A Study in Form (#LunaEast)

Murphy and his Frustrating Law

“Bad day?”

Saree looked up at Eli, eyebrows raised in question. “Hmm?”

He looked pointedly at the plate in front of her. She followed his line of vision and saw that her slice of strawberry shortcake had already been reduced to a pile of cake ruins by her relentless, albeit unconscious, fork stabbing. She compared it to his cheesecake slice that was already half gone (and neatly so) from his own plate.

“Sorry,” she murmured in embarrassment.

After changing as he told her to, he took her to Sandy’s, the coffee shop just across the campus where a lot of Luna East students hung out. It was late in the afternoon but the place was surprisingly not as packed. There was a trio of students by the windows who seem to be working on a group project. A group of four Freshmen or Sophomore girls occupied the seats near the counter and engaged in exchanging gossip. Then there was a couple who took seats far away from everybody else to ensure their privacy for their mid-week date.

As he led her to a table at the far back of the coffee shop, she noted that all of the students paused mid-conversation and took in the scene of the two of them together.

Great. Another one for the gossip mills, she thought. She took the seat facing the wall to avoid having to look at everyone, and he went and ordered for them. She didn’t realize she was so deep in her thoughts until he had broken through them.

“That bad?” he asked again.

She sighed.

-@-

She could always blame Murphy and his frustrating law.

Things went downhill after lunch with Katey. There was the fiasco of the forgotten homework and the failed surprise quiz for Trigonometry, causing her to receive additional homework from a disappointed Mr. Sandico.

Then there was the catastrophe during Chemistry with the Bunsen burner where she almost set the laboratory on fire, earning her a ten-minute solo lecture from the hysterical Ms. Tuazon about safety precautions in the lab.

After dismissal, she got held back by her homeroom adviser, Ms. Dayrit, reminding her of her duties as the class monitor for the day. It took her a few minutes to make sure that the classroom was neat, the seats were properly aligned, and the blackboard was cleared except for the portions with ‘save’ notes on them. She asked Katey to check that everything else was turned off before running off for the dance studio.

By the time she arrived for rehearsals everybody was well into the barre exercises, and Ms. Amor was quick to point it out.

“The session started at three thirty, Ms. Termulo. We do not tolerate tardiness here.”

Saree knew she made it into the fifteen-minute grace period, but she kept her tongue in check. She bowed in apology instead and went to the farthest side of the studio to warm up. She tried keeping a low profile to avoid attention, but Ms. Amor seemed to know where she was at any given time, and was always quick to criticize her.

“Saree, your plies aren’t low enough.” “Your jumps aren’t high enough.” “Did you warm up properly? You’re too stiff!”

By the end of the session, she wanted to just fade into oblivion.

“We’ll be having the annual recital in two months’ time,” Ms. Amor declared at the end of rehearsals. “I’ll be announcing the final line-up by the end of the week. Don’t be absent. Don’t be late.” She looked pointedly at Saree. “See you then.”

She didn’t even notice the room got cleared out in record time. She just had her head down, trying to keep the tears that were threatening to fall in check.

-@-

“The next thing I know, you were already in the studio and you were dragging me out of there,” she concluded. She got a forkful of cake and ate, and ate some more; the sugar—and the unburdening—lifted her spirits considerably.

“We all have off days. Don’t sweat it,” he said in reply. “Blame it on Murphy instead,” he added before finishing off his cake.

She gasped and looked up at him. “I was thinking the same thing, too, about Murphy.”

She smiled, the first one she was able to muster sincerely since lunch. He grinned back at her, and it wasn’t the same small smile she got used to seeing on his face. It was a huge and full on grin, one where his eyes crinkled slightly at the corners, where the dimple on his cheek was in plain sight. In that moment, she thought that, with free cake and a cute guy, her run-in with Murphy was already over.

“Eeeelllaaaiiiii!”

Then again, maybe not.

They both looked up at the shrill sound to see a girl heading towards them. She stopped by their table and, with hands on her hips, looked accusingly at Eli. “You went to Sandy’s and you didn’t even think to invite me?”

Eli sighed. He seemed to deflate right in front of Saree then. Saree, on the other hand, wondered at the very familiar way the pretty girl, whom she recognized as a member of the dance club, addressed him.

Girlfriend? If he already has a girlfriend, and a dancer at that, why the heck did he get me to model for him in the first place?!

She looked back and forth between him and the girl whose hair was in a messy bun on top of her head, and whose eyes had the same sooty lashes as the boy she was glaring at, all the while thinking, I hate you, Murphy. I hate you.

“Sorry, this was just a spur-of-the-moment thing,” he said. He gestured towards Saree. “This is Saree Termulo. Saree, this is—”

“Yes, we know each other from dance club already,” she interrupted him. She took the seat beside Saree and turned to her, a huge smile on her face. “Hi, I’m his annoying sister, Mel.”

Saree blushed, already regretting the evil turn of her thoughts moments before. “Hi,” she greeted back. “I didn’t realize you and Antonio were siblings.”

“Oh, nobody ever does.”

“People don’t, usually.”

The siblings glared at each other for a moment before Mel stuck her tongue out at him and broke off from their staring contest.

“Man, I’m beat. Eeellllaaaiiii,” Mel sing-songed, “I’d like a slice of chocolate cake and a large iced mocha, please.”

“Very well. Would that be all, your highness?” he asked in mock deference and accent.

“Oh, and an oatmeal cookie, too. I think I saw them take out a fresh batch when I came in.”She beamed at him.

Eli chuckled and shook his head in defeat before getting up from the table. He turned to Saree and asked, “You want anything?”

“No, I’m good,” she replied.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

His eyes lingered on hers for a moment longer before he went to the counter to place his sister’s order. Unable to resist the tugging at the corner of her lips, Saree went back to finishing her cake with a smile on her face.

“So, are you going out with my brother?”