Chemistry Between A Paper And A Ruler

II

2

After all the distractions provided by our classmates, I saw John's constipated expression again.

"Calm down", I told him.

"Nagcocomfort ka ba o pinapagalitan mo ako?"

I heard Drey chuckled.

As the emcees went back to the podium, our attention was caught by them. Ngumiti sila before announcing that the tiebreaker will begin.

"Representatives, can you please seat on the prepared seats here in the middle?"

We did. And with that, I can clearly see the smirk from the curly man.

"In this round, we will give you 5 samples each that you need to identify." And they flashed 10 cardboard cutouts that has something written on it.

"You will need to answer all before proceeding to the last quiz. You will be given your own boards to write your answer. And this time, you'll have the same problem. Kaya kailangan, walang dayaan. No peeking, guys."

I sighed while watching the boards being rolled to our sides. Magkatalikod ang board namin para daw masigurado na walang mandadaya.

Kung ganoon lang ang rules, napakadali naman yata. There must be something to it.

"And last but not the least...", they trailed off, looking at us expectantly. "Each group must choose one person to do the activity. Yes, inuulit namin, isa lang ang maaaring sumagot. Pabilisan ito, so pick the fastest and wisest writer you have there. The twist for the tie breaking part!"

I heard gasps from everywhere. Nagtinginan ang lahat na parang kinabahan agad. But I didn't.

I already expected it.

"Sino sa atin?", John asked, the same time as the other table also started discussing.

"Gusto mo ikaw nalang?", tanong ni Drey na ikinabigla naman ng isa. I just watched them.

"Bakit ako? Baka matalo tayo kapag ako. Kayo nalang."

Drew chuckled before looking at me. Hindi siya nagsalita pero alam ko na ang gusto niyang sabihin.

My eyes then flew to the other team. That guy is standing now and waiting for us to pick our representative. And I don't like his smile.

It was as if he's mocking me with that curve lips. Hindi nakakatulong ang maangas niyang pagsandal sa mesa. No. Not really.

"Ako nalang", the voice came out naturally before I could stop it.

Tumayo na ako. Automatically, eyes went to my direction. And the relieved faces of my classmates were priceless as I make way to the front of our desk.

"Lalabanan niya si Pres? Wala. Talo na sila."

"Ang cute. Hanggang kilikili lang siya nung STEM."

"Matalino daw 'yang ABM. Palagi iyan nasa library."

"Pres, lampasuhin mo! Joke!"

Lampasuhin? I'm not a mop.

I rolled my eyes at all the comments I'm hearing. Bakit ba nila tinatawag na Pres itong kulot na ito? Is Pres his name? Uhm, Preston?

Teka, tunog biscuit yun a.

"Go, Madame!"

Napaikot ako ng mata kay Sunny at Bian na sabay na sumigaw. That made our classmates laugh and clap. Kung pwede lang sigurong tampalin ang dalawa sa noo, ginawa ko na. They give me stress.

Trina and Ever simply showed me an encouraging gesture before the emcee shushed everyone.

"Okay. Mukhang may representatives na tayo. Let's introduce ourselves first, can we?" And the two went to our separate side.

"Tim Anthony Gamora, Grade 11 STEM 2."

Hoots and yells came after. May mga babae pang parang mga kinikilig sa narinig. And I saw how Bian wiggled her eyebrows at Ever and Trina. Tumatawa ang apat at nagawa pang isenyas sa akin ang height difference namin ng kalaban ko.

E ano naman?

Nang itapat na sa akin ang mic, nagsalita agad ako para matapos na.

"Maryjoy Andrade. Grade 11 ABM 1."

"Alam niyo, may nasesense akong chemistry dito e. Ang ganda ng height ng dalawa", the girl suddenly said, shifting her eyes to me and 'Tim Anthony' over there.

Tumawa ang lalaki bago bumalik sa podium. "I actually agree. Pero baka may magalit kaya manahimik na tayo."

Yeah, good choice. Hindi nakakatuwa.

Ayoko nang alamin ang reaksyon ng mga kaibigan ko na halatang nakangisi kaya iniwas ko na ang paningin ko. And in the process, I saw how he smirked.

Whatever.

Ibinigay na ang flashcards at idinikit na nila ang problem sa board. I waited for their go signal to write down the answers and mop his weird annoying face. It took me a good two minutes to finish the mathematical sequence.

"What?", I heard the emcee said as I drop my chalk. Napalingon ako sa kalaban at kapareho ko ay nagwawagayway din ito ng kamay. "Tama ba ang nakita ko? Sabay silang natapos? Am I right?"

The other emcee stepped in and nodded. "Ganun din ang tingin ng panel. Sa sagot nalang siguro tayo babase."

Really? Natapos niya din?

There's no way that we finished precisely at the same time. But of course, the eyes will always fool us.

They started checking our flashcards before proceeding to the boards.

"Pareho parin ang sagot. How on earth did this happen?"

"Hindi magkaparehas ang sagot namin."

My head snapped at 'Tim'. Nakakunot-noo ng lalaking iyon, direkta ang mata sa board na magkatabi.

Pinanood namin siyang maglakad palapit sa board ko. He raised a hand and pointed the plus sign in the middle of my mathematical solution.

"Mali siya sa part na'to. She should've made it negative kasi inilipat niya na."

Tumayo rin ako at lumapit. Tinignan ko ng mabuti ang tinuturo niya bago ngumiti. "That's a negative."

Tinignan niya rin. Ngumisi ako habang nakayuko siya sa board.

"Plus sign yan. There's a vertical line."

Oh, another hardheaded person alive! I wanna roll my eyes but I managed not to. Instead, I sighed. Kinuha ko ang chalk at diniinan ang negative sign.

"Hey! Cheating", pagpigil niya sa akin.

"Paano 'yan magiging cheating? Ipinapakita ko lang sayo na hindi 'yan positive. Kasi kung positive 'yan, edi hindi ko makukuha yun sagot. Iba sana ang process na ginawa ko."

He smirked and looked at his board and mine. "Pa'no yan? Bato-bato-pik nalang."

A thunder of laughter came a few seconds later. Pero hindi ako natawa. Corny niya.

I rolled my eyes at him before looking at the panel. They were discussing seriously.

Nang makita ko si Rich na umakyat sa podium with a paper on his hand, I knew by then that they had decided. Dalawa lang naman iyan. Ibibigay nila sa kanya ang panalo dahil mas maganda ang sulat niya, o dahil hindi siya kasali sa club namin.

I just rolled my eyes at him as he smiled. Lihim kong pinagdasal na sana ay matalisod siya habang naglalakad para sa award na matatanggap nila. What? He deserves it.

He's being a jerk right now. Lalo na pag nakangiti siya nang ganyan.

Para siyang tanga.

I stood up and left for class, leaving Drey and John to get our 'award'.

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