Merceline Cinco's High School Survival Guide By: Rose Tan (COMPLETED)

Chapter 6

THEIR SCHOOL WAS NOT THE TYPE TO ALLOT PRECIOUS ACADEMIC TIME ON campus' activities. Kaya last Friday ay sinabihan na lang silang lahat na pumasok ng maaga sa Lunes. 6:00 AM para dumalo sa Misa sa chapel dahil pagkatapos ng Misa iaanunsyo ang nanalong grade 10 president, kasunod ang appointing of vice president at oath-taking.

Patapos na ang sermon nang dumating sa chapel si Ayeng. Hindi kasya sa kapilya ang buong grade ten community, naglagay na lang ng mga monoblock chairs sa magkabilang gilid at likuran. Pero wala pa ring maupuan si Ayeng at iyong ibang late na kaparis niya. Tumayo na lang sila sa tabi ng pinto.

And she passed the time thinking and daydreaming about what happened during the weekend. Nothing much, kung ikukumpara kay Arvy na nag-check-in sa magarang hotel sa Manila kasama ang magulang. Nag-flooding sa Fb, Twitter at IG ang mga posts at photos ni Arvy ng hotel room--she got her OWN room, restaurants, swimming pool, casino--Arvy tried the slot machine.

It wasn't the first time Arvy spent a fabulous weekend on some fabulous place. Regular occurrence iyon sa buhay nito. Naiinggit si Ayeng kadalasan, pero hindi dahil sa magagandang lugar na napupuntahan ng Arvy. Mas nakakainggit iyong bagay na lagi nitong kasama ang magulang at parang kay gaan lang ng relasyon ng mga iyon. Parang kaibigan lang minsan ni Arvy ang mommy at daddy nito.

Dalawang Pasko na ang nakakaraan--magtatatlo na--nang huling umuwi ang parents ni Ayeng. Nagpunta sila sa Boracay. Like Arvy, she also flooded her social media accounts with photos. But unlike Arvy, hindi totoong masaya si Ayeng. She was bored and frustrated. It seemed to her, her parents could not stand being around each other. She could feel the tension. Her father was detached and spent more time on bars drinking than doing activities with them. Her mother was on the phone a lot, scolding, berating some relative of hers.

It was awful.

Next, next Christmas, balak na namang umuwi ng parents niya. Excited siya, but at the same time, she was dreading it--the strained convos, the forced camaraderie, the awkward hugs. Ewww.

Pero last weekend, hindi siya nainggit kay Arvy. Even the 'likes' she gave her friend's posts were just...obligatory. Ni hindi na niya tiningnan masyado ang pictures o binasa ang mga comments.

She was busy chatting with Declan. As Amber. They chatted on and off during the day. They took and exchanged pics of what they were up to. Maingat siya na hindi ma-picturan ang kahit ano'ng bagay na magpapabuking sa kanya.

At some point, akala niya tapos na ang pagpapanggap niya dahil nagdududa si Declan at tahasang sinabi na dummy account lang daw si Amber Black. Kasi nga naman, ang mga posts niya, shared videos and photos lang.

Tumanggi siya. Pinanindigan niyang Amber ang totoo niyang pangalan. Iyong Black lang ang hindi totoo. At ang rason kung bakit hindi siya nagpo-post ng mga pictures is because her dad is an NBI agent. She was prohibited from having a social media account and that her dad has people monitoring the social media.

Mukha namang tinanggap iyon ni Declan.

Mukha lang.

Still, he seemed to enjoy their chat and that was ..awesome.

Alam na niya na nagkaroon na si Declan ng dalawang girlfriends. Una daw noong grade six. Lumipat daw sa Manila ang girl nung mag-highschoolat nakipag-break na lang kay Declan. Ang pangalawa raw ay noong grade 8 hanggang grade 9. Last year lang nagkalabuan. Declan even told her the girls' names. Na-stalk na rin ni Ayeng ang mga iyon. Nanlumo pa siya dahil parehong maganda ang mga ex ni Declan. Iyong una, inunfriend na daw si Declan. Ang pangalawa, friend pa at feeling close pa rin -- nagsi-share, nagko-comment, tina-tag si Declan.