Jump From the Air (Erudite Series #5)

Kapitulo 4

Mommy let me go to the party that Magnus invited me to when I told her the next day. At the back of my head, though, I was expecting her to make me go home on Thursday afternoon. I'll have to see if my hunch is right or not when that day comes.

"I feel so stupid. Why is this so hard?" Amy said in a frustrated tone while we were answering a math activity that was due on Friday.

We were at Starbucks right now, Wren wanted to drink coffee, sumama kami at bumili na rin ng inumin. Our prof told us he had a meeting with the Dean, so class was canceled. Instead, he sent us an activity and told us to answer it in the meantime. Lahat kaming magkakaibigan ay same class lang ng math, so lahat kami ay narito para magsagot. More like, para magreklamo. Ang hirap kasi no'ng lesson, tapos hindi pa naturo bago kami bigyan ng activity.

Typical days in college.

"Is your number four, 48x + 62y + 3w?" Dominique nudged me while saying that and showed his answer. "Mine is 50x, not 48x."

Lumapit si Magnus kay Wren at nagpaturo dahil siya rin ay hindi gaanong naiintidihan ang aralin. Among all of us, Wren was the math wizard. She could instantly understand a lesson in math by herself. Kaya nga naging best in math siya no'ng high school, e.

"Huh? Bakit?" in-explain ko kay Dominique kung paano ko nakuha ang sagot ko. "Ohh, right, right, the 2x should be subtracted nga pala, gets. Thanks, MJ," he went back to answering.

Tapos na ako, pero hinihintay ko lang matapos magpaturo si Magnus, para maipakita ko kay Wren kung tama ang mga sagot ko. She was also done, she was the first to finish. Mga 15 minutes na yata siyang naglalaro na lang sa phone. She didn't ask any of us to confirm her answers, that was how sure she was.

"Thanks, birdy," Magnus told Wren before returning to his original seat.

I handed my iPad to Wren. "Pa-check, Wren," I muttered.

My friend took it and scanned my answers. "Your last number is wrong, redo it."

"Saan ang mali?"

"That's a square of a binomial, so dapat tatlo lang 'yong sagot, hindi apat," tumango ako at sinagutan muli ang huling number.

Matapos ang ilang minuto ay bumalik na kaming campus para pumasok sa susunod na klase. Sinabi ko kay Wren na ise-send ko na lang ang mga sagot ko ulit pag-uwi ko para ma-check niya bago ko ipasa, she agreed.

Habang naglalakad papuntang campus, nakita ko ang ilang mga pulubing... nagbabatuhan ng tsinelas malapit sa school. The guards stopped them from further coming closer to the gate of DLSU. Tumakbo naman agad 'yong mga pulubi palayo. They were in an argument, and it got physical, so medyo nakatatakot dumaan. Mabuti at naayos. Pero... sa ibang lugar naman mapupunta 'yong pisikalan nila.

"Training ka after class, 'no?" said Amy to Dominique. "Yeah, bukas wala, though, kasi maraming nagpa-excuse for personal stuff."

"Didiretso ka bang club after training mo sa Thursday?" Magnus asked. "Uwi muna ako," Dominique answered.

"Kain tayo mamaya ng ramen, after class," ani Amy.

"Tara," Wren answered and Dominique nodded.

"Uwi na ako, kayo na lang," sabi ko naman.

"Bakit?" Wren asked.

"Sabi ng Mommy ko uwi ako agad, e, so I can't," I explained.

Pagpasok namin sa klase, hindi namin kinayang maging magkakatabi dahil hiwa-hiwalay na ang mga libreng upuan. Napunta ako sa likod na bahagi ng room habang ang mga kaibigan ko ay nasa harap. Our prof came in a minute after we arrived and his voice filled the room later on. And, as I listened, I wondered if my hunch would really come true...