The icy whizz of a 4 am draft kissed my unclothed torso as it arouse my senses bit by bit. My swollen eyes deliberately unsealed, kicked off a brand new day a rickety life like mine. But before I even unstuck myself from thy alluring cradle, I gripped my phone and turned on its mobile data. I was kicked in the teeth when a barrage of messages blitzed on my social media account.
The lethargy which glazed my psyche was abruptly superseded by bewilderment. As I was scrolling them down, one of the chats clutched my sight – a message from one of my cousins.
"What happened? You're single, again? The fuck happened with Angel? Isn't she sick?"
I scratched my head. "How the fuck did they all know?"
An intuition crossed my head. "Could it be—," I whispered.
I dropped my phone, rushed to the kitchen, drank a glass of water, calmly walked back to my room and picked up my phone again.
"If my instinct is right, this could be it," I mumbled.
I pressed my finger to my phone's scanner, unlocked the phone and pointed towards the Facebook icon. Before I opened the app, series of theories flew around like saucers. Finally, I decided to do so – and my hunch was spot-on.
She was no longer in my friends list, nor was I able to send or receive messages from her. Yes, she blocked me.
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As soon as I entered the school's gate, a cluster of students who were sitting on the benches by the covered court mysteriously stared while I treaded past them. Since I first came there, people already had that enigmatic look when they see me. It was as if they wanted to tell me something. It really staggered me so I decided to tell Ma'am Merl.
"Good morning," I gasped. "I need to ask you something."
"Yes?"
"I just noticed, since my first day here everybody whom I crossed path with, or even the ones on the sidelines, have that strange look when they see me."
"I realized that too," she replied. "You're new, Patrick. Expect that they'll feel awkward at some point."
"Awkward? I mean, why would they feel such?"
"They like you."
"Like me?"
Truthfully, I thought she was just overreaching. But what she uttered next amazed me.
"You don't believe me? Why do you think a ton of friend requests on your Facebook account appeared out of nowhere?"
"U-uh," I was bowled over.
"HA-HA-HA," she chuckled. "Don't tell me you haven't checked these people's profiles? They're all students here."
She was absolutely right. Last night, I did see that the loads of requests came from BCC students.
"I don't want to overwhelm myself," I exclaimed. "Besides, I didn't accept their requests."
"Why didn't you? Be friendly. Interact with them."
"I-I just don't know how. And I don't want to."
"You have to," she advised. "One day, you will."
I felt my phone shuddered in my right pocket. As I unlocked it, a Gmail notification at the tab atop the screen popped. It was a notification email from my last company informing me about my last paycheck, or back pay. Along with it was a calculation of its totality. Also, it stated that the check will be released on February 3, 2020.
Nevertheless, I wasn't happy. The denomination result from the calculation attached from the email didn't meet my expectations. I spent almost five years with their company, rendered quality service and, most of all, contributed a lot to the well-being of my people. When I resigned as a Workforce Coordinator, I knew that I left a noteworthy mark to everyone. After all, it was a splendid experience. But, I had to really demand for something that I unquestionably deserved.
I phoned one of my former colleagues to check whether the calculation was precise.
"It will take me a couple of days to confirm this," my friend said.
"Alright, Bro! Thank you," I acknowledged. "By the way, how are things going?"
"It's just fine. Although, I cannot deny that the agents are looking for you."
"What did you tell them?"
"Well, they already know that you already resigned."
"And?"
"They said it sucks. You spoon-fed them. What can you expect?"
"HA-HA-HA! I think spoon-fed is an understatement. Let's just say that I treated them justly."
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As I removed my shoes, the aromatic scent of our dinner welcomed me. It always felt wonderful to come home with a meal ready for take down. Compared when I was in Manila, I had to pick up the pace and do all the chores before I can even sleep.
"I'm home, Ma!" – I shouted on the way to my room.
"It's almost 6 in the evening," she responded. "Why are you so early?"
"There wasn't much left to do in school," I said while I was moving to the kitchen. "I also finished all the articles."
"That's great then. At least, you get to eat with us."
"By the way, I got an email confirmation about my back pay."
"Really? When are you asked to go there?
"February 3."
My mom glanced at the calendar. "So that's a Monday. You better be ready for that."
"Actually, I submitted a dispute."
"Why?" she asked.
"Well, I think that the calculation they included in the email was inaccurate."
"How can you say so?"
"I know what my numbers are," I answered. "Also, I made a call to one of my former coworkers to verify whether the calculation is flawed."
"Will that affect your back pay?"
"If you mean that there is a possibility for them to deny my back pay because of this dispute, that's against the law."
"That's good then," she sighed. "What about Angel? I heard about what happened."
"Nah. She'll be fine. Besides, she dumped me. For what? I didn't do anything wrong."
"You never did, my son. It's actually puzzling why she did that to you."
"If you still believe that it's self-pity, then so be it," I said.
"But what she did was final and irrevocable."