His Umbrella Girl

Chapter Two

Alive

"DO you agree that Romeo and Juliet ended with a happy ending? "

The professor closed the book and adjusted her glasses just as she dropped this question. Some of my classmates seemed bored, some just looked unbothered and played with their pens or anything.

The teacher looked at each and every one of us and then smiled slightly. She cleared her throat and remove her glasses. That move seemed to affect my classmates because they suddenly looked at Ms. Jade attentively.

She stood up and sat on the edge of the table, still shifting her eyes from one student to another.

"Romeo and Juliet died together and their death resolved an ancestral feud between two families. Do you think it's a happy ending? Is their death reasonable?", Ms. Jade asked once again.

Almost all of my classmates said yes. Probably because they considered ending wars with death are naturally occurring. Ms. Jade nodded slowly as she tapped her fingers gently on the table.

" What about you Mr. Real? Do you agree with your classmates?"Ms. Jade asked, looking sternly at Nigel whose eyes were on the book he was holding.

Nigel did not even glanced at her. Akala ko ay hindi na sya sasagot dahil sobrang tagal niyang hindi umiimik. Ngunit nabigla ako ng marinig siyang magsalita.

"No, Ma'am." he uttered. His seatmates stared at him in utter disbelief yet our teacher remained unmoving.

"I believe that the ends do not justify the means. Their death is foolish, love is a foolish reason to die. The families' hatchet was buried along with the lovers' corpses. But is it really enough reason? Their death is a choice they made because of some kind of selfish and foolish reason. They didn't die to fix the war, the war ended because they died." Nigel ended. Some of our classmates gasped. But as I returned my gaze to Ms. Jade, she seemed amused.

The bell rang. Almost all my classmates stood up to fix their stuff and chitchat with their friends. While Nigel? He was just there, sitting and not minding anyone.

"GOOD morning Miss Ma'am!" a voice called, stopping me from a drift down memory lane. I halted in my tracks and I immediately turned around only to see this kid with a sunny smile plastered on her face while waving her hands at me.

"Akin na yung gamit mo Ma'am hehe", it's Jiann.

Simula nang magturo ako sa university na ito at maging estudyante ko si Jiann ay hindi na niya ako nilayuan. Nung una, akala ko gusto nya lang magpapansin sa akin para sa mataas na grade, pero kahit hindi ko na sila tinuturuan ay panay pa rin ang buntot niya sa akin kaya naman hinayaan ko na.

Inabot ko sakanya ang iilang librong hawak ko, kahit pa kaya ko namang bitbitin ito. Abot tenga ang ngiti nya ng gawin ko iyon, na tila ba bata na nabigyan ng candy. Napailing na lang ako at nagpatuloy nang maglakad sa susunod kong klase.

"Ma'am alam mo gumaganda ka, parang di ka tumatanda" nambola pa. Napatawa na lamang ako sa kanya. She did not talk after that, and that silence made me ponder about things in life. As I walked through the hallway, looking at those highschoolers, I remembered my memories with Nigel. Enci was the best thing that happened to me, too bad I lost him. Ilang minuto lang ay nakarating na kami sa klase ko. Ibinaba nya ang mga gamit ko sa lamesa at nagpaalam na.

Habang umiikot ako sa klase para magbantay ng estudyanteng nag-eexam, someone knocked at the door.

"Excuse me, is this 10-B?" he said. Namilog ang mga mata ko sa nakita. It could not possibly be him. It's already been a decade, and I was there when they buried him.

"Enci?..." I stood there, rooted in disbelief.

"Sa kabila po yung 10-B" a sudent answered.

"Ah sige, thank you" he then looked at his watch and left.

Napatalon na lamang ako sa gulat nang biglang may nag-ring na cellphone. Nagsiangat ang mga ulo ng mga bata dahil dito. I walked towards the table and grabbed my phone from my bag, still in shock.

"Ate Elise, buhay si Kuya Nigel!"

A loud bang echoed as the phone dropped.