Descending Stars (Fallen Heroes Series #1)

Kabanata 1

Kabanata 1 |  Welcome

I grimaced as soon as I saw my exam score in General Mathematics. Even though I was praised for being the highest, I'm still not happy with this.

"Ilan score mo?" tanong ni Elen na seatmate ko.

"Forty-six out of fifty," I simply answered.

"Woah. Ang taas! Sisiw na lang pala talaga sa'yo ang GenMath," tumawa siya. "...sana all."

Ngumiwi ako. Sisiw? You don't know how much sleep I sacrificed just to study and try to master it. What the fuck is forty-six from all those hard work?

"Hmm. Bakit parang malungkot ka pa?" kuryosong tanong niya.

"Because I only got forty-six," simple ko ring sagot. She's starting to get annoying. Ang daming tanong.

Bahagya siyang natawa roon kaya napalingon ako sa kanya.  "Talaga? Malungkot ka pa sa forty-six!? Grabe! Imagine-in mo naman ako na pasang-awa lang... "

Kumunot ang noo ko. Is this girl invalidating my feelings?

Ngumiti siya. "Siguro, just try to be contented. I mean, we all belong here in this star section, gaya ko, kahit na pasang-awa lang ang mga scores ko, it's comforting to know that I have more room for improvement," mahaba niyang litanya.

Ngumisi ako. "Excuses. Contentment is not enough to justify your low scores. You have an ugly mindset, that's probably why you're contented with that."

Napipi siya sa sinabi ko.

"It doesn't matter if I'm the highest among all of you. I don't see you as my rival or someone who's in my league. Hindi ko kayang tanggapin na bumaba ako sa mga subjects ko gaya mo."

Kinuha ko ang bagpack ko at umalis na ng classroom.

They're just creating mere excuses! They can't possibly understand my feelings if they always justify their low scores and grades. Hindi nila ako kagaya kaya hindi nila ako maiintindihan.

"May inaway ka na naman sa klase niyo, 'no?" salubong sa akin ni Venice habang naglalakad.

I only scoffed.

"Hay naku! Noong pasukan, sikat ka dahil sa video na nakuhanan sa iyo ng acquaintance party. Tapos ngayon, sikat ka na kasi masama ang ugali ng tingin ng tao sa'yo!" aniya.

During our acquaintance party, I got videoed by someone, I don't know if its accidental or what, while I was just peacefully vibing with a song. And for some reason, I suddenly got famous when they posted it online. As a result, marami na ang lumalapit sa akin para makipagkaibigan.

"It's not my fault if they think I'm not friendly type of person they think I am," sabat ko.

I feel like people tend to see me as an attitude girl. Does being frank and direct make a person have a bad attitude? It's not like I bullied those people who tried to befriend me.

"Paano ba naman kasi. You even have requirements to be your friend! Naalala ko pa noong pinipilit kitang kaibiganin mo ako. You asked for my grades from grade seven to ten! Sinong hindi mawi-weird-an doon?" tawa niya.

Dumiretso kami sa canteen at doon tinuloy ang pag-uusap.

"Well, as the famous adage say, tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are—"

"Correction. I'm your only friend. You can't use 'are'," aniya.

I rolled my eyes and ignored her sentiments. "I want to make sure that the people around me have good grades and someone who can, at least, reach my league. Like you, even though you don't have that high grades and even got a seventy-five grade during your grade seven, nabawi mo naman ng pagka-grade ten kaya ayos na rin 'cause that's the most recent," sabi ko at sumubo ng watermelon na dala ko.