CHAPTER 35: SOMEONE WHO WILL TAKE YOUR SIDE
THE GIRL WHO CAN’T DATE
By Eleventh
CHAPTER 35: SOMEONE WHO WILL TAKE YOUR SIDE
“When life becomes unfair and the world seems to turn against you, all we ever want is to have someone who will take our side.” – Ira P.
2007 RECOLLECTION
“I am not going to apologize. I am not the bully! I am the victim!”
Ira’s voice quavered when she raised her voice against the prefect of discipline. She adamantly insisted that she was the victim of bullying, however that is hard to believe. Her hair was messy, obviously pulled, and she got a scratch on her face and red bruises on her hands, probably scuffed from falling on the ground. Yet, the three other girls in the room were badly beaten. They got a bleeding nose, bruised eyes, and broken arms. One of them even lost a tooth.
Ira didn’t look like she was the victim at all.
“Now, now, Miss Pardilla! I’m sorry but…” Mr. Romualdez’s voice echoed in the room. “Look what you did? They’re badly hurt. The least you can do is to apologize to settle this once and for all.”
“I’d rather be suspended!”
15-year-old Ira was a stubborn kid, unyielding for what is right and true. How she wanted to eat those nasty bitches who displayed fear in their eyes to play victims.
Mr. Romualdez breathed heavily.
“I can’t believe you are a Pardilla. Your brothers were top students of this academy, epitomes of good character, but here you are… their exact opposite!”
“Sir! She needs to be punished!” the girl who lost a tooth whined.
“Oh, really? Acting so innocent now, huh?” Ira’s nostrils flared as she stared at the girls with a glowering look. Her hostile glares and her clenching fists made them step back and hid behind Mr. Romualdez.
“SIT DOWN, MISS PARDILLA! Don’t you ever start a riot inside my office!” Worried that he might not be able to control the chaos, the prefect of discipline roared.
“See, sir, how vicious she is?”
“We will settle this once your parents arrive.” Mr. Romualdez pacified.
Just then the door flung open and angry mothers came in. When they saw their children’s condition, they screeched in worry and were boiling in anger the moment they saw Ira looking at them without a spot of remorse.
Following behind the ladies were men, Ira’s father alongside Ares and Eros. The boys immediately checked on Ira, concerned when they heard that she was caught in a brawl against three.
“Thank God you only got a scratch,” Eros muttered, holding her face with his palms.
“Good for her she only got a scratch! Look at what she did to my daughter!” One mother uttered sharply.
“Do you know how we take care of her face? I don’t even let a mosquito land on her skin!” the other mother pronounced furiously.
“We demand that she must be expelled.” The mother of the girl with a lost tooth declared.
“Expulsion? Excuse me, ma’am, but that is too harsh!” Eros butted in.
“What she did to our daughters is harsh too. Besides, she committed violence.”
"Our sister is not the only one who committed violence here! She was also hurt. And just to remind you, ma'am, it was a 1-versus-3 fight."
“Can we still talk about this and settle, ma’am?” Mageneo gently plead.
“If she apologizes…”
“Apologize? NO WAY! I AM NOT GOING TO APOLOGIZE!!!” Ira stubbornly refused. When she looked at her family, she retreated an indignant face and whined. “Ares, Eros, Pops! Believe me! I did not start the fight. I just defended myself. These girls… they were always at me… every break time, pulling me to the corner, pushing me on the wall, and getting whatever they can get from me. I’ve been holding myself for so long because I don’t want to get into trouble. But just today, they took the necklace that I got from Mom so I lost my patience and retaliated.”
“Are you accusing my daughter of stealing? HOW DARE YOU!” one mother snarled.
“She is a liar! Our daughters can’t do that!” the other mother agreed.
The room was intense, even Mr. Romualdez could not pacify both parties, not until Ares stepped in.
“My sister is anything but a liar.” Ares's voice sounded so grim and cold that everyone in the room remained quiet. “It’s one versus three. They’re obviously ganging up on her! If my sister would be punished for defending herself then your daughters deserved to be punished for bullying too.”
“You have no proof that my daughter did anything she was accusing!”
“Take out your pockets then!” Eros interfered.
“What?” the mothers were quite confused.
“I said let your daughters take out their pockets!”
The two girls looked at the girl with a lost tooth who was staring back at them nervously.
“Take it out! 3…2…” Eros started to count down to rattle them.
The girls panicked so they scuffled from their mothers’ grip and hesitantly took out their pockets. Suddenly, a shiny object dropped on the floor out from the pocket of the girl with a lost tooth. Her eyes grew big. She moved her foot to hide it under her shoes but Eros was too quick to pick it up.
“This is our family’s heirloom, my mom’s necklace given to my sister. Just like what she said, they stole it. I guess this is our evidence. Won’t you agree?”
The old woman had a flushed face for her daughter.
“St…still! Even if my daughter did something… horrible like… stealing, it is not proper for her to be violent! We will accept suspension for our daughters, but her violation is more grave. She deserves expulsion!”
"Stealing and bullying is a grave offense too. Right, Mr. Romualdez?" Eros glowered at the man in a faded gray suit.
But just when Mr. Romualdez was about to open his mouth, the head of the Pardilla family knelt down and lowered his head.
“I… am… so… sorry for what my daughter did!” Mageneo’s voice cracked.
“POPS!” Ira chided. She rushed to pull her father but he pushed her away and pleaded with the ladies in the room.
She was angry. Frustrated. Humbled. She felt embarrassed.
Her tears welled on her face in disappointment. Her ego was hurt. Why ask for forgiveness when they are the ones who must apologize? She might have hurt them physically but how about the wounds in her heart? How about the ugly words thrown at her? The embarrassment they put her through? Doesn’t her feelings matter too?
She was the victim yet she’s the one being demanded to apologize.
2017 JOURNAL
“I was so mad at Pops that time.” She recalled.
“Why? Because he humbled down and asked for forgiveness?” Skye guessed.
“No… because he did not fight for me. I knew I was right for fighting for my rights but… what Pops did is like accepting their accusation that I was wrong and I was bad. It felt like he wasn’t on my side.”
“What happened after the confrontation?”
“Nothing changed. The girls still bully me and I could not fight back because I don’t want my father to be summoned again to the office. My brothers could not protect me either because they were no longer students of the academy.”
Skye thoughtfully listened to Ira’s story about why she hated the office. He has heard about her reputation during her high school days based on rumors heard from the old teachers and staff but little did he know there was a back story.
High school must have been a nightmare for her, and he wondered how she endured the remaining years when her brothers graduated from the academy.
“Excuse me, ma’am! Are you the guardians of Carlos Pineda?” a social worker appeared from behind with Carlos beside her. “We called you a couple of times but you were out of reached.”
“I’m sorry but I am not his guardian. I am Miss Ira Pardilla, this boy’s homeroom teacher.”
“Ow! Is there any way we could speak to his parents?”
“I told you, ma’am! My mother is abroad and my father is dead.” Carlos interfered. He appeared to be annoyed.
“Is it okay if I take him from here?”
Left without a choice, the social worker gave the homeroom teacher the authority to receive Carlos. The moment they stepped out of the building, Ira, her hands on her hips, stood face to face with Carlos who lowered his head with his hands clasped in front of him.
“Carlos…” she muttered.
Suddenly, his stomach grumbled.
“I think it’s best if we should eat dinner first,” Skye suggested.
Ira sighed and led the way.
“Come along, kid!”
They crossed the street and dined in the nearest restaurant. Food was served not less than 15 minutes. The weather was a bit crisp and a hot soup was a perfect meal.
Carlos could not look Ira in the eye. He kept his head lowered the whole time.
“I’m sorry, Miss Ira, for troubling you.” He whispered.
“Eat up!” Ira answered, gently pushing the bowl of soup closer to him.
The aroma invited the boy that he looked up to see what was in it, more appetizing when he found boiled beef shanks with corn and vegetables in them. The aroma made him hungrier.
“Bulalo… this is my favorite. Thank you, Miss Ira!” he uttered, now facing her to show his gratefulness.
He devoured the soup as he has never eaten something scrumptious in his life. His teachers watch him with pity. He looked tired and hungry. Ira and Skye looked at each other in silence, their minds in sync that perhaps it is best not to interrogate him now.
“Will you go back and stay at your girlfriend’s house?” Skye asked.
The boy paused from feeding himself and breathed heavily. He looked up and displayed a wistful smile. “I don’t think I can go back after what happened. Besides, I’m not really welcome there.”
“So what do you plan to do?” Ira probed, gobbling a spoonful of noodles.
“I’ll go back home,” Carlos answered while pinching his ears, his gaze looking at the downward corner of his eyes.
The teachers did not reply. They looked at each other once again with meaning in their eyes.
After dinner, Skye offered to give Carlos a ride but he politely refused to say he would like to take a walk. The teachers did not insist and let him go. But secretly, they followed him.
“Do you think he’ll go home? What if he’s going to see someone? Like a bad person or a gangster or something like that…” Ira wondered, carefully watching her student behind a tree.
Skye was behind the same tree too, trying his best not to lose sight of the kid.
“Will you not overthink? He won’t go to an open park if he’s going to do something fishy.”
From afar they could see Carlos moving suspiciously, looking around at an empty park. He went to a corner where some homeless beggars sleep on newspapers. He saw a pile of newspapers on a bench, grabbed some, and made a sleeping mat out of it. Then, he grabbed another pile for his head and laid down on it. Covering his eyes with his arm, he hoped that he could sleep peacefully.
The sight of Carlos looking like a beggar broke Ira’s heart. It was filled with compassion. She went to him and gently tap his arm to wake him up.
“Carlos? Carlos. Hey!”
The boy rolled up, surprised to see his homeroom teacher.
“Miss Ira!”
“This isn’t your home, is it?”
He hid his head between his legs and started to cry.
“It’s okay, Kid! You can tell us what’s wrong.” Skye sat beside him and tapped his back.
“I’m sorry, Miss Ira and Sir Skye. I can’t… I mean… I don’t want to go home. Please, don’t send me home.” He cried.
“Alright, alright! Hush now! You can stay at my place… for the meantime.”
Carlos sniffed. “I’m such a burden, Miss Ira.”
“No, you’re not. I won’t be at peace anyway if I’ll leave you here alone.”
He hid his head again and whined, grateful for the kindness of his homeroom teacher.