The Erityians and I

Chapter 2 - Ditched

Chapter 2 - Ditched

Nagising ako sa ingay ng paligid. At nakita ko ang mga kaklase kong nagkakagulo na dahil walang teacher.

Kinapa ko naman yung earplugs ko at natanggal pala yun sa pagkakasalpak sa tenga ko. No wonder naririnig ko ang ingay nila.

"Grabe hindi talaga ako makapaniwalang naexpel si Rainie dahil lang sa late records niya!" Narinig kong sabi nung babae sa gilid ko kaya napalingon ako sa kanila.

So yung OA na thought ni Rainie ay nagkatotoo?

Kung magpalate rin kaya ako ng magpalate? Maeexpel rin ba ako?

That's what I want to happen naman eh. Gusto ko nang makaalis sa school na ito!

Bigla naman akong napalingon kay Darwin dahil sa troubled expression niya.

I invaded his thoughts dahil nacurious ako sa mga iniisip niya.

'Expel? Why would they expel her because of her late records? It doesn't make sense.'

Now that I've heard of it. He's right. It's too lame to be a reason of her expulsion.

'Plus the fact that it seemed like a good news for Ma'am Castro. She's smiling and humming happily like an idiot when we got here.'

She did what?

'This also happened last year. That Querino girl from the lower batch disappeared. The faculty announced that she quitted but it's quite confusing that she quitted without any reasons. And what's more eerie are the dates. Ms. Querino quitted on the last week of August and Rainie was expelled on the same time too, but only a year later.'

I suddenly remembered Ms. Querino, and Darwin's right. He has a point there.

Darwin may be aloof and quiet but he's observant and sharp.

Something's up and I'm sure of it.

"For real?" Napalingon ako kay Tessa dahil sa masaya niyang tanong na ikinainis ko.

"Tss. Wala na kasing magpapahiya sa'yo kaya masaya ka." Bulong ko. I don't know why pero naiinis ako sa babaeng ito. Masyado siyang epal.

"Excuse me?" Mataray na tanong sa akin ni Tessa.

Napalakas ata yung sabi ko.

"I didn't say anything." And I gave her a mocking smile.

'She smiled. Shocking.' I heard Darwin's thoughts kaya napalingon ako sa kaniya and he's actually looking at me.

I stand up from my seat and carried my backpack with me.

Better ditch the class wala namang teacher eh.

"Ditching huh?" Napalingon ako sa nagsalita and to my surprise it's Darwin.

Did he read my mind?

Tss. No way! It could just be because of my actions. Gosh! I was being ridiculous!

"None of your business." Nakipagtitigan siya sa akin.

And I invaded his mind.

'Fuck. How did I do that? Is that really her that I heard inside my head?'

I was too shocked to move even an inch. He really did read my mind and I just did it to him too.

Gosh! I swear it was creepy.

Biglang tumayo si Darwin and it suddenly cut my thoughts to wake me up from my stance. And suddenly, I know what he's about to do.

Kaya agad agad akong lumabas ng room at nanakbo pababa at palabas ng building.

Half way to the front gate ay bigla kong naalala yung guard na nakabantay nga pala dun I turned around at balak ko na sanang mag over the bakod sa likod ng building namin pero nakita ko si Darwin na patakbong lumalapit sa akin.

"Shit." I cursed because I already don't have a choice kundi tumakbo nalang palabas sa front gate.

I know what he wanted to ask and I don't know how to answer them.

"Wait! Kristena!" Sigaw ni Darwin and it drew Kuyang Guard's attention to us.

Hindi ko siya pinansin and I ran towards the gate hanggang sa makalabas na ako.

"Hey! It's class hours!" This time si Kuyang Guard ang humahabol sa akin and he's damn fast maaabutan niya ako kung mananatiling ganito ang speed na gagawin kong pagtakbo.

I suddenly smiled and sped up.

I used my real speed. The speed my father had trained me for. The speed that the organization trained me for, to be their fastest assassin.

In ten seconds I was already several meters away from him. Hah! Take that from an assassin.

I slowed my pace until I finally ended up walking.

Bigla naman akong napaisip, our school guard's speed is pretty unusual. Well, I can understand my side of story but not his. He's too fast for an ordinary person.

Napailing naman ako dahil sa naiisip ko. I'm definitely overthinking.

I discarded the matter from my mind and decided to go to the mall.

Pagbaba ko ng taxi na sinakyan ko para makapunta dito ay nakaramdam ako ng kakaiba.

Someone's watching me.

I pretended like I didn't noticed his/her presence and walked straight inside the mall.

Humalo ako sa parteng maraming tao para mawala ako sa paningin niya.

Nagtago ako sa likod ng isang malaking halaman at muling inobserbahan ang paligid.

"Bingo." I whispered nang makita ko ang isang lalaking nagpapalinga linga sa crowd na pinanggalingan ko.

Suddenly, napalingon siya side na tinataguan ko.

Did he notice me? Damn!

Nasagot naman yung tanong ko nang bigla siyang umalis sa crowd. Then he didn't notice me at all.

Pinakiramdaman ko yung paligid at hinanap ko yung kakaibang presensiya niya.

Nang wala na ito ay umakyat ako sa second floor at naglibot libot. Hmm? Bumili kaya ako ng bagong cellphone?

Bigla ko namang naalala kung paano nawasak yung cellphone ko dahil sa inis ko.

The dritte under my command suddenly called saying they failed the mission I gave him. At naibato ko yung phone ko dahil sa inis.

"Tss. Right, I should buy a new one."

Habang nag iikot ako at naghahanap ng mabibilhan ng cellphone ay napalingon ako dun sa babaeng parang may hinahanap.

I invaded her thoughts and I successfully did.

'Nasaan na ba kasi yung O-Tantei na yun?'

O-Tantei? Dahil nacurious ako ay sinundan ko siya.

I grab ahold of her thoughts habang sinusundan ko siya.

She keeps on mentioning O-Tantei and her frustrations about it.

'Nasaan ba kasi yun?'

What the freaking hell was that, Rainie?

*****