Kabanata 9

MARIA

Okay Ri, you got this.

I said to myself after waving goodbye to my dad as he drove off to his new work at the law firm.

This is making me nervous....

I went straight towards the entrance and saw that all of the students went towards somewhere near the soccer field. I had no choice but to just follow their direction.

When I followed them, I saw a grand auditorium. And when I meant grand, I mean't bigger that any auditorium. Even the students here took selfies.

I heard my phone beep and saw a message sent by my mom.

Mother Earth:

How is it there anak? Can you take a picture of the place?

This is stupid but I can't do that to my mom. She might bug me for the whole day asking how I am.

I opened the front camera of my phone and took a selfie for her. I sent it and I heard some of the students laughing while I took the selfie. Shit, now I'm getting embarrassed.

I just looked at the auditorium and just asked myself if I should go or just wait for a teacher? Should I bitch out and never come back to school? Or.....

"Miss Johnson," I heard someone called my name. I looked over to where that came from and saw a hot ass professor.

He was tall, built like a lumberjack and wore a tuck-in buttoned down blue polo. I can sense heaven coming right at me. Dear God, this is the best gift you ever gave me. Thank you.

"Hello Miss Maria Johnson, my name is Bernardo Einstein Zamora." The man said. Oh how precious this man is with his beard and thick wavy locks and masculine voice. Catch me, I'm falling hard.

"Ah! Mr. Zamora you have met our new Senior High school student Miss Johnson."

"Opo Ma'am, she looks lost kaya gusto ko po siyang iescort sa loob ng auditorium natin." The professor said. I smiled at him and our headmistress.

I shake her hand and greeted her. "Good morning Ma'am."

"Good Morning rin Miss Johnson. I hope you are greeted warmly by our faculty here Sir Zamora. In the auditorium we greet every new student or freshmen who have enrolled in our school." She said as I let go of her hand. So this seems kind of special for ever year?

"Okay, but it's not like I have to introduce myself infront of everyone?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh no, Miss Johnson this is to warmly welcome the students for a new school year." She clearly specified.

"Okay, can I go inside?"

"Why yes of course, Mr. Zamora will-"

"I'll go alone inside. Maybe I'll make new friends?" I said just so they won't be bothered by me. The headmistress nodded and I continued to walk inside the auditorium.

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The bleachers were crowded by a lot of people. I was gonna sit next to where the door was near but a sassy looking girl placed her bag on the seat.

"Sorry, my Gucci is sitting here. I need it to relax a bit." I heard some of her minions whisoered and said 'yeah' in a sarcastic way. Regina George in the making.

I saw a vacant seat at the back and what a coincidence. I saw the emo guy again along with his girl and another human.

I smiled and asked, "Is this seat taken?"

He looked at me with eyes wide open, how cute. He looked like an anime character in which I have no interest. He smiled at me and nodded.

As the program was about to start, I texted my mom that class was about to start for her not to bug me.

"Good morning students and welcome to Parsons International School. My name is Ma'am Hernandez, I am the headmistress of this school. Behind me are the astounding faculty of Parsons...." As she was talking, I scrolled down on my phone and just watched my notifications on my social media accounts.

"Ang baduy naman nito bro. Ba't ba kasi kailangan pa nila ng ganito eh kilala naman natin sila eh."

"Shut up Juan and listen. Kuya Peter is busy." I heard the girl said.

"Can we just be silent for just 15 minutes?" I heard the emo guy said. Geez, can he just chill?

I returned my attention towards my phone. I had to hide my phone inside my bag and lowered the brightness. I chatted Oz and I just want to talk to him right now. I kind of miss him.

Not after 15 minutes, I heard the guy next to emo boy scoffed. I peeped a little and saw him make a big yawn. The girl next to him just slapped his mouth for him to shut it.

"I hope you all enjoy this school year as we enjoy teaching you." One of the teachers said. We all clapped and got out of our seats.

"Nakakatamad pala yung palagi napang tayong nakikinig ng ganyang diskusyon." The Lazy Kid said.

"Ano ba Juan, dapat ay makinig ka sa mga sinasabi nila. This school is one of the best here in the Philippines." The girl said. I saw her cheeks flushed a little, maybe mad at that lazy kid they call Juan.

"Huwag na nga kayong mag-away." Said the emo kid while walking outside the auditorium.

I went outside that auditorium and went straight towards the building. I looked at my schedule and figured it out. I asked some students here but some of them are just afraid to tell me. Why the hell would they be afraid to tell me? I'm freaking harmless!

Then I saw the Emo kid again with the guy and girl I saw earlier. Shit, should I ask them?

With nothing else to do, I walked towards their direction. "Hello my name is Maria. I would like to ask about something."

The three of them exchanged looks. Why? Because I was smiling? Was it weird for me to do that? Oh now I'm overthinking again, great.

I was surprised when the girl introduced herself to me. "Hello, my name is Kelsie." The girl said and offered her hand for a handshake. I politely accepted her hand and let go.

"What seems to be the problem Maria?" She asked.

"Oh, I was kind of asking some people where this room was."

I showed her my schedule and she immediately smiled. "Great! You belong in our class. You can join us if you'd like."

I saw the emo guy's face turned red. Maybe he disagree's that idea?

"Yes, you go with us. The people here are just bad eh." The guy named Juan said. I chuckled, well ain't that the truth.

"Kuya Peter?" Kelsie asked the emo guy. Peter, so that's his name huh? Kind of ordinary for an emo guy.

I saw him nod and smiled at me. I saw his pearly white teeth and I felt an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. Maybe I was hungry because I skipped breakfast.

I went to where they were headed. It was nice for Kelsie to let me join and converse with them just for me to not be akward with them.

We all got inside the room and it was freaking crowded with spoiled brats and jocks.

"Kuya, are you sure this is our homeroom?" Kelsie asked Peter. Girl, you're not the only one confused.

"Yeah, I guess." Peter answered.

We just sat on where the vacant seat are, which are on the back. How the hell can we hear the professor if we are on the back and a noisy class like this, I bet this is one hell of a ride.