Chapter 7: Vi's Inspiration

Vi POV

Vi, don't give any attention to Dan. You know that he feels apologetic from last school year but you don't want Sapphire to destroy your reputation, right? Especially when she knows one of your secrets?

After ALA, I quickly dashed up to the fourth floor where the faculty is usually seen. My math teacher just sent a text message to me saying that she will give me the review materials and resources I'll need for the preceding remedial sessions. My tutee and I will be handling the same topics so it will make it easier for me to evaluate and handle my tutee.

I seriously wanted to know who will be my tutee this year after that recent dream. He seems like a friendly and nice guy. Though I have my doubts. I have to look back at my dream journal 'cause of speculations that my tutee is Dan. I really hope it's not him at all. I have to avoid him this school year at all costs.

I knocked on the faculty's door and I entered the SMCT (Science, Math, Computer, and Technology) office while my hand was trembling due to nervousness. I smiled and greeted my teachers. "Good afternoon teachers." No one responded back as always.

I approached my teacher's table and greeted them. "Good afternoon ma'am Bea. I've received your messages and I'm ready to pick up the review materials."

"Oh sure. It's on that desk over there. It also contains your schedule with your tutee."

"Alright ma'am. May raise questions regarding next week's remedial session?"

"Oh Vi, I am a bit busy so I cannot entertain all of your questions right now but I will try. What do you want to ask?"

I cleared my throat. "Ma'am, may I know who will be my tutee for this school year? I am curious to know so that I can determine his strengths and weaknesses on the subject."

"Well, it’s a bit of a surprise, yet I will introduce him to you personally though you two are classmates. Since it's his first time attending remedial and your first time handling him, I insist that you'll meet him on the first day of remedial sessions instead. But don't worry, he is your fellow classmate and it is easier for you to monitor him."

"Noted ma'am. I also liked to ask if it is okay for me to teach him some advanced topics from the curriculum whenever he masters the current lessons?"

"I'll only allow it if it will further enhance his understanding of the topic. Still, emphasize more on the current lessons for him to get higher grades."

"I will ma'am. Thank you, ma'am Bea."

"Anytime Vi. You may leave. Don't forget to report to me next week."

I left the office and went straight to the store.

Nevermind, I'll make a summary of all of the topics so that my discussion will go through smoothly and fast.

***

After a long day, I jumped and laid on my bed to rest. I gaze at the ceiling feeling determined. I set my alarm to 30 minutes from now and put on my earphones. I played some calming songs by Moira Dela Torre and December Avenue. I was dozing off to sleep until Elaine suddenly entered the room and sat on the corner of my bed.

Elaine took my brown teddy bear and played with it. "Hi Violet, so how's life?"

"Life doesn't have an exact definition. It has various definitions with their own take on it. For me, well it'll take a chunk of your time if I explain–"

She smacked my arm while laughing. "What I mean is how is your day?"

"Ahh, I was just kidding a while ago. Of course, my day was great but tiring. I'm resting before I'll proceed to write a summary of all equations and terms for the math remedial sessions."

"You will be outlining again. Isn't it too much of a hassle for you to put so much effort into your remedial sessions?"

"It's not, I actually enjoy teaching with several sources and notes. You can read some of my resources for my summary and worksheets for practice if you want to."

She took out my file case and saw the number of worksheets I have. "This is a lot, Vi. You’re so hardworking. From managing your own time schedules to helping others with their math problems. I couldn’t even finish every requirement on time. I really hope that you'll be a DL this year.”

I coughed a bit from her last statement. "In my dreams. I am only sure that we will survive grade nine struggles. Being a DL isn’t really a big deal for me. Only parents and relatives do."

"Of course, becoming a DL is difficult. It’s just that you’ve helped many of us already and we wanted you to become one because we think that you deserve it. Yet I am a bit curious, why did you volunteer teaching for Math remedial sessions? Is it because of the extra points earned?"

"I didn’t do it because of plus points. Whenever I teach, it reminds me of my best friend.Well, let’s just say that I got inspiration from my best friend three years ago. However, we lost touch ever since I transferred schools. "

"Why?"

I hesitated to answer. It has been years since it passed but the heart wouldn't forget the immense pain it caused before. I tried my best to fight back tears.

"For starters, we have different priorities. He is staying in Quezon City while I'm here studying in Baguio. Our friendship can be compared to a long-distance friendship. There are times when you won't know whether it is a good time to talk or not. I didn't know if he's going through a difficult time. I didn't know if he was giving up on everything. He had personal problems which he never shared. Yet he’s the first person I talk with whenever I was struggling a lot."

I quickly paced myself from speaking too fast. "One time, he had a serious argument which resulted in breaking our friendship. It's difficult to maintain friendship, trust, and honesty when you're really far away from each other's reach. But I knew that it's not necessary to always stay in touch every day to maintain our friendship. We rarely talked about anything except memories from elementary. It's sad that he decided to disregard all those good memories I had with him. All I know is that he is too tired to deal with me anymore. Though he left me alone, I will always be the person who is willing to help others because he believed in my capabilities"

He's not just my best friend, he became my crush before. Ever since then, I have closed my heart from others. I stopped anyone who showed his intentions of giving me back his love. I can't anymore because my heart can't bear it anymore. It's done too much damage. Even though others were just a puppy crush. I already "moved-on" from the past but the pain will still remain here.

I believe in the saying that love is more precious when you love a person without expecting them to love you back. Even if we were only friends, I was already happy being by his side. I never regretted that we were best friends, yet it still hurts whenever I reminisce on those memories I had with him.

"It is alright Vi. You're too kind to deserve such pain. Someday, he might realize that he shouldn't have done it in the first place. He’ll apologize."

"It's difficult to hope too much," I told myself.

After I finished writing my summary, I forced myself to sleep. I blinked my eyes and gaze on the ceiling. My thoughts are filled with questions I had before. I tried to answer them one-by-one but a question always appeared in response to my answer. An unending swirl of paradoxical questions that forces itself to remain unanswered. I felt the warmth of my tears as it rolled down my cheek. I buried my face onto my pillow.

This feeling always breaks me whenever the thought of my best friend is mentioned or related to a certain situation. If this petty issue I had with him destroyed me in the past, how would I be able to go through the problems I'll have to encounter on the way?

Flashback: Three Years Ago

The sun radiated intense heat as everyone played their designated sports for this year’s intramurals. My game will start around 3:30 PM so I have enough time to prepare. I stayed in the shade where my other classmates were cheering for our basketball team. I couldn’t hear myself as I cheered, theirs were louder.

My phone suddenly buzzed from my pocket, it was a call from my teacher-coach. I took my phone and instantly walked away from the area. In a flash, I fell down on my knees as the ball hit my head with great force.

IAndrew, my classmate, approached me with concern. “Hey, are you alright?”

“I’m okay, I’ll just go to the clinic just in case. Don’t worry, just continue playing. Good luck!”

“Okay, if you say so. Let me help you up.”

I struggled with finding my balance. “I’m a bit dizzy. Let me take a few seconds.”

Andrew suddenly shouted, “Coach, let me take a quick break! I’ll assist Vi for the meantime! Let Franco be my replacement”

“I’ll let someone else assist her.We can’t lose this game! We need you so that we may win.”

“Sir, Franco didn’t play for the first two quarters of the game. Give him a chance to play coach, I believe in him.”

The coach nodded, “Alright son, bring Vi to the clinic.”

Andrew lifted me off the ground and carried me to the clinic. The nurse immediately checked on me and placed an ice pack on the slightly swollen area.

“Sorry Vi, I didn’t mean to hit you. The ball slipped from my hands.”

“It’s really okay. Go back to your game, the team is depending on you.”

“Fine. Here’s your phone by the way.”

He hurriedly ran back to the game. There were little scratches on the sides of my phone as I looked past the missed calls. I immediately texted my teacher, noting that I’ll come after easing the swelling.

After a while, I greeted my teacher as we talked about strategies for the game. “Like I’ve said, chess is all about logic. To prepare you still need a bit more practice before the game. Luckily, I’ve convinced someone you know who’ll train you. He’s the famous “Hidden King” of this school.”

“Really, he’s from our batch?”

“Yes, we concealed his identity as per request. You’ll meet him soon.”

“Who is the “Hidden King” sir?”

“Don’t tell anyone this, but he is -”

Andrew appeared and gave me a bottle of cold water. “Here’s my token of apology.”

“Just in time Andrew, Vi needs to be trained now.”

“Andrew?!”