A Far-fetched Love ✓

AFL 33 ✓

"A pleasant morning, Ms. Vasquez," Mrs. Yañez greeted me with a smile the soonest I entered our classroom. 

The look on her face was surprisingly different compared to how she looks whenever she sees me around the University. She looked overjoyed at the same time in the mood to converse with me. Quite sure the news of my break up with his brother caused her to be that elated. And I couldn't blame her for that, for she's been waiting for that to happen. 

"Good morning, Mrs. Yañez." I forced a thin smile on my lips and headed to my seat. 

"Uy, mars, okay ka lang? Para tayong namatayan ah? Anyare sa 'yo?" Elle, my classmate, asked after nudging me on my arm to get my attention. 

"Puyat lang," sagot ko bago ngumiti ulit nang pilit at tumingin na sa harapan para makinig. 

I'm not in the mood to be a receiver of Mrs. Yañez's anger, if ever she caught me talking with my seatmate in the middle of our class. Our class which went on unusually 'cause unlike before, she rarely called me to participate in the class discussion. Tahimik lang sa buong klase hanggang sa ilang minuto na lang ang natira. She gave the remaining minutes for us to prepare for our next class, which she doesn't usually do. It was a wonder for me at first, not until she dismissed the whole class, excluding me. 

When it was only the two of us left, she sat back on her chair, reclined her back on its back brace, folded her arms, and shot me a glance. Then, I knew she was up for something. 

Tapos na kami ng kapatid niya, ano pang iniinaso ng babaeng 'to? Isip-isip ko at nakikipagtitigan din dito habang nakaupo sa upuan sa unahan. I hope she wouldn't shower me with any of her cocky speeches, for I have a lot of bullets to shoot her with. And those bullets could certainly mark her with deep holes. 

"How are you, Ms. Vasquez?" she asked while smiling widely at me. 

I returned her the favor before saying, "Better than yesterday, Ma'am."

She laughed.

"Really?" she laughingly asked as she curled her hair on her right pointing finger. "Sa laki ng perang nawala sa 'yo, you're better than yesterday? Come on, Vasquez. I'm not stupid."

Like what she did, I laughed as well. "Of course you're not stupid," I said, causing her to smile. "Mang-aagaw pwede pa." 

Her smile instantly vanished, and was changed into a face that's worse than seeing a ghost. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry po. Hindi ko sinasadya." I covered my mouth with both hands as if I was surprised, when in fact I did let those words be free to deflate her overly inflated self-respect. "It's a mere slip of the tongue, I didn't mean to word them out."

Para itong binuhusan ng malamig na tubig sa hitsura nito dahil sa mga sinabi ko, dahilan para matawa ako lalo. Ni hindi rin nito maibuka ang bibig para magsalita at mambastos gaya ng lagi nitong ginagawa sa 'kin. 

Pero nagulat na lang ako nang bigla itong tumayo mula sa kinauupuan nito at akmang sasampalin ako. So I quickly grabbed her hand and slapped her instead of her, slapping me and said, "That's for all the degrading words that you've thrown at me, which I never deserved to receive from a dirty woman like you."

Then I claimed for another slap on her face. "That's for being a fucking homophobic, who had nothing better to do in life but to stigmatize gay people who did you no wrong, when in fact it's you who merits every negative adjective there is."

"That's for bedding someone else's possession, just to scratch that itching vagina of yours," I said before slapping her for the third time. 

"And this one's for causing all this mess, you woman of seriously damaged cognition." For the last time and with all the remaining strength I have, I slapped her as I let go of her hands and pushed to my feet.