Trickster of the Butterfly

Chapter 9- Closer

It's been 3 weeks since the start of second semester. Everybody's already gotten the hang of the mix of strict, quirky and brilliant professors, the loads of homeworks and quizzes dumped on them, and even the blockmates they'll be spending the rest of the school year with. So much more was still in store for the young Psychology students as they fight to survive the flow of PLM.

The small band of five misfits sat underneath a shed in the hot afternoon. Their classes were already done but they felt obligated to call for a group study since their last quiz in Natural Science was really hard and they were going to have an even harder one the next day. Normally they would be out eating at Mcdonald's or something but this time they were chowing down on their Science books.

"So ang force of gravity is inversely proportional to the radius and directly proportional sa... weight ba yun? UGHHH! Hindi pala, hindi pala!" Alora glanced at her notes. "Mass pala! The force of gravity is directly proportional sa mass! Joy naiinis na talaga ako sa Nat Sci natin!" she said stressfully.

"Ang ibig sabihin nun diba na kapag masmalayo ka sa object na may gravity, hihina yung..." Sarah's voice trailed off then she pretended to snore.

"Sarah mag-aral tayo! Di tayo puwede mangopya ha! Ayaw ni Lord yun." Alora recited a dozen definitions of terms like a rapper while the others were looking really bored.

Hera was eating potato wedges she bought from the canteen as she and Michael were tutoring each other. Joy was just texting on her phone.

"Hindi ka ba magrereview Joy?" Michael said.

"Eh, bukas na lang," Joy replied.

"Wala eh, matalino. Oh Michael," she offered a wedge to him.

Joy put down her phone. "Kain ka lang ng kain diyan. Nakikinig ka ba talaga kay Mike o nguya ka lang ng nguya?" Joy scolded.

"Nakikinig naman ako no! Kailangan ko lang din ng brain food. Tingnan mo nga si Alora oh, mukang andaming kinain kaya ang bilis mag-rap," Hera laughed.

Michael sighed. "Guys mukang stressed na stressed na kayo. Punta kaya muna tayo sa SM, palamig muna tayo. Pero wag masyado matagal, pinapauwi na ako bago mag 5:30."

Sarah suddenly looked alive like those were the magic words. "Yay SM! Bukas na lang din ako magrereview. Sabay na tayo umuwi Mike ha." Michael nodded.

"Power is work over time tapos... Huh? SM?" Alora snapped out of her science rap. She pursed her lips then packed her science book like she was angry at her friends for interrupting her funky flow. "Tara ang init dito. Medyo nagugutom na rin ako. Text lang muna ako na tatagal tayo."

"Gusto mo bili muna tayo chicken chops? Hehehe," Michael teased.

"Tumahimik ka diyan Mike! Adik ka na," Alora said.

Joy's phone rang. "Ay sorry guys alis na pala ako. Sundo ko na tong tumatawag." She got up and answered her phone as she waved goodbye to her friends then walked away.

"Halika na guys punta na tayo SM," Hera said.

The four went out of the school then rode a jeep to SM Manila. They ate at KFC then went window shopping. Michael was the only guy in the group and he really didn't like shopping all that much. But just being in the company of his friends and laughing along with them as they checked out stuff in Comic Alley, he was happy. They even checked out if a good P25 movie was showing at the theater but it was just another corny horror movie so they passed on that. Michael appreciated that he didn't have to think much about quizzes, professors, or even the Butterfly, so long as he was with his friends.