By Fortunate Chance

The Mysterious Hero

"Serrano! De Leon! Is there something funny on the board?"

"None, ma'am!" Mara and Jane answered in unison, both trying to keep themselves from laughing. They were whispering and giggling over what Jane told her last Saturday, and now, they can't believe how the once loud and annoying Julien, is sitting really quiet at the front row. Both Mara and Jane are sitting two rows away at the back and they could see Julien just leaning with her head on her hand.

"Stop now, Mara, we're being too rude now", Jane rebuked her friend while still smiling.

The bell rang for the next class. A couple of minutes after, 4 Biology students from a different class entered the room through the back door. Three girls and a guy. All heads looked back wondering why they were there, as 2 of them took the two seats beside Jane while the second half of the quartet took the empty seats at their back.

"Hi Jane! Is this seat taken?" Jane looked up and to her surprise, it was the senior from the freshmen orientation.

Jane blushed. "Uhm... Hello! No, y---you may take them".

The room suddenly was filled with buzz. Some of the students were tapping Julien. Since the orientation, Julien was too vocal about her crush on the senior.

Jane did not want to compete, although this chic is really something. She's pristine. She was fair-skinned, quite Jane's type. Her hair was neatly tied to a bun. She has dimples showing whenever she smiles and she's so articulate when she talks. She's really quite Jane's type.

But before anything could begin, she decided not to get into the competition. So as if with permission, she resigned and surrendered to the loud Julien.

Julien, who beforehand was awkwardly silent, turned to face Jane, and made an I-see-you sign, pointing two fingers at the latter. Jane was not intimidated at all, in fact, she found it pathetic but she did not want to engage.

Jane gave Mara a look, and both laughed.

"We saw you at the gym during the practice. You were so good." One of them said, trying to initiate a conversation, while their professor hasn't arrived yet.

"You're so pretty and handsome at the same time. I think I have a crush on you." The other one confidently blurted out giving a cute laugh. "Too much sex appeal!"

Jane was now feeling awkward, she never liked first encounters. Good thing, Mara was on her rescue. "Are you playing for the team too?"

"Yes, actually we're part of the cheerdance squad".

So, Mara and their new classmates started a conversation. Jane didn't want to indulge. As she was opening her bag to get her book, the girl beside her asked, "Is this the Ecology class?"

"Yes, this is."

As if understanding the confused look on Jane's face, the senior began to explain, "We're actually 4th year Biology students, as you already know. We had to add this subject as we were unable to take it before. Our professor, which I presume is also your professor, suggested that we join your class from here on now, since there are only 4 of us. It's not in conflict with any of our subjects anyway so yes, we agreed. I'm Julia, by the way." She held out her hand introducing herself.

"This is Toni", pointing to the first girl who spoke to Jane, sitting next to her. And pointing at the back, Julia introduced the two other, "That one is Victoria, and this only guy here is Joseph".

"Hi, nice meeting you." Jane took Julia's hand and shook it. "And, this is Mara here."

A few minutes later, their Ecology professor showed up. "I'm sorry class I cannot meet you for a lecture today. I'll be making an announcement though. As you can see, I've joined my other class with you because we'll be planning a field trip. As ecology students, you need to expose yourself to the environment, learn and experience the real nature. Our first trip should be to see corals and study them, and we're going to have an island hopping for that."