It was my first day in Senior High School, a time when figuring out why the sign that said "Freshmens Building This Way" bothered me more than the thought of having my best friend go to another school.
Even back then, I think I've always been a little lacking in interpersonal skills. Maybe because I've already had two of my best friends easily stolen by guys.
Yes, that's right. It was no typo error. It's not the guys that got stolen. My friends were.
So... where was I?
Ah, right. Freshmens building this way.
'Damn. It's really bothering me.'
I've always thought that 'men' was the plural form of 'man'. And since this school was the best school in the city (bias sincerely intended) and English was not my native language, I just had to doubt if my life had been a lie. Or at least a couple of years of it since I started learning English.
Pondering about it with my brows furrowed, I followed the sign anyway and it led me to the cafeteria instead.
Glaring at the signage of the cafeteria I cursed under my breath. "I swear, I'll kill whoever made that stupid sign!"
I stomped back to the direction where I came from then took the other path from that cursed board and found a row of three classrooms with lists of students' names posted on each door.
"Finally!"
But being alone in the corridor at 6AM, I took my sweet time in searching for my name and made fun of some names along the way.
Don't judge me. I was not being nasty or anything. I just had to entertain myself and keep my mind off the crazy shadows lurking at the end of the corridor beside the very last room. (Hopefully not mine!)
"Craige Clinton? Ooohhh... nice name, sounds expensive." I intentionally spoke a little louder when I felt the cool breeze penetrate the thin fabric of my uniform, making the hair on my nape stand in attention.
'Don't look.'
'Don't check.'
'Nothing's there.'
'It's just your wild imagination.'
It took quite a lot for me to turn around but not look at the end of the hallway. The temptation was devastatingly real, though. But as soon as I turned around, my gaze landed on a pair of dark eyes outlined by light gray rings. I nearly jumped out of my skin but, thankfully, my brain was quick enough to process that the owner of the surreal looking eyes with a pretty looking face and unnecessarily very fair skin was just a human. Nothing dangerous.
Completely safe.
But I still did a very quick scan of his face, just to be sure. It's better to be safe than sorry.
Two mesmerizing eyes. Check.
Perfectly angled nose. Check.
Pinkish thin lips. Check.
And wind tousled jet-black hair. Check.
Good.
He looks pretty normal.
I mean, just normal.
Ignore the pretty part.
Completely harmless.
After doing my ultra-fast speed scan, I noticed that he wasn't looking at me, but rather on the list right behind me. He was peering at it intently as if I wasn't there standing in front him.
I was about to say 'Hi' to him first, because my Mom taught me good manners, but he slowly straightened up and looked down at me as if realizing for the first time that I was there.
'I'm not even that small!'
And as if to make me feel worse, he gave me this 'oh there's another human here but I don't give a damn' look, before turning around to sit on the bench.
"Uhm...Hello?? Is 'hello' that expensive? Should I buy you a couple of it? What's with the attitude? Are all good-looking people like this?"
But, of course, I didn't say that out loud. Couldn't. For two reasons.
Mainly because I'm starting an important chapter of my life and I don't want to start it by making enemies right off the bat. I've experienced enough bullying in the past and if there's one thing that I learned from it, that would be staying clear and away from the spotlight. And getting involved with an arrogant pretty face, either in a good or bad way, would be definitely asking for center-stage.
The second reason?
I can't be bothered. Period.
I watched him cross his legs and scan the area without giving me a second glance. And being dismissed like that made me feel awkward about standing in front of the classroom while glaring at him. But since taking a seat beside him on the bench was out of the question, i strode back down to the hallway where I entered and settled on a bench in front of the library.
'Ha! You think you're the only one who knows how to play The Invisible Man? Sorry, buddy, but I've played that game too many times before. Watch me ignore you ignoring me!'
I busied myself with my phone as students started pouring in like a herd of lost sheep. There was comfort in the familiar noisy chatter that I've missed during my two months of rehabilitation, a.k.a. Summer Vacation. A couple of old classmates briefly stopped by to say 'hi' and we exchanged pleasantries before they scurried towards the classrooms. It wasn't until I heard a familiar voice call out to me that I finally looked up from the thrilling game on my phone.
"Zee!"
That momentary distraction made my phone buzz as my basilisk coiled himself to death. But i couldn't care less for I was completely dumbfounded.
My eyes rounded in disbelief when my best friend, Katherine, gathered me for a hug after flashing me with an annoying triumphant grin on her face. "You sneaky lying--"
"Fooled you, didn't I?"
I pushed her away and slapped her arm. "What the hell happened, Kath? How'd you end up here?"
"You sound like you're not happy to see me." She pouted at me and batted her eyelashes.
"Ewe. Stop acting cute. It doesn't suit you."
"My cuteness is not yours to judge. Come on. Let's go look for our rooms. I hope we're in the same class." She dragged me back to the rows of classrooms, now filled with fellow 'freshmens'. There were a lot of familiar faces but only a few whom I was close with.
Yes.
I don't have a lot of friends.
I'm not a loner.
Just a good daughter following her mother's advice.
When I was bullied by a 'friend' in kindergarten and cried buckets of tears, my mom told me that I don't need to have a lot of friends. Just a few good ones.
So, I turned to my few, my good and my one with a grin. It wasn't until then that the excitement from the thought of having her around for the next three years sank in. "I'm in class A."
Her jaw dropped. "You already checked the lists and you didn't know that I'd be here?"
I shrugged, still smiling as i scanned the lists with her. "The last names are in alphabetical order. Anything below letter H are practically none of my business."
She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered with sarcasm. "Damn. You're immensely cold. And here I thought, I was your 'bestest' friend. I even taught you how to cross the street, remember?"
"Thank you but I'm never doing that again with you. You've got HAZARD printed all over you! Besides, 'Bestest', had you told me that you'd be coming here, I would have bothered and spent just a tiny little fraction of effort in scanning letter L. But nope. You wanted it to be a surprise." My brows furrowed until I spotted her name on the list. Just a couple of names below mine. "And surprise! It says Katherine Leomord: We're in the same class!"
"Really?!" She pushed me aside and scanned the paper herself. Her lips slowly breaking into a smile.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Duh! My big eyes are never wrong."
She did the same thing. "Duh! I never doubted them."
A couple of minutes later after the opening ceremony that was held in the gymnasium, we were instructed to go back to our respective classrooms. And since Katherine hates ruining her poise, we had to walk at her pace and by the time we reached our room, there weren't many seats left except for the ones on the second to the last row.
'Very nice. Now I'll have to strain my eyes and ears for the entire year.'
I looked around and saw that everyone was busy chattering and at first glance you might think that they're 'getting to know' each other.
But that's not it.
The class was mostly populated by those who were in the same class as me in Junior High. To the point that it would probably be safe to assume that we will be the major contributors of the noise pollution for the years to come.
'There is, indeed, power in majority.'
That's something that I've learned at a young age.
The room only fell silent when a petite yet elegant looking lady came in, carrying a clipboard and two books. She looked so young that I found it hard to believe that she's our homeroom teacher. And when I glanced around, I realized that I was not the only one who had a feeling that we're being duped. But no one dared to contest her identity especially after she started speaking fluently and gracefully in straight English as she introduced herself.
"Hello pretty ladies and fine-looking gentlemen. I am Bernadeth Shaine Amarillo, but you can call me Teacher Beshy. Don't call me Ma'am, unless you want to offend me, because I'm still too young to be called like that. I will be your homeroom teacher; in case you haven't read my name from the list outside the door. And I will also be your English and Literature Teacher for the entire year, so I hope that we can get along really well." She flashed a sparkling smile at us and scanned the room as if waiting for reaction.
But we just stared back at her, all mouths shut tight.
I guess that's just what teachers do to you. They make you tense up as soon as they give you this look that's urging you to speak.
Even if you've done nothing wrong.
"Ooookay. So, to tell you a little more about myself, I love reading romance books whenever I have a spare time which is very rare since I've recently started studying law. I'm not into local dramas because you know how they are. Dramas. I've been teaching here for the past two years but your class will be my first homeroom so it's making me feel really excited and nervous at the same time. I know you all are too, and I can perfectly understand how you're feeling right now, because I've been there before. But it would be really great if we loosen up fast and start enjoying this school year together from the get-go."
Awed by her very cool vibe, I immediately concluded that I already like her. And it would have stayed that way if only she hadn't said that one thing that I've been dreading to hear.
"Now that I'm done with introducing myself, this time let's get to know YOU. Starting from that pretty girl at the back! Yes, baby girl, let's start with you!" She called out to the girl sitting behind me.
I didn't have to turn my head around to see Percy's blood-drained face because I knew that she would be wearing the same expression that I am wearing. She might also be silently screaming the same questions that I am screaming in my head.
'WHY?!'
'Why does it have to be from the back?!'
'That is so not conventional!'
'Introductions should be done from the front! It's always from the front!'
'Always!'
'Have you ever seen a story's prologue printed at the very end of the book?'
'Never!'
'Why?'
'Because that's just how things should be!'
I lowered my head in defeat when Percy finally stood up after a very long hesitation and started introducing herself.
"H-hello, everybody! My...*clears throat*... name is Percy Romanoff and I am 16 years old." She chirped.
'Oh, God. She's using that kindergarten pageant tone.'
"Uhm...ah...I gradwe.... gradju... graduated from Western Academy. Ah... uhm...ah...That's all. Thank you!"
'I'm doomed.'
'If a bright, confident and outgoing girl like her ended up like this, then there is no hope for someone like me to escape the humiliation.'
I raised my head to find that everyone in front of us turned their heads and watched with smiles on their faces. Making their relief of not getting picked first pretty obvious.
'No! Don't look at them! It will make the ringing in your ears worse!'
Feeling like I was on the verge of a panic attack, I tried to focus on what I should be saying instead of how many eyes will be looking at me when my turn comes. And my dreaded turn came faster than lightning and way before I could calm myself down. So, when I stood up, my heart was erratically racing, and my ears were drumming. Then I did the thing that I always do whenever I get nervous.
"HelloMyname'sZeanneHaileandIalsograduatedfromWesternAcademyIt'snicetomeetyouallThankyou!"
And huff.
'Ultra-fast speed talk. Boom!'
The room was silent as I kept my eyes straight at our teacher, trying my best to ignore all the other 39 pairs that were boring holes in my head from all directions. Then Teacher Beshy smiled sympathetically and said, "Pardon me, but can you repeat that again? A little slowly this time, please."
'Oh fu--ton no jutsu! I can't believe I did it again!'
The entire class erupted into laughter. And to make me feel worse at my already worst time, my eyes met Silver Rings again for the second time that day. But instead of giving me the cool brush off, which I would've appreciated at this very moment, he looked at me with amusement and a small yet aggravating smile on his lips.
'Oh, Mother Earth! Please! Swallow me now! I beg you on my imaginary bended knees!'
Taking a deep and slow breath, I carefully repeated my words. This time, I made sure to remember to pause and breathe in between my words.
"Hello...My name is Zeanne Haile. And I also graduated from Western Academy. It's nice to meet you all. Thank you."
Then smile awkwardly... Perfect!
***
Dear Dairy Milk,
Today was my first day in school and I totally bombed it.
I feel so drained and I think I got dehydrated from too much cold sweat.
I just hope and pray that tomorrow will be a better day.
You think that's too much to ask?
P. S.
On my way home, I noticed that someone tampered with the sign. And I couldn't help but smile when I saw it.
[Freshmen's Building]
[This Way]