Gap 2
Rebecca:
Basta tawag kayo...
Jin:
Sinabi ba kung bakit?
Rebecca:
Basta pumunta na lang kayo. Manuel and Bautista daw, sa room ng Luna.
Frame shows Jin and André side-by-side under a premature mango tree, talking to Rebecca, a student from section Luna.
Jin and André look at each other. André shrugs, then nods.
Scene abruptly cuts to Ms. Montalban's face, her eyes narrow as she looks at the two students in front of her advisory desk. Ms. Montalban brings the spoon to her mouth as she eats tuna sisig from her packed lunch. An unpeeled banana sits on the corner of the table.
Jin:
Nanood po kami ng movie, Ma'am. Hercules po. 'Yung sa Disney? Tapos sinagutan lang po namin 'yung tanong. Ganon po 'yung nangyari.
Ms. Montalban raises an eyebrow, looking at Jin then to André. André tries to deflect her stare as he looks around the classroom of Luna. There are quotations from Shakespeare painted on the walls. A map of the world hangs by the back wall. Sixty-two chairs almost empty as most students take their lunch outside.
Ms. Montalban:
[Talks while her mouth is full] You both should know that Disney changes the story, kung ganon man kayo katalinong dalawa...
Jin:
Uh [Unsure of what to say]
Ms. Montalban:
Eh 'di dapat, nilagay niyo man lang ang title ng movie na pinanood niyo.
Jin:
Opo, Ma'am. Pasensya na po.
Ms. Montalban:
Always remember that. You cannot write what you don't know.
André meets her gaze. Something kind warms André from Ms. Montalban's eyes, further confusing him.
From the teacher's desk, Ms. Montalban opens a drawer and pulls out a dogeared book in color black, pocket sized. She hands it to André. Jin snatches it away from André, closely looking at it.
The book cover says, Edith Hamilton's MYTHOLOGY. A lone warrior kneels on the cover.
Ms. Montalban:
We have a long way to go with that. But at least, you'll have your source now.
Jin:
Nakaka touch naman po, Ma'am. You're the best po, Ma'am. [Jin fakes worship]
Ms. Montalban:
Get out of my classroom, you two!
Frame changes to a wide view of an eatery. Jin and André sit by a wooden bench covered with tarpaulin of Coca-Cola. Jin sits backwards, facing the highway where the point-of-view of the camera comes from. André is seated, facing the eatery's line of pots, containing different viands and meals to choose from.
Jin sips Mountain Dew from his straw. He holds the plastic in one hand, the other arm consuming the rest of teh space of the wooden bench.
André continues to finish his lunch, a messy pile of chopseuy with quail eggs.
Jin:
'Yung totoo, natakot ka kanina, 'no?
André:
[Finishes his chewing before speaking, all the while looking at his food] Obvious naman siguro.
Jin:
Alam mo, masasanay ka rin. Ang ibig kong sabihin, first time mo mag-aral sa totoong school. Gaano ka nga katagal nag-homeschool?
BINABASA MO ANG
Nostalgia
Teen FictionAndre leaves his ten-year homeschooling as he enrolls in the fictional Marcelo Del Pilar Memorial High School. There he navigates his way through introversion, discrimination, stereotypes, and a background of broken family. Meeting a classmate named...
