HEART AND HERO (SAMPLER)

1 KARLA

THERE WERE THREE IDEAS on Karla Silang's mind as she stared down at her phone, inches away from falling off a 3-story campus building's window ledge. The first, levitation. If she had been a superhero, she could levitate her phone back inside, through the window, and into her sweaty palms through sheer will alone. The second, whatever sort of power it was that allowed a Superhuman to stretch their arms—stretchiness? Super elasticity? Whichever it was called: with longer arms she could reach it, no problem. The third wasn't much of an idea, but an idea of a complaint. Why on earth did her phone have to fall from her hand in the first place, right out the window, as she was trying to get a radio signal?

On the plus side, it was working now. The DJ's voice sounded bright and cheery from the phone as if to mock Karla's clumsiness.

"You're still listening to 106.9 Bayani FM! With me, DJ KC! I hope you're sitting comfortably this Monday morning, with a hot-hot-hot bowl of Lomi! Wakey-wakey!"

"Sitting? Yes. Comfortably? No."

She was sitting right on top of the open window, one chubby leg dangling outside the open air, while the rest of her was hooked onto a classroom desk, propped against the wall inside. The window was the kind she had to push hard to get opened due to some thick glass and an old window frame, but it sure hadn't been hard for her phone to slip right through.

"Later on we'll have a wonderful, good morning chat with a super-kind, super-powerful, and Superhuman guest: Maya Girl of The Organization Superheroes!"

Karla made an 'eep!', then glanced behind her to see if anyone had entered the classroom while she had her back turned. None. She was still alone.

"Be sure to stay tuned!" the DJ said, right before an embarrassing energy drink jingle started to play.

She sighed, just as she saw her phone's screen light up with a notification that her mom sent a text message. Parts of it could be read before it got set aside. Did you make it to your classroom? Don't be late ha! It's your first day!

She didn't have to tell her twice. It was a much-anticipated kind of text from her mother, though she wasn't late. She was too early; it could be mistaken as eagerness. She expected she might get lost, looking through the buildings of her new campus. But it turned out to be easy to find the Mapolan Building, since it was just right across the library, which she remembered from Orientation yesterday.

No, Karla wasn't going to take any chances of getting lost on her first day of college. She thought ahead. Having first-day jitters would be inevitable, and so would figuring out exactly what to do with herself when she walks into a classroom with strange new faces already in it. Initially, she wouldn't have minded getting a little late with just the thought of having to socialize prematurely, but something forced her to claim the classroom for herself, even just for a couple of minutes.

Maya Girl accepted a rare interview in a popular radio station, and she'd be damned if she'd let getting lost, trying to look for her classroom, be the reason she would miss it. It would be lucky if someone were to record the interview and share it online, but Karla wasn't taking any chances. It was Maya Girl! Her idol.

"Of all the rotten luck," she muttered.

Meeting her classmates and walking into the wrong classroom had been at the back of her mind since nearing the school year. She wasn't completely jinxed, but a bit of a pessimist. Enough for her to think that at least one problem would have to occur because she'd been having a blissful experience of admissions into this college so far. She didn't expect that the problem would come in the form of having her phone fall off the window, just as a Maya Girl interview was happening, and possibly having to ask someone for help.