Love.mp3: Track 2

Always Present

I stared openmouthed at what was in front of me.

The scene wasn’t making sense… and neither were my thoughts.

Words flood in my head, but not a single thought made sense to me.

Coffin…

Dead…

Good bye…

Girl…

Forever…

Crush…

Iza…

I blinked away the forming tears.  And steeled myself to look at the white coffin.

And there she was; her beautiful self, lying peacefully in the majestic white gown I’ve seen her when she cried.

She’s beautiful, I told myself.

I suddenly found myself crying.

“Iza…” I said, my voice cracking. “I’m sorry…I’m so, so, so sorry…”

My head was lying on top of the glass…trying to feel the warmth of her skin again.

In my case, that’s the only thing I wanted to happen.

I clawed at the coffin. I wanted to get her back.

Anything…Just to get her back.

Anything…

I stared at the coffin…She’s dead.

I woke up screaming.

I blinked hard, trying to ease my breathing.

Just a dream, Luis…Just a dream.

Well it’s one HELL of a dream!

I looked at the time. 4:30 am.

Still early, so I tried to get more sleep.

But apparently I was shaken up real bad.

So, I got up and prepared for my classes.

I have this weird theory when I was still a kid that when you dream, and someone is in that dream, that someone is having the same dream as you…

Maybe that’s why I was still uneasy as hell even when I arrived at school.

“Hey, did you manage to talk to Iza?” Vanessa ran up to me.

“Yeah…uh, technically.”

Then I told her about the blank message and the one sided call.

“Why’d you ask anyways?”

We arrived at my classroom.

“I heard some students saying that Iza is here.” She whispered.

“I just thought that you talked her out of it.”

I chuckled. “Two things.” I gestured.

“First…Where’s your sidekick? I mean, aren’t you and Napoleon are joined at the hip or something? I never see you without him.”

Vanessa shrugged. “I don’t know…Boy-fishing, guess.”

“Two…Iza’s broken. A simple one sided call won’t change her mind immediately. The least I can do is to wait for her. But you two should always be there for her.”

Vanessa nodded. “Sure…See you, Luis. I still have to find my ‘sidekick’.”

Then she ran off.

I chuckled.  Heh…Boy fishing.

I opened the door and I immediately know that something’s wrong.

All of my classmates were suddenly looking at me.

Weird…normally they would ignore me.

I sat down.

Attendance. Ladies first.

My mind started to drift, not paying attention.

“Chua, Kate Christine…” Present.

The one who got an eye transplant from the school’s heartthrob recently, I mused.

“de Luna, Katherine Nikki…” Present.

The one who almost got ran over by a truck.

You know, this school I weird. No, I mean weird-weird. Almost all the students have their own quirky, crazy and creepy stories. Most involves ghostly apparitions, some involves near death experience, while some involves…things.

It’s like some retarded dude twisted our stories just for fun…

“de los Reyes, Iza May…”

Absent, of course; I thought to myself sadly.

“Present.” Someone said.

Wait…wha-?

I turned to my left and there was Ms. Campus Crush herself.

Iza is here…She’s here,…she’s here.

Iza stole a glance. I tried to read her expression. But I guess, trying to read her expression was like trying to read her blank message.

I raised my hand gingerly, “Iza…” I mumbled.

She avoided my glance and inched herself away from me…even if it’s noticeable that only half of her butt is left on the chair.

I sighed then looked at her intently.

It pains me so much to see her like this. Avoiding me, angry at me. I mean, look at this, she’s willing to sit with half of her butt in air just to avoid me.

I can’t tell if she’s sad or angry…but either ways, something’s clear. She hates me.

“LUIS EVANGELIO GUTTIEREZ!!” Someone shouted.

I was startled up real sh*t, I literally jumped on my sit.

A soft laugh came from my classmates.

I searched who called me and I found my professor looming above me.

“Present or Absent?” He asked.

“Always present for Iza de los Reyes, sir!” Someone from the back exclaimed.

The class laughed, then followed the teasing.

“Present, sir…” I said sheepishly.

“Maybe I should hire you as a lookout spy, Mr. Guttierez…Don’t worry about your resume, I’ve seen your capabilities in that area.”

The class laughed again.

I glanced at Iza. The corners of her lips were forming into a smile.

She’s laughing at my humiliation?

Man, she’s really mad at me…way, WAY mad.