Act Off Script | ✓

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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"Samonte, Athanacia Norainne," ulit ni Sir Fajardo sa pangalan ko habang pinagpapatuloy ang rollcall ng klase namin. He's one of the professors who preferred the old system of checking attendance. Swerte lang na kaunti lang ang batch namin.

I never thought that I'd be in a class. . .with less than fifteen students. Alam ko naman na hindi masyadong malaki ang budget ng school para sa kursong tinahak ko pero hindi ko inakalang ganito kakaunti ang makakausap ko sa buong taon. I'm also in my first year so there's a huge chance that the number of students would decrease in the upcoming years.

Mas kakaunti talaga ang estudyante sa kolehiyo. Himala na kung aabot ng singkwento sa isang kwarto. Unlike high school that extended a lot of sections to cater to students, college is a different route. Minsan paunahan pa makakuha ng slot sa kailangan na kurso at units sa kolehiyo. Malas mo kung kupad ka dahil magiging irregular ka talaga nang wala sa oras kapag hindi ka umabot sa slots.

Gets ko naman, It all boils down to less demand, less supply. It's a terrifying idea that art is slowly dying against the corporate giants but it's the reality. As long as people refused to pay for art or any creative work—the artists would rather work in a 5-to-8 job to sustain their needs than to end up as a starved artist.

Napailing ako. I shouldn't try to oversee the future. Pero ang alam ko ay hindi ko p'wedeng bitawan ang pangarap kong ito. I took BA Creative Writing despite my parents' disapproval. Hindi kami mayaman. I was just blessed to have books with me so I was able to fund my own knowledge.

There's a lot of hard things that you learn at college and I think one of them is having friends. Inikot ko ang paningin ko upang maghanap ng mauupuan dahil halos dinadagsa ang mga booths para sa mga freshmen. I only have a few friends despite our entire classroom having a few students as well.

Hindi ko alam pero natakot na lang din ako makipag-kaibigan. I feel like they would soon find how weird I am. . .and another cycle of torture would emerge. Naaawa na nga ako sa mga magulang ko noon na kailangan pa nila akong hanapan ng panibagong eskwelahan.

Ruby with her red-colored hair was fiery and passionate. Madalas siyang sumasama sa mga organizations. Kadalasan din na siya ang laman ng OSA dahil sa dress code. Umaapoy sa galit si Ruby dahil kaya naman n'yang mag-aral kahit daw naka-baby bra at panty lang siya.

Si Mineth naman ay kabaliktaran ni Ruby. She's always prim and proper, ngayon nga ay umaabot hanggang tuhod n'ya ang baby blue dress n'yang suot. She's also soft spoken because of her upbringing. Yet, she sometimes comes head to head with Ruby. Pareho kasi silang mainitin ang ulo.

Both of them became my friends during enrollment. Pare-pareho kasi kaming naligaw sa University of Arts and Culture no'ng naghahanap kami ng slots. Labis ang naging saya naming tatlo nang malaman na pare-pareho kami ng subjects!

"Nacia, ang lalim na naman ng iniisip mo," puna ni Mineth sa akin nang mapansin na tahimik ako.

"I'm sorry," I snapped back to reality. "May iniisip lang ako tungkol sa class natin."

"Girl, free cut na." Halakhak ni Ruby. "Save the stress for later. Wala pa naman requirements na binibigay sa atin."

Tumango ako. What she said was true, I couldn't stay calm and enjoy the week that we still didn't have any activities to do. Hindi ko nga napansin masyado ang mga booths dahil masyado akong lulong sa iniisip ko.

I want to make this work. I have to make this work because this is all I have. If this doesn't end up like how I perceive it to be. . .I couldn't imagine how I would live my life.