Walk With You

Chapter 1

"Margarette, pinapatawag ka ni Dean sa office."

Biglang napaangat ng ulo si Magee mula sa sinusulat na essay. Katatapos lang ng Philo class niya so she decided to spend her vacant time to do her assignment which is the essay. She was pouring her heart out on her essay when Jasper, her co-writer sa school newspaper nila, called her.

"Bakit daw?" she asked nervously pero sabay na rin sila nitong naglakad sa hallway. Mabagal nga lang.

"Basta. You'll see." he said with a grin plastered on his face. That creeps her out.

She doubted kung may ginawa ba siyang kasalanan. As far as she remembered, matino naman siyang estudyante. She gives her best in everything she does, kaya laiking pagatataka niya kung bakit pinapatawag siya ng kanilang college dean ngayon. Matinding paliwanagan ito sa parents niya 'pag nagkataon.

Gusto pa sana niya itong tanungin pero narating na nila ang office. Her heart was thumping like crazy whan Jasper finally slides the door opened.

But all her fear and anxiety vanished when she saw Sam, their editor-in-chief, ms. Dizon, their university newspaper adviser, her co-writers slash friends Jim, Lea and Karen, and of course Dean Castro who were all wearing big smiles on their faces. Not just a smile, but a genuine one.

"Good morning Dean. Uhh, pinapatawag niyo raw po ako."medyo nahihiya pa niyang sabi sabay lingon sa mga kaibigan and mouthed to them, "Anong meron?"

"Patience, friend. Patience," pabulong na sabi ni Lea. Jim winked at her. Lalo siyang naguluhan.

"Good morning din sayo. And before anything else, let me congratulate you. So, congratulations." Masaya nitong inabot ang kamay niya at nakipag-shakehand.

Litong-lito siya but she managed to laugh. Nervously. "Hehehe. What gives, Dean?"

"The Manila News Board read one of your articles on our last September issue. And you know what, the head team were impressed by the way you write. May puso raw kasing kasama." Dean Castro explained.

Teka wait, totoo ba 'yung narinig niya? The head team of the Manila News Board, one of the prestigious and well-known newspaper in the country read one of her articles? O baka naman mali lang siya ng dinig. Medyo hilo pa siya sa mga wrtitings niya these past few days, nagha-hallucinate na yata siya.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Totoo po ba, Dean?

"Yes, Miss Sebastian. And not just that, they also requested me and Ms. Dizon to ask you to write another featured article for the upcoming Teacher's Month. So are you in?" medyo hopeful na tanong nito sa kanya.

OH. MY. GOD. Are they even serious?! Siya, isang hamak na second year BA Journalism student, iniimbitahan ng TMNB na magsulat for their upcoming November issue? As in maipa-publish ang article niya and can be read by the whole country? This is too much. She came back to her senses when she heard Dean Castro laughed.

"I know you're doubting yourself, na kesyo 2nd year student ka pa lang whatsoever, but Margarette, we believed in your writing skills. We believed in you. Even Ms. Dizon and your newspaper team said so," pangungumbinsi pa nito.

All the people inside the office smiled and nodded in unison.

"Don't worry Magee, ili-lead naman kita," Ate Sam give her an assuring smile. She smiled back.

"And your whole team will gonna support you no matter what," Ms. Dizon said. Her friends nodded.

Pwede niyang idahilan na kakain lang 'yon ng oras niya, or she might disappoint her team or worse, her whole college once na pumalpak ang article niya. But she wanted to enhance her writing skills more, mas mataas na level na 'to to think na it will piblish in national newspaper; and she also wanted to prove na may igagaling pa siya, knowing na dito lang siya nage-excel. Sa ibang bagay kasi, medyo tagilid siya. And she knows that this will make her family proud, so she made a decision. She smiled to the people around her and said, "Yes, Dean. I'm in."

XXX

Magee could still felt little butterflies on her stomach. Hindi pa rin siya makapaniwala na magsusulat siya para sa isang kilalang newspaper sa bansa. Ang dami nang pumapasok na idea sa utak niya, but she still kept her composure and focus on her next class. The class--or let's face it--subject she hated the most, which is, of course, Math. Totoo nga yata 'yung sa IQ ng tao, na kapag magaling ka daw sa letters, mahina ka anman sa numbers. And to tell you truthfully, dear readers, Margarette is not mathematically-inclined. In Tagalog, bobo siya sa Math. Yeah, medyo harsh but that's the reality. Hehe.

She have to concentrate on her studies this semester 'coz she wanted to maintain her grades. She wasn't any institutions' scholar, since her parents can managed to support their children's studies, but she is a proud GC or grade conscious student. Oh, have I mentioned that Magee is a university scholar? If I haven't, there you go. She needs to maintain her high GPA so she has to deal with her Math subject muna.

Unfortunately, hindi niya ka-block ang mga kaibigan in most of her subjects this sem. Ewan ba niya kung anong trip ng college nila at nire-reshuffle ang lahat ng blocks every start ng sem. Pero baka sabihin niyo naman na nerd ang ating bida. Well hindi naman, pero malapit-lapit na (according to her friends. haha!). She wasn't the intovert type, kasi kahit papaano may group of friends pa rin siya, courtesy of Lea, Karen and Jim. And pangungunahan ko na kayo guys, Jim is NOT a gay. And silang apat na talaga ang magkakablock since first sem ng freshman year nila. Pero ayun nga, match to their dismay, may reshuffle chuchu ang blocks kaya tyempuhan na lang kung magiging magkakaklase sila. Pero madalas pa rin naman silang nagkikita at nag-uusap since pare-pareho silang writer ng school newspaper nila.

But as of this sem, ni isa wala siyang naging kaklase sa apat. To think na sa College of Mass Communication lang silang apat. But that's okay with her, at least she's trying to make new friends with this block. At dahil magtatatlong buwan na rin niyang kasama ang mga ito, she got to know most of them. And friend na rin niya ang seatmate na si Ciara.

"Ciara pahinging 1/4," said the boy on her backseat.

"Grabe ka Russel. Ginawa mo na akong factory ng papel mo ha," reklamo naman ni Ciara pero nag-abot naman ito.

"Thanks, Ciara. You're an angel," he smiled sabay pisil sa pisngi nito.

Ciara smiled back. "Welcome."

Magee wasn't an evil to hate people who give, but she got annoyed to this man who's being so abusive.

"Pinawiwili mo naman kasi. Kaya hindi na natuto eh. Ngayon ikaw naman ang mauubusan. Eh kabibili mo lang niyan last week ah," medyo mahina niyang sabi para hindi marinig ng nasa likod.

"Hayaan mo na. It's just a paper anyway." Oh God, anghel nga po yata talaga ang isang 'to.

She looked on her seatmate who by now was busy writing on her paper. Napailing na lang siya. Maybe you find her exaggerating, na maliit na bagay lang, pinapasakit na niya ang ulo niya. But no. For her, it was more than a paper. Lalo at may dehado. Minsan nga nagugulat rin siya sa sarili. At naiinis na rin. Pati problema ng iba pinoproblema niya. Pero ayaw niya lang talaga ng ganun. Alam niyo yun, hindi kasi fair.

Pero wala siyang magagawa kung ito rin naman ang gustong magpaabuso. She shrugs and focus on her notes instead.

Ang hindi alam ni Magee, narinig lahat ni Russel ang mga sinabi niya. The boy looked at Magee's back with an evil smirk plastered on his face.

Uh-oh. Masama ito.

--end of chapter 1--

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Hayee

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