Chapter 1 WE MEET STRANGERS- girls don’t fall off trees

It's a brand new morning, the start of a new school year. He woke up early today. Washing his face, he looks up at the mirror and grins.

"New place... new faces... new me."

~~~

"Hey you stooopid cat!!! Get down from there! Don't cha wanna play no more?!"

A group of bullies have ganged up on a poor cat. They were trying to get it down from the top of a huge mango tree but...

"Hehehe, prob'ly got stuck!" said one of the thugs.

"C'mon, let's throw stones at it!" said another, "Who ever makes it fall gets to eat for free!"

"Yeah! Me first!" the biggest in the group aims and misses. "Damn! Missed by a hair's length!"

"Me next!" another bully aims and hits the cat's side; the cat gave out a moan. "HA! Beat that!"

"It didn't fall, did it? Stubborn cat!" said the rest, still throwing stones at the poor thing.

A boy looks helplessly from the road "No... Nothing I can do here..." he told himself.

"Hey you!" said one of the bullies as he sees the guy passing by, "What you lookin' at?!"

"Hey kid, I've never seen you round here before..." said another as the rest of group surrounds him.

"Well, at least the cat can rest for a while..." he thought.

"Ei, don't 'ya know that you need to pay us a fee to pass this street?" said the biggest in the group.

"Yeah, c'mon, rake it up!" said another, "20 bucks per head, and since ya have two..."

"Wa-hahahahaha!" laughed the group.

"Okay-okay, just don't hurt me..." said the guy as he reached for his pocket, "Well, better than getting late on the first day of school..." he thought as he brought out his wallet and hands over 2 twenty-peso bills.

"Wahahahah!" laughed the bullies, "Good boy, do that and you won't get into any trouble!" They were just about to leave when a rustling sound came from behind. They turned around and saw the mango tree shaking. Something suddenly fell from it, taking the boy and the bullies by surprise.

There was a girl squatting before them wearing a school uniform with a checkered maroon skirt, she was carrying a scared cat, its nails dug deep in her arms. She squints in pain as she held on to the back of it's neck to prevent it from biting her. She looks suddenly at the group with such anger that it sent a shiver down the boy's neck.

"A-a-a-a..." stuttered one of the bullies, he never got to finish what he meant to say, the girl was suddenly before him, fist flying, lands it in his face with a load KRACK! The bully goes flying to the ground before he knew it.

"A... Ange! I-i-is that your cat?!? W-we were just t-trying to get it off the t-tree for y-" [SPAAKKK!!! 2 down]

"HellllpPPP!!!!!" screams the 3rd bully, but the girl takes a stone and hits him squarely in the head with a thud! 3 down, 1 to go.

"No, please, I told them to stop! ask him!" said the last thug. He looks at the boy while kneeling on the ground. "Didn't I tell them to stop? Ne? N-" The girl kicks the bully in the face, he fell on the ground, unconscious.

The guy looks on, "A-amazing...!" he said under his breath, he then remembers the girl's arm; it was still bleeding. The cat is beginning to cool down, but its claws still clung to her flesh.

"Are you o-" the girl's fist strikes him before he could finish, his instincts jump and he barely dodged it. "She's fast!" thought he.

"He's fast..." thought the girl "Who're you?" she asks, still holding on to the cat.

"Ah... just a passerby... I recently moved in the old Mendoza house..." he replied with an uncertain grin.

"I asked for a name." replied the girl, cutting him short.

"... Robert..." he replied.

"Hmph" the girl starts to turn away.

"Wait! Your arm!"

"None of your business."

"But..." Robert pulls out a hanky from his pocket and hands it to the girl, "Here."

The girl eyed the hanky. She looked at her arm, the blood still dripping. She took the hanky and turned away, not saying a word. Robert followed her with his eyes till she turned a corner and disappeared.

"That was... so cool!" he gasped.

~~~

"First day of school and you're already late?!" said the teacher.

"But sir," Robert tried to explain, "I'm a transferee here so..."

"Unacceptable!" the other replied, "If I permitted this kind of attitude on the first day, then who knows how you'd turn out to be in the middle of the school year?!"

"but..."

"Stand outside the corridor!" said the teacher, pointing outside the door"

"... Yes Sir..." was all Robert could reply.

"Well," said he as he took his place outside the classroom, "It is the middle of the 1ST subject..." he gave a sigh and lean on the wall.

"I shouldn't have gone back to get a new hanky..." he thought, "But I do hope things will turn out well in this new school... the students seem to be nice and the girls aren't that bad..." he suddenly remembered the girl he met earlier, "Come to think of it, that girl had the same uniform..." said he rubbing his chin, "I wonder which class she is from?"

"Mr. Robert Cordero." the teacher suddenly said, he was standing beside Robert and looked at him suspiciously. "Talking to yourself, eh?"

"No, sir, just thinking out loud..." Robert said, he smiled, a little embarrassed for the class seemed to be watching from inside, he could hear them snickering.

"Hmph, I guess you'll need a little more time out here to think about your tardiness then." said the teacher, "But don't worry, you'll have a companion for the rest of the period."

The teacher moved aside, Robert's eyes widened as he saw her; it was the same girl he met earlier, the one with the cat. The scratches were clean now, and the bleeding has stopped, but her skirt looked a little dirty.

"Ms. Angela Bartholomew here claims that she fell off the jeepney," said the teacher with a snort, "but knowing her, she probably just forgot today was a school day and tripped as she hurried on her way here."

"Umm, sir, don't you think she should go to the clinic?" asked Robert, still looking at Angela.

"Non-sense!" replied the teacher, "If she has enough strength to sneak in the classroom through the window, then she can stand all period out here with you!"

With that, the teacher went back to his class, slamming the door behind him.

Robert glanced at. She stood motionless with a far away look in her deep black eyes, she reached up to his chin, he was 5'7" after all. Her hair covered her brows and fell to her shoulders in soft curls at the back. She was pretty, beautiful even,

"But she sure would look even more beautiful if she would smile..." thought Robert. He looked at her arms. Yes, the scratches were still there, but they don't seem to be as deep as he thought, with the blood gone and all. Her skirt really looked filthy. "Maybe she did fall off somewhere." he thought once more, as he looked closely at the stains.

"Blood?!?"

"What you looking at?" asked Angela.

"Y-you..." stammered Robert, looking a little pale, "you're bleeding! You should go to the clinic!" said he, trying hard to keep his voice down.

"No I'm not." she replied. She looked straight ahead, a frown on her face.

"But that's blood!" he said, "I'd know it anywhere!"

"Would you now?" Angela suddenly said, looking straight at him, "and why would that be?"

Robert was taken back by this question. He got careless, something like that could have caused him trouble, and just when he have decided to live a 'normal' life.

"I... umm... y-you see..." he stammered.

"It's not mine." Angela said, looking away.

"Oh... so how's your cat?" he asked, again.

Angela didn't reply. She kept looking straight ahead.

"It couldn't be from the guys you beat up earlier," continued Robert stubbornly, "They wouldn't have bled that much!" Still no reply. "Anyway, I'm glad my hanky helped."

Robert gave a sigh. Angela still said nothing. "I guess I should shut up now..." he whispered.

Angela stretched her arm. Robert looked up and saw her handing him his handkerchief. It was still wet; she probably cleaned it.

"Keep it," said Robert with a smile.

~~~

"Really? You came from 'that' school?" asked one of Robert's classmates.

"Isn't Binunga High School notorious for its delinquent students?" asked another.

"Well, I guess you can say that... e-he-he..." replied Robert with a little laugh.

"Is that why you decided to transfer to our school?" yet another asked, he sure seems popular, but then again, he's not bad looking after all.

"Not really," he answered back, "we just moved and this school is much closer." said he, "Besides, I was bullied a lot back there... e-he-he..." he quickly added.

His classmates kept asking questions, "I guess it can't be helped," he found himself thinking, "There aren't many transferees in this class, specially since it's the 4th year, most schools don't accept new students in their graduating classes… good thing my uncle was an alumni here…" He looked around the room for Angela and saw her sitting with a group of girls - she was smiling.

"I hope Mr. Balmeo didn't scare you too much," one of his classmates was saying, "He's not such a bad guy when you get to know him, he was our teacher last year, and he may be strict at times, but he has a soft side too, you know."

"I'm glad to hear that... you're Tony right?" asked Robert

From a corner together with her friends, Angela smiles. She takes a short look at Robert and frowns.

"Something wrong, Angela?" asked one of her friends.

"No, of course not, Mia," she replied. "I just happened to meet that guy on the way to school, I think he's weird."

"Really?" asked another, "I think he's cute! Look at those deep brown eyes and that spiky hair! And those lips... he's the kind of guy who would come swooping down on you when you're a maiden in distress!"

"Reeeeeally now?" said Angela sarcastically.

"Oh, I know you wouldn't understand," said the other, "You never did like boys much do you?"

"Yeah, I guess we could say that you're like a boy yourself! Right Bern?" said Mia

"Yeah, but in a cute way."

"What really happened to you anyway?"

"Yeah, you're so full of wild stories that we never know when you're telling the truth!"

"He-he," smiled Angela, "Teacher's right, I did slip on my way to school!"

"Really, Angela, you're always so clumsy!"

The three girls laughed. Robert had quietly moved closer to the group and looked secretly at Angela, "She's lying to her friends?" thought he, "And she's acting so different from before!"

"So, you got struck by her too, eh?" Robert was startled, Tony was right beside him,

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, trying to look innocent.

"Angela has broken many a boy's hearts, not only in this class, but in the whole school as well!" Tony explained. "She's a man hater, and only smiles when she's with her friends!"

"So that's why she wouldn't talk to me..."

"Ah, but the radiance of that rare smile! Her delicate innocence melts my heart whenever my eyes pass her... she makes my heart quote poetry!"

"..." Robert was speechless... "Delicate innocence?!" he said to himself

"Of course, she couldn't hurt a fly, us guys couldn't make ourselves to approach her, she's so helpless, once a senior tried to make friends with her, they said she started to cry!"

"... she... cried?"

"Yes, and there was also a time when a group of thugs where waiting for someone outside the campus, she was so scared that she asked her friends if she could go home with them...then again those goons were really scary."

"A group of goons eh?" Robert asked, rubbing his chin, "They were probably looking for her..." thought he.

"That's why I have sworn to myself that I will protect such fragile beauty..." Tony continued, muttering to himself, "O my fragile beauty! I am a slave of your innocence!!!"

"Fragile? Innocent?" thought Robert, trying not to laugh, "You've got to be kidding!"

"I didn't think he'd be a student here..." muttered Angela.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean the uniform he's wearing, huh?" said Mia.

"The White polo looks the same as ours, but that brown slacks belong to that public school, Binunga High."

"The boys there are so scary!" said Bern, "Maybe he was one of those cool gang leaders, and he was forced to transfer here to save himself from their enemy's revenge!"

"Bernadette, you have such an imagination..."

"Yeah, he seems like a nice guy..." said Angela. Her two friends looked at her, surprised.

"What?" she asked.

"Don't tell me you like him?" asked Bern, "I could never stand a chance against you!"

"Oh, c'mon, all I said is that he looks like a nice guy!"

"Hey, don't tell me, you talked to him while you were standing outside the corridor?" asked Mia teasing.

"Oh, c'mon you guys, just drop it!" Angela smiled, that radiant smile she only gives to her friends. "Let's just hope," she thought behind that smile, "that he doesn't blow my cover."