I.
Pagbati sa inyong lahat! Naging kasiya-siya ang inyong pagtupad sa mga gawaing akademikal ngayong semestre!" Sir Lendon's smile reached ear to ear as he displayed the ranking of the elite class on our television in the room.
This was it! The day for which we had been waiting. This was the reason why the elite class worked tirelessly. This was the reason why we had been in the elite class all along.
Agad kong itinuon ang aking sarili sa listahan. The list was as followed:
1. Elise Montreal
2. Charisse Domagoso
3. Sylvia Ramirez
4. Bryson Brooks
5. Hyacinth Henderson
6. Afiqah Kamarulzaman
7. Dylan Alvarez
8. Gianne Rodriguez
9. Yla Rivera
10. Fraulein Elizabeth Albertson
11. Ludwig van Griswold
I excitingly approached one of my best friends, Elise, as she flashed a joyful smile dahil nakita niyang nangunguna sa listahan ang pangalan niya.
Elise, I think, was one of the people that I truly admired the most. She really deserved her rank because she burned the midnight oil to get those grades, while holding down a job, and attending to her ailing father. She found precious little time for rest, but never for complaint. Another thing, she was also very humble and dedicated her time to tutoring me in the subjects that I found difficult. She was truly a friend in my time of need.
"Yey, sissy! You nailed the top again! Congratulations!" I said at the girl who was standing in front of me. "Dapat may libre iyan, ha?"
I clung to her arms and smiled sweetly.
Her round, grey eyes sparkled and glimmered as she looked at me. "A date between us three?" she giggled. "I really waited for this moment para naman mailibre ko kayo. Game! Basta ba mapasama mo iyong isang asungot diyan."
She looked at the direction of Ludwig and burst out a laugh, and then she hugged me tightly as she could.
"Sabi ko naman kasi sa iyo, e, you can nail it without doing that," I said with a proud tone. "Don't risk yourself by playing with fire again, huh?"
"No worries, sissy," she said as she pouted. "Please, Hyacinth, pasamahin mo na iyong asungot na iyon, o!"
Agad ko namang siniko si Ludwig na tila ba'y nagbibingi-bingihan at hindi narinig ang isinabi ni Elise. "Ang killjoy mo talaga, Lulu. Porque ba ikaw ang last sa rank natin, hindi mo na pagbibigyan ang rank one natin?" saad ko nang may halong pangongonsensya at pangangasar.
Napabuntonghininga na lang si Ludwig. "Okay, fine!" He looked annoyingly at us. "But I can only spare an hour for you two, you understand? And, I didn't care if I was the last man in the rank, hindi ko naman gustong mapunta rito. Mas nanghihinayang pa nga ako sa isang oras na mapupunta sa gala natin kaysa grades ko. Pasalamat talaga kayo, Elise did well in this semester, so I could feel some kindness flowing through my veins right now."
Nanghihinayang siya sa isang oras dahil kung 'di naman siya inaya ay malamang magbabasa na naman siya. Isa rin iyan sa dahilan kung bakit ayaw ko siya pahiramin minsan ng book sa collection ko, e. He would rather spend his time with books than spend it with us. Tapos minsan, kung kasama naman namin siya ay may bitbit-bitbit pa rin siyang libro. Well, never mind – reading was his hobby after all.
"Kindness flowing through your veins," pang-aasar ni Elise. "Dapat ba akong magpasalamat?" She flashed a sarcastic smile at Ludwig with her lips smirking like a villain.
Sarcasm was wasted on Ludwig. He just replied an innocent "you're welcome," seemingly unaware – or perhaps intentionally ignoring Elise's tease.
"Ang cute mo talaga, Lulubells!" Elise giggled as she pinched the cheek of our best friend.
Ludwig, with an annoyed look, immediately removed Elise's fingers from squeezing his cheek. He said with his childish and irritated tone:
"Stop it, Elle!" He stomped his right foot like a child having a tantrum.
Iyan na naman siya. Para na namang bata ang Lulu namin. Well, he was always like this whenever he was with us – mahilig talaga siyang magsuplado at daig pa ang bata kung umarte. I think that this was just his way of telling us that he was comfortable in our company.
I suddenly woke up from my short nap when I felt that our bus stopped. I looked at the man sitting beside me and now, he was reading comfortably.
"It's way much better, isn't it?" he asked me with a teasing smile. "Now, I can read all the way to hell."
How selfish, right? Well, that's Ludwig van Griswold! I just wondered, kailan kaya mag-ma-mature ang utak nito? Mababago niya rin siguro iyang selfishness niya.
Napatulala na lang ako nang maalala ang panaginip ko. I just focused myself outside and looked at the blankness of the surroundings.
Why am I remembering those things right now? Why do I always pick up some remnants of my past? Every time, whenever I would remember her, those memories of us kept on flashing back. Palagi na lang bumabalik ang alaala niya sa akin.
"It was a bad dream, I presume," Ludwig's voice echoed the emptiness in my soul. He set the book aside, trying to pierce the mask I wore on my face.
Do I consider those memories as a bad dream?
Hell no, it was not. It was a paradise lost – choked by her absence. Those memories were joyful shards, but now laced with the ache of her loss. It haunted me even in sleep.
Hindi ko na lang pinansin ang tanong niya. Instead, pinakiramdaman ko na lamang ang paligid namin. I looked around and saw no one. It seemed kaming dalawa na lang yata ang naririto sa loob.
Our adviser was already outside. He was talking with someone over his phone. Wait, sumama rin pala si Miss Arianne rito! How convenient. The thought of her in this activity made me even more excited. She was my favorite teacher since my junior high school, and now, as our religion teacher, her presence was needed to assist us in our retreat activity.
"Welcome to Oakbridge Port," Ludwig said boringly. "I guess I'd rather stay up here than to go with the hell you have your lives. I'm still wondering, why is it forbidden to be absent from this shitty activity when it seemed to be pointless after all. I won't gain anything from it. It's all waste of time!"
Agad ko namang sinita si Ludwig. Baka kasi mamaya ay may makariinig sa kaniya at parusahan siya sa mga pinagsasabi niya.
"Akala ko ba'y may deal na tayo about rito, Lulu?" pagkompronta ko sa kaniya.
"You must remember, my dear friend, that our deal surrounds around the fact na sasama ako, hindi makikipag-participate sa activity. Pupunta lang ako roon para mag-relax, humiga, at magbasa," pang-aasar pa niya.
I stared at him as I furrowed my eyebrows. Nagamitan pa tuloy niya ako ng pamimilosopo niya.
"That's the same reason why you're always left behind," sermon ko sa kaniya. "Masuwerte ka nga't nasa elite class na tayo, Ludwig. Imagine, Ludwig, elite class! Marami ang may gustong makakuha ng privilege na tinatamasa natin. Remember that it was the reason why we pursued our studies before, hindi ba? Ngayong narito na tayo, bakit hindi mo man lang i-appreciate ang mga bagay na pinapangarap lang natin noon?"
"Yes, Hyacinth," said Ludwig, his teasing smile fading as he leaned forward in his chair. "Elite class was the reason why we pursued in our studies, but it was also the same reason why we lost her! Kung alam ko lang na mangyayari ito, hindi ko hahayaang makapasok tayo sa pesteng elite class na iyan."
Dama ko ang hinanakit iya habang isinasabi ang mga katagang iyon.
"Why would I love something that shattered me?" pagpapatuloy niya. "How am I supposed to embrace the blade that pierced my heart, Hyacinth? Tell me!"
Natahimik ako sa mga isinabi niya. Naramdaman ko rin ang pagtulo ng mga luha ko sa aking mga pisngi. I could fully understand now. He blamed the elite class because it was the reason behind her demise. Hindi ko alam na ito pala ang pinaghuhugutan niya ng hinanakit magmula pa noon.
"And now, because the police ruled out her death as suicide, she was surrounded by rumors that she killed herself because of shame. Who wouldn't be hurt by that?" he asked. "We couldn't do a thing to clear her name."
"Maybe for now, hindi natin kayang linisin ang name niya," sagot ko naman. "But you swore on yourself that you'll be the best police detective, right? Now, please, let's go to the island together, and starting now, gawin natin ang best para maging proud siya."
"Okay, fine." He walked towards the door as he fetched his baggage. "We're already here, ano pa bang magagawa ko?"
At five foot eleven inches, Ludwig possessed a presence not unlike a well-tailored storm cloud. Dignity clung to him like meticulously pressed suits, yet boredom oozed from his pores like cologne. His mind, on the other hand, was a different beast entirely. Hindi man ganoon kataasan ang grades niya, I could say that it was like a chaotic orchestra, led by the baton of pure logic.
His eyes were not ice-cold, but glacial. They held the depth of a thousand unsolved puzzles, promising both danger and insight. His hair, the color of storm-swept skies, framed like a silver curtain, occasionally revealing a mischievous flash of light.
He was the Sherlock Holmes of mischief, the Einstein of eccentricities, a walking enigma in cufflinks. And I, for one, wouldn't have him against me.
I looked at Ludwig with a sense of pity. Sinundan ko siya ng tingin hanggang sa pag-upo niya sa ilalim ng waiting shed 'di kalayuan sa pinaglalagihan ng mga kasamahan namin.
"You liked him, don't you?" said by a deep, equally-sounding, smooth voice from my behind. How attractive that voice was! It was like an orchestral music tickling my ears; a Tchaikovsky piece perhaps.
Agad naman akong tumalikod at saka ko napansin ang isang lalaking nakatayo sa likod ko. I was captivated by the man as I gazed at him. It was hard to find the right words to describe him. Even the term "pulchritudinous" might fall short. He had an attractive pair of eyes, a well-defined nose, and a proud chin. His lips had a natural pink hue, complemented by thick eyebrows. I never thought that he was that handsome.
Observing his physique, I noted its robustness – he was undeniably masculine. The contour of his chest and broadness of his shoulders resembled large boulders.
At this moment, nakaramdam ako ng kaba habang nakatitig sa kaniya.
"B-Bryson," nauutal kong sabi. "Akala ko naman kung sino na."
"Sorry for bothering you, Hyacinth," he said as he sat on one of the seats. "Well, I was writing a character profile for my next standalone novel, that's why nagpaiwan ako rito sa bus. I didn't like some disturbances rin in my work hours, because I just couldn't focus in writing."
Napayuko ako. "I'm sorry. Naabala yata kita sa ginagawa mo. O, siya, aalis na 'ko. Bye!"
"No, please stay," he said in a very deep tone. "I stayed because of you."
Kinabahan naman ako sa isinabi niya. "W-Why?"
"I really need your help about something, e. I wanted to ask for an advice about this novel that I was writing."
Agad na nanlaki ang mga mata ko nang mapagtanto ko ang mga salitang nanggaling sa kaniya.
He wanted an advice from me? I stared at him with a shocked face. "Anong advice naman ang gusto mo?"
"Well, this novel of mine will be an adaptation of a Christie novel kasi. So, I said to myself, I should ask the Christie expert in our class, hindi ba? And that expert was you. Siyempre, kung nakuha ko ang basbas mo sa isinusulat ko, I am sure that I could convince everyone that my work was indeed an adaptation, right?"
Namula naman ako sa mga isinabi niya. Regarding me as a Christie expert really hit hard for me. Hindi pa kailanman ako na-acknowledge ninuman sa class – except Ludwig – nang dahil sa pagiging Christie fan ko.
"Well, then. Go on," I said as I smiled. "Feel free to ask me anything."
"Nag-iisip kasi ako," sabi niya habang hinihimas ang kaniyang baba, "kung sino ang dapat kong gamiting detective sa novel ko. I already studied the narrative tricks applied by Christie at bumuo na rin ako ng character profile sa pinakasikat niyang detectives; Poirot and Marple. Sa tingin mo, sino ang mas suitable para sa novel ko?"
"Well, sa totoo lang, parehas naman silang may pre-established fan base. Both Poirot and Miss Marple were iconic and beloved characters, so crafting a mystery featuring them has the potential to attract fans of Agatha Christie's existing works but..."
Napatingin siya sa akin nang natigilan ako.
"The competition would be tough," I answered. "I don't know if you're aware of it, but even though Agatha Christie has long been dead, some authors are still writing novels that feature her characters. For example, consider Miss Sophie Hannah. She is an established writer herself before writing Poirot mysteries, and I can say that the fan base received her works very well."
Bryson seemed to be indulged in our topic and this made me excited, knowing the fact that I was playing a part in his current project. Well, this man standing in front of me was an internationally-acclaimed writer, and a famous author in Wattpad. Siya rin ang president ng Schriftsteller Club ng Gutenberg Academy.
"I got your point, Hyacinth," he said as he thought about my words.
"Iyan ang isa sa magiging problema mo," I reasoned. "It was not just the narrative tricks itself, but the psychological aspects as well. Think of it, writing an Agatha Christie novel was like entering into a trance or hypnosis. Iyan din ang feeling na isa sa hinahanap ko bilang reader."
"So, ang ibig sabihin nito ay," he stated as he took out his notebook, "Agatha Christie was like a psychologist that works through her books?"
"Yes, indeed," I exclaimed. "I know that you're an established writer yourself, but it might hurt your reputation if you didn't execute it well enough."
Napaisip rin siya at saka itinuon ang pansin sa notebook. "You're right. Well, as a rising writer, ayaw ko rin namang dungisan ang pangalan ni Agatha Christie o ng kaniyang characters."
"At isa pa, it might limit your creative freedom," I added.
He stared at me with a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, the fans already have the character profiles. If you break one of their mannerisms, they will be out of character and will just feel like an entirely different character from who they are supposed to be."
Maya-maya pa'y mayroong ideyang pumasok sa isip ko. Mas nakaramdam tuloy ako ng excitement dahil rito.
"What if, Bryson," sabi ko habang nagpipigil ng ngiti. "What if gamitin mo si Miss Caroline Sheppard as your detective?"
He caressed his chin as he thought of the name. "Caroline Sheppard. Caroline Sheppard. You mean, the sister of Dr. Sheppard in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd?"
"You know your Agatha Christie, huh," I said with an impressed tone. "Well, Christie herself directly mentioned in her autobiography that Caroline Sheppard was the main inspiration behind the character of Miss Marple. She was like the Marites-slash-detective na may intelligence gathering skills through other gossipers. Isa pa, kaunti lang ang character profile niya, so you have the artistic freedom to do what you want."
"I think I'm getting the idea, Hyacinth. Oh, yes, may idea na nga ako!" He exclaimed with excitement. His eyes sparkled with joy. "Thank you, Hyacinth! I knew that it was a good idea to consult you about this. You're truly a genius. A Christie expert at her best! Sa susunod ha, hihingi ako ulit sa iyo ng mga suggestion."
"No worries, Bryson." I smiled. "Glad that I am able to help you at all."
After naming mag-usap ni Bryson, agad kong kinuha ang mga gamit ko mula sa bus compartment at saka sinundan ang mga kaklase namin. Sabay na rin kaming naglakad patungo sa pinaglalagihan nila.
"The boatman's going to fetch us na," said Miss Arianne with her conyo-speaking that I found funny-yet-attractive. She already picked up her things and walked towards the seashore. "Come, students. Let us go to the beach. We'll gonna wait for the Manong Boatman there."
Sinundan nga namin si Miss Arianne patungo sa dalampasigan and a few moments later, I found myself reunited with Ludwig once again.
"You okay there, Lulu?" I asked, offering him a bottle of water.
Tinanggap naman niya ito at saka ngumiti sa akin. "I'm sorry about kanina. I was insensitive and selfish."
Nag-sorry rin ako sa kaniya. "I didn't know that you feel that way. Don't worry. I'll try my best to understand you. You're my best friend, after all."
Binuksan niya ang bottled water na inabot ko at saka uminom. "We will strive to excel in our studies, with the hope that one day we can prove Elise's innocence."
"Don't do it just for her," I reminded. "Do it for yourself, too."