CHAPTER 34: THE PREFECT OF DISCIPLINE
THE GIRL WHO CAN’T DATE
By Eleventh
CHAPTER 34: THE PREFECT OF DISCIPLINE
“Hearing his name feels like I am my fifteen year-old-self once again. Afraid. Conflicted. Humbled. And defenseless.” – Ira P.
“Miss Pardilla?” Skye called her attention. She has been staring blankly in the air for quite a few seconds.
“Huh?”
“Mr. Romualdez is calling for you?”
“Right! Uhm! Mr. Doromal, do you mind watching the class until I come back? If only you're free.”
Skye gently shook his head. “Not a problem. I'll take over your class.”
“Thank you.”
Ira left to see Mr. Romualdez, the man he dreaded the most during her high school days. As she walks through the familiar lobby, painful memories came back to her like haunting ghosts.
She stood in front of the wooden door that she described as aged and unrenovated – faded paint, chipped corners, and a rusty doorknob. Even the bronze plate hanging on the door had an ugly decoloration.
Ira knocked thrice and invited herself in only to find Mr. Romualdez, a man in his 50s with gray hair and wrinkled skin, sitting on his chair, waiting for her with a smirk on his face.
“Miss Pardilla! Long time no see! Have a seat!” he greeted cheerfully.
Ira sat on an available chair across his desk. Not a slight smile was painted on her face. To her, he is insufferable as he was ten years ago. Smiling at her as if they were good old friends was detestable.
“I've learned that you've been teaching in this institution for quite a long time now and uhm, it's funny how we never saw each other. Don’t you find that weird? I mean, pft... the academy isn't that big, right? We should have bumped into each other at least once unless... you were avoiding me. Are you?”
“Why should I avoid you... sir?”
Mr. Romualdez pouted his lips. “Mmm... I don't know! Who knows? You might have a grudge against me.”
“I don't live in the past, sir. I just don't have any reason to look for you nor visit you in your office.”
The old man scoffed. “Well, this is a very ironic way to meet again. I mean the last time I saw you, you were in this room. You’ve always visited this room. Do you remember?”
“I remember it all too well, Sir. Not a single thing has changed in this room... nor the person sitting behind this desk.”
“HA-HA-HA!” he laughed. “I don't know what you mean about that but you're right. There is no need for change when everything is completely in order.”
“Order huh?” she responded dully. “So, why am I summoned here again?”
“It’s about your student, Mr. Pineda.”
Ira suddenly became concerned. She lifted her chin with wide eyes. “What about him?”
“He was caught in a riot with some students from Mastersons High School right outside their gates. He beat up the kid because of something very petty. Allegedly, that kid was hitting on his girlfriend.”
“What?! How is he? Where is he now?”
The homeroom teacher was verily worried but Mr. Romualdez does not share the same sympathy.
“He was taken to the Police Station for detention, of course. But you don’t have to be worried about him. The Department of Social Welfare and Development will take him from there. What you have to be worried about is the scandal he made. He brought disgrace to the school. The kid he beat up was badly hurt that he was sent to the hospital. And now the family of the kid demands disciplinary actions. They want him expelled. ”
Ira stood up, banging her fists on the table full of raging emotions.
“Seriously, Mr. Romualdez? This isn’t the time to care about the reputation of the school! Carlos is detained right now. With the criminals. He is just a student. He is only 15. He does not belong there. And expulsion? Isn’t that a bit too much? You... you didn’t even bother to ask for his statement or gave him a chance to explain or clear his name.”
“I told you, he will be transferred to the social welfare. And there is no need for his statement, Miss Pardilla. A 15-year-old beating up another teenager knows what he is doing. He is not a 3-year-old boy who cannot distinguish between good and evil. And yes he deserves the expulsion. After all, he committed violence. He broke the school’s code of conduct…”
“So this is what "in order" means to you! You still consider that all your beliefs and principles are right!”
He shrugged his shoulders with a smirk on his face. “Of course. It has always been that way. For this school to be known as flawlessly well-mannered and educated, the perfect ones, students with brains and character, deserved to be acknowledged and rewarded while the rotten ones must be eliminated.”
“But the ones you call rotten… at least LISTEN!”
“Yeah-yeah! I know the drama, Miss Pardilla! They’re just misunderstood. They need help. They need to be heard. Blah-blah! Pft! No matter what help we offer, they do not change. If we do not eliminate the rotten ones, they will only contaminate the good ones.”
Ira closed her fists trying to suppress the tears that are welling in her eyes.
“Am I not enough evidence, Sir? That what used to be rotten can change too.”
“You know what, Ira!” Mr. Romualdez sighed. “You were meant to leave Grayson Academy 10 years ago if not for your father and your brothers too. I must say I was surprised that you actually succeeded in life. Well, I guess the academy did well with you. Who would have thought that someone delinquent like you would become a teacher? But to be honest… I am apprehensive about you. I am apprehensive about the influence you bring!”
“I’ve heard enough, Sir! I’ll take it from here. Please, excuse me. I have a student to pick up.”
“Go ahead!” the prefect of discipline smirked.
Ira dashed out. She did not mean to slam the door but she was not apologetic either. The suppressed tears now broke free surging through her cheeks, feeling too much anger at the very moment. Drying her tears with the back of her hand, she ran to the ladies' washroom to compose herself before anyone could see her.
She washed her face and dried it with her handkerchief. Looking back at the reflection in the mirror, she spoke, “Don’t back down, Ira. You haven’t done anything yet. You can still help this kid. You gotta help this kid.”
She fixed her hair damped with water and went outside. She almost fell to the floor when she accidentally bumped into someone standing in the doorway, but sturdy hands caught her before she could hurt herself.
“Skye? What are you doing outside the ladies' washroom?”
“Your class is over.”
Ira checked her watch.
“Ow. I’m sorry I failed to return. Something urgent happened.”
“Is everything okay?”
She breathed so heavily and looked at Skye with pleading eyes.
“Unfortunately, no! Carlos Pineda, my student, is detained right now because he beat up a student at Mastersons High School and he might be expelled.”
Skye bit his lip to think. “Immediate Expulsion? Not suspension? Why? Is it that bad?”
“I don’t know. It’s the parents. They want him to be expelled.”
“So what are you planning to do?”
“Get my bag. Get out of here. And get Carlos at the social welfare.”
Ira forced a smile to show Skye that she has it all under control and slowly walked away. But he knew too well that she was holding it even if she had already cried out her frustrations earlier.
“Hey!” he called. “Let me come with you.”
Ira turned and stared at him, standing there and silently waiting for him to explain why he wanted to come.
“He didn’t mention which Social Welfare he was taken to, did he?”
Ira squinted her eyes and shook her head.
“And you don’t know where it is, do you?”
Ira pressed her lips and shook her head again.
Skye sniggered. “And now, you’re afraid that you might get lost again, are you?
Ira sighed and gently nodded. It made Skye snigger. She looked like a kid when she pouted her lips and sighed.
“Get your things. I’ll wait here.”
“Okay!”
Ira smiled. That moment whether it was Skye or anyone else, she needed someone. And she was glad that Skye offered that support she did not know she needed.