Remembering Sir Tisoy

Cake

"O, eto, kopya mo," she says, slamming a half sheet of paper in front of him.

There was still an hour before class started, and he only came in to prepare for today's lesson since he wasn't able to do so last night.

"What's this Ms. Mendoza?"

"Tawagin na lang natin siyang 'The Way to Maine Mendoza's Forgiveness'. Listahan - checklist - conditions - kung paano kita mapapatawad, Sir."

Is this girl serious, he thought to himself. But seeing her, all doe-eyed and hopeful, confirmed that she actually was.

"Ok, simulan ko na basahin. Number one, papakainin mo ako ng dinner four times a week."

"FOUR? Aba, Ms. Mendoza, masyado ka naman yatang nangaabuso niyan. Two."

"Two? Excuse me, hindi ako papayag ng two! Sige, three."

"Two," he says sternly.

"Fine," she affirms whilst glaring at him.

"Number two, you'll mentor me on my way to a scholarship. Hindi naman sa ibibigay mo sa akin ang answers sa lahat ng tests, or babayaran mo 'yong schools for me. Pero, in a way that will make me a great candidate for a potential scholarship."

"Ha! Piece of cake," he insists as he claps his hands together.

"Ok, pangatlo, last, you will not - and I mean not...fall in love with me."

She moves closer, sitting on the edge of the desk. She looks straight at him, and she sees his eyes widening at the sound of her last condition. She continues to look, words were no longer heard in the room. He opened his mouth, expecting something to come out, however, she just left him speechless.

"JOKE! AHAHAHAHA!" she exclaims as she stands back up, and bends down whilst clutching her stomach.

"'YONG MUKHA MO AHAHAHAHAHA!" she continues to laugh.

He rolls his eyes, and lets out a breath that he didn't know he's been holding. He tries his best to contain the laughter that is so persistent in trying to escape, wanting to keep his serious stance.

"Basahin mo kasi 'yong papel, dalawa lang naman talaga ang conditions ko eh."

Instead of doing so, he pulls on one of his desk drawers. Maine peeks to her side to see what he was doing. He picks up a small notepad, and a pen. He was about to write, when he raises his head back up and looks at her.

"Don't look," he protests as he raises his right hand to her face.

She turns to one side, but tries to peek using her peripherals.

"I said, don't look, Ms. Mendoza."

"Ugh!" she lets out in frustration.

Once he finished, he folds the paper in half and hands it to her. She takes it and starts to unfold it.

"WAIT!" he shouts, startling her.

"WHAT? WHAT? BAKIT KA SUMISIGAW?"

"Don't open it yet. Go outside, lock and close the door on your way...then read it. Now, go, I still need to prepare for our class, you've already taken up twenty minutes of my time."

"Wow, the nerve! Ako pa talaga ang sinisi mo, eh ikaw nga 'tong ngayon lang nagprepare," she expresses as she starts to walk away.

She follows his instructions, and even walks down to the garden area of their school, to read it away from him. She opens it only to be completely surprised by the content.

I think condition number three better suits you, and not me, Ms. Mendoza.

-

Yes it did, she thought to herself, folding the piece of paper back in her hand. Yup, she kept it all these years. She was really close to burning it, when she found out that he left. But, she couldn't do it, as she knew that she would be burning the memories that came with it.

As much as it hurt, she wanted to be able to relive the times that she spent with him. She's been storing them somewhere at the back of her head, and it's been collecting some dust. It's only now that she's opened it again, the dust that's been sitting on top of it clouding the rest of her brain - and so, she only has access to those said memories. The past few weeks, caused her to relive them over and over and over again, like a song on repeat - a painful but happy song...if that is even possible.

She rolls over to her belly, on her bed, and stuffs her face with a pillow.

"UGHHHHHH!" she cries in frustration.

*ring*

She shoots up at the sound of her phone ringing. She grabs it and sees that the number was not registered in her contact list. She hesitates, usually not answering these types of phone calls. She slides the bar to the right, and places the screen on her ear.

"Hello?"

She hears someone breathe on the other line but there was no reply.

"Hellllooooo," she drags.

Still, no reply.

"Hay nako, kung sino ka man, kung prank man ito, tigilan mo ako. I'm sick of people wasting my time."

"Wait, Ms. Men-" she hears the voice on the other line plead, but she drops the call out of frustration.