Meet Me at Five

2: Why Today?

     I woke up earlier that day than I usually do, but Mom didn't let me go until forty minutes before our classes would begin. She and Aunty Rebecca were waiting for a news outlet to report that the local government suspended school with the rising number of cases due to the virus in the country, but none were released or aired. I know it was selfish, but I wished that if the government were to really suspend classes, let it not be that day.

Aunty Rebecca dropped me off at school before she and Mom went to the nearby elementary school. Mom teaches sixth-grade students while Aunty Rebecca handles Kindergarteners – the cute humans that the neighborhood would see wearing uniform penguin hats after their dismissal.

"Still no news from Sevilla?" Luis bumped onto my side. He wore his bag in front of him. It seemed like he was carrying a treasure of some sort inside, but I think he had just forgotten to wear his ID again.

"No." I smiled slyly.

"No, what? That's all?" He turned his head to the side, looking at me like I said something unbelievable. I was going to tease him, not give him any details, and leave him hanging. But I know Lucy will be the one to ask me at least a dozen of questions and pray that my tongue would slip.

"No, he texted me, Luis. He and I are going to talk," I told him.

The morning air felt chilly even when it was only about fifteen minutes before seven. However, the hallway had students typing with their laptops plugged into an outlet next to them early in the morning. We were lucky to finish yesterday. I just couldn't get over the feeling of having nothing else to worry about.

"Talk? Girl," Luis faced me as he continued walking sidewards. "Buy us pizza if he tells you he likes you back."

I neither usually let other people buy me food nor do I buy food for others, but I considered Luis' proposal to buy them free pizza. It wasn't because Kit liking me back was impossible. I just thought I'd feel generous if a happy outcome was about to come.

The bell rang, and we were all inside the classroom. I turned around, hoping to chitchat with my nearby seatmates out of boredom, but it was almost impossible. Some still had their laptops on their desktops, typing at a breakneck pace. I faced my desk and took my phone out to fix my hair flyaways instead when the class president came in knocking to get our attention – well, except for the crammers.

"I just saw our teacher coming out of the faculty room," she announced as she took her seat.

Her seatmate, the class vice president, who was also among the people cramming that morning, had beads of sweat on his forehead despite the ridiculous chilliness. The class broke into a combination of loud cheers and applause as the clickity-clack of his keyboard grew louder.

"Ten pages?" His seatmate commented after looking at the paper he was currently constructing. I clicked my tongue. He is probably just a few words away from the finish line.

"Settle down, class."

I put my phone away but continued to watch the class vice president pressing keys on his keyboard. It was satisfying to hear the continuous sound of clicking keys, but it was more impressive to see him trying to catch up.

As the teacher sat in front of us, I heard him making the final click. He then closed the laptop and grinned at all of us. I gave a thumbs up in return. He must've finished the paper and emailed it to our teacher just in time.

"Good morning, everyone."

The class president was about to stand up to lead the short morning program when the teacher gestured for her to sit back.

"We can skip that for now. I'm only here to tell you that the new deadline for the final paper will be at noon tomorrow instead."

My mouth dropped behind my mask. I turned around and giggled seeing the vice president looking straight at the teacher. His fast clickity-clacking earlier on the keyboard could've been more relaxed had he only decided to turn in his paper later.