17
Teacher's Pet or.... Pest?
The next day after the duet, Nicky found it hard to focus in classes. It was official. She was crushing on him. Though, she hated to admit it. And she hated herself for behaving like an infatuated teenager, staring into space often, wondering, daydreaming, missing him when he wasn't around, watching him from the corner of her eyes while Mr. Manginsay was discussing a Physics formula. Red was only three seats to her right. She had never even been paying attention to where he was seated before. She realized the only time they were seated close enough was during English class, when he was right behind her. And the whole period, she couldn't concentrate. She felt like his eyes were boring her back. It didn't help that her seatmate was absent that day that she felt out in the open for his glare. Crap! My hair is such a mess! She never thought she could be that self-conscious.
She hated herself more for not admitting to herself, she was after all, an infatuated teenager. But all day, she'd been composing herself not to look like it. Especially when Red was around. She tried to do her best to ignore him. And it helped that he hadn't approached her, yet, nor talk to her. It was just a song. Just that song. She told herself she couldn't be crushing on him just because of the song they shared together. Just because he knew that song, and sang it too well with her. Just because he remembered her favorite song and rescued her from an utter humiliation and a failing mark in Music. It could have been just that song. She shouldn't be crushing on him for a mere song.
Somehow, she felt relieved there was no teasing about them as an item, after that duet. Everybody could see they were good at it, but no one even bothered to recognize them more than just duet partners. The only thing that they recognized, perhaps, especially for most girls, was how good Red was at singing. Nicky figured their classmates thought they probably didn't match at all, and them as a couple never really cross anybody's mind, even after that duet. Now, that she thought about it, she was all the more confused. Why would they think I and Red are no match for each other? Am I just too good for him? Then a painful realization hit her. Stop flattering yourself, Nicky. He's out of your league. He's just too good for you. And for the first time, she couldn't believe she felt intimidated by him.
"I'll have to accept this call, class," Mrs. Calunod's voice surfaced from somewhere. It seemed distant. Nicky paid no mind. "It's my daughter, and it's a long-distance call. Why don't you all do the activity found on page 145 on your book while I'm away for a moment, alright?" Then, Nicky heard the footsteps of their English teacher coming towards her. "Nicky, can you look after your classmates while I'm gone?"
It was a couple of seconds before Nicky responded, "Yes, ma'am."
The moment their teacher was gone was the moment the class burst into frenzy chatters. But Nicky suddenly didn't care. She flipped her book to page 145 and found the activity. Absent-mindedly, she read it. She didn't understand a single thing. She read it again, and realized it was an essay questions about a story found from the previous page. She surveyed the story and it was a five-page story. Still not minding the chatters from all around her, she began reading the story.
"Nicky, do you have an extra pen?" She heard someone asked her. It was a male voice. She looked up and met Iggy's sheepish smile. She was surprised at the sight of him. She hadn't remembered him borrowing a pen from her before. Or coming up to her to borrow a pen when, for all she knew, he was sitting in the other side of the room, far away from her. Suddenly, a lump was starting to form on her throat. Even if she was starting to crush or probably was already crushing on Red, she still could not get over Iggy. He was her crush since the first year. And for her, he would always be her crush. She felt like she was cheating on him for crushing on Red. And she hated herself more for starting to feel a little boy-crazy, as June would have label it with all contempt, especially now that she could be crushing on two boys at the same time. She had never even thought it was possible until then.
"Nicky, do you have an extra pen?" Iggy repeated. He didn't sound annoyed, though.
"Yeah sure," she muttered. "Here," she said handing him the pen she was holding.
"Thanks," Iggy replied with a smile as he got the pen. Then he went back to his seat.
Nicky immediately looked for another pen from the inside pockets in her bag. She nearly panicked when she couldn't find one.
"Shoot!" She muttered. Still sitting on her seat, she craned her neck and looked for June. But June was not on her seat. She tried hard not to turn around or else she'd face Red. She was afraid of meeting his eyes. She was afraid of looking at him, and him looking back at her. For one thing, she was afraid he'd find out. Or worse, she'd find out he was not looking at her after all.
But she turned her head anyway when she heard June's voice somewhere at the back, and it was when she caught Red's eyes. He was laughing with a couple of boys. The three immediately hushed up.
"You're not listing, are you?" Red asked indifferently.
"What?" Nicky muttered, avoiding Red's eyes.
"I asked if you were listing or not."
"Oh, that. No, I was looking for a pen," She hurriedly replied without looking at him. Oh, crap! What if he'd seen me let Iggy borrow my pen a while back? What would he think of me then? Well, I really thought I had an extra pen. And I could not really ask my pen back, could I?
"You dropped it?"
Nicky could have sighed in relief. So, he didn't really notice me giving my only pen to Iggy. Then, a sad thought dawned on her. So, he wasn't really paying any attention to me, after all. Who am I even kidding thinking he'd be watching my every move, too? "No. I have no pen," she readily replied. "Can any of you lend me one? If you have an extra pen, that is."
"Why would we let you borrow our pen?" Robert, one of the boys asked. "For all we know, you'd just be listing who are being noisy and all."
"I'm not listing, okay. I'm just trying to get this activity done, Robert."
"Yeah, right, valedictorian."
"We have no extra pen, Nicky, alright," Frank, the boy between Red and Robert, said. He sounded vexed and impatient. Then her turned to Red and Robert and with all excitement said, "Oh, so where was I? Right, so I was already there, you know, at that very moment when she suddenly—Nicky, do you mind?" He said, gesturing Nicky to leave them already.
"Fine," Nicky mumbled as he got up from her seat and went over to June. But June also hadn't got any extra pen. It was then that Mrs. Calunod appeared in the doorway. Nicky hadn't noticed it at first, but she finally realized it when the class suddenly keep quiet and went all still.
"Didn't I tell you to look after the class, Ms. Dimasuhid?" Mrs. Calunod asked her sternly.
Nicky gulped a mass of air in her throat. "I'm sorry, ma'am," was all she could say. Her head bent down.
"Now, get back to your seat, and everybody, get on with the activity!" Mrs. Calunod demanded with voice far too much anger.
Nicky settled back on her seat, her cheeks burning from embarrassment. She went back to her reading, still worried on how to answer the essay questions without a pen.
"Mr. Gonzales, don't you have a book?" Their English teacher's voice rose up again.
"I left it at home, ma'am," Red replied.
"And what about you, Mr. Balanay?"
"I left it, too, ma'am," replied Robert.
"Oh, so what do you think your books are for then, that you have to leave them at home? Do you think they're for your mothers, or wait, for your nannies, to study?"
"Well, my nanny actually enjoys reading it, ma'am," Red suddenly replied, not really sounding sarcastic but sounding somewhat innocent and sincere.
The class laughed. Nicky could not believe his guts. She didn't laugh.
Mrs. Calunod's penciled brows arched. "I will not tolerate any snide remarks in this class, especially when it's nothing to do with our lesson. For being disrespectful, I expect you Mr. Gonzales to spend your lunch break at the principal's office."
There was a collective gasp from the class.
"Now, anybody else in here who'd love to share stories about how much they love their nannies they'd leave their books to them and would like to join Mr. Gonzales at the principal's office?"
No one bothered to speak, except for Nicky who suddenly couldn't help but snort. Loudly.
"Alright then, Ms. Dimasuhid," Mrs. Calunod said firmly. "You too, will be seeing the principal today."
Taken aback, Nicky immediately said, "What? No, ma'am. I didn't mean to."
"You were laughing and I didn't think I was trying to be funny," Mrs. Calunod said, her left brow rising higher than her right. Then she turned back to the three boys and said, "I suppose that book you three are sharing is Mr. Chan's, then."
"Yes, ma'am," replied Frank nervously.
"Why won't any of you transfer seat and sit on the empty share beside Ms. Dimasuhid, then? I suppose Ms. Dimasuhid won't mind sharing her book with any of you, will you, Ms. Dimasuhid?"
"No, ma'am," Nicky replied. Her heart skipped a beat. She was suddenly nervous Red could be sitting with her at any second. And by the end of the period, she'd be spending time at the principal's office with him, too. She didn't know what to feel or what to think that for the first time, she was being sent to the principal's office. She wished it were true Mrs. Calunod had an Alzheimer's disease and that by the end of the period, their English teacher would forget about sending her to the principal's office. She knew Mrs. Calunod could forget a lot of things. She had always been there to remind her teacher of these things she forgot. But this time, she won't be that too eager to do just that.
There was a moment of shuffle, the sound of someone getting up and moving, and then before Nicky knew it, someone was already sitting beside her.
She turned and her heart nearly sank to her stomach.
"Hey, I got extra pen," Robert said, grinning at her.
Nicky adjusted the sling of her bag. She waited for the whole class to disperse before she could proceed to the principal's office. It turned out that their English teacher had not forgotten about it at all. Nicky wasn't sure if she and Red would be going together. Her classmates were eyeing at her curiously. She didn't know what to make out of their stares. Some seemed impressed and even in disbelief, while most of the girls were shaking their heads. She nearly lost her footing when she heard John Michael muttered, "I hope this wouldn't cost you your class standing," as he passed by her. "On second thought, I really hope it will."
"Hey, don't mind him," June patted her on the shoulder. "It's all good, Nicky. Mrs. Duhaylungsod is okay."
"So, you're going or not?" Another voice hustled her back from her wallowing. It was Red, his backpack already strapped on one shoulder.
Nicky couldn't even speak, she merely nodded.
"I hate you, you know," Red suddenly said quietly while they were walking towards the principal office, side by side, about a feet from each other.
Nicky stopped on her tracks, disbelieving the words and how easy they came out from his mouth. "What did I do?" She finally asked when he, too, stopped and looked at her.
Red shrugged. "For laughing back there at Mrs. Calunod."
"I wasn't," she replied defiantly, still not understanding how could he hated her for it.
"You think it's funny that I have a nanny, do you?"
"What? No," she lied.
"Well, I wasn't kidding. I really have. And still have. And I love her."
Nicky looked at Red in disbelief. As much as the words "I hate you" come off easy, saying "I love her" also seemed so easy for him.
"Yeah, you think it's unbelievable I still have a nanny."
"Just the way you said you love her. It sounds like you're not ashamed of having a nanny."
"Well, I'm not. And if giving my English book would prove that's how much I love her, then I'd give it to her."
Nicky caught herself still looking at him, so she readily looked down, tucked a strand of her hair, and started walking again. Red followed after her. He was already beside her when he said, "But yaya isn't really fond of English books, anyway."
"I'm sorry I laughed, and if in anyway offended you," Nicky then said, her stare far ahead. She couldn't turn to see him because he was too near her, she was afraid, she'd stumble if she'd find his eyes again.
Red shrugged. "Yeah, it's cool. I don't hate you really. I officially love you, now."
And he did it again! Nicky stopped dead on her tracks. Still not turning at him, she asked, "What did you say?"
"I mean, I still hate you for laughing at me having a nanny, but hey, we're even, now. You're also sent to the principal's office, which proves you're not a teacher's pet after all."
"And you love me for it?" Nicky readily asked before she'd trip over the mention of the word love.
"Well, I love anyone who isn't a teacher's pet, so yeah." He shrugged.
Nicky sighed and suddenly found herself laughing. "Please don't do that."
"Do what?"
She still was laughing when she said, "Please refrain from using words as hate or love casually, because people may misunderstand it and take it the wrong way."
"Alright then," Red replied. Nicky couldn't ignore the hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Don't get me wrong. Or maybe it's just me, and I'm not really used to hearing it said like the way you say them."
Red nodded, "I think I know what you mean. Like the more you say it often, the more it sounds like you don't mean it."
Nicky nodded.
"Well, you also probably think I still behave and talk like a kid especially that I still have a yaya," Red said.
"Well you behave like teacher's pest," Nicky tried her best to cajole.
Red looked at her, then laughed. Then after a moment, when they were already standing outside the principal's office, with an earnest voice, he suddenly said, "But, I really do mean it."
Nicky had to turn and shoot him a sideway glance.
"I really do love—" Red exhaled before he proceeded. "—my yaya."
It was a moment before Nicky smiled and replied, "Got it, nanny's boy," she said, and without even knowing, tapped Red's arm.
"So, do you have a yaya, too?"
"Are you kidding? We couldn't afford one. For all I know, I am the yaya at home," Nicky replied as she carefully dropped her hand to her side.
"Hey, if you're thinking of being a pro at it, why don't you give me a call and I can get you a job."
"Yeah, I'll have to think about it first."
"You have my number, right, so you can just call me anytime," Red replied with a goofy smile plastered on his face. "You know my yaya isn't really good with anything academic, and I badly needed someone to help me with my homework," he added, still smiling. "But she cooks the best adobo."
Nicky couldn't help herself but smiled back at him.
"And lately, she's really trying her best with my school work, that's why I leave her my English book. For all I know, she's reading it while cooking adobo this very minute."
Nicky laughed. It was then the door to the principal's office burst open, and with head bent down, Nicky quickly covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from laughing. But she just couldn't hold it, that she snorted. Red threw her a sidelong glance and drew a small laugh at the sound of her snort. They looked at each other, then looked up and found Mrs. Duhaylungsod's frowning face. They turned to each other again, and laughed at the same time.
"Now, what should I do with you two?" The principal asked, her voice sounding like sandpaper on a rough wood.