Decay In Her Bones

CHAPTER 17

Mylene did not have Education as her first choice, nor was she forced to choose it. When people asked her, "Why do you want to become a teacher?" she would just answer that she was fated for this profession. However, deep inside, the question rang a thousand echoes as if every single word was being ricocheted twofold. Paranoia it may seem but it did not sound like a question; it felt like an accusation as well as an explicit expression of disappointment. If it would be translated to Filipino, the question would presumably be said as, "Bakit nag Educ ka lang?" The inclusion of the word "lang", which means "just", is used to lessen the worth of something. Thus, the question could then mean, "Why just Education?" The setback rested on how Filipinos assign value to the notion of Education majors. There was still a big gap in the realization of how teachers play such a pivotal role in the formation of its citizens. Perhaps this notion could win the "Worst Prejudice Award" in terms of profession choice, and such stereotype was something Mylene could not take. If she would be asked again the next time, therefore, she would answer that she was fated to it, and she would add that she never regretted a thing about it. If circumstances would permit, she would even describe how great her chosen field of profession was and even encourage High School students to consider it.

Not considering the innate goodness in her, though, Mylene had learned a lot during her formation as a future educator. One of the most important things she was able to ingest from it was that she learned how to listen, infer, and assess certain situations. That was why during hopeless times like this, Bobby knew of one person who would have open ears despite the expected cold-shoulder that everybody else was giving: his girlfriend.

She sat across him with the expression of awe as she listened to him talking. A square table which was not tall enough to reach their waists even in a sitting position divided them and on its stone surface were two packs that were their lunch. It was lunchtime, and the two of them found themselves eating at an open area where a small canteen sold meals which weren't fancy at all. Inasmuch as they would want to eat at the big canteen, they saw even from afar that the entire place was occupied. Actually, jam packed. The two of them enjoyed the food of that mini canteen, though. Bobby bought four pieces of siomai with rice while Mylene fancied a jumbo sized hotdog. They devoured as Bobby talked.

"I really don't know what to do anymore, Mi," ended Bobby, for he was telling her about his recent paranormal encounters.

Mylene seemed to be thinking for a while, for she remained wordless. For her, everything was new as well. Even she would not know what to do in such situation. Without anything to say, she voiced this out instead. "Y'know what, Dy, I wouldn't actually believe in these things. It's not that I don't believe you. It's just too bizarre to be real. But now that you've been seeing, the anomaly of the thought seemed to be... gone."

"Yeah," Bobby replied, "I've been thinking about the same thing, too."

"What's your plan?" Mylene asked.

Bobby just shook his head.

Mylene looked up towards the sky, as if soliciting an answer that would magically appear among the clouds. A sudden surge of gloomy mental state seemed to elevate within her as she was looking at the grey sky. A thick sheet of clouds with the color of a muted silver diverged directly above them, completely covering the entire universe and extinguishing the remaining rays of the sun. A strong gush of chilly breeze blew from the west, and it tasted salty for it came from the direction of Manila bay. Engaged in such emotions, Mylene almost forgot what she was originally running in her thoughts. Therefore, she thought of an alternative response. Deviating from the usual advice-giving responses, she utilized something she learned from her Education subjects: needs analysis.

Thinking of ways to dig deeper into the situation, she asked, "What do you think is the reason why all of these are happening?"

It sounded modest and was uttered slowly so Bobby was not surprised at all. Taking effect, he searched for an answer. "Well... I think she got mad for being mocked. Maybe I really shouldn't have fussed with that kind of ritual."

"So it's not somebody you know who died?"

"If it's the girl you're asking, no. I wouldn't know because I can't see her face all the time." Suddenly, an abrupt memory passed by in front of him: his brother saying he taught it was Mylene. He debunked the idea. "Besides, none of my cousins looked like her... I don't know."

Beep!

Bobby's Ericksson vibrated. Lying on top of the table, its green screen glowed yellow, showing a new message received.

He pressed 'Read'.

...Opening...

Mylene jabbed her head closer to Bobby to read, as always.

__________________________

Sender: Joey

I miss you Bobby. :(

Received 12:48 PM

__________________________

Bobby's muscles clenched tight and his body tensed. The worst thing he had been expecting to happen had finally happened. Instantly, Mylene asked, "Is he gay?" Her face contorted into an unreadable expression.

Of course, Bobby's instincts told him to look for an exit door. He found himself inside a dark room, but unbelievably there were no glowing signs that said "Exit" to be found. He panicked. Searching in all directions, he finally found the sign behind him. He ran towards it as fast as he could. As he was exiting, the air of liberty made him feel light.

An escape, finally.

"Oh. No he's not gay. I think it's meant as a joke," Bobby said. He tried to procure a laugh and project a witty face. Deep inside, though, his nervousness was eating his intestines.

"Haha," Mylene laughed. "You two are gays."

Still in denial, Bobby folded his arms, "No we're not!"

"Bromance," she continued mischievously.

With that, Bobby found out that he was in another enclosure bigger than the room he was trapped in. He needed to get out. Finding no escape this time, he constructed his own door, but it was a trying-hard effort to get away.

"Ha-ha."

Luckily, Mylene gave it up. The entrapment vanished around him.

Truth be said, Mylene would find it very hard to consider even the slightest possibility that her boyfriend was gay. This was not due to some memories of how passionately he would kiss her and touch her breasts during private occasions, nor the way he admired and appreciated the physical attributes of women which was very apparent even in her presence. Without thinking hard, Mylene reassured herself of Bobby's masculinity from his dominating characteristics: from being a gentleman to being a pro-feminist, and even during countable occasions, his apparent trait of mild homophobia.

Looking back at him, Mylene saw that his cheeks had turned red. She suddenly felt guilty for ridiculing him. As a resort, she gave up and kept silent. The result was they talked awkwardly less until 1:00 PM came and Mylene had to attend her teaching duties already.