Avrey and I already finished our breakfast. "You go first... Susunod na lang ako." I smiled at her. "Thank you for accompanying me and having breakfast with me today, Avrey."
She just smiled back and left.
Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala sa sinabi ni Avrey. I mean, some people may have seen me na pumupunta rito sa court during breaktime. But her words struck me... About this place being my safe haven and my home...
Pinauna ko na si Avrey kasi gusto ko munang mag-isip-isip. T'yaka ayokong may masabi pa 'yung mga tao kapag nakita kaming magkasabay pumasok. I never want to hear people badmouthing her. Especially if it's because of me.
Avaleigh Reanna Clemente: Room na 'ko!! Thank you sa breakfast.
Avaleigh Reanna Clemente: mahal ka ni Lord
Avaleigh Reanna Clemente: nag-text siya sa'kin, ngayon-ngayon lang. char
She may seem quiet and shy, but she's actually makulit. Pero hindi 'yung makulit na nakaiinis. Siya 'yung tipo ng makulit na cute.
I left right after reading her message. Inasar pa ako ng bantay sa labas ng court, "Boss! Nag-iba na ata itsura ni Isaac ngayon? Naging magandang babae na?"
Malamang nagulat siya na may kasama ako ta's hindi si Isaac. Si Isaac lang kasi ang lagi kong kasama dito sa campus.
Nadatnan kong natutulog si Avrey sa upuan niya. Did I wake her up early? Kaya ba inaantok pa siya? I hope not.
Pagpasok ni Isaac sa room, "Huy! Kakambal ka ba ni Chase? Lagi 'yung beating the red light at last minute pumasok e! Is this a miracle?" Umiling na lang ako sa reaction niya. Nakita kong inangat ni Avrey 'yung ulo niya. "Ikaw... ang ingay mo talaga kahit kailan!" Nagising pa tuloy.
Ilang subjects na ang nakalipas pero iniisip ko pa rin 'yung nangyari kanina sa court. Avrey knew even 'that' about me, samantalang ako ang alam ko lang ay siya ang pinakamatalinong estudyante sa buong school. Inisip ko pang maging freeloader sa peta namin nung una. Hay, Chad Sebastian.
Short break namin before mag-GenMath at wala akong magawa. Busy mag-Bumble 'tong katabi ko e. Akala mo naman may nakakamatch siya. Hay. Mangungulit na nga lang ako.
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: Kabilang classroom ka ba?
Avaleigh Reanna Clemente: Bakit?
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: Kasi ibang klase ka.
Tinignan ko 'yung reaction niya. Nakita kong napangiti siya.
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: If you don't know how to pronounce my name
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: You can call me love
Avaleigh Reanna Clemente: E? Madali lang naman i-pronounce...
I sent a frowning emoji. Basag ako dun ha. Nalimutan ko ata na matalino nga pala 'yung kausap ko. Hahaha.
Babanat pa sana ako kay Avrey kaso dumating na si Sir Villamor. Baka ako pa mabanatan nito e.
May bago kaming lesson: Basic Business Mathematics. About stocks and bonds. After the discussion, he wrote four problems in the board. "My future entrepreneur... Mr. Espinosa, please answer the second problem here in front." Bakit may atake? Pumunta na ako sa board at nagsimulang mag-solve.
"Ms. Clemente, kindly answer the third problem please." Lumingon ako at nakitang papunta na sa board si Avrey. Nasa ilalim ng no. 2 'yung 3 kaya hindi siya makakasagot agad. I signaled her, "You can go first."
Sinolve ko na lang 'yung problem sa isip ko habang pinapanood si Avrey magsagot. As soon as she finished answering, sinulat ko na lang 'yung final answer. "Sir, will this do?"
"You never fail to impress me, Mr. Espinosa. Gentleman na nga, kayang-kaya pang mag-mental Math. Very impressive. You may take your seat."
"Alam mo, pabibo ka... Jollibee ka?" Narinig ni Sir 'yung sinabi sa'kin ni Isaac kaya tinawag siya sa harap para sagutan 'yung last problem. "Sir, p'wede po bang gumamit ng isang lifeline? P'wede pong mag-call a friend?"
Natawa naman si Sir. "This isn't a game show, Mr. Ramirez." Napakamot na lang ng ulo si Isaac.
Nagtaas ng kamay si Krystal, "Sir, may I answer the last problem in his stead?" May ilang nagpalakpakan at naghiyawan sa sinabi ni Krystal. "Quiet, class. Okay, Ms. Briones, go ahead."
"Bro, I think I'm in love!" May pa-hampas pa 'tong si Isaac. Akala mo naman talaga. "Pangatlong beses mo na 'yang sinabi sa'kin this week. At Tuesday pa lang ngayon."
Natapos na 'yung classes namin for the day. Nag-aayos na ng gamit si Avrey.
Aayain ko ba siya ulit? Baka naiirita na pala siya sa'kin. Hindi naman siguro, no?
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: Starbucks ulit tayo?
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: Uh, for our peta, I mean...
Avaleigh Reanna Clemente: Sure. Una ka na lang sa Starbucks.
Hindi naman siya si Elsa pero in fairness, ang cold ha.
Lumabas na siya ng room. Bakit niya ako pinauna? May pupuntahan ba muna siya? Saan naman kaya? Hay. This girl makes me curious about every little thing.
"Bro, gusto mo pumunta sa bahay? Marvel marathon tayo, g?" Gusto ko sana. Miss ko na rin luto ni tita e. "Sorry bro, may appointment na ako e. Bukas na lang?" Tumango na lang siya. We did our handshake then nauna na siyang umalis.
Ito 'yung gusto ko kay Isaac. Makulit man siya, but he's very understanding. T'yaka hindi niya ako tinatanong ng kung ano-ano, hinihintay niya lang akong magkwento nang kusa.
Lumapit ako kay Krystal, "Uhm hi. Alam mo ba kung saan pumunta si Avrey?" Tinignan niya ako na may kasamang mapang-asar na ngiti. "Ikaw ha! Haha. Dumaan muna siya sa journ club. Sa dulong room 'yun sa second floor."
Aabangan ko na lang siya rito. Lumapit ako kasi nakita kong naka-display sa pinto 'yung names ng journ club officers. Napangiti ako nung nabasa ko 'yung pangalan ni Avrey. Biglang bumukas 'yung pinto, "O, Chase! Anong ginagawa mo rito?" Si Ate Claire pala. Nakasunod si Avrey sa kaniya. "A... e..."
"I O U? Hahaha." Napakamot na lang ako ng ulo. "Napadaan lang po ako."
"Naalala mo ba nung intrams last year? Nahirapan kaming mag-upload ng photos sa page kasi puro mukha mo e. Si Shane ba naman 'yung assigned photog. Buti na lang this year, si Avrey na! We'll get good photos of every player." Napangiti ako. 'Di ka sure. Baka puro mukha ko lang rin 'yung datnan niyo dun. Joke. Haha.
"Sige, Avrey! Mauna na 'ko ha. May klase pa kami e. Bye, Avrey! Bye rin, Chase!"
"You're the photog for this year's intrams?" Bigla akong na-bother. Does this mean she'll take photos of all the other guys too? Marami pa namang mahilig mag-flex. Patay tayo diyan. Kumunot 'yung noo ko sa idea. Mukhang hindi ako makakafocus sa game nito ha.
"Yes! Namiss ko lang mag-take ng photos for the club. Lagi akong assigned sa articles e. Buti na lang pinapili nila ako, so sabi ko ako na lang bahala sa photos."
Bumulong ako sa sarili ko, "Dapat pinili mo na lang magsulat."
Nasa Starbucks na kami. Buti na lang talaga nagsisiuwian na lahat ng students after class dahil atat na silang umuwi o gumala. Madalas sa SM sila dumidiretso. Nilapag ko lang 'yung bag ko at pupunta na sana sa counter, "Ako naman today! Ikaw na kahapon e. Java Chip, right?" She rushed to the counter. Her cute, quick little steps made me smile.
Nilapag na niya 'yung order. "Nakahihiya naman sa MVP natin e. Haha." I smiled and said thanks. Then we proceeded to talking about our peta.
Our final topic is love languages. We also came up with our title, "Understanding the Five Love Languages and Its Impact on Romantic Relationships" Pinayagan naman kami ni Ms. Dominguez na gumamit ng English language for our peta.
We'll make the participants take the online quiz first to know their primary love language. Then, we'll randomly choose one participant from each love language.
I want to take this peta seriously. Hindi naman talaga ako tamad o pabaya sa acads, but Math is my forte, so chill lang ako sa ibang subjects. No pressure kumbaga.
Maybe the reason of me wanting to take this peta seriously is this girl in front of me. Ayokong maging burden sa kaniya as we work on this. I also don't want to negatively affect her grades in any way, shape, or form.
We adjourned the meeting by brainstorming on the interview questions. We'll finalize them na lang on our next meeting. Baka after pa ng intrams 'yun kasi start na ng practice ng teams bukas. She'll also be busy with journ club, I guess?
Paglabas namin ng Starbucks, "Daddy!"
"I came to pick you up, princess."
"Good afternoon po, Sir." He nodded, "Kamusta 'yung peta niyo, iho? May progress naman?"
"Yes po. We'll continue next next week. May intrams po kasi so..."
"You won't play for your class, anak? I'm sure you want to join sa badminton. You're probably the best one out there." She just smiled. Ewan ko, but it seemed fake to me. Is something wrong? Can't she play?
"Nope, but I'll be there during the games rin naman. I'll be the best photographer." Humagikgik siya. That again. She becomes the cutest every time she does that.
"I'm glad! Halika na, anak. Iho, mauna na kami ha? Chase diba? Ingat ka sa pagdrive pauwi, Chase. God bless! I have a feeling we'll see each other often from now on." Her dad opened the car door for her. He really treats his daughter like a princess.
Avrey... She's just way too precious for this world. She makes me want to always protect her.
———
"Anak, is your heart okay?" I nodded. The things my dad said earlier are all true.
Gusto kong maglaro ng badminton. I want to represent my class in non-academic competitions too. Gusto ko ring mag-participate sa intrams as one of the players.
But I'll be there as a photographer.
Kasi 'yun lang 'yung kayang gawin ng katawan ko. Hanggang dun lang 'yung capacity ko.
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: I forgot to ask you earlier.
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: If you're gonna be there as a representative of the journ club, does that mean you can't cheer for our class?
Chad Sebastian Espinosa: You can't cheer for me? :(
I want to... but I can't.
"Princess, are you okay?" I just nodded. "Daddy, matutulog po muna 'ko ha. Wake me up na lang kapag nasa bahay na po tayo."
Pagkarating namin sa bahay, I went straight to my room. I feel tired, but I think I'll struggle on getting some sleep tonight. I have way too much thoughts in my mind.
@avreyclemente: "It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to has power over you." — Leon Brown
Tama, Avrey. Just let this one go, like what you've always done before. Since when were you affected that you can't play or cheer during intrams? E Grade 6 pa lang naman, hindi ka na nakasali ulit.
Maybe it's because of Chase? Baka dahil this time, I'm rooting for someone.
Pero hindi. Arrhythmia lang 'to, si Avrey Clemente ako.
Kinabukasan, discussions lang sa subjects. Then sa last class, nag-long quiz kami sa Pre-Calc. "Nasagutan mo lahat, sis?" Tumango ako. "Pero hindi ako sure sa last numbers kasi kinulang na sa time kaya hindi ko na-double check."
"Ayan ka na naman e! Hindi raw sure sa sagot niya pero mamaya isa lang mali niyan! Bakit kapag ako hindi sure, kalahati lang 'yung score ko? Lugi ako ha!" Tumawa na lang ako. Nagulat ako nung lumapit si Isaac sa'min.
"Grabe sobrang hirap talaga magpa-long quiz ni Ms. De Guzman kahit kailan! Tara nga samgyup tayo! Pero KKB ha! Haha," Aya ni Isaac sa'min ni Krystal. Tinitigan ko lang si Krystal. Close na sila? Kailan pa?
"Ayoko nga! Masisira diet ko! Sayang naman 'yung pagsunod ko sa Hourglass Program ni Chloe Ting kung isasamgyup ko lang! Hmp!" Natawa naman ako. Alam kong sinabi niya lang 'yun dahil sa'kin pero gusto rin talaga niyang mag-samgyup.
"Sige jabee na lang! Ay ayaw pala ni Chase dun! KFC na lang ba?" Ayaw ni Chase sa Jollibee? Sa Jollibee ko pa naman siya inaya nung nag-breakfast kami.
"Sige jabee na lang tayo! Nag-crave ako bigla ng choco mallow pie nila e!" Napipilitan lang ata 'tong si Chase e.
"Tignan mo 'tong tangang 'to... Wala na silang ganun, matagal na! Pero sige minsan ka lang pumayag na mag-jabee kaya tara na! Dali! Baka magbago isip!" Nauna nang lumabas si Isaac kaya sumunod na rin kami.
Pagdating namin sa Jollibee, "Kami na lang ni Krystal ang oorder! Tutal alam naman namin ang order niyo kasi kami ang pinaka-the best na best friend sa buong mundo!" Naiwan kaming dalawa ni Chase sa table.
Staring contest ba 'to? Nagkakapaan kaming dalawa kung sino ang unang babasag sa katahimikan.
"Hindi ka nagreply... I guess you really can't cheer for me next week." I noticed the sadness and disappointment in his eyes.
"I'll still be your cheerleader, Chase. Know that I'll always be cheering for you quietly... even just from afar."