The Gamble of Unexpectedness

Chapter 1 - First Impressions

I guess my heart never felt this way before.

Waves of confusion drown me every night and everyday I ask myself, "What is happening to me?"

Then I remembered the first day of school. The day that I first met her.

I walked through the hallway filled with students scurrying to their classrooms, feeling shy and awkward.

As I reached the classroom were I knew I was going to spend my entire school year at, I realized that the summer was over. The memories of being free with nothing to do but relax came flooding back to me.

I reached for the door knob and took a deep breath, trying to lose my shyness.

As I opened the door, a crowd of silence welcomed my presence. Nobody was talking to each other at all. NO ONE.

I walked through the rows of chairs until I found a seat with my name on it, which as at the very back of the classroom.

I had always enjoyed a window seat, whether it was in the car, on a bus, or on a plane. And that is what I got, a window seat!

Although I was a little bit insulted by the fact that I am a small person and I was at the back of the room. But I don't blame the teacher for putting me in that spot, it was the first day of class. After all, she still didn't know me.

Then, the guy sitting in front of me looked back and greeted me good morning. Something seemed nice about him. His neatly pressed uniform, his slick hair, his pale, white skin, he was to good to be true to even be my friend. His almost perfect look is what girls would definitely fall  for. He is what seems to be the cool-sporty-rich kid-girls-would-fall-for guy that would not befriend geeks like me who is in to anime, collecting pokemon cards, yu gi-oh, and what not. But despite this, he instantly became my best friend. I never would have expected this to happen. I have never been close to anyone with this reputation before. I was the kind of guy who would miss out on parties and just lie down on the bed and watch my favorite animes all day and do other important stuff. But I thought to myself, "This may be the one shot I could be somebody much more important than the geek I am today."

"Hey! Good Morning! I'm Ben Cunanan. What's your name?"

"I'm Mark Castro, are you new here?"

"Nah. Wait! I think I saw you before. You're the dude who proved the teacher's formula wrong in Math in the next classroom last school year, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I still can't believe I did that. I would never stand up to a teacher before. But I guess I was just bored of her correcting herself that I did it for her."

"Woah, smart guy alert! Are you in to sports?"

"Have you even seen my stature? I'm too thin and weak to do any sports. Well, besides chess that is."

"Hahaha! I like you already. We will have many adventures you and I!"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Then the teacher came in, looking strict and rather intimidating with her sharp glasses and her devilish smirk.

"Hello class, I'm Ms. De Silva. And whether you like me or not you that's not a problem. You'll just have to wait the next 10 months of your life for a new adviser."

She started attendance, opening her planner dramatically slowly.

One by one she called our names.

"Casimiro, John Andrew"

"Present!"

"Cunanan, Ben Adrian"

"Present!"

"Castro, Mark Anthony"

"Present!"

The list seemed to go on forever until...

"Dela Peña, Charisse"

"Present!"

"Dimayuga, Anna Mae"

"Present!"

"Estrella, Crystal"

"..."

"Estrella, Crystal?"

"..."

"Estrella Crystal?!"

"..."

Then, we heard loud footsteps outside the room, like someone was running.

As the footsteps became louder and closer, something burst through the door.

"Good morning ma'am! Sorry I'm late.", looking haggard and stressed.

"Ah, Ms. Estrella! What an early surprise for the first day of school. I guess you're not good with first impressions. But, as we all know that first impressions never last. But it counts. Your seat is right beside Mr. Castro at the back."

Then Ben turned to me, with a clever smirk on his face with a whispery tone.

"Hey Mark, I bet I could be a better friend to the newbie here faster than you do."

"What's the price the loser has to pay?"

"Eh, we'll talk about the conditions later. Now shhhh, Ms. De Silva is approaching us."