"Alright, form a line! Doon tayo sa stage mag practice." Ma'am Rosa, the adviser of Ibarra's class commanded. While the students were going outside, the only sounds heard were 'hoy usog!' and 'dalian mo nga, gago!' and so on, so on. Ibarra held Maria Clara's hand close, trying not to lose her in the crowd. He wouldn't have almost stumbled, if only he wasn't bumped in the shoulder by Elias. Shit, sino ba naman yun- he thought, only the voice in his head stopped talking when he saw Elias, that bastard, was looking at him, grinning. He was holding up his middle and pointer finger at him. Maria Clara went to check on her boyfriend.
"Omg babe, okay ka lang? Who pushed you? Teka, it was him again!" She said, frowning. Ibarra got up, "Wala to, let's keep walking." And so they did. They gathered at the field, settling down.
Ma'am Rosa cleared her throat."Okay, settle down! So alam niyo na lahat na next week na ang school party, have you all started practicing your activities? Hmm? Singers, dancers, poets? At kung ano-ano pang gagawin niyo?" Yes ma'am! That was all the students said, in unison. "Talaga ba? Sige nga, let's practice ha? Hmm, oh Mr. Dela Cruz, ikaw muna!" Then the students walked up the stage and did their assigned parts, one after another.
Some 20 minutes later of presentations, which were all poetry by the way, the teacher called someone, someone who was finally gonna do something else, other than poetry. "Mr. Bonifacio! Halika dito, dance sayo diba?" Ma'am Rosa asked. Ibarra watched as Elias made his way to the stage. He only nodded. Ibarra snorted at that, he'll dance like an unfed monkey, sure ako diyan. "Sige, you may start Mr. Bonifacio, give us all you've got." The music started playing.
Ibarra did not expect that. He watched closely at every movement, the way he moved his hands, hips, feet, everything. He was dancing with great speed, Ibarra barely got to catch up on his movements, then he went slow. Like really slow, as if he was suddenly put in slow-mo mode. His hand was running over his neck, almost like he was choking himself, and then, he winked.
Putangina, what was that?! He really did not just..
Cheers of 'ayieee!!!' and 'ang smooth dude!' filled the place. Next thing you know, everyone was chanting 'Boni! Boni! Boni!' You couldn't tell what Elias' reaction was, as his long brown hair covered his face, but Ibarra knew he was smirking, like he was planning something.
Elias put his hand behind him, and pulled out a ball, a tennis ball, perhaps? He was almost done dancing, and then the last part of his dance came. He threw the tennis ball up in the air, raised his left foot, and kicked the ball in the air. Everyone watched with shock, but Ibarra was to stunned to move. Shit pupunta saken!
Boom.
"Crisostomo! O, Crisostomo! Tawagin niyo ang nars! Dali!" Maria Clara shouted. She lunged herself at Elias, who was laughing. She started punching him. The nurse came, fortunately, and picked Ibarra from the ground. "Balik sa classroom! Hays, Santos, Bonifacio! Sa principal, now!" Ma'am Rosa said. Maria Clara got off Elias, and the two made their way to the principal's office.
Mr. Reyes was a strict man, strict, but kind to people who talk calmly with him. He had a good sense of humor too, so nothing bad would really go down, at least, not for Elias.
"So, bakit kayo nagsuntukan Ms. Santos and Mr. Bonifacio?" Mr. Reyes asked. Elias started, "Eh kase-" but was interrupted by an angry Maria Clara. "Mr. Reyes, maniwala po kayo sa akin. Yung boyfriend ko- si Crisostomo, tinamaan sa ulo ng isang bola! Dahil itong punyeta-" Elias scoffed. "Language, señora." Maria Clara was really mad now. "Wag mokong señora señorahin diyan! Alam mo ang ginawa mo kay Crisostomo, tapos kailangan ko pa siyang alagaan!"
Elias stood up from his chair. "Just because your his girlfriend doesn't mean that you have to take care of him like he's a one year old child!" He said. "Then who's gonna take care of him while he's injured?"
"Oh I don't know, me, perhaps?"
There was silence. Elias felt his face redden.
"Because well.. I was the one who hurt him right? So I should.. take responsibility you know?" He added. Phew that was a good save he thought.
"That sounds like a great idea, Mr. Bonifacio! You can get straight to i-" Mr. Reyes said. But was interrupted, this time, by a crying Maria Clara. "Hindi! Hindi ako papayag! Ayoko ma saktan ulit si Crisostomo, ayoko! Sasaktan mo lang siya, admit it!" She exclaimed. "Aba, assumera ka pala eh! Kawawa naman itong si Crisostomo na to, ang gagago ng girlfriend nya!" Elias said. Only to get attacked by Maria Clara.
They solved everything, after an hour and a half, and was sent home. When Elias was in his house, he was just relaxing from all the drama that had happened. And then, he coughed, repetitively. Each cough was painful to bear.
The next day.
Ibarra thankfully healed, completely. They all got in their classrooms, prepared for their lesson. Maria Clara hugged Crisostomo, very glad that he was back. She seemed to have recovered from the incident yesterday. In fact, she was planning to apologize to Elias for attacking him twice. Then Ma'am Rosa came in the room.
"Okay class! So it seems like perfect attendance tayo ngayon? Teka, one, two, three, four, five.. Ah. Where is Mr. Bonifacio?" She asked. Another teacher came in the room and had a little chat with Ma'am Rosa. All Ma'am Rosa said after their chat was a faint dios mio..
"Alright, class? Mr. Bonifacio has been hospitalized, and will not be joining us today." Ma'am Rosa said, nervously. There were gasps all around the room. Maria Clara looked like crying, with a concerned Crisostomo looking at her. A student raised their hand. "Ma'am, bakit po nasa ospital si Bonifacio?" They asked. "Di kami sigurado diyan, anak. Sinabi lang nila nagkasakit siya." The teacher said. Ha? Why would he be hospitalized kung sakit lang naman? It could just be a fever, or cough. Ibarra thought.
After class.
Ibarra was walking with Maria Clara. "Hey, MC? Pwede ba mag tanong?" Ibarra asked. Maria Clara replied, "You already asked me a question. Joke lang, sige, ask away!" She said, smiling. "When Ma'am Rosa announced that Eli- Bonifacio was hospitalized, well, mukha ka kaseng iiyak na. Bakit yun?" He asked. Maria Clara stopped walking, tears falling down her cheeks. "When you passed out, I beat him up.. twice. And- and I'm worried, what if pumunta siya sa ospital dahil saken?" She said, breathily. Ibarra looked at her, with a shocked look.
"Don't look at me like that." Maria Clara said. Ibarra put his hand on his nape. "Sorry- here." He gave Maria Clara a handkerchief. Maria Clara took it, and wrapped her hands around her boyfriend, hugging him. "Mmm napakasweet talaga ng Crisostomo ko! Y'know what? Libre kita for lunch, ok?" She said. "Sure"
Meanwhile with Elias at the hospital.
"Doc, is he going to be ok?" Elisa, Elias' sister asked. The doctor sighed. "We don't know that yet, but we'll try our best to-" he was interrupted by the voice of his nurse coming from the room. "DOC! His heart and breathing stopped! I need someone who's good at CPR!" The nurse shouted. Without thinking twice, Elisa ran into the room. Shit shit shit! What did I learn in S.A.P. class again? Oh- yeah! She started performing CPR on her little brother, who was on the verge of death. Still no signs of the heart beating. "AGH PUTANGINA JUST WORK!" Elisa shouted, she was already crying.
Cliffhanger? I think yes. Sorry for all the drama lol. The story word count is 1305 words. But including this last message is 1334 words.
Hope you liked it!
