RISA MOONSTEIN

Chapter 9

Weekends were over at balik eskwela nanaman kami. I'm still living the Elemental life, being ignored by everybody. How did this curse fall upon me ? What did I do wrong ? Kung magkaroon lang ako ng normal na mahika ay okay na sa akin. Everything would be fine and I'll graduate normally from Rose High.

The thought of Astra as an alternate world was normal for now as well. Hindi na iyon bago sa akin, I've gotten used to it. 

"I want all of you to stand up." bati ni Miss Gazelle sa amin. Yeps, that's how she greets us. Pinapatayo niya muna kami. Naging tradisyon na niya iyon.

We all greeted her with the classical 'good morning' and took our seats. Her face was dissatisfied with our performance of the traditional greeting, but she accepted it. 

Miss Gazelle has been specifically annoying now. Mas malala pa ang pinapagawa niya kay Miss Hora. Kasama ng striktong pagtuturo niya ay ang mabibigatin niyang pinapagawa sa amin. She expects us to learn about some complex theory about magic with only teaching ourselves. I don't how we could achieve that. The next lesson was actually about seals and how they function.

"Ngayon, magkakaroon ulit tayo ng practice." we all groaned in pain silently. Ang kaniyang practice sessions ang pinaka-ayaw namin sa kaniya dahil hindi ka niya patitigilin hangga't hindi mo napaperpekto ang spell na itinuro niya. Everything has to be perfect in her eyes.

"Mr. Rindo, may nais ka bang ibahagi sa klase ?" mataray niyang tanong sa katabi ko na kanina pa nakikipagbulungan kay James. Bigla silang napatingin sa guro namin, halatang napahiya dahil nakatingin sa kanila lahat.

"Wala---wala po, Ma'am." he stuttered. Lahat kami ay takot kay Ma'am Gazelle because of her strict teaching and terrifying personality.

"Then you may shut up." ibinalik niya ang atensyon niya sa klase. "Because of Mr. Rindo's behavior, extra homework will be given to all of you. To be passed tomorrow."

Lahat ay napatingin kay Rindo nang masama. It's the same thing that happened to me, really. I know how it feels kaya hindi na ako nakisama sa kanila. Ang tingin ni Victoria ang pinaka-malalim. Maybe she really hates working. Ako tuloy ang natatakot para kay Rindo sa kung anong balak ni Victoria.

"So, can anyone tell me how to cast a seal ?" she looked unto the whole class, her eyes scanning for a potential answer. "Ah--- how about our little campus star ?" her baleful eyes landed onto mine.

I hesitantly stood up. "Uhmm... usually I just do it like---" I held up my hands but I was abruptly interrupted.

"Wrong. Not the answer." hindi pa man ako tapos sumagot ay minalian na niya ako. I embarrassingly sank down my seat.

"Don't mind her." bulong sa akin ni Diana. She made some fanning movement with her hands. Nakita iyon ni Miss Gazelle at tinignan siya ng masama but nonetheless, she ignored it and just continued with the class.

"None of you was able to answer me ? Nakakahiya naman kayo." anunsyo niya sa lahat nang makabalik sa gitna pagtapos ng paglakad-lakad niya sa buong klase na parang security guard.