I don't know what my reaction should be. I'm having a hard time choosing if I should take pity over annoyance upon looking at him. I even held his arms out of concern a while ago.
"What an overdramatic guy... Tsk!" I can't help but say as I stand up while he remains on the floor.
I considered leaving when I remembered what they did to me earlier.
"Look who's fault is it? And you're still mad?" My brow automatically arched as I faced him.
"It's your fault, isn't it? Why are you standing in the middle of the stairs?" I argued. "I thought you were a ghost…" I whispered out of shame.
"Noah!"
I saw a girl running towards us, calling a name while looking at him. Noah might be the guy's name.
I saw her gaze at me for a second before she immediately shifted her attention to the guy. She instantly wrapped her arms around him.
"What are you doing? Paul has been looking for you" She stopped her gaze at me again and all I can say is her annoyance was written all over her face looking at me.
Ah, she doesn't like me talking to her man.
I don't want to waste my time anymore and decided to walk away from them since I really need to go home right now. I was on my way down when I heard the guy say something.
"She didn't even apologize for what she did…" I heard him say.
"Let's just go…" I heard the girl tell him and they began to walk away.
I let out a deep sigh. I didn't have the energy to fight them anymore.
As I was exiting the building, a teacher called me from the cooking laboratory. I didn't realize they were waiting for me to give them some of the food they had prepared that day. I felt so happy walking home with the cake and the roasted chicken they had given me.
When I arrived home my Mom was preparing the table for dinner. I saw my brother doing laundry outside of our kitchen so I called him for us to start our dinner.
"Ma, I have chicken and cake here. The teachers gave it to me…" I happily said.
She stood up and got a large plate so we could put the food I brought home.
I watched our youngest happily munching on the meal. Having chicken on the table felt like a feast. Most of the time, we mostly have eggs, dried fish, and vegetables as our main dishes. If we don't have anything to pair with rice, just oil and salt would be enough for us.
My father is a fisherman, and most of the time, he doesn't catch anything. When he does, all the fish goes to pay off our debts to the fishing company he works for. My mother is a timid person and she won't even borrow anything from our neighbor's sari-sari store because she fears we won't be able to pay it back.
As a result, I started working at school while still being a student to help pay our bills at home.
"The teachers were really kind to you, Ate. They always offered you free food" My brother AJ commented while we were eating. "I will definitely work as a student too when I'm in senior high" He said ambitiously, which made me feel sad for no reason.
"Your studies must always come first. Don't forget that. I want my children to graduate successfully while your father and I work hard to support all of you," Our mother reminded us.
"By the way, Ma…" I called her and I began to look for something inside my bag. "I already paid for my school miscellaneous so I'm giving it for the electric bill this month. Just in case Manang Grace will cut our electricity again" I said while handling the three-hundred pesos bills that I got from saving up from cleaning some of the teacher's cubicle at the faculty.
She was not going to take it again so I handed it back to her. I just don't want our electricity to be cut off again. It was really such a pain for me as a student.
"This will be the last time that I will be going to receive some money from you. You must save up for your college funds too, right?" I smiled and nodded just to assure her.
After eating I headed to the back of our house outside from the kitchen to wash my uniform. We only have one set of our uniforms so we wash it after we arrive from school every day. My brothers were washing the plates when AJ called me.
"Ate, I need to buy some materials for my project. Do you still have an extra money?" He asked out of shyness.
"I still have some... How much do you need?" I asked which made him beam.
"I need fifty pesos to buy bond paper, construction paper, and glue" I temporarily paused to head to my room and get my wallet, unaware that they were following me.
I took out a hundred and twenty pesos bills and handed it to both of them.
"Here it is. I'm giving you a hundred as your budget just in case it will not be enough…" I said while handing it to AJ. "Here's for you so you won't ask Mom for money tomorrow. Both of you, don't ask for any pocket money tomorrow, understood?" I sighed in relief when they both nodded to what I had said.
They both smiled as they left my room. Meanwhile, I glanced at the contents of my wallet and saw only coins.
It was Friday when Ma'am Lou called me to give me the new attendance sheet for our class. I was instructed to change the arrangement of the seats in class and make it to pairs.
I was heading back to our room when I thought that I should at least find the guy's name on the list.
"Noah Jaden Melendez" I stated out loud when I found his name.
"You know him?" I immediately shouted when I heard those words from my back. I saw Elton who's laughing and mocking at my sudden reaction. "You're too scared" He playfully said placing his arm around my shoulders.
"You're too damn annoying… You know how I easily get scared of" I annoyingly said and pinched his arm which made him take it off me but still he was laughing.
"So, do you know that 'Noah'?" He asked as he began to walk along with me.
"No… I just read some names from the new attendance sheet for our class. There will be new students joining us next week" I explained.
"Ah… So we're going to be classmates starting next week?" I was dumbfounded by his remarks.
"What?" My initial reaction.
"Noah and I were classmates… I didn't know you're class will be our new classroom. Nice! We're going to be classmates again" I was completely shocked by what I had heard. I immediately looked for his name on the list and he was right!
"Oh gosh! You're right!" I said happily which made him laugh again.
"Since we're going to be classmates again, please don't act like a mom to me this time, okay?" He lifted his hands above my head and tousled my hair, making me frown.
"Alright..." I conceded. "I'm too busy anyway. I can't look after you like I used to." I knew he didn't like it when I was overly concerned about him.
He didn't want anyone else to know that he had a weak heart and needed monitoring at school for that reason.
From elementary school through junior high, I always kept an eye on his health. I would insist during PE class that he be exempted from any activities that might tire him out or trigger his heart condition. There was even a time when he got really angry at me because of my concern, which led to me not caring for him the way I used to when we were kids.
"See you next week" He said before leaving.
And I resumed walking back to our class.
It was early Monday morning, and my patience was already being tested. I began to feel frustrated when I saw our new classmates enter the room without wearing any indoor slippers.
I bit my lips to hold back myself from ranting about it. As much as I want to say something about it, I can't do it since it was their first day and they know nothing about our class rules.
Ma'am Lou arrived at just the right moment and began organizing our new seating arrangement. As soon as I heard my name, I promptly took my assigned seat. I didn't have a seatmate yet, so I glanced at the students who were still standing and waiting for their names to be called. I noticed Elton beaming at me, which made me roll my eyes at him.
"Melendez" I heard from Miss Lou.
He began to walk slowly towards his chair, though I wasn't sure where it was at first. I followed him with my eyes and soon realized he was heading to the chair beside me.
He caught me looking at him and flashed a grin that instantly hit a nerve with me.
"You're just behind me…" I suddenly heard from a girl in front of me.
I quickly recognized her as the girl who had called out to him last time. I shifted my gaze to her seatmate, Leila, who smiled at me, so I smiled back.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the girl glaring at me. When I stared back, I received an expression of annoyance from her.
"You're just in front, Miss Pres..." I heard from behind me.
I turned to see the other guy who had been with Noah when they bumped into me.
I gave him a fake smile and looked at Aiza, one of my original classmates.
"Hi…" she greeted me quietly.
"You're here," I said, starting a conversation with her.
"Hey, don't move too much" my seatmate warned me.
I suddenly felt a rush of anger swelling within me. I wanted to confront him right then and there, but with Ma'am Lou in the room, it wouldn't be a smart move. I bit my lip and ignored his comments as if I were deaf.
"Are you deaf?" he sneered.
I continued insisting on talking to Aiza, trying to focus on her.
"Okay… I think it's all done. Miss Lopez…" Ma'am Lou called my name, and I was about to stand up.
But I couldn't hold back anymore. I quickly fired back at the jerk who had just warned me.
"I'm not deaf. I also don't want an irritable seatmate, so be nice" I said, turning to face him while maintaining my fake smile.
I noticed his expression change instantly, while his friend in the back started laughing at my response.
I grinned as I made my way to the front of the class and stared at him, feeling satisfied.
He probably thought that I wouldn't respond to him.