Dear Katharine

Oct. 23, 20xx

Oct. 23, 20xx
TRIGGER WARNING:  This entry contains sexual abuse that could be a trigger. If you feel like your mental health could he affected, I advise you to read no further.

7:40 P.M.
Dear Kath,

                    Don't worry, this is not about my relationship with your kuya. Unfortunately, what I'm about to tell you is serious and unsettling, so brace yourself.
                    Remember Mr. Chua? He's the Science teacher who every girl who has been in his class warned us about. I believe everyone has heard rumors of this teacher's sketchy relationship with his students, and I'm sure these stories must have reached our school's admin. Yet I don't think there's an investigation whether they are true.
                      Anyway, I remember the jokes we made about the girls who were allegedly dating him. We said cruel things like they're “gradewhores” or something, I regret them now. If you were alive, you would regret the remarks you made about them too.
                      Let's start from the very beginning. Mr. Chua is our substitute teacher because Mrs. Chavez is pregnant. We were glad at first because Mrs. Chavez is boring. I don't learn so much from her, and she finds difficulty in explaining lessons to us. Mr. Chua is the opposite. He's great and entertaining, and such an amazing teacher. But Mr. Chua is a pedophile and a sexual harasser! He's disgusting.  Wait, I'm getting way ahead of myself. He is an incredible teacher, which is why I'm conflicted with what I feel because I learned a lot from him. I learned about carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids and their building blocks. I have never been so in love with Biology. But most importantly, I learned how messed up and unfair our school system works.
                     He started our first week pretty well except he gets too close with girls, and he enjoys pinching our cheeks, which is super uncomfortable. We let this fault slide because his teaching skills stunned us. The following week he started chatting with all the girls in our class. I didn't respond to any of his messages because it's unprofessional.
                      But because Rhea is the president, he sends his PowerPoint and other modules through her. So he told her to message him, in case he forgets to send them. God, Kath, it was his trap. He would tell Rhea to take a picture of herself smiling first before he would give them. Of course, Rhea wouldn't do that. But eventually, she yielded because he didn't send them, and we pleaded her to give him that one smiling selfie he wanted. We were so stupid because although he is a great teacher, his exams are difficult, so we were desperate for the notes in his presentations.
                         But this week is our exam week , and today is our exam in Science. While we were answering his hard test, he stood next to Rhea and told her he would exempt her and give her a perfect score if she would date him. It was almost a whisper, but I heard him because I was sitting next to Rhea. And he began hugging her. And don't ask me what his hands were touching because I wouldn't tell you. Rhea just froze. I froze too. He only stepped away from her when someone asked about an item in the exam.
                        Rhea fled without even submitting her exam. It took time for me to focus, but I decided to follow her, so I passed my unfinished paper even though I would most likely flunk it. I left the room to search for her.
                         I looked for her in the women's comfort room and found her there. She was crying. I tried comforting her, and I told her we must report him right away. She was afraid. She didn't want to fail his class and her parents may find out all their messages and think she asked for it. I insisted on reporting him either way.
                        We went to Ms. Pia, our adviser, after hearing what happened brought us to Sister Ruth, our guidance counselor. We told her everything except the messages because Rhea is ashamed of them. But when Mr. Chua was called, he showed their conversation. And you know what happened next? They scolded Rhea!
                        That's when I knew I could never  count on anyone even when they're in authority. My surfacing trust issues also heightened when Ms. Pia told me that this was a recurring complaint against Mr. Chua. Last year, he was reported because of the same issue three times and still he wasn't fired then. He will continue as our science teacher because there's no one is available.
                         Life is more cruel than I thought it is.