Metanoia: A Change of Heart

Chapter XXV ~ Thonia

I was left alone at home that rainy morning. My brothers went to classes and my mother had work. No one woke me up, not even the run-out snooze of my alarm clock. I searched for my phone on the bedside table, but I remembered I did not have it. So instead, I brought my camera with me, just in case emergency news or something else needed to be captured.

I yawned, opened my eyes, yawned, got up, yawned and took a bath in anticipation of my sleep to eventually slip away. It was Monday and I was half-day late to school. Great start for the week.

I hopped on a cab and went to school. The sky was now bright but I could see the pavements of the road wet from the rain. Only when I reached the gate did I realized I left my ID at home. Double great day.

"Late?" The guard stood and opened the closed gate for me.

"Yeah, need to buy a new alarm clock." I shrugged.

"And no ID." He shook his head. "Why do so many students forget their cards every Monday?" He asked for my name and wrote it on the log book he was holding. I signed. "Marie Thonia Buenviaje, huh? Okay, good morning." He smiled.

"The weekend should be prolonged." I smiled back and went to the locker hall. In spite of the constant murmurs of the teachers from different classes, the school was eerie quiet. I decided not to go to my class. I was late and no point in going when you're late in Economics. Our teacher's policy was like this: "Better absent than late."

I went to my locker and checked my things for the next class. Joshua's locker was just few lockers from mine, I hoped he brought my phone already so he could just give it to me.

Thinking about him always went back to that Saturday night. It was blurry because of the alcohol. But I must admit, it was one of the best conversations I had with anyone. Counting those times Jack would have one-on-one talk with me.

I roamed around the building passing by the library and the bookstore, but nothing good would happen to me there. I went to the lobby of the school and saw the big glass framed shelf containing trophies and medals together with certificates.

On the topmost layer was the biggest trophy. Beside it was the picture of the first and only team so far of our school who won the National League of Inter-school Basketball. Although it was high for me to see closely, I knew where my father was. He was in the middle beside their coach, the Most Valuable Player, the Team Captain.

On the few layers down from my father's trophy was another trophy for winning the regional league. And again, another Buenviaje was part of the victory. Two of them to be exact, Jude and Jack, my brothers. They sat in the middle too and beside them was their coach.

I felt proud about these trophies because I knew part of how the school got it was from my family. But I also felt ashamed because I knew I could not add more of our name to the list of unforgettable legends in this school. Maybe after I graduated, my name would be published in the year book, few years of browses, and then nothing. I would merely be another faded memory, dusted photo in the long lost attic.

I still had fifty more minutes to spare that's why I decided to go up the rooftop of our building. Using the stairs was a long journey but the elevators were off-limits for an ordinary student like me, so no choice but to take that long way.

The rooftop had once been a garden full of flowers and plants, when I was in my first years in highschool. Now, it had few plants left. It had been more beautiful before, when I often come here with Rick.

I walked to the single bench I knew in the middle of the rooftop. I did not care if it was wet because the puddles of water were everywhere. I had not been here for a long time, but I remembered the seat was facing the sky down to the buildings even to the beautiful mountain lands far away.