The Tranquility in You

Chapter: 10

Palagi kaming lumalabas ni Jance on weekends, because of that our colleagues always pinned us together kahit walang namamagitan sa amin.

"Jance, I have to cancel sa sabado pala." I said while he fixed his stuff. "May family agenda kasi kami."

"Grabe mas mahalaga ba ang family mo kaysa akin?" He asked at natawa si Oscar.

"Sadly, oo." I joked so he acted like he got stabbed in the heart. "Napaka oa."

"Okay lang na OA ako basta ikaw yung Nonchalant na kadugtong." Tapos nagtaas siya ng finger heart kaya mas lalo kaming natawa sa buong department.

"Grabe ang dad jokes pwede na siyang maging Dad." Another teacher commented kaya natawa kami.

"Ayoko nga." Pagtataray nito. "Wala naman akong asawa para maging dad."

I went outside dahil pinatawag daw ako sa room ng students ko.

"Happy Birthday Ma'am Lai!" They yelled in unison kaya napangiti ako.

"Wow ang bait naman ng advising ko."

Nakalimutan kong birthday ko that day kasi hell week na. Bukas na ang first midterms nila and I wasn't expecting this kind of surprise from them. I always reminded them na mag-aral ng mabuti and ako ang bahala sa kanila but I never would realize they would give this much for me.

"Ito ang formula for this solution, nalito kayo eh. Huwag malilito, okay?" I reminded them at napansin na nakatingin sila sa pinto kaya lumingon ako to see Jance!

I opened the door and asked what was he doing outside.

"Ibibigay ko sana sa'yo kanina kaso pinatawag ka ng advising mo." He explained. "Happy Birthday, Laina."

Tinanggap ko ang bento cake at pinasalamatan siya. I invited him for dinner later, he accepted and pinched my cheek bago umalis.

I went back to teach pero pagpasok ko ay inasar ako ng mga students ko. I just laughed and tried to push the thought aside because I didn't really think Jance felt that way and ayaw kong masira ang pagkakaibigan namin. I value it so much.

After classes ay nag announce ang principal sa gc namin. Magkakaroon ng senior prom by the end of the month para sa graduating students. I was so excited kasi first prom ko ito as a teacher. Naaalala ko kung gaano kasaya ang prom namin dati. It was so magical.

Date ko dati si Primo nung high school prom namin kasi we were best friends but we never liked each other in such way.

"Sinong date mo?" Ella asked while I drove to the restaurant.

Kasama namin sa kotse si Primo and Eric while Oscar and Jance were on his motorcycle. We arrived at the restaurant where we first saw Oscar and Jance being noisy.

"Tabi tayo!" Estella said when I was about to sit next to Jance.

Magkakatabi ang tatlo while me and Ella sat across them. We ordered a lot and I really enjoyed my time with these people. Super nakakatuwa silang kasama. I saw Jance had the enamel pin attatched on his ID lace kaya napangiti ako.

"Happy Birthday, Laina!"

Sabay-sabay nilang sigaw once I blew the candles on my cake. It had been one of the most memorable birthdays ever.

We were finishing up when Ella opened up about the prom.

"Hindi pa full ang details pero what would you think?" She asked. "Like, sinong date mo?"

I raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled. "Required ba?"

"Oo naman!" She answered. "May Mr. & Ms. Faculty kaya sa prom night."

"Sinong date mo?" I asked.

"Si Oscar siyempre." Nilingon naming lahat si Oscar. He had a smile on his face while drinking his pineapple juice. "Sinong date mo?"

I looked at Jance, Eric and Primo. I didn't pick Primo since he sure enough was taking Eloise.

"Kahit sino, Lala kaibigan naman natin parehas." Ella said.

"I'll take..."

I really wanted to take Jance but I felt bad if Eric didn't have a date.

"I'll take Eric." Marami namang girl friends si Jance..

"Okay lang?" Eric asked Jance so he made a face.

"Bakit mo ako tinatanong?" Jance asked then drank his water. "Go lang, I already asked Ate Marie."

Ate Marie? She has a husband already eh... Akala ko kapag may asawa yun na yung partner.

"Siyempre tinatanong ka ni Eric, diba asawa mo si Lala?" Ella teased.

"Nope, ayoko sa same circle."

As I said that lahat sila ay tumingin kay Jance who was busy typing on his phone. He quickly got up to fix his things before he left.

"Bye, Laina!" Jance was rushing to leave, hindi ko alam kung bakit.