3: SECRET ALLIANCE
ALLI
It took me days to digest everything Alexid told me. It took me hours to observe anyone who dared talk about them behind their backs. And as for anyone I've observed, all of them had the same feeling: hatred and fear.
No one liked gamechangers. Only the freshmen boys that wanted to be on his little frat that Dexter organized. I might add that he's not that too cliché to name it actually. He's actually clever about the move 'cause no one would suspect anything if you were hanging out with freshmen guys, right?
But then again, the students decided to name them, Strikers. For some bizzare reason they chose that as a name, as a sub-group of Gamechangers.
As for Alexid, the only thing he hated from the gamechangers was Allan. She told me that they, the gamechangers, never meddled her private, after-school business, and just continue on with their lives, but they meddled anyone they never liked. That includes my bestfriend, Evan.
Alexid gave me a choice of what she offered. Yes, it might not be something big, but I felt it was. Having a group taking down a powerful one meant business. And I mean, business that may involve a lot of fighting. Dex was never an easy opponent. Being the only son of the secretary of the Dept. of Education, grants him this... different power. His bad-doings are easily sugarcoated from the media with just a snap of his fingers. He had connections. His dad has, and so is Dexter.
I would easily describe his group as rebels. They are the typical rebellious teenagers who only wanted attention. Only they are powerful. Strong. Fighters. Dangerous.
Evan was no match for them. He was helpless. And I've gone so stupid for not noticing the wounds he has on his face, days before his death. He was a kind guy. Philosophical maybe, but very sensible and forgiving. Despite all that, nobody really cared. He was used. Kindness was never a word for anyone. They only deceived him. Dragged him down. Used all of him.
It was never a good sight, but I never spoke up, because he didn't want me to.
I realized that, the bad ones seemed to outsmart the good ones. Just because they have their own definition of strength. Just because they think kindness is for the weak. I guess they haven't know that kindness can kill.
And I could only imagine if Dex would set me as his latest target. That would be so... fun. After all, he didn't know me, but I already know him.
After a lot of thinking, here I am now, in front of Alexid with a shocked reaction after telling her that I will form a group to take them down.
Actually, some students had the courage to fight the gamechangers in a group, but so far, none suceeded. In fact, most of them are the ones that had greater power than Dexter... but somehow, he was cunning and clever. He'll use his own connections just to bring you down. He'll play mind games. He'll use every single thing in you just to make your downfall.
And why am I now deciding to form a group? 'Cause I'll make sure that I'll make his downfall without him even knowing it.
We were just done eating when I announced to her my biggest decision. She blinked thrice just to get back to her senses, her eyes never leaving me.
"A-Alright! So, paano natin 'to gagawin?! Mag-iinvite na ba ako ng mga stu–"
"Wait!" I cut her off. "That's not what I have in mind."
"Huh?" she gave me a confused look, leaving her mouth agape. I leaned closer to her face to whisper the next words that I wanted to say.
"I prefer to keep this... group... a secret from anyone. And I mean, anyone. We will not be careless, looking around for students who can be members, but for once, I would let someone join for a reason, better, if he or she had become a victim of gamechangers. We also keep the numbers small as possible. Get it?"
"Y-Yeah..." Alexid slowly nodded.
"Now tell me, Alexid, what is the reason why do you want to be in the group?"
She quickly looked away. At tht moment I knew I wasn't the one only looking for justice. She heaved a sigh, before finally revealing what's in her mind.
"That Zacarias b*tch."
Hmm... Danielle Zacarias. Interesting.
"What happened?"
She snickered. "Danielle and her friends got me real wasted and... a day later, I became this...f*cking slut." she whispered in a voice with no emotion. She lightly chuckled soon after, "No pun intended. And hey, that's another story for another day."
I only smile as we left the canteen. We were on our way to the stairs when we head a distinct thud from the far corner of the lobby, followed by laughter by some familiar people.We both stopped and turned to see a guy lying on the floor, bruised up, and was struggling to breathe.
And I wasn't wrong on the familiar part, not far away from him are Dexter, Allan, Romulo and Crisanto, laughing their butts off from the innocent guy. The girls, Phoenix, Lavender and Danielle are not far from them either, clearly snickering from what they've seen.
I immediately took hold of Alexid's arm when she took a step towards the guy. Her knuckles are already turning white, her eyes directly focused on Danielle.
"Wait for them to leave." I whisper to her. She nodded sternly without breaking her stare to her. Few moments later, they left him there, going upstairs to the room, probably. We waited 'till some students decided to do the same and go back to their rooms.
An idea popped up in my head. "You go get Cosine, meet me at the Main College Building Lobby."
Without a word, she quickly attended Cosine as I walk my way outside the Juniors Building, and went to the Main College Building, just beside the school gates (school entrance). I sat on one of the 4-seater tables and waited until I saw the presence of Alexid and Cosine coming towards me.
"H-Hala! A-Allison?!" Cosine exchanged looks to me and Alexid, obviously not believing that we're... friends.
"You can sit."
Both sat in silence. Alexid sat in my right, while Cosine is on the opposite. I observed his face from that momentary silence, noticing a few scars on his arms, already healing wounds near his jaw and fresh wounds on his forehead. As far as I know, Cosine has been bullied by the gamechangers since the day he won at that debate against Phoenix. I couldn't tell is she was humiliated by the fact Cosine had evidences to prove his side, whereas she only presented theories. This enranged her whole gang and started using him as advantage.
One factor of bullying effects is that the person's grades starts faling down, in that case, Cosine dropped from Rank 1 to Rank 4 the next grading in the whole ranking system for the Juniors Students Ranking. Phoenix replaced her, but I kept still on number 2.
"What do you feel about everything you've been through from them, Cosine?"
I broke the silence by a question, that made the two look at me. Cosine heaved a sigh before coming up with an answer.
"More like... Einstein... or Newton... O kaya yung naging feeling ni Thomas Edison. I'm very curious actually. About 40 percent of course would be pain."
"Curious?"
"Nakaka-curious lang kasi. I mean bakit kailangan nila akong gawing punching bag? I mean compared to a real punching bag, my body wouldn't take much of their force of 700 newton punches, sometimes sums up to a 793 if they're agitated, or even 820 if I take an absence for a day and see me the day after tomorrow."
"Ano daw?" Alexid butts in, whispering her words, raising both hands in confusion. I, on the other hand, had a lightbulb above my head.
"The average energy of a person isn't comparable to the punching bag since it's a non-living thing, considered that it is made out of materials that could even take a 1200 newton kick."
"P-Paano mo naman iyan alam?!" – Alexid
"Books. I read a lot. Sometimes internet, but I rarely do that since half of them aren't really realiable. Sometimes, I'll do a test drive just to prove theories." Cosine continued explaining, as if his words were normal to the human ear.
"Test... drive?"
"I do.... experiments, sometimes with some random objects but most likely, I liked making some arduino projects. You know, robots... that kind of thing."
"What the heck?! Nerd ka talaga, 'langya ka!" Alexid disbelievingly points a finger at him, as he smiled casually, letting his arms rest on the table. A sign of comfort with us.
I grin at all that. "Would you take the chance to end that misery of yours?"
His eyes twinkled immediately. "Of course! Sino ba namang gustong maging punching bag!"
"Then, would you mind if I'll ask for your loyalty to form an alliance with me and Alexid?"
"My god, so formal." Alexid whispered under hear breath, slowly shook her head, watching Cosine's reaction go from shock to a sad one.
"Alliance? T-There's a 50 percent chance that we'll fail..."
"No, we won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
"'Cause I never believed at numbers."
"Hmm..." Cosine fixed his posture. "What will I get with this?"
"Justice."
It took him some time to decide but in the end...
Cosine agreed.
We were now a group of the unknown. It doesn't have a name anyway. The thing now is, I agreed to let Cosine eat lunch with us. I'm thankful at the side that he wasn't really bothered with Alexid. I know he knows her business. Everyone does, but he didnt mind.
One of the reasons why I let him join.
"Ano palang mga plano natin against Dex? How would we theorize our plan?" Cosine asked me as we stared eating our lunches on the Main College Building Lobby, the next day.
"T-Theorize? What the fuuu–" Alexid almost choked at her burger, but hopefully she got to drink water, mumbling words between 'so nerd' and 'weirdo'.
"Before any theorization, we must gather evidence."
"Could you please speak human guys!" Alexid butts in, clearly annoyed. Cosine chuckled.
"In layman's terms, Alexid", I look at her. "O-Obserbahan natin sila. Yung mga kilos nila bago tayo sumugod. And in this case, dahil bago pa lang tayo, we'll play a little prank at them first."
"Ohh... I like that, Alli! Pero, paano nga pala natin oobserbahan yung mga iyon?"
"To make it easy, we'll just act normal, but with a side twist. Since you do your... usual business, I'll let you ask the guys of what they know about Dexter.and his whole group, then I'll take a look at their grades through access of the faculty room servers, that with the help of Cosine."
"Perfect, Alli." Alexid announced, as we rose from our seats to go back to our rooms. But even before that, Alexid lets Cosine go first, stopping me with an arm.
"Umm... aside from Cosine, may i-sa-suggest sana akong isa pang pwede mong isali."
My forehead creased. "Who?"
"His name's Daryll. Childhood friend ko siya, nag-aaral rin dito. Ka-grade level natin pero hindi natin ka-section, obvious naman siguro. Malalim kasi yung galit niya kay... Allan. One of the reasons is what happened to me when you saved me, remember that? Magkaibigan sila dati, pero nang mabuo yung gamechangers, parang nawala na lang iyon. Naging mag-kaaway sila. Madalas, street fights."
I scratched my chin. "I'll think about it. He seems promising."
"Oh, good!" She smirked, in her Alexid way. "Okay then, let's get this plan rollin'!"
LEXID
Pagkatapos nga ng klase, ay dumiretso ako sa Jack '97, isang resto bar na malapit lang sa bahay namin where I usually stay after class hours. Nagpalit na'ko ng damit sa loob ng sasakyan dahil bawal nga ng mga estudyante sa loob. Actually, this is the only kind of bar that accomodates disco. Ngiting-ngiti ako pumasok roon at hinanap agad ng mga mata ang kakailanganin ng interogasyon para sa naging plano namin nina Allison.
Agad akong sinalubong ng amoy ng alak at sigarilyo pagpasok pa lang sa pinto. And as usual, iba't ibang kulay ng ilaw ang pumalibot sa bar, lalo na sa dancefloor na nasa gitna ng mismong room. Dumiretso ako sa resto bar, na nasa 2nd floor, kung saan matatagpuan ang mga tables kung saan pwedeng uminom.
I'm aware that we were playing fire, but that's what we do everyday. Wala tayong pakealam sa magiging circumstance nito sa future, basta alam nating masaya tayo sa kasalukuyan.
Wow, makahugot lang, Alexid?
Ngiting-ngiti si Carl ng lapitan ko, halatang malagkit ang mga mata niya sa kabuuan ko. Nakaupo siya sa mahabang upuan na pinalilbutan ang lamesa (the u-shaped kind of sofa), at relax na relax sa pagkakasandal. Agad ko siyang tinabihan at binigyan ng halik siya labi.
"Musta? Natagalan ka ba?" agad kong tanong sa kanya.
"Hindi naman." nakangising sagot noon, at naramdaman ko na nga ang kanyang braso na mabilis niyang ipinalupot sa bewang ko. Pwe, the usual.
"Uy! Lex!" bati ng kakarating lang na si Gretel, isa sa mga 'kaibigan' kong babaeng nakakasama ko rito sa bar. Kagaya ko, she's also a Senior student, kaso magkaiba kami ng school. Nagkakilala lang kami dahil halos lahat ng nagiging flings ko eh kaibigan rin pala niya.
Kumuha na si Gretel ng inumin sa mesa, at ako naman ay kumuha rin ng isa at nilagok ito. Biglang ngumiwi si Gretel sa nakita.
"Hmm... Nandyan parents mo?"
"Yup." pagsisinungaling ko. Madalas kasi, hard drinks agad ang iniinom ko. Walang pasintabi basta gugustuhin ko. Kapag umiinom ako ng light ones, that definitely meant that hindi ako magpapalasing for tonight, madalas na dahilan dahil nandyan sina Mama at Papa. Pero for this day, hindi ko kailangan magpakalasing for I have a mission to do.
Nang dumating na ang iba pang mga kaibigan ni Carl, ay doon na nagsimula ang kwentuhan. At dahil halos mga lalaki sila, ay doon muna nagsimula ang kwentuhan, hanggang sa hindi inaasahan, isa sa mga kaibigan niya ang bumanggit sa pangalan ng taong nasa misyon ko.
Oo. Ganon kasikat si Dexter.
"Minsan palang pumupunta dito si Dexter."
"Ha?" tanong pa ng isang lalaking kaibigan na hindi nagaaral sa Asplund.
"Si Dexter, yung anak ni Secretary Mariano. Ang cool niya kayang kasama, lalo na yung mga babaeng kasama niya 'pre. Iba yung galawan, 'lam mo iyon!"
"Ah! Kilala ko yung isa! Si Zacarias! Ka-business partner ni Dad yung tatay niya!" sabat nung isa.
Ugh. That b*tch.
"Kaso off-limits siya bro, I'm betting for Lav. She's hot."
"Girlfriend yon ni Dexter, remember?"
"'Pre, wala siyang pake! Alam mo iyon?! Hinahayaan lang niya si Lav to do anything she wants. Hindi ko nga masabi kung talagang girlfriend niya lang o fling eh."
Ang lalaking nagsabi noon ay agad binatukan ng katabing lalaki. "Baliw! Eh may humawak nga lang sa kanya, bugbog sarado ka na kay Dexter! Si Lav yung walang pake. I'm taking the chance!"
Nagtawanan naman sila, at ako 'tong pakunwaring tumawa dahil hindi ko gets kung anong ikakatawa ko doon.
Kaya naman sumabat na'ko sa usapan.
"Buti naman kilala niyo si Lavender?" maang-maangang tanong ko pa, sabay lagok sa inumin.
"Syempre..." sabi pa nung Jay (yun palang lalaking nagjoke na ka-batch ko pala sa school), sabay lagok sa isang shotglass. "Kahit na anong tingnan kong anggulo, she isn't innocent as everyone thinks of her. Nabibilib naman ako kay Phoenix tsaka Danielle kung paano sila nakikisama sa kanila. Buti na lang rin, wala siyang interes kay Allan tsaka sa mga kasama niya."
"Oh yeah... Allan's something too." komento ko pa. As iiiif, Alexid!
"Nasubukan mo na ba siya, Lex?"
No way with that sick psycho, bro. "Nah, he's not my type really." simpleng sagot ko na lang na ikinatawa pa niya!
"Ikaw talaga Lex... Kahit pa ganyan si Allan, eh kaibigan ni Dexter. Syempre, parehas mahilig sa gulo kahit ngayon nagka-iba ng section. Mula pa yata ng magkakilala sila nung Grade 7 sila, ang lapit na nila sa isa't isa. Actually, nagkaroon na nga sila ng records eh."
"Records? Saan?"
"Hmm... may mga rumours kasi dati na may pinagsamantalahan daw sila. Ewan lang, matagal-tagal na rin iyon."
Of course, I'm familiar with that issue years ago.
"Buti na lang, at hindi siya nasisita ng tatay niya ah? Kaswerte niyang bungo!" natawa naman ang iba pang kasama ko sa sinabi ko.
"Eh anak niya iyon! Parehas lang naman silang may tinatagong dumi."
"E-Eh?"
"May rumours kasi na kumakalat na... yung ibang funds para sa mga projects ng DepEd,eh kinukuha daw niya. Imbes na para sa mga schools iyon iyon, eh napupunta lang sa pamilya nila." Tapos minsan pa nga, eh... may narinig pa'kong nakapatay na daw si Dexter."
W-What?!
"Parang pinagtakpan, alam mo iyon? Sheesh... kaya kung ako sa inyo, mas magandang kaibiganin si Dexter! You'll never know... atleast magaganda naman yung mga kaibigan niya! Hahahaha!"
Nginitian ko na lang siya at nagpatuloy ang kwentuhan at inuman. I guess I got to know a few bunch of info for Alli.
COS
Earlier...
"You know where they are, right?"
"Oo naman. In approximately a minute, dapat ay na-connect ko na yung internet signal ng laptop ko sa laptop ni Sir Calimera. Una, papasukin ko ang faculty office within 2 seconds, turn left to face a door. Enter at the door, and find the 4th computer table where Sir Calimera's laptop is found. At dahil after class hours na, he's on the Juniors Building Computer Lab for 25 minutes, at babalikan rin ang table niya kung nasaan ang laptop niya. I already offered help sa kanya, at iyon ay ibalik ang ibang mga gamit niya sa table niya and discreetly open his laptop to do my mission. I should get back quickly as soon as I close it."
Ngumiti ng bahagya si Allison. "Good. Now, go."
Mabilis ang naging paglakad ko tungo sa faculty office na nasa second floor ng Juniors Building. Naging mahigpit ang pagkahawak ko ng gamit ni Mr. Calimera nang tingnan na na ako ng mga guro na nandoon, ang iba ay binati pa ako.
Stay calm, Cos, let your heartbeats run in it's average rate of 50 beats per minute.
I turned to my left nang makita ko na ang putting pinto kung nasaan ang mga table ng special subjects. Isa na doon si Mr. Calimera na ang hawak ay TLE-ICT.
Buti na lamang at dalawang teachers lang ang nandoon at binati ako ng nakita, magkaharap sila't nag-uusap. Nginitian ko sila at hinanap ang table ni Mr. Calimera, at sa hindi inaasahan, ay nasa corner nga ito ng room. Nilibot ko ang mga mata ko sa room nang hindi masyadong ginagalaw ang ulo, at mabilis ibinalik ang tingin sa gamit ng mahagip ko nga ang nag-iisang CCTV sa mismong itaas ng pintuan na pinasukan ko.
The angle slanted a bit, just to see the whole room, the camera lens focused on Sir Calimera's table.
Napangiti ako ng may naisip na idea. Dahil sakto namang mabigat ang bag ko, ay nilapag ko iyon sa table, sa tabi ng mismong laptop, blocking it out of sight. Malaki-laki ang bag ko (na ipinagpapasalamat ko) kaya natatakpan ang laptop kahit buksan ko. Bigla namang lumabas ang isa sa mga kausap na guro sa kwarto kaya nagpatuloy ang isa sa pag-la-laptop.
Inilapag ko ang mga gamit ni Sir Calimera sa table, at sadyang pinahulog ang iba sa sahig. Napatingin sa akin ang guro.
"Tulungan na kita."
"Hindi na po. Salamat. Kaya ko na po 'to." agap ko, at nabalik naman ito sa ginagawa. Kinuha ko ang pagkakataon na iyon para pagsabayin ang pa-isa-isang pagpulot ng mga papel sa sahig, at paglapag nito sa mesa, sabay ng isang kilos sa mismong laptop na nakabukas na nga.
Isang pulot ng papel. Pinindot ko yung network icon sa toolbar. Isang pulot ng papel. Ini-click ko ang wifi-hotspot signal mula sa laptop ni Allison. Isang pulot ng papel, at tumayo na rin ako, paharap sa side ng laptop para hindi gaanong halata ang magiging motibo ko.
Bumilang ako ng sampung segundo sa utak ko habang kunwaring may kinakalkal sa bag ko, at sakto namang nag-vibrate yung phone ko mula sa bulsa ko, signal na natapos na ni Allison ang ginawa. Agad kong dinisconnect ang network at isinara ang laptop, sabay baba ng screen. Kinuha ko na rin ang bag ko't umalis na sa kwarto na parang walang nangyari.
Pagkalabas ko mismo ng Faculty Office, ay tiningnan ko ang text na natanggap ko kay Allison.
From: Alli
Got it.
Pagkababa ko mismo ng stairs at papunta ng lobby, naaninaw ko ang pagtitipa niya sa keyboard ng laptop niya. Nakaupo siya sa isa sa mga benches at parang normal lang na estudyante sa paningin ng iba.
Pero hindi siya normal... with her behavioral status.
I mean she's normal for any girl. Got no skin disease, her features were just normal. But her attitude wasn't. Hindi ko iyon sinasabi dahil sa nakikita kong tahimik siya, there's this feeling inside me (instincts is what they call it) that tells me she has an IQ of above average, as of why she acts like that.
Umupo ako sa tabi niya at sinilip ang laptop screen niya. And you've guessed it, she already has the student's records and files. That fast. Currently, she's looking at her own student record.
NAME: CARPIO, ALLISON MARTIAN A.
AGE: 16
FAMILY:
Carpio, Amparo : Mother
Carpio, Alexander Martin : Father
Carpio, Allena Gabriel: Sister
Observations from teachers:
Timid, reserved but listens and participates to class discussions. She has her earphones plugged anytime. No peers around her, but only a classmate from Section A. Speaks in English, even if not in class. Stares differently.
W-What? Napatingin agad ako sa kanya na titig na titig lang sa screen. Talagang may kakaiba sa kanya. Kailangan ko muli mag-theorize.
"Cosine?"
Napaurong ako ng lang inches mula sa mukha niya. Ngumuso siya doon sa harapan namin kung saan, ay kita kong naglalakad ang tatlo. Sina Dexter, Allan at si Romulo.
"Follow them."
"H-HA?!"
"Follow them. I think they're going inside the boys comfort room. Might wanna check them out."
"Gusto mong panuorin ko silang... umihi?!"
Agad nanlaki ang mga mata ni Allison. "Not that. Just go and hear what they're talking about."
Kahit hindi ko alam kung anong ibig sabihin pa doon ni Alli, ay tumungo nga ako sa boys comfort room.
Pansin ko ngang nakasara ito. Pero bago pa man ako umalis, ay naririnig ko na nga na may pinag-uusapan sila roon.
"Bukas magdala ka rin ng hard drinks. Better kung matago mo sa malaking C2 bottle."
"'San yung light dito?" rinig ko pang tanong ni Allan.
Light? There's a switch beside the door.
"The black one." sagot ng lalaking 'di ko kilala. At sa obserbasyon ko pa lang ng accent nito'y mapapansin kong Norwegian ito dahil sa tigas ng pananalita niya.
"How 'bout the sticks?" tanong ni Dexter.
S-Sticks?! Para 'san?! Minsan tatawag na talaga ako ng psychologists para sa Gamechangers!
"Mmm... here." sagot nong lalaking may Norwegian accent, at kasunod noon ang tunog ng plastic at mahinang tawa ng mga lalaki.
"Nice. As always..."
"It's always nice doing business with you. Remember, when you get caught, don't try involving my name. As part of the agreement, Dex..."
"Yeah, yeah..." rining ko pang tumawa si Dexter, "Remember to bring the sticks and cans after class hours, Eldy? Same place. Same time."
"Sure. Off I go."
Agad akong naglakad para makakita ng mapapagtaguan. Hinintay kong lumabas ang lalaki na nagngangalang Eldy, at nakita ko rin ang itsura nito. Makapal ang itim na buhok nito, at may sideburns. Medyo grayish rin ang mga mata, at may katangkaran. Agad na nakatawag pansin sa'kin ang ID lace nitong color orange.
He's a STEM student, a senior.
Narinig ko pang naghugas sila ng kamay sa banyo, pero agad na akong bumalik sa kinauupuan ko kanina kung nasaan si Allison. Tutok pa rin siya sa laptop ng tanungin niya ako.
"What did you hear from the bathroom?"
Kinuwento ko ang lahat ng nangyari, mula doon sa narinig kong mga salitang hindi ko maintindihan dahil ang we-weird ng pinag-uusapan nila hanggang sa paglabas ni 'Eldy' na student rin.
"Hmm... Eldar Haaugard?" biglang sambit ni Allison kaya napatingin ako sa laptop screen at nandoon na nga ang student profile noong lalaking Norwegian!
"Siya nga iyan!" sambit ko pa. Bahagyang napangiti si Allison.
"The evidences are complete." rinig kong bulong niya.