Marcus walked quickly. His next class was about to start. Foreign Language is two building apart from where he is now. While walking, he saw a girl being bullied by two men in their 40's. They were harshly pulling the girl to walk away with them. Without any second thought, Marcus ran to help her.
"What are you doing with her?" Marcus asked, he put down his guitar, grabbed the hand of the girl and brought her at the side.
"Who are you to get in our way? I am her uncle." He answered as he scratched his bald head. "I am here to get my money. She's not lending the money I..."
Marcus impatiently hits him while speaking. The uncle was annoyed and immediately fought back. He fought well, the two men was blown up and ran fast.
The girl was trembling in fear, she was crying.
Marcus got a little bruise in his face. He felt pity for her; she can't stop herself from crying. He holds her hand and gave his handkerchief. "Don't cry. You are safe." Marcus fixed her hair and helped her wiped her tears. "Please, don't worry. I will protect you."
The girl can't speak because of too much trembling and fear.
Accidentally, Margarette saw how Marcus helped the girl wiped her tears and fixed her things. She walked away and went to their class.
Marcus picked his guitar and holds the girl while walking. "Come to my house, don't worry, no one will hurt you there." He smiled.
The girl nodded. She felt at ease by simply looking at his smile, whose eyes were saying not to be scared and trust him.
They ride in Marcus motor bike in going to his house. He holds her like they have known each other for a long time.
He took her in, helped her sit in his velvety sofa and gave her water. She looked painful and lonely.
Marcus gave her his small shirt. He prepared noodle soup and sandwich while the girl is changing her clothes. He guided her way to the kitchen. He sat beside her and helps her eat. "Don't feel shy. Ahh..." He said as he let her open her mouth. Marcus saw her reddish pair of sexy lips, filed with bruises in a corner.
For the first time, he heard her speak, saying her apologizes repeatedly as tears continue to flow.
After eating, the girl silently sat and stared at him. It was a moment of silence when he thought of applying medication on her bruises. He got the medicine and applied it to her wound. He felt sorry for her; he accidentally tapped the back shoulder of the girl and noticed that she got hurt. He looked at it and saw many bruises in the other body parts of the poor lady.
"I should have killed them." Marcus said angrily. "Take a rest, if you regain your strength I will send you home."
The girl touched Marcus face, she applied medicine on it too. He can't take off his eyes from her. He was attracted by her captivating beauty.
He helped the girl to lie down in the bed and put blanket into her body. "Don't be afraid, I will protect you." He said while starring at her who started on taking a nap.
He saw the I.D of the girl and learned that she was Cristina Lee, a Foreign Language Student.
He holds her hand when he heard her crying while on her sleep.
Her tears come rushing when she woke up. She stands, fixed herself and bid goodbye. She refused Marcus to drive her home. "Everything you did is enough. Thank you so much."
Marcus went back to the university and went straight to the Foreign Language building. He spoke with Elly, a friend of Cristina.
"Her father owes a big amount of money to her uncle. When her parents died, he made her a slave. She was able to study here through scholarships. But this morning, her uncle didn't allow her to go to school anymore. She didn't listen to his uncle and went here this morning. He wanted her to work all day for him. He can't run away from him because she knew that he can find her. I am very afraid for her because she can't pay him. He terribly hits her when he's drank. She didn't want to stop from studying. She can endure how he will hurt her, but stopping her from studying was very unfair." Elly said, almost crying.
Marcus felt pity for Cristina. He can't forget her tears. He remembered how every bead of her tears wounded his heart. How her lovely eyes was duct with tears, how her heart carried such painful situation. How her skinny body took those punches and violence.
The next morning, Marcus and Gian accidentally meet at the hall way. Marcus fiercely glanced at Gian.
"Marcus." Gian softly uttered his name but Marcus walk straight to his practice room without looking back at him.
In a month and 3 weeks, the competition will start again but Marcus doesn't have any band mates yet. He was in a deep thinking when he saw two high school girls knocking on the door. They were blushing when they faced Marcus. These two girls gave him food for his breakfast.
"Huh? For me?" he asked, surprised as he received the food.
The two girls where shy nodding, they were very nervous when they reached the hand of Marcus to give the food. After they gave it, "Good luck!" They nervously said then ran immediately.
Marcus smiled. He entered and took a picture of the foods before he ate all of them.
While eating, he gets his laptop and played star craft. He is happily playing when he heard a very convincing sound of drum. He left his game and followed the sound. The sound was about 3 rooms apart. He secretly watched the guy who is playing the drum. He was amazed and entered the room right after he stopped playing.
"What are you doing here?" He asked stands and dropped the drumstick.
Marcus laughed, "Hey! What's your name? You're really good."
"Huh? I'm Edgar, Edgar Alcantara. By any chance, are you Marcus Cho?" the guy named Edgar answered. "I heard it right, aggressive and unmannered."
"Unmannered? By the way, do you want to join in my band and be my drummer?" Marcus said. He flung his arms in Edgar's shoulder.
"No." He directly answered.
Marcus was a bit startled, much unmannered than him. "What? Are you in a band already?"
"No, I don't have. I just don't want to join in any band." Edgar answered while removing Marcus arms on his.
"Whether you like it or not, we are band mates now." He smiled. "Hey! Come on! Let's go to our practice room!" Marcus laughed.
Edgar has decided not to join. He walked outside the room.
Marcus looked at him, assuring that he can get him. He laughed like an evil, when he suddenly remembered that he is playing star craft, he rushed into the practice room. "I LOST!!!" he shouted.
Margarette is merrily singing Joey McIntyre - Stay the same while walking to their classroom when she and Marcus accidentally walked together in the hall way. She immediately stopped singing and made a distance from him.
