kundiman.

chapter 1.

"Welcome back Eagles!" says the student body president through the intercom. "It's a beautiful Tuesday so get ready to soar for another school year."

The buzz of students chatting suddenly fills the hallways of St. Joseph High School as they make their way in. The sun is barely peering over the horizon. The moist, morning breeze blows over the freshly cut football field.

Jason De Los Santos gets dropped off by his dad. "Have a good day son. You're only a freshman once, just enjoy it!" Jason gives away a broken smile as his dad fixes his uncombed hair. "Jason, everything's going to be ok. I'm always here for you. And your mom is always watching over you from heaven. Ok?"

Jason nods and fist bumps his dad. His dad reaches for a hug.

"Bye dad!" Jason exclaims as he jumps out of his dad's huge truck.

He stands in front of the school and watches the students pour into the entrance. He glances left and right for any cars and crosses over to the sidewalk. Excitement rushes all over his body as he steps into the school for the first time as an official high school student.

Clara Gonzales rushes out of her older brother's car out of disgust. "BRIAN! WHEN ARE YOU GONNA WASH THIS FILTHY CAR?!"

"Filthy? Don't ever disrespect Sylvia like that," Brian retorts.

"Ugh, you even named it?"

"Don't call Sylvia an it! Her! She's a her!"

"Whatever Brian! She reeks."

"Alright fine I'll get her cleaned. I'm sorry Sylvia you had to hear that. You don't stink..." Brian continues speaking to his car like it was an infant as Clara walks away to meet up with her bestfriend at the entrance.

"CLARAAAAA!"

"JAMIEEEE!" Clara exclaims back.

"Girlllll ano naaa? Are you excited?" Jamie asks eagerly.

"Girl I'm so excited you don't even know. Like I got up this morning and looked at the clock and it was 4:00 AM."

"Oh my gosh girl me too. I couldn't get any kind of sleep."

Clara and Jamie Reyes met three years ago in middle school. They had the same PE class. While all the girls were too stuck up to play any of the games, Clara and Jamie were usually the ones beating all the boys. They first met when all the girls chose to sit out of dodgeball and they were the only two girls willing to play. From then on they knew they'd be the best of friends.

Clara talks to Jamie for a couple more minutes before parting ways since she had her first period upstairs. She motions towards the staircase as she waves goodbye to Jamie. She takes a step on the stairs and looks up and is stunned with shock as a very tall, well-built individual comes running into her as she takes her first step onto the stairs.

"Ahhhhh!" she yells almost tipping back unto her butt.

The figure catches her. She looks up to see who it is. She was expecting a chiseled jawline, neatly combed hair, dimples... hypnotic eyes...

Instead, it's Jason. Yes, he's tall, well-built, as his dad trains him in football... but he's far from Clara's expectations. Unruly hair, bad posture, and the thickest glasses; he's not exactly the dream boy girls gravitate towards.

He quickly stands her up. "Woah. It's a girl. What do I say?" he says to himself.  In his anxiousness... he bows.

"I'm sorry," he says as he bends down repentantly. He doesn't realize how close he is from Clara and the top of his head bashes against Clara's breasts. She jumps back by instinct.

"Oop. Gahhhhh. I'm so sorry," Jason says with a pained face as he reaches over to Clara right where he hit her... her breasts...

"Hey!" Clara says in protest to Jason's open hands.

He realizes where he's reaching.

He pulls back his hands in shame. His cheeks turn bright red and he says,  "I'll just go. Sorry." He hurriedly walks away from Clara in humiliation, never looking back at her.

Clara watches him walk away and wonders, "what in the world just happened?" Though everything Jason did would normally offend the average person, there was an awkward but very charming aura to him that made Clara giggle it off as she walked up the stairs.