Genius in Distress

Chapter XVII: Teacher Enemy number one

Because of her nightmare Aia found herself sleeping more and more at the cafeteria lounge and any part of the camp where she could find peace and comfort. She even continued cat napping at school at every opportunity. Kaya naman mas lalo siyang pinag iinitan ng mga prof niya.

Aia was accustomed to a hostile environment all her school life, but what she wasn’t use to was, she was starting to be the teacher’s enemy number one whereas before she was the teacher’s pet for being so academically inclined.

She was the top student, getting perfect A’s in all her subjects. Kaya gusting-gusto siya nang mga professors niya. Nagiging madali ang trabaho nang mga ito dahil sa kanya.

“How could you not be the teacher’s enemy number one if you sleep half the time of the period and the other half arguing about their discussion?” she mocked herself.

She was not even afraid to correct them pag may mali sa discussion ng mga ito. In retrospect, It could be a bad thing but wala namang mali sa ginagawa niya. Ang mali ay dapat winawasto. Wala din naman siyang natutunang bago. Kung ano ‘yong mga nasa libro. Iyon na rin ‘yon. Sana pala, nagbasa na lang siya sa library instead na pumasok sa klase.

“Miss Trinidad!” Aia’s Marketing Professor’s high pitch voice rumbled through the room. “Get your things out of this class.”

Aia stared at her in bewilderement. “But why, Miss Aguilar?”

She put her arms in her chest and said, “You have the nerve to ask me why? I caught you sleeping inside my class. If you are not interested, then get the hell out of here.”

Aia glanced over at her classmates who were regarding her with smug look on their faces. She did her best not to cower under their stares.

“May I remind you Miss Aguilar that teachers don’t talk that way,” Aia said.

Nanlisik ang mga mata nito sa sinabi niya. “Out!” she yelled. “Now!”

Pulling up her hoodie, Aia crossed the short distance to the door refusing to make eye contact with her classmates.

Annoyed and still sleepy, she walked toward her locker to get her lunch bag and brought it to the cafeteria for her afternoon snack. Her next subject will be in an hour so she had plenty of time to slack off. Her lunch bag was full of organic and raw veggies. Those were her comfort foods.

She was biting into her carrot when a girl sat across her, sharing her table.

Aia frowned. She didn’t know the girl but she was somewhat familiar to her. Must be one of her classmates.

“Yes?” she asked when the girl kept staring at her. Didn’t she know it was rude to stare?

“Hi, I’m Lian. Classmate tayo sa management subject,” she said. “I’m sorry about the other day. I acted like a bitch.”

“Oh, ‘that’? she had a brain fog a moment there. She was referring to her ‘hoodie’ incident. “Forget about it.” Wala iyon sa kanya. She was so used to it. Mas marami pang malalang pambu-bully ang naranasan niya noong nasa grade school pa siya.

Lian grinned, flashing her perfect white teeth. “You’re nice naman pala. I thought suplada ka wala ka kasing mga kaibigan,” sabi nito. “Tapos magaling ka din sa klase kaya nakaka intimidate kang lapitan.”

Aia stayed silent.

“Nakakabilib ka. Ni wala kang bitbit na notebook at ball sa klase. Hindi ka nag te-takedown notes pero nakukuha mo pa ring masundan ang discussion natin. Genius ka yata eh.”

Umiling lang si Aia at napapangiti. A minute later, biglang umingay sa loob ng cafeteria na parang may isang celebrity na dumating.

“Who’s she?” Aia asked Lian referring to the girl who caused the uproar. She was wearing civilian clothes just like her pati na ang babaeng kasama nito.

Lian’s eyes widened. “You don’t know Samantha?”

Aia took a sip of her fresh milk and shrugged.

“Do I have to?” she asked.

“Of course!” she exclaimed. “Siya lang naman ang student council president. A campus celebrity. Samantha is the exact definition of perfection. Maganda, Matalino, Mayaman pa. She’s a candidate for Summa com laude. Did I forget to mention na anak siya ng Gobernador ng probinsyang ito?”

She nodded.

“Well ngayon nasabi ko na. Tinitingala siya ng lahat. Minsa kinakatakutan. The male population, like her, love her. Si Samantha ang ideal girl ng mga kalalakihan. While the girls, envy her but still wanted her to be their friends even though she’s maarte at suplada. Mamahalin lahat ng mga gamit niya. She’s a trend setter. Ito lagi ang nauuna sa lahat from fashion to gadgets, name it.”

“Sorry to bust your bubble Miss, we are way advance than her,” she wanted to say. Pero wala sa ugali nila ang nag ba-brag kung anong meron sila at kaya nilang gawin.

Lian was acting like Samantha’s fangirl and it was quite irritating. “Who’s with her?” Aia asked referring to the girl tailing Samantha.

“Ah, she’s Eva. Assistant yan ni Samantha,” she said with an unconcerned shrug. “She’s a provincial scholar.” She lowered her voice, “I heard siya dapat ang summa cum laude but hindi gusto ni Samantha na may nakakahigit dito lalong lalo na at assistant lang nito kaya gumawa ito ng paraan para ito ang manguna. She even talked to her dad at humungi ng tulong.”

“Well, do you have proof?”

She shook her head. “No, I just heard it.”

Ganoon naman pala eh. Empty speculations. Anyways, it was not of her concern. Marami na siyang inaalala and campus gossip was not one of them. She stood up. “I’m due to my last subject. Good bye, Lian. It was nice talking to you.”