Dear Sensei

[2]~ Dear Sensei

𝐹𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝐹𝒶𝒿𝒶𝓇𝒹𝑜

ɪ ɢᴏᴛ ʀɪᴅ ᴏғ ᴍʏ sᴇᴀᴛᴍᴀᴛᴇ when I told him by word, kung bakit ko siya tinatapunan ng tingin.

Thank God. His brain is not as dull as I imagined. If not I would have been forced to waste all my precious energy giving pointless explanation.

Hindi ko nga maintindihan kung bakit kailangan ko pang magpaliwanag sakanya. Throwing glances is not a crime — it could be a form of bully. But for heaven's sake I did not scoffed nor acted in outrageous manner . He's just paranoid. That's for sure.

My original plan to go home early changed, thanks to him, who confronted me out of nowhere. Pakiramdam ko wala na akong lakas para umuwi kaya minabuti ko na munang tumambay sa park.

Umupo ako sa isang bench kung saan may malaking puno. Tanghaling tapat kaya masasabi kong magandang spot ito.

I let out a deep sigh as I lean back.

I can freely unwind now. Because our teacher didn't gave us assignments. And that's a blessing.

Sana palagi nalang bago ang guro. Para laging assignments-free.

Don't make an assumption that I'm a bad student just because I think that way. I mean, c'mon.

Roberto Nevilis designed assignment as a form of punishment for students. Kaya normal lang na hindi maganda ang pakiramdam ng karamihan sa mga estudyante kapag nabibigyan ng assignment. Don't act perfect, I'm sure you belong to the group.

Hindi ko namalayan ang paglipas ng oras.

Hapon na ng maisipan kong umuwi. Walking distance lang ang bahay namin kaya wala akong takot na gabihin.

Dumidilim narin at nakaramdam na ako ng gutom. Kaya dumeretso  na muna ako sa malapit na food chain at doon umorder ng pagkain.

Ilang minuto rin akong naghanap ng vacant chair, marami na kasing tao. Mabuti nalang at nahagilap ng mga mata ko ang isang bakanteng upuan sa harap ng isang lalake. We have the same uniform at mukhang wala naman siyang kasama kaya minabuti kong lumapit.

"Excuse me—", nasamid  ako sa sariling laway ng mag angat siya ng tingin. I know him!

"You can sit", he said in a monotonous voice.

Napakurap-kurap muna ako bago unti-unting umupo sa harap niya. We're in the same class. In fact he sits in front of me.

He's the weirdo who constantly have a blank expression on his face because of his long fringes that covers his unseen eyes. Aliens could land in front of him and he wouldn't look surprised.

Sumulyap muna ako sakanya. As usual wala parin siyang pakealam kahit may kaharap na siyang kumakain. Tutok na tutok lang siya sa pagkain sa hawak niyang burger. He's acting as if I'm nothing but a wind — para bang hindi niya ako kilala.

Or maybe hindi nga talaga? Kasi nga laging nakatakip sa mga mata niya ang buhok niya. Baka nga hindi talaga siya nakakakita? Pero paanong nababasa niya ang mga nakasulat sa white board during discussion? Sumisilip siya sa makapal niyang bangs? Heck... This guy really piqued my curiosity.

Mabilis lang ang pagkain niya.

Gutom rin naman ako kaya nag simula na akong kumain. I can imagine him as wind, too — that's not hard.

Nakakalahati palang ako sa kinakain ko ng tumayo  siya. My eyes followed his movements.

Before he left, he slightly bowed — I'm not sure if that's for me but I just assume it is. He did not utter any words but I find his gesture well-mannered.