The Lady in Shining Armor: Monte Carlo High

VIII. Let the Games Begin

"Oh my  God, I'm sorry, Red! How are you? I know it's really late with all that happened, but, what happened to you?" She touched the bandage on my forehead. Now that she mentioned it, naramdaman ko nga ang mga kirot sa katawan ko. I must be past the time when I should be taking the pain relievers.

"I'm okay. Nothing I can't handle. Thanks, anyway."

"You sure?" I nodded and handed her the umbrella. We parted ways at the Dorm Gates. What a night!

"Akala ko kinatay ka na ng mga guards. Saan ka ba galing?" Tanong ni Vince pagpasok ko sa dorm room namin. He was playing on his Ps3, which he paused when he saw me entered the room.

"I'm fine, dude. May konting gulo lang." Paano ko ba sasabihin sa kanya ang nangyari sa akin after classes? Parang ang daming nangyari.

"Gulo? That's something new. Tell me about it, man." He turned off his gadget and sat up on his bed and faced me. He's going to stay that way hanggang sa mag-kuwento ako. I sighed in disbelief and shook my head.

"Pwedeng mag-shower muna?" 

"Sure! Hindi ako aalis dito." I grabbed my towel and headed inside our bathroom.

"Wala talagang magawa yung mga Seniors na yun, no? Bakit hindi sila mang-bully ng ka-level nila, hindi yung mga Juniors or any other lower year levels. Tsk!" Naiinis na sabi ni Vince pagkatapos kong i-kwento sa kanya ang pananambang na nangyari sa akin sa labas ng Main Building.

"I'll get back at them sometime."

Vince chuckled. "Get back at them? Ano'ng gagawin mo, babatuhin sila ng 1000-paged na libro? C'mon, dude, we both know you're not the violent type. Good thing that new chick was there, kundi baka sa ospital ka matutulog ngayon."

"In relation to that, did you know that she's roommates with Miss Rachel?"

Nanlaki ang mga mata niya sa sinabi ko. "Rachel Reyes, previous SC President? No way!"

"It's true. She came looking for Miss Rachel and that's when the second incident happened."

"Second incident?" 

At kinuwento ko sa kanya ang confrontation na nangyari sa dalawang babae.

"Wow. What a small world!"

"I agree."

"Do you think may kinalaman nga si Dawn sa-- "

"No. I could say that she's innocent of whatever's being accused on her. She wanted to have this solved as much as Miss Rachel, even more, maybe."

"How can you be so sure?"

I wasn't able to respond right away. "Just." 

The weekend passed by and I was able to recover from the physical attacks that I received last week. I was writing down notes as the teacher discussed and then I heard something weird. I looked in front of me, pero lahat nakikinig ng maayos kay Sir. And then I knew where the weird sound was coming from. I turned around and saw Dawn sleeping with her head hanging on the chair's backrest. Unbelievable! And she was snoring, for heaven's sake!

"And that's it for now. Do you have any questions?" No one answered and I turned to face the teacher in front again. "If you don't have any questions, I have. A lot, actually. Please bring out a sheet of paper and we'll have a review quiz." The class became noisy and I pulled out a piece of paper out of my notebook. I turned around and saw that Dawn's awake and was getting a piece of paper. Mukhang nagising lang siya sa ingay ng klase at gumaya lang sa pagkuha ng papel. Yari ka ngayon sa quiz.

The quiz was about today's lesson-- verb tenses. 

"I'm impressed." The teacher said after checking our papers. What's there to be impressed? "The highest in the quiz, with a perfect score-- Dawn Dominguez!" Aatakihin na yata ako sa puso. How can someone who's just sleeping the whole time, gets to have a perfect score! The teacher handed her her paper and the others were also returned. I got one mistake. One mistake! I crumpled the damn paper and turned to look at her.

"Problema?" She asked.

Oh I can't believe this girl! "Nangopya ka, no?"

She rolled her eyes at me and said, "Any better ideas, Domingo?" I shot her a deadly glare and turned my back at her. Baka naka-chamba lang?

History was next. "Uy, Red!" Vince called from behind me. "Ano'ng problema? Parang kasing-sama ng panahon 'yang mukha mo."

"I just hate being the loser." I sat on my chair and he stood in front of me.

"Loser? Kanino ka naman natalo?" The bell rang and everyone settled on their seats. 

The class started and we talked about an overview of the European countries' history. I was seriously taking down notes about the lesson nang bumukas ang pinto at pumasok ang isang basang-basang Dawn. Bakit ba ang hilig niyang makipag-away after English? I checked my watch at fifteen minutes na lang tapos na ang klase. Pumasok ka pa.

"Get a piece of paper, Miss Dominguez, and the rest of you, too. We'll have a quiz. Keep your notes, please." Parang nangyari na ito kanina. Pero hindi ko hahayaang matalo ulit ako. Sobrang himala na talaga kung makakakuha pa siya ng kahit isang tamang sagot dito eh, kararating lang niya. I grinned at the thought of her losing to me. Teka...since when did we have a competition?

The test ended and the teacher was checking the papers. I was smiling like a jerk nang tumayo si Sir at tignan ang papel ng highest scorer. It had to be me. "With one mistake...The highest scorer is..." Red Domingo, Red Domingo, Red Domingo. "Dawn Dominguez!" WHAT?! 

I took the paper that the teacher was handing over to Dawn and compared it with mine. I got two mistakes at talagang tama nga ang mga sagot niya, maliban dun sa isang error niya. 

"I believe that's my paper." I turned around and faced her. She was smirking at me which made me more furious. "Hindi ko alam kung anong problema mo sa akin, pero sana matutunan mong tanggapin na minsan natatalo ka." The bell rang and the students were going out of the room. Palabas na sana siya nang pigilan ko siya sa braso.

"Sandali."

"Problema?"

"I used to be the one always at number 1. My name's always called as the top scorer..."

"Awww...I'm sorry to hurt your ego, Domingo. Pero ano'ng magagawa ko? I just knew what the answers were. Learn to accept that you'll hear my name more from now on."

"That's just beginner's luck."

"Oh? I see that you're wounded. You'll get over it sometime." She smirked at me again.

"Not so fast. I'll get back what's mine." 

She let out an evil laugh and looked at me. "I volunteer to be your slave for the whole Senior year kung magiging Top Student ka this year, Domingo. Otherwise, you'll be mine."

She's challenging me. In this battle the of brains, I will surely win. I only got one month before February, that's the month when the Admin announced the year's Top 10 Students. Behind lang ako kay Athena Villanueva ng ilang points. She's a Senior and I just had to get ahead of her to be the Top Student. "I'll bet on it." I gave her a crooked smile.

She walked closer to me hanggang sa ilang pulgada na lang ang lapit ng mukha niya sa akin. For some reason my heart beat fast and I was holding my breath. She was staring at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Game on." 

A/N: Will Red be able to be on Top this year? Comment your thoughts away! :)