I was interrupted when a lady walked in. Ang wooden sliding door na nasa harap ay lumikha ng mahinang ingay kung kaya't napatingin ako sa direksyon nito. I saw Victoria and Ridley stop what they're doing.
Victoria closed her book and Ridley stopped tapping his fingers in his table in the beat of his music and remove his earphones to pay attention to the person before us. She must be our instructor.
Dire-diretsong naglakad lang naman ito sa harap habang nakatingin sa amin. May dala siyang isang libro and white board marker sa kanyang kaliwang kamay habang may hawak siyang kapirasong papel sa kanyang kanang kamay.
She looks kind and pretty. From her short bob black hair, fair white skin and petite structure, mahahalatang mong bata pa ito. Siguro around mid or late 20s. She's wearing a black pencil cut skirt, beige stiletto hills and loose white long sleeves. Nakatupi ito hanggang siko niya.
She looked at us with pure amazement and expectation.
Her cat-eyed black glasses ay hindi naging hadlang para makita namin ang mga mata niyang namilog nang nakita niya kami. She looked nervous but she's masking it with a calm smile towards us.
I know that they also sense it.
Dahan-dahan niyang nilapag ang hawak niyang libro at marker at ipinatong doon ang papel na hawak niya. Huminga siya ng malalim at humarap sa amin.
She said her greetings to us.
"Good morning, class!", mahinhin ngunit may sigla niyang bati sa amin.
"Good morning...", tanging sabi ni Ridley na mag-isang bumati sa taong nasa harap namin.
I just realized na nandito nga pala ako sa klase kung saan mas weird pa ang magkwentuhan at makipagkaibigan kaysa magsungitan at magkasagutan. Tsk.
Si Ridley lang ata ang magiging kausap ng instructor namin na ito buong duration ng klase.
She smiled awkwardly dahil nakatingin lang kami ni Victoria sa kanya.
I looked at my side and saw Esteban still resting his head on his table. I don't know if he's sleeping pero malamang sa malamang ay natutulog ito. I can't see his face but his calm and uniform breathing made me think so.
Hindi ko na lang siya pinansin at muling tumingin sa harap.
Ayaw kong gisingin ang isang 'to. Bahala siya kung gusto niyang ma-call ang attention niya sa first day ng klase dahil sa pagtulog niya. Katulad nga ng sinasabi ko, hindi ako makikialam sa kanila not unless I have to.
Patuloy pa rin siyang nakayuko. Nasobrahan naman ata ang isang 'to sa meditation.
"Good morning! I'm Ms. Crystal Buenaventura and I'm going to be your instructor for today..." sabi niya sabay sulat niya ng pangalan niya sa white board.
"... also, I will be your adviser for the whole year so if you have any queries you can approach me—if you need or you're concern about something you can talk to me about that as well.", pagpapatuloy na sabi niya pagkatapos niyang isulat ang pangalan niya.
I just nodded as well as Victoria and Ridley.
I looked at Esteban's direction and he's still sleeping.
I know that Ms. Crystal saw him already but decided to decline it. Nakita kong napadako ang tingin niya kay Esteban at iniwas na lamang ang tingin dito.
I decided to wake him up.
Slowly, I tapped his shoulder but it did not stir him up a little bit. Mas lumapit pa ako to reach him dahil nga medyo malayo yung upuan namin sa isa't isa. I tap his shoulder once again ngunit mas nilakasan ko na ito.
BINABASA MO ANG
The Audacious Pillars
Fiksi IlmiahWhat if you can be more than can you expect? This story lies in the story of eight teenagers looking for a quest. A quest that will question the integrity and strength of one's relationship. A quest that will answer the buried and forgotten.
