Remembering Sir Tisoy

Fishball

"Mr. Faulkerson, Ms. Mendoza! Get inside my office, now!" the whole school heard the voice of an angry principal blurt out of the intercom.

-

"Super glue on desks? Water balloons on a fellow teacher's head? What is wrong with you two? Naiintindihan niyo pa ba ang ibig sabihin ng professionalism?"

They both sat still on apposite seats, their heads bowed down low, not feeling worthy of looking into the principal's eyes.

"And Ms. Mendoza, you really had to involve a student in this?" Principal Tolentino questioned, raising her hands in the air. She let out a heavy sigh.

"That's why, I am stopping this right now before it even gets out of hand!"

Paano niya nalaman? Maine thought to herself. It could not have been Marco that told Principal Tolentino. No, because there's only one person responsible for this.

"Wow, thanks for ratting me out, Mr. Faulkerson," Maine finally said, as she couldn't handle her anger anymore.

"Stop jumping into conclusions, Ms. Mendoza. I did not rat you out."

"At sa harapan ko pa talaga kayo makikipagaway? Para kayong mga bata. You're no longer fresh graduates who can easily get away with things, just because you're inexperienced. And for both of your information, I found out through a certain picture that circulated the school community yesterday," Principal Tolentino ended with staring right at Maine.

This made Maine feel quite conscious and she had to drop her shoulders...and her attitude.

"Fine, you want to be treated like children? Then I'll treat you both like children. I am suspending the both of you for one month. I've already notified relieving teachers to cover the both of you starting next week. And while you're at it, I demand a two-thousand words essay of why professionalism is important in the workplace - complete with references. I need both of you to understand the gravity of what you have done. Not only did you risk the reputation of this school, but you also risked the learning of your students. I hope you feel sorry for what you've done."

-

"Sir Tisoy, wait," Maine calls out, as soon as they exited the office.

Richard stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around. Maine could see how his hands were balled up, symbolising his raging emotion.

Maine couldn't handle the guilt that she had, anymore. She started the whole thing, with the whole super glue prank. She let her emotions get the better of her. She didn't even think about Marco's wellbeing. She didn't even think about what the consequences were going to be for her career, for both their careers.

"I-I'm sorry," she expressed with sincerity. "Kakabalik mo pa lang sa school, nasuspend ka na kaagad. It's all my fault. If I wasn't so cold to you, hindi sana 'to nangyari sa atin."

He turned around, his lips forming a straight line. He folds his arms in front of his chest, and sighs.

"Kanina lang kung makatingin ka sa'kin, parang may lalabas nang usok sa ilong mo. Tapos ngayon, ganiyan ka, dahil lang narealise mo na may kasalanan ka?" Richard scoffs in disbelief.

"Eto na ngang humihingi ng tawad sa'yo, ginaganiyan mo pa?" Maine says whilst rolling her eyes.

"Ano? Gusto mong patawarin agad kita? Eh bakit ako? Hanggang ngayon, hindi mo pa din mapatawad-tawad. How do you expect that when all you've been doing to me is the exact opposite?"

Maine walks closer to him, her palms landing on her hips once she reaches him. She looks right into his eyes, shocked with his reply. She kind of wants to take back all the guilt that she was feeling for him earlier, just by what he said. He's the one with the bigger offence, right?

"How dare you say that to me?"

"How dare you say that to me?"

Richard was enraged. It was a different Richard that Maine was seeing, and she was kind of taken aback by this. She steps back once, as she didn't actually know what he was capable of doing. She also didn't want to make any kind of scene, since they were already in so much trouble. The school day was about to finish any minute now, and the students could not see them like this. She wanted the conversation to finish, but there was just too many things going on in her mind that she just had to add another painful comment.

"If only you didn't leave me, I wouldn't be like this, Richard."

Richard steps forward, scoffing at her argument.

"I had to leave you, Ms. Mendoza. I had no choice."

"You didn't give me a choice."

"Bakit ko kakailanganin ang permission mo? You were just a student, Maine."

There was a moment of silence, until he suddenly felt a sharp sting on his cheek.

"But to me, you weren't just a teacher, Richard."

The bell rings, and before any of the students could come out of the classroom, Maine ran off her hands catching the tears that were escaping her eyes.

-

A/N: Yes, I admit that this story has been having quite a few faults and inconsistencies. I'm genuinely sorry for that. To be honest, hindi ko na talaga alam what's going on with the story either 😰. I went into writing it without a definite plot, and I should've known that that was just setting me up for a fall.

That's why, I'm taking a short break from writing it. To add to that, ang dami nang assignments due for school 😩.

Thank you for bearing with me. I'll be back soon, with (hopefully) a solid plan for RST (and a new story 😁).