If You're Not The One

Chapter Three: We meet again

Ugh. I'm sitting in one of the bleachers in the gym while I'm fondly recalling my memories with that girl. Why does it feel like it was only yesterday, when it fact that was a decade ago.

"Lalim ng iniisip Captain ah? Wag mo masyadong problemahin yung laban. Kahit mas malakas sila, magaling tayo. Hahahaha."

That was Daniel, one of my teammates. Oo nga pala. Kalaban namin yung mga taga Engineering sa practice game ngayon.

Magaling naman talaga kami e, kaso mas magaling sila. But then as a Captain, I have this responsibility to uplift everyone's spirits even if I, myself don't trust in my self anymore. So I just shook my head and said,

"Wala silang laban. Inspired ako."

Then the game started. The first half ended with our team leading it. Ewan ko ba. Inspired talaga ko ngayon. Siguro kasi naalala ko nanaman si Princess. And I have this feeling that we'll meet again.

True to my words, we won the game. I have a class in 30 minutes pero tinatamad akong pasukan. Kasi naman Trigonometry tapos 4 hours? Not that I suck in Math, but I really do. Hahahaha. Tapos yung teacher pa, matandang dalaga kaya ang sungit. Kulang yun sa romansa e. Hahahaha. After I took a shower, tumambay nalang ako sa canteen. I know I'm already 2 hours late but I decided to attend my class. Sayang din yung attendance ko no. Pagtyatyagaan ko nalang yung misa ni Miss. Attendance is still attendance after all. Pwede kang pumasa pag complete attendance. Diba? Kaya kayo gayahin nyo ko. Perfect attendance. Hahaha. She's in the middle of her class when I entered the room.

"Mister Del Carmen! Late ka nanaman. Ikakatwiran mo nanaman sakin na may game kayo. Not because you're the captain of your team eh excuse ka nalang palagi! That's abuse of power mister."

Mas pinili ko nalang umupo kesa sumagot sakanya. Not that I'm scared of her, kaso sayang lang ang oras at laway ko sakanya. Knowing Miss Alicia, hindi siya nagpapatalo lalo na sa mga argumento.

5 minutes has passed since I got into the room at hindi pa din tapos ang misa. She hasn't stopped talking at ang pagka late ko ay napunta na sa mga topics tulad ng bakit hindi nag aaral ng mabuti ang mga estudyante sa panahon ngayon, bakit laging traffic sa Pilipinas, at bakit si Rizal ang kinikilalang bayani. Hindi ko alam kung bakit nadawit pa si Rizal sa pagka late ko, pero mas lalong uminit ang ulo nya nang may kumatok sa pinto at pumasok ang isang babae. I don't know what's with that girl but by the time I laid my eyes on her, she automatically captured not only my eyes and the class' attention, but also my heart and soul. I haven't seen her face yet, but I have this feeling na she's the one..

"And you are Miss? How dare you attend my class 2 hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds late? Don't you know that your class with me starts at 1 pm? You have--"

"I'm Miss Elizalde. I know that Trigonometry starts at 1 pm but I'm a transferee here so I had a hard time looking for this room, which explains why I arrived late. And yes, I do know that I'm 2 hours, and by now, 17 minutes and 6 seconds late. Where will I sit?"

"You.. Uhm, you can sit over there, the vacant seat beside Mister Del Carmen."

Nung nakita nya na kung saan sya uupo, she immediately approached her seat. As soon as our eyes met, my heart knew that she was the one that I was waiting for.

"Hey! Don't you dare turn your back on me when I'm still talking! Dadating ka sa kalagitnaan ng pagtuturo ko, now I'm forced to stop the discussion and talk to you. Your reason for being late is not acceptable to me, so I demand further explanation!"

She stood as she responded.

"With all due respect Mademoiselle Alicia, would you please shut it? I do know that I arrived late, you do not have to reiterate that for the nth time. You're not forced to talk to me. You have all the liberty to choose what to do, and your choice was to scold me repeatedly. I have already stated my reason and if that wasn't enough for you, I have all the time in the world after your class and we can talk about it. I know that you are already in the middle of the discussion, so please continue. Don't waste everyone's time."

With that response, everyone in the room froze, no one dared to speak. We were waiting for our teacher's counter attack, but there was none. She just remained gazing intently at this girl standing beside me who snapped her fingers as if catching Miss Alicia's attention.

"Uhm, excuse me Miss? Are you aware that we already consumed 23 minutes just because of our argument and your continuous gaze? Stop staring at me because I find it annoying. Would you please proceed to the discussion?"

"Ahh. Yes. Of course. Sh.. Shall we uhm proceed class? You, uhm you may take your seat Miss."

As soon as nakaupo na sya, I couldn't contain my excitement and amazement at the same time anymore, so I turned to face her.

"Alam mo bang for the first time in forever eh ngayon lang nag stutter yang si Mam? Nice job Mariel! Ang galing mo grabe, ikaw lang nakagawa nun. Pustahan sasambahin ka nila mamaya. Hahaha."

"Wait mister. First, of course I do not know the fact that you stated because as i've said a while ago, I'm a transferee. Secondly, how did you know my name? If my memory serves right, I haven't introduced myself yet."

"Yes, you haven't introduced yourself yet. But in my heart and my mind, I do know that you're Mariel. I've known you before"

I grinned as I whispered to her ear,

"So we meet again, I've missed you. Welcome back, my princess."