Phoenix vs Janna

Chapter 5

It's been a manic Monday for Janna. Things weren't going well. Phoenix Araneta had been jinxing her all day.

Two days after their crappy encounter, Janna was getting her head chewed off by the editor-in-chief of their school paper. 

"Kulang sa facts, Janna. Ano ba to? Parang hindi ka journalist a! Parang random post lang sa FB page mo!" Detty said.

During the weekend, Janna couldn't concentrate on writing her article for the school paper, which was due that Monday, because she was thinking of how to solve the "Phoenix problem." The last-minute article she was able to produce was rejected by her editor.

During lunch, she was with Lucy and her fellow Kaisa ng Bayan members, and they couldn't tell who threw paint at last Friday's demonstration.

"Janna, may mga kasama tayong ibang mga orgs dun. Mahirap. Mahirap ma-i-identify kung sino. Nag-escalate na lang talaga ang sitwasyon dala ng emosyon."

"So ano, hindi talaga peaceful rally ang nangyari? Balak talagang manira sa halip na maki-dialogue?" Janna asked.

"Nangyayari talaga ang ganito minsan, Janna. Alam mo yun! Pero sa case ngayon, wala namang napinsala ang grupo at hindi naman nasira ang campus gate, so walang problema ayon sa school admin."

She signaled to Lucy to keep quiet.

Apparently, no one knew that there was a car that was paint-bombed last Friday.  And a Porsche at that.

Janna weighed the situation gloomily. Even if she asks her org to get to the bottom of this, and identify who damaged Phoenix' car, what could her org do?

They didn't have the financial resources to pay for the car damage. Even if they had, there was much better use for the org money than paying for repairs of a rich kid's car. 

That means she had to deal with this alone. Just the thought of how, though, gave her a headache.

In the afternoon, she went to Kuya Dens, an ex-lawyer friend who ran a xerox-copying shop near campus.

His advise was to either pay the damages demanded by the insurance company or settle with the owner. If she contests the insurance claim, it would involve a lot of costly paperwork and a lawyer. So...settle with the owner.

Tsk!

There was a big surprise for her at her last class. A large bouquet of artfully arranged pink flowers was waiting for her . It came with a card with a letter P on it.

Her classmates were intrigued and teased her about it endlessly. Worse, the teacher joined in, saying their class was disrupted thanks to Janna's humongous flowers.

Janna was so embarrassed and mad at Phoenix that she could barely concentrate in class.

I'll deal with that elitist jerk and teach him a lesson. She vowed.

Wru? She texted his number.

Hellcat, I'm at the football field. Later.

After class, Janna got odd looks from everyone she came across as she walked to the campus' green-covered football field with the frilly flowers in hand.

Phoenix' team was winning the game when Janna unceremoniously strode into the field. Ignoring the fact that the game was underway, she evaded a ball pass, stepped aside from a ball-juggling player, and went straight for Phoenix, who played mid-field.

He watched her move towards him, ignoring the laughter of the players and the whistles of the game officials. She looked... damned cute... carrying those pretty flowers.

With one swift move Janna whacked the bouquet of pretty flowers at him!

The poor flora exploded against his chest and dropped to the ground, destroyed. Phoenix and the players watched in disbelief.

"What the hell??!!!"

"Sa yo na yang kadiring bulaklak mo! Ano naman ang pumasok sa isip mo at padalhan mo ako niyan? At bat ang laki laki niyan ha? Bulaklak ng patay ba yan! Death threat ba to? Binabantaan mo ba ako?" Janna rapid-fired the questions.

Phoenix removed pieces of petals from his football uniform.

"Wala bang nagbibigay ng bulaklak sa yo? That happened to be a very expensive bouquet! Stupid!"

"Mukha ba akong natutuwa sa bulaklak mo? Nang-aasar ka lang e! Hoy! Kung mahal ang mga yan, sa palagay mo maatim kung tanggapin yan ganung marami pa sanang mga nagugutom na makakakain sa halaga ng perang ginastos mo diyan?"

"What?"

Noticing the curious onlookers around them, Phoenix caught her arm and dragged her from the field towards the empty hallway of the PhysEd building.

"Bitawan mo nga ako!"

" I can't believe nag-eksena ka talaga sa football field?" Phoenix was looking at her like she was an alien from outer space.

"Wala akong pakialam sa praktis mo! Pinahiya mo ako kanina sa klase!"

"This is a varsity practice! You have no respect for the coaches and the players here! Most of them are varsity scholars and this practice is their way to pay for their tuition, Miss Makabayan!" Phoenix said in disgust.

Janna felt a twinge of guilt.

Phoenix took her shoulders and pinned her against the wall.

"Those flowers are a peace offering of sorts, you idiot."

"Pano ko malalaman yun? Ni ha ni ho basta na lang dumating ang mga yun!"

"So justified na ibato mo na lang basta sa akin yun instead of kausapin ako? Saang planeta ka ba galing at ganyan ka umasta?"

Janna couldn't think of an immediate reply.

"Come on, let's fix this."

Phoenix released her and then dragged her back to the field. He brought her to the coach.

"Mag-sorry ka!" Phoenix urged. He crossed his arms and waited, looking sternly at her. The varsity team watched.

"S-sorry, Coach." Janna said.

"We'll, hindi ako nangingialam sa mga LQ-LQ niyo na yan, pero paano na ang field ko?" Coach said, pointing to the scattered flowers at the center of the field.

Janna was fighting back tears. How did it happen that it was her day that was ruined thanks to Phoenix, and now she's the one apologizing and fixing the mess? This is so unfair!

She glared at him through blurry eyes.

She crossed the field and began gathering the flowers up one by one. The entire team watched silently. She felt totally humiliated.

Phoenix shook his head. With a sigh, he walked to her and began picking up the flowers.

"Leave me alone!" She said tightly.

"You're supposed to be my girlfriend. Crazy as you are, I'm supposed to help with your mess."

"I will never, ever, over my dead body, be your girlfriend. Naiintindihan mo?"

Phoenix fixed her with unreadable eyes. "We'll see about that, Janna Balagtas. We'll see about that."