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

CHAPTER 06: It's (Not) So Calm

The lack of growth
is one's passion's
ending road.
So as
not figting at all.

VICINITY

It should be calm before the storm, yet, for me, it was storm before and after another.

Tatlong linggo na ang lumipas when the classes in our school had officially started. A couple of events had folded before me in the past few weeks. I got in the same class as my long-time nemesis; Cameron, met the weird siblings; Rainier and Michaela, then we unexpectedly reunited with our arch-nemesis; Ember, then we got head-to-head with the assistant principal of our school; Mrs. Echevaria.

We have had a couple of issues kahit kasisimula pa lang ng academic year. What's much worse ay may mga malalaking pangalan na involved sa issues namin, including Ember Magtalas, the SMET's mighty student, and Mrs. Rosalinda Echevaria- the one I mentioned earlier- which was also the Guidance Chancellor the Grade 12 Province. Kung susumahin, the amount of stress the two had given us was already worth a whole academic year.

This wrap-up doesn't even include how did hell break loose on Cameron and I. And I tell you, a few words aren't enough to detail it. If there's one thing I can say with a few words, that is; all that had happened was a pain in the ass. Daig pa namin ang nagtatrabaho sa isang corporate company dahil sa stress na nararanasan namin.

"Kumusta naman ang short vacation niyong dalawa?"

Nabalik ako sa reyalidad at nag-register sa tenga ko ang ingay ng cafeteria. Tumambad sa'kin ang nangengwestyong expression ni Michaela when my blurred vision came back to normal. Mukhang sa sobrang lalim ng iniisip ko kanina ay na-block na ng utak ko ang senses ko. Ni hindi ko napansin ang dami ng estudyanteng napapadaan sa table namin.

We were having our recess right after our second morning period. Nasa bandang sulok kami at nakaupo sa 4-chair table. Michaela was seated in front of me, Rainier was beside her, and Cameron was the one beside me. This had been our set up back in the first week of school until now- well, minus the vacation. You could say na we formed a little circle after the discussion we had on the first day of our 12th grade life. Since then, magkakasama na kami.

"Well, to me, it was fine. Nakapag-detox ako kahit papa'no," I replied, chewing lightly on my burger. "It was a blessing in disguise in my case. Parang narinig ako ng langit na kailangan ko ng pahinga at space away sa mga bagay-bagay."

"It seemed like the break had worked on you, though," Cameron said as he sipped his cucumber juice. "You're banters against me this whole morning were all healthy. You didn't even react when I teased you while reciting in the class earlier. It seemed to me that you didn't want to open the gates of hell- or should I say, your gates-so early this morning."

Rainier nodded in agreement. Ako naman ay natawa. We were talking about Cameron and I's kind of vacation that lasted for a week. Yes, it was a vacation this early of the school year. But mind you, it's not an ordinary vacation for me or to any student in here. Hindi naman kami nagpunta sa isang resort para magpahangin o hanapin ang sarili namin sa isang bundok. Instead, we were not allowed to enter the school premises for a week, though we masked it to not be seemed like it.

It was supposed to be a suspension, pero we made it look like a short break. If you're curious about the details, malalaman mo naman iyon in a moment.

The break wasn't against the school rule kaya hindi naman kami napagalitan or tinutulan tungkol doon. We submitted a Request of Absence sa aming adviser and he approved it without any question (which was quite odd to me, honestly), kaya naman nagawa naming magbakasyon mula sa school.