I am when Ace called me", her brother approached her and hugged her tight.
"I'm fine boo. Let's go home", she said.
Her brother looked at Lester and tapped his shoulder.
"Thank you bro", he said.
Jareed put his arm around her as they stepped outside the infirmary.
"Are you sure you can drive home?" her brother asked when they reached the parking lot.
She just nodded.
"Sweetie, you still have something to explain to me as soon as we arrive home", her brother said intensely before he gets inside his car.
She knew that would be another long conversation. She knew that her brother was mad at her and he was just trying to hold his temper. And as usual, punishment is waving at her.
Still, she had no regrets. She would be willing to do it again when it's necessary even if it would mean putting her life at risk.
Besides, she doesn't want something bad would happen to her kids.
She was more than willing to do anything for them.