Be the First

19 : Kalma

"Kindly do an advanced reading on Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, and make sure you don't just read with your eyes but also..."

"Read it with your heart." Sagot namin pabalik kay Miss Mendez bago niya kami i-dismiss ng klase dahil nasa labas na ng room ang next subject teacher.

Napangiti lang ako sa assigned reading work ni Ma'am. Nabasa ko na kasi 'to at alam ko na ang analysis at meaning ng poem.

I'm ready.

Miss Mendez has already given us our English exams and I got the perfect score.

Well, actually, dalawa kami ni Izrajel na naka-perfect ng exam niya.

"Hay. Boring." Sabi ni Nona pagkatapos niyang humikab. She got 65/70 which isn't bad. Airen got 67/70. Matty was one point close to perfect score.

Sakto namang pumasok na ang aming sunod na subject teacher kaya nagsiayos na kami ng upo.

"Wala nang intro-intro. Here are your test results." Biglang nanahimik ang lahat sa boses ng Math teacher namin. "Get up and get your paper once your name is called."

Medyo kinakabahan ako.

"Lim, Winona. Highest score of 66/70." Napalingon ako kay Nona na nagulat rin. I clapped my hands and cheered for her. Sumunod na rin ang buong class nang kunin ni Winona ang papel niya.

I was expecting my name to be next, but it was Matty's name instead. He scored 63.

Namamawis na ako at kinakabahan.

Ibang pangalan na naman ang tinawag.

At sumunod kay Izrajel. 60/70. Airen got 55/70.

Ramdam kong napalingon na sa akin si Winona at pati siya nagtataka kung bakit hindi pa ako tinatawag. The papers are arranged from highest to lowest.

Oh no.

"Samaniego, you're up." My heart was slamming so fast against my chest. Para akong nabibingi nang makita ko ang score ko.

I scored 49 out of 70.

"Please, bumawi ka sa susunod na Quarter." Sabi ng teacher namin habang mabigat ang pinupukol niyang tingin sa akin.

The room was quiet when I went back to my seat. I can feel their eyes and I can hear their little murmurs about me.

For the first time in my school years, I got this low score. Gusto kong lamukutin ang papel ko. But all I did is stare at the score written on the paper.

I got 21 mistakes. Mistakes.

Anong nangyari sa akin?

Tinignan ko ang mga maling items na nasagutan ko and I was biting my lip so hard when I checked my paper. Puro mali ang mga naging sagot ko sa mga unang part ng exam.