Aurora Borealis

Chapter 28 - He Can, But He Won't

>> • LAUREN • <<

"I passed!" bungad ko sa Archives' Section habang iwinawagayway ang mga test paper ko.

After a stressful week of studying for exams and passing requirements for every subject, I am finally relieved from the pressure that's been pushing me on the edge last week.

"Hm, hmm." tumayo si Wendy at inilatag sa mukha ko ang kaniyang mga test papers. "I also did."

Seeing the scores on her test paper, it looks like we're no different and the gaps weren't that much wide. We barely passed Pre-Calculus since there's no word that can express how much we hate that subject.

"I got one-point advantage—"

"I aced all the tests." West bragged.

"I'm downright average, but I also passed!" masayang tugon ni Tohru.

"This calls for a celebration.." Aero suggested.

"Pumasa ka rin?" tanong ko.

"I flunked three of it.." Aero nonchalantly answered. "Last time, I flunker five of it so I guess I'm doing better.."

"I agree. This calls for a celebration!" bulalas ni West.

"Parang gusto ko uminom. Who's with me?" tanong pa ni Aero.

I know there's nothing bad at celebrating for an occasion, but for me, I think drinking goes too far.

"Wala namang magsusumbong, 'di ba?" ani Aero.

"Oo nga. Bakit kayo magsusumbong?" tanong ni West at tumungo sa may pintuan. "Wait here, I'll go get some that I hid on my locker!"

"I can't wait to get drunk. By the way, East, can you recommend me another manga? I ran out of stuffs to read."

"Again? Ang bilis mo namang magbasa. Parang nitong huli lang ako nag-suggest, ah?" reklamo ni East. I know it seems like I'm reading too much on the atmosphere, but East probably can't stand Aero.

"It's not my fault that your genre preference in mangas is good. I've stayed up all day and night, indulging in those that I even learned some new vocabulary words.." nag-iwas ng tingin si Aero sa kaniya, kasabay ng unti-unting paghina ng walang kabuhay-buhay nitong boses.

Maya-maya pa'y nakabalik na rin si West.

Disappointment clouded the face of Aero as soon as he saw West dropping a huge gallon of mineral water on the table.

"Let's drink and hydrate ourselves!" pag-a-aya ni West at kinuha ang lalagyan niya ng tubig sa bag. Hinugot ko rin sa bag ang akin at nakisahod doon.

"Bakit ka nagtatago ng galon ng mineral water sa locker mo?" East asked him with suspicion.

"Mas makakatipid ako kapag nagdala ako ng isang galon. Mas mainam na 'yon kaysa araw-araw ako bumili ng bote ng mineral water." paliwanag ni West habang nagsasahod.

"Wala ba kayong tubig sa dorm?" tanong naman ni Wendy na kinakalkal sa kaniyang bag ang sariling inuman.

"Meron. Kaso inuubos lagi nung mga nasa kabilang kuwarto. Mga tamad bumili ng tubig. Nakiki-jumper dito sa tubig ko kaya dinadala ko na lang sa locker yung galon para hindi sila makahingi." ani nito.

Naiiling na lamang akong lumagok sa inuman. Mukhang nawalan na ng gana si Aero na uminom pagkatapos nitong mag-aya.

"East, do you have any manga to recommend for me to read?" pag-iiba nito sa usapan.

"I don't have anything to recommend to you right now. I suggest that you should attend supplementary classes to make up for the subjects that you flunked." payo nito sa kaniya.

"And if I pass it all, will you recommend something?" tanong nito.

"I'll think of it. But you should study." pagtanggap ni East sa kundisyon. Agad namang tumayo si Aero at naglakad papalabas.

"Hey, where are you going?" tanong ko.

"Outside, on the library. I'm going to study." tipid na sagot nito at tuluyan nang umalis.

Lately, he's been coming on the Archives' Section every single day ever since he discovered that this is our hideout. He reasoned out that he has nothing to do so he's coming here on his own whim. We don't see the harm in letting him stay here, he's only reading mangas so we just let him be.

"He's obedient. Mukhang gustong-gusto niya talaga yung mga recommendation mo." puna ni Wendy.

"He shouldn't indulge himself too much on the pleasure of reading mangas. Lalo lamang niyang mapapabayaan yung pag-a-aral niya." sermon ni East.

"Hmm, hmm, are you perhaps concerned about him?" Wendy asked her in a teasing tone.

"No. I'm concerned about the consequences that's going to happen because I happened to influence him into reading those. I'll blame myself if ever I made someone a failure." tugon nito at iniligpit ang kaniyang mga test paper.

"Okay, if you say so~" Wendy retorted.

"Hey bro, can I take a look at your test paper?" tanong ni Tohru na dahan-dahang naglalakad papalapit kay Baldo na nagsusulat pa rin sa kaniyang notebook.

"No, go away." wika ni Baldo sa kaniya, ngunit mabilis na nahablot ni Tohru ang bag na nasa may paanan nito. Agad naman silang naghabulan sa Archive's Section.

"Don't be too cold, bro! Titingnan lang naman e'!" wika ni Tohru.

"Why do you want to see it anyway?" inis na tanong nito.

"Whoa, Tohru will make a good sprinter. Baldo can't even catch up to his speed." hangang saad ni West. He tried clearing his throat as if he's an official commentator in a marathon, "Ehem! And now, as we can see, ladies and gentlemen, Runner One is giving Runner Two a hard time to run along with his pace, and bam!"

"Wendy!" pumostura si Tohru na para bang nasa isa siyang volleyball match at ini-serve ito kay Wendy. Nahuli ni Baldo ang kamay ni Tohru at pareho silang nahulog sa sahig.

Sinapo naman ito ni Wendy at matuling binuksan ang bag. Halos tumapon na ang lahat ng laman nito sa sahig. I noticed that there's a lot more sketchbooks and steadlers than the notebooks for each class subject. Not only that, there's a lot of brushes that exploded when Wendy held the bag in an imbalanced manner.

Mayroong mga nahulog na piraso ng mga bond paper sa sahig bago ito masundan ng alikabok. Pinulot ko ang isa sa mga papel at sinuri iyon.

His grades were a one or two point away from the passing score. Tiningnan ko naman ang iba pa at nakitang pasado naman ang ilan sa mga ito.

"Ooh. He got a perfect score in Social Science." manghang saad ni Wendy. "Kung kaya mong maka-perfect sa exam, bakit hindi mo ginawang perfect yung scores ng ibang exam?"

"Give me that!" nanggigigil na hinablot ni Baldo ang mga papel mula sa amin at walang kaayos-ayos na isinilid ang lahat ng kaniyang gamit sa bag. May kung ano pa itong ibinulong habang nagliligpit ngunit hindi ko na naintindihan pa ang kahulugan nito.

In retrospect, I recalled that my father said something to me when I told him that the people from my class aren't knowledgeable enough to pass even a single exam. Ang sabi niya, may mga taong kaya ring gawin ang kaya ko, ngunit hindi nila ginagawa dahil sa mas pinipili ng mga ito na gawin ang mga bagay na gusto nila.

I figured out that it might be similar to Baldo's beliefs. Kaya niya, sadyang hindi lang siya interesado.

Even so, he shouldn't have flunked it. He might suffer the consequences later if that continues.

I knelt down to help him pick it up. I heard him click his tongue as soon as I handed out the sketchbooks, papers and brushes to him. Walang sabi-sabing tumayo siya at lumabas, dala ang kaniyang bag.

"Lagot kayo, pinikon niyo na naman si Baldo." West instigated. East only nudged her elbow against his as a sign of telling him to stop it.