A Military Career

Aaron had been one of those athletic type of guys but with a brilliant mind. He played basketball, volleyball and table tennis. He had always been good in Math, Science and Computer.

I could say that he should have been the perfect campus heartthrob of our last year in high school, if not for the fact that he had to earn a living to pay for his tuition.

If I became an orphan after graduation, he was an abandoned child. For that he didn't get enough votes to be the campus heartthrob, which to him was a blessing.

Nelson Santos, Rosemary Santos' cousin, won by a landslide. He was truly good-looking with a very fit body to boot. Smart and well-liked by everybody, he came from a very wealthy and influential family.

However, my friends and I had voted for Aaron. He was our friend, our classmate and tutor. He tutored us in Math and he never asked for anything in return so, we would take turns buying him a snack after every tutoring session at the school cafeteria. Our tutoring session had always been every Thursday, when our dismissal was an hour earlier than other schooldays. Back then, we already knew about his financial status but never humiliated him by offering him money for his services. He had said that he would feel like a prostitute if we did. No point in arguing with him over that matter.

Curiously, Aaron never accepted the snacks I bought him. He would instead tell me to eat it myself which, being so naive, was favorable to me. So I would always buy the snacks I relished and he would watch me with pleasure, which confounded my friends. How could he enjoy watching me fill my mouth with food until my cheeks puffed up while trying to chew and swallow at the same time, disregarding poise and propriety.

"You're so cute, Julie, when you're like that," Aaron would say as he propped his elbows on the table behind him. He then tilted his head and chuckled.

"You like my face this way, bloated like a balloon?" I would say in disgust even when my mouth was full and sounded almost incoherent.

Aaron shamelessly nodded.

"Yeah, he likes ugly girls, that's why," Brenda joined in.

"So, you mean he hangs around with us because we're ugly?" Lizzie sounded angry and glared at Aaron over her math book. "I totally disagree that I'm ugly, specially you, Brenda."

"I'm average looking," Molly simply butted in. Her round eyes depicted resignation and acceptance of her features.

Among the four of us Brenda had been the gorgeous one. She was of the mixed Filipino-Hispanic ancestry. Lizzie had one-fourth Chinese blood and two inches taller than us. Molly had been the plump girl in the group with golden curly locks she got from her German great-grandmother. As for me, should I say I am the average-looking girl-next-door? However, I hear some people say I am beautiful, the kind of beauty that goes beyond time. I am just flabbergasted by their compliment.

"You're all very pretty but, Julie is the cutest among the four of you," assured Aaron. Before someone could make another rebuttal, he already focused his eyes on the lesson at hand. And so the tutoring session resumed.

"If the four of you will maintain at least a passing grade in Math this grading period, I assure you that you'll be able to get to the business schools you want so badly," Aaron said after he closed his book and gathered his things on the cafeteria table while seated.

"How about you, Aaron, what do you plan to take?" Molly asked.

"I plan to enter the military," he said nonchalantly as if it's the most sought-after career after high school. I believe that only two percent of the boys in high school would pursue a military career, unless one came from a family with military background. Our top-ranking career choice had been engineering or architecture. Computer science was the second.

"Why?" Lizzie asked wide-eyed. "Are you tired of living?"

Aaron chuckled. "It's a secret." This had been one of his favorite phrases to annoy us.

"But, aren't you afraid? I heard that new recruits were sent to war-torn areas?" I became worried and ignored his attempt at teasing us. How could he make a joke out of a career that would put his life on the line?

He noticed the slight tremor in my voice which made his lip turned upward. He looked at me straight in the eye, "Are you concerned about me?" That teasing tone again. Yet, why is he directing that question to me alone. We have all been friends since our sophomore years. He wasn't even the only boy closest to us. There were also James and Brent. But they were busy with their athletic activities. Aaron could have joined them but opted to tutor us instead.

I could only turn my eyes away from his mesmerizing gaze as i felt my face turned red. I touched my face with both hands attempting to hide the crimson stain from my cheeks. "I...you're so good in Math, why be a soldier?"

"I'm poor. If I enter the academy, I won't be paying any tuition fees. The government will send me to school." Somehow I felt it was the most sensible reason why he had to enter the military. But there were sadness in my eyes. Four years in the military academy. Four years of back-breaking, nerve-wrecking, brain-draining training.

There were two qualifying examination schedules, one for each semester. He took the last semester exams which was just a few months before graduation. I learned from James that he passed already the exams and would enter the academy right after. He just spilled Aaron's secret by accident when we saw each other at the mall a few weeks ago. I just dismissed it as a simple information about a friend from a friend. But now that Aaron confirmed it I felt a lump formed in my throat.

When I had laid down on my bed that night, I couldn't help but feel pity for Aaron. He was abandoned by his parents when he was seven years old. That grandmother who took him in wasn't even blood-related to him. He had to work to pay for his tuition in our exclusive high school. He had to tend Tom's cafe and accept Math tutoring sessions everyday apart from our Thursday sessions. Did he even have time to rest?