Carnage of Vicinity (At a Not-So-Ordinary Senior High)

CHAPTER 03: Lunch Break and Theories

VICINITY

The next day, sabay kaming pumasok ni Cameron, and thanks to him, we were close to being late. Na-late pala siya ng paggayak noong araw na 'yon at dinamay niya pa ako!

Gusto ko na nga siyang iwan dahil sa taratanta because Sir Tan threatened us to not be late in the exams. Pero kahit papa'no, I pitied the dickhead kaya hinintay ko pa rin siya (isa pa, it's hard to decline a free ride). Late ko na ring na-realize na naghahanap lang siya ng kasama sa kamalasan niya!

Thankfully, we came at the right time. Pasimula pa lang ang exams. Pero mukhang bago pa man talaga magsimula ang araw, we were already bound to be unfortunate. Hindi pa pala 'yon ang muntik na naming pagka-late sa exams.

"No test papers for us?"

I looked at my seatmate and I gave him a creased expression. "Mukhang gano'n na nga."

I turned my gaze to the back of our teacher who was walking back to his table. Nang makaupo na siyang muli doon, he looked at us with this suspicious look on his face.

"As you can see, some of you don't have test papers yet. Let me apologize for that in behalf of the faculty," he said then he clasped his hand together, putting them under his chin. "Hindi sapat for your class ang bilang ng test papers because it so happened na kulang ang number na na-print sa faculty. To aid that, mauunang mag-test ang iba ninyong classmates, and susunod naman ang iba after nila."

A classmate raised his hand.

"Yes?"

He stood on his feet kahit hindi naman 'yon recitation. Was that even necessary? "Wala pa pu bang test papers para po sa ibang subjects, sir Tan? Siguro po pwedeng hiramin po muna namin 'yung sa kabilang section para may masimulan po kami?"

"Oo nga po, sir! 'Yun po muna ang sasagutan namin para hindi naman kami tulala dito."

The teacher shook his head. "Unfortunately, hindi iyan inaprubahan." Wala na siyang idinugtong pa.

No further explanation? I almost scoffed.

"Same pa rin po ang ibibigay sa'min na time to answer the exams, 'di ba po?" a classmate asked, which was answered by another shaking of our teacher's head. That surprised me.

"Susundin natin ang schedule niyo. The first set of students will answer in 30 minutes, so as the second set. At 8 o'clock, you will take the next subject, tapos man o hindi ang naunang exam."

Faint groans filled the room. Kitang-kita rin sa reaksyon ng ilan sa mga kaklase namin ang frustration. Even some of the ones who were taking the exam took a halt just to unconsciously respond to the news. Kahit naman ako hindi mapipigilang mag-react kung ako ang nasa katayuan nila.

The dickhead beside me had the same frustrated look on his face, but there was still this calm demeanor that he was trying to mask his expression. I could safely assume that he was kind of mad at that moment. Who wouldn't, though?

Malamang sa malamang, they had a master list of how many students we were that academic year. Of course, they had the capacity to know how many test papers should they print out. But, it turned out na kinulang ang test papers, at mag-a-adjust kami by sacrificing half of our exam time to give way to each other to be able to take the exams.

"It seems like the rumors are true."

Napalingon ako sa likuran ko. It was our classmate at our back who had talked. Her name is Michaela. She had this long black hair and pale features. Hindi siya gano'n kaagaw-atensyon sa klase namin because she's quiet, and not beautiful, too. Don't get me wrong; I'm just being honest. Even her seatmate, Rainier, would have agreed to me. Siguro 'yung eyeliner na lang sa gilid ng mga mata niya ang nagdadala sa itsura niya. Pero overall, she looked fine.