Glossary
· nga – to emphasize a point
· ha – used in this context as a scolding sound
· chismosa – gossip (referring to a person who is a gossip)
· tungkol dito na – about this already
· pasimuno – started it
"You have…practice?" Sammy asked in suspicion.
"Yeah, I told you I have practice for Dance Troupe nga, Sammy!" I reasoned with her.
"You're joining Dance Troupe?" Thalia butted in as she swooped to the front of the bathroom mirror, tousling her bangs back and forth across her forehead. The three of us often stayed here while we wait for Dea to finish her class president duties.
"You do know Dea is the representative of the members of Dance Troupe in our batch, right Val?" She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at me.
Oh, bitch, please. Move on, that was last year.
"Sammy, that was last year!" I retorted.
"Yeah! Exactly! Because we haven't even had sign ups for this year yet, Val," She shot back and took a deep breath before continuing, " Just tell us what you're really going to do. We know your habits of pathological lying already."
I rolled my eyes and hoisted myself up with my arms to sit on the ledge of the sink, "Fine!" I groaned, "If you must know, the new girl invited me to talk to her because she needs to catch up with studies."
"…and what's so embarrassing about that?" Thalia puckered her lips and applied dapples of petroleum jelly onto her chapped lips. Being a lip tint whore did have its downsides. Don't tell Thalia I called her that.
I squeaked, " I don't know. It just is because she's a social outcast."
"Dea was a social outcast-" Sammy got cut off while she tied her hair into a ponytail.
"Yeah, but that was Grade School, Sammy! This is different," I shook my head and dismissed her..
"So immature, ha. We aren't in a movie, Val. We're mature enough to understand when someone needs help regardless of this "social status" thing-y," Thalia snapped with matching air quotes.
"I know that, Thalia! I don't hold anything against her being the new girl…I'm just so suspicious of her," I admitted half-heartedly. I loved these girls, I knew it ever since I realized that they were one of the people I interacted with that were easy to talk to, maybe even easier than my own family but I always kept my guard up with them, knowing what I know about them with the help of my powers.
Times like this, I'm thankful I don't know emotion because I don't think I'll be able to bear the weight of their sadness, scorn or jealousy. Let alone the sadness, scorn and jealousy of all the angsty teenagers in this school.
"Hay, chismosa! You absolute gossip. Just let go of the poor girl and help her with what she needs. We'll even come with you if you're really scared that she'll take your Queen Bee crown," Sammy mocked.
They didn't know I was diagnosed but when they began to think for themselves and began forming a voice advocating for their personal beliefs, they researched on mental illness and behind my back, they pieced together that I had a habit of pathological lying that could be something worse. I pretended like it hurt me to find out which was the initial response my brain gave me so they'd get off my case and they immediately apologized saying they were just concerned the amount I could do.
I don't know if that convinced them and I did feel a weight in my chest after I did that (my brain associates it with the feeling of 'guilt') but they haven't let go fully of the idea because they've caught me in the act quite a bit. It resulted in the small, almost invisible yet still present rift between Sammy and me.
I knew that Sammy's backhanded compliment was supposed to hurt me but I also needed to show her there were no hard feelings so my brain settled with a roll of the eyes and a slight shove at Sammy, "oh, shut up, Sammy!"
She giggled back which was the response I expected, "Okay at least you're not bitching us on about it."
"Let's go already! At this rate Dea could be the one waiting for us! And Gale is literally outside waiting for us," Sammy chimed.
"Bitches, what are you talking about? I wasn't waiting for you," He entered the girl's room with open arms.
Thalia stopped him and pushed him out of the bathroom, "You can't be here, Gale! We talked about this na!"
Gale rolled his eyes and smirked, "Homophobe!" He pressed an "L" onto his forehead and crossed his arms patiently waiting outside.
"It's not bad to us, Gale but we talked tungkol dito na. You told me you still choose to identify as male…" Thalia droned on and Gale could have butted in with his argument but Dea stormed inside and dragged me out as everyone else followed.
"Woah! Deanna Eloise Figueras, hoy!" I slapped her hand but she persisted to drag me outside until she stopped in front of Christian and Jima's friend group.
"Talk some sense into him. He seems to think their joke is funny," She narrowed her eyes at Christian and walked off in a fit of steamy anger.
"What the hell did you do this time, Tian?" I crossed my arms and contorted my face into what I hope looked concerned.
"Jima, pasimuno!" Christian hung his head low and Jima set his gaze downcast when I rolled my eyes at them and stared daggers at them, "Well , we thought it'd be funny to pretend that Arevalo liked the new girl. So when she went out of the classroom-"
"Arevalo went along with it, too!" Jima countered but Christian shot him a venomous look and he decided to shut up.
James Arevalo coyly wrapped it up in a sentence, "Long story short, De Lorenzo kept teasing her and she got confused and ran to Deanna who she begged to find a teacher and report them even though Dea was busy enough as is."
"So where's Willow right now, James?" I pressed my hands to my forehead.
"She's in the classroom, reading, last we saw. She went back in after we teased her," the volleyball player, Chen Ongpauco, replied and he walked me to the classroom and pointed at the single figure chilling inside. I'm surprised this girl isn't rushing to her service yet. It's literally 4:30, the time when a lot of these vehicles leave. I guess they put me here for a reason.