ALEXIS and the Bet

Chapter Five: Preppy Boy meets Nerd Girl

I MET Preppy Boy face to face one Friday morning. And he turned out to be a total turn off. A jerk through and through. I had mustered all my courage that morning and went to the school's newspaper office to inquire on how to be one of their writers. I was planning to take a journalism course in college, and I figured joining a newspaper org could be a start.

And so, one Friday morning, when I was about to knock on the door of their office, the door suddenly opened and Preppy Boy stood in the doorway, looking so handsome and perfectly perfect and all. For a moment, I just stood there gawking at him stupidly, until I noticed his creased forehead and his cute face turning into a scowl. Someone was beside him, too, clearing his throat.

"Yes? May kailangan ka ba, Miss?" the boy, who later I recognized as Dave Espiritu, asked.

"Uhm, hinahanap ko 'yong moderator ng school paper," I said meekly, still gawking at Preppy Boy.

Dave gave an insulting snicker and said to Benjamin, "Lakas ata ng tama nitong nerd sa 'yo, Bro. Sige, mauna na ako sa 'yo,ha? Kita na lang mamaya sa school field." Then Dave left.

Benjamin cleared his throat, pulling me back to reality. "On emergency leave si Ms. Lazaro ngayon. As editor-in-chief ako ang in-charge sa ngayon."

"Ah," I managed to say, my brain was still trying to figure out what else to say. "Uhm, gusto ko sana mag-apply for the school paper?"

"As far as I know, we weren't hiring any new staff," he answered curtly.

"Ah." Now what else to say? I didn't know they were not hiring any staff. But at least I gave it a shot.

I was about to tell him that I'd go and hit the road when he suddenly asked, "May experienced ka ba sa pagsulat?"

"Contributor ako sa school paper sa dating kong eskuwelahan."

"Contributor lang? You never tried to join them?" he asked.

"Hindi ko kasi kaya mag-commit sa school paper org that time," I explained.

"So, if hindi mo kaya mag-commit sa dating n'yong eskuwelahan, how can I be sure na makakapag-commit ka ngayon dito?" he said. "Look Miss, alam kong transferee ka rito. And I would have given you the chance to try out for the school paper, pero marami pang mas nauna kesa sa 'yo na nag-try out since last year pa. Priority ko sila."

And then he had the nerve to shut the door at my face! Right at my freaking face! I took a deep breath to calm myself. Inhale. Exhale. I'm okay. Maybe I caught him in a bad timing? Maybe he was in a bad mood or something? There must be an explanation for his behavior. Or maybe he was just being such a jerk like the rest of his Blue Knights friends. But Mom always said to never judge a person right away without knowing who that person really was. So, I decided to give Benjamin Lucero the benefit of a doubt.

Later that day during lunch time, while going to my usual table with a tray of food on my hands, my second encounter with my personal tormentor happened in a snap—or in a bump to be more accurate.

Bianca Lucero, the personification of beauty and glamour with her soft curly hair, pink headband, holding a pink-cased iPhone on one hand and a white purse on another, went in to a complete state of utter rage when I bumped into her and spilled my chicken adobo on her blouse and my plastic cup-full of orange juice on her pristine white handbag.

"Oh, my gee!" she screeched, her high-pitched tone almost shattered my eardrums. "Look what you did! You ruined my Prada bag!"

Ah. So that's a Prada bag. I never knew that. I had never seen one up this close before. "Naku, sorry talaga. Hindi ko talaga sinasadya. Lalabhan ko na lang."

"Did you hear what she said?" Bianca asked her friends Georgina and Ashley. "This nerd said lalabhan niya ang bag ko." She turned to face me again and said haughtily, "This bag is Prada, you nerd. Hindi mo nilalabhan ang Prada sa washing machine o kahit i-handwash mo pa. Gosh, you're so ignorant."

"Nag-sorry na nga ako 'di ba?" I said, my voice sounding a bit impatient. "Babayaran ko na lang 'yang pagpapalinis ng bag mo sa mall." That is within a week, perhaps—if my allowance would be enough.

"It's okay, Bianca," Ashley spoke. "You can always ask your daddy to buy you a new purse na lang 'di ba?"

Instead of calming Bianca, what Ashley said infuriated her more. "You're already wearing those horrible, overly large, grandmother glasses and yet malabo pa rin ang eyes mo? Hindi mo pa rin nakikita dinaraanan mo?" Ashley and Georgina along with Bianca started to form a circle around me. Then they did something I never saw coming. Bianca shoved me so hard I stumbled backwards towards Ashley and another forceful shove came from my back that had caused me to stumble forward and landed face flat on the floor, my glasses flew several feet away from me. A minute later, I heard a breaking sound. I felt horrified when I realized someone stepped on it. I never knew who broke my glasses; my good guess was Georgina.

My vision was already blurry, but I could still see the outlines of other students beginning to surround us. Some, I heard, were laughing, while others were saying "Buti nga sa 'yo." I pushed myself up, but I could not make myself stand. My knees were too weak with too much humiliation of being the center of everyone's unsolicited attention. Still sitting on the floor, I spread my palms and tried to search for my glasses. Maybe I could still wear it, or I could still salvage it with a roll of scotch tape. From a distance, I could hear the voices of Alicia and Robyn shouting my name. And I could only imagine that they tried to fight their way inside the tight circle of Pinksters who formed a wall around me and the Pink Angels.

"That's enough Bianca," an authoritative, baritone voice ordered. I could only guess who that voice belonged to since my vision was hazy without my glasses. And I knew it belonged to Benjamin. I heard footsteps approaching and Bianca saying, "She started it, Ben."

"Bianca, I don't care who started it," I heard Benjamin said. "Ang gusto ko ay matapos na ito before the principal will find out about this."

"Oh c'mon, Ben," the voice of Ashley said. "We were just teaching the nerd some lessons."

"Just leave," Ben said. "Unless na gusto niyong tanggalin ko ang column ninyo sa school paper."

"That's unfair Ben! Hindi mo puwedeng gawin 'yon!" Bianca shouted.

"It's my call Bianca," Ben replied.

I didn't know what happened next since I couldn't see clearly but I heard footsteps approaching me and felt someone beside me.

"Here," it was Benjamin, who was crouched beside me. I could see the outlines of his hand handing me the glasses. "It's not completely broken. Pero nahati na ito sa gitna. Papalitan ko na lang ito."

I shook my head. "Huwag na. May kasalanan naman din ako sa kapatid mo, kaya quits na lang kami." But I guess he never heard what I said since he already left my side right after he handed me my glasses. Alicia and Robyn were instantly beside me the moment the Pinksters had dispersed.

"Okay ka lang ba, Alex?" Alicia asked with a concerned tone.

I gave her a nod even though I could not see her very well. "Okay lang. Kaso bulag ako 'pag wala ang salamin ko."

"Akin na. Susubukan kong ayusin," Robyn offered.

The two helped me to stand up and guided me to our table. We were already seated when Madie and Joey came. Alicia told them what had happened while Robyn wrapped a scotch tape around the bridge of my glasses to connect the two frames.

What the Pink Angels did to me was a complete copycat on one of those teen movies I often watch with Mom. Including the part where Benjamin came rescuing me. I was right to give Benjamin the benefit of a doubt. He was arrogant the first time I met him, but I was grateful he came to my rescue. Maybe, just maybe, Preppy Boys were my type after all.

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