First Day

ANGELLE

MONDAY

Exactly 5 AM, Mama wakes us up to get ready for school. We almost went back to our beds because we were so sleepy. But Mama scolds us because she's worried about the first day of school. She doesn't want us to be late on the first day of class, even though she knows what usually happens on the first day. Introducing ourselves in front while our whole body trembles with nervousness, and then the homeroom teacher discussing the school rules and their own rules in the classroom. Don't they realize that this scenario gets boring every first day of school?

Lica and I will study at Maximo High, while our two siblings will attend Buras Elementary School, which is near the market. The four of us almost cried in front of Mama last night when we found out that classes here will be whole day. I mean, Buras is already in the province, so they made the class schedule provincial as well. Which is good, but not for first-timers! Not good!

"Hurry up and eat there, your service will be here in a moment," Mama said as she packed our packed lunches into our bags.

I nodded as I remembered that I won't be able to go with Prof to school. Papa didn't agree to just walk them. His reason was that we're new to the area and we don't know the way to and from school yet. I couldn't do anything but follow Papa's wishes.

After we finished eating, we brushed our teeth before going to the living room and putting on our bags.

"Hero, don't just buy food outside, okay? You have biscuits and juice in your bag, and you still have your packed lunch, so just save your money," Mama instructed our spendthrift youngest sibling. The youngest just nodded and hugged Mama, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Mama didn't give us money because Papa gave us our allowance yesterday. He gave us our allowance for one week because he didn't want to give us a large amount of money since he knows that whenever we have money, we just buy anything. Spending must be in our genes!

PEEP! PEEP!

"Oh, your service is here," Mama said as she pulled us out of the house, really!

When we went out, our service was already there. It's just a tricycle because there's no other service that can take us to the school we're going to. And Maximo isn't even a private school.

Lica and I sat at the back, while the other two sat inside. We said goodbye to our siblings and left to go to our respective schools.

In just a few moments, we arrived at Hero and Jr's school. It's not as grand as their previous school, but it's decent. We said goodbye to the two of them and the tricycle headed towards mine and Lica's school.

"How's life with Kuya Link?" Lica broke the silence as the tricycle moved.

I glanced at her. "What?" I furrowed my brow in confusion.

What is she talking about?

"Don't deny it, Sistah." She rolled her eyes.

I gave her a light smack on the arm to get her to look at me with a stern expression. "I'm not denying anything, that's why I asked you what you mean." I replied annoyed.

"Tch!"

I just sighed in frustration as she fell silent, putting on her earphones and listening to her favorite theme songs.

When we arrived at Maximo High, there were already a lot of students here, trying to get in early and not be late for their first class. Some of them seemed so happy to see their old classmates and be together again. I sighed. I hope my other friends are here too so we can all enter together and make studying here more enjoyable. Lica and I proceeded inside and we were amazed by the size of this school. It's semi-private, so the uniform and school supplies are not free like in our former school. Maximo is spacious, with large buildings, and they're even constructing a new building. New students like us are scattered all around.

"Let's go to the bulletin board," Lica suggested, pulling me along.

When we arrived at the bulletin board, I almost winced at the chaos of students. How are we going to find our names?

"Couzie!"

Lica and I turned towards the voice calling us and saw Ate Jove and the boys approaching the bulletin board. Lica and Ate Jove hugged as if they hadn't seen each other in 1000 years. So cheesy!

"What are you doing here?" Andre asked.

"Obviously, they're here to study. This guy is so dumb!" We laughed to what Russell replied.

"Shut up, I wasn't asking you!" Andre snapped back.

"Go ahead and fight, both of your stomachs will turn upside down." Ate Jove threatened them, causing the two to pause their argument.

"Are you also checking your names?" Prof asked, standing next to Link who was busy on his cellphone.

"Um... yeah," I replied.

Prof nudged Link, causing him to stop what he was doing and look at us. His gaze was serious and something felt off. Is there a problem? Why does he seem different now? We were fine when he introduced me to his sister before.

"Why?" he asked Prof.

"Use your MVP and Mr. Popular status to find our names," Prof suggested.

"I don't want to!" he refused.

"Come on, Link! Don't be a killjoy!" Wendell chimed in.

MVP and Mr. Popular? Well, I can't deny it. Link is handsome and seems to enjoy sports.

"You guys go ahead," he said and was about to leave when Lica spoke up.

"Kuya, remember?" she raised an eyebrow, and I didn't quite understand what Lica meant, but Link closed his eyes tightly and walked towards the chaotic students.

He glanced at me before talking to the students, who immediately agreed to what he wanted. I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe because it seemed like Link was one of those guys in Wattpad who would easily get whatever he wanted from girls. He signaled to Prof to let us know it was okay. Our companions smiled and pulled me towards the front. I just covered my face because it was embarrassing that other students were looking at us. I mean, we were just with the Hype Beast of Buras.

After we finished searching for our names and finding our respective rooms, we said goodbye to each other and went to our classrooms. Prof and I went together since we were taking the same course and had the same room.

"Why did you choose GAS?" Prof asked as we walked towards the GAS building.

"Well, I also want to teach kids." I smiled.

"We're the same then, I also want to be a teacher." He said.

"But I don't like naughty kids," I said, which made Prof laugh.

"I think all teachers don't like naughty kids, but it's inevitable to have such students in the classroom. That's why when I become a teacher, I'll seat the ones who have crushes next to each other to prove that "honesty is the best policy when my crush is sitting beside me." I winced at what he said, but he just laughed it off.

"I had a classmate like that before, he had a crush on me but still copied from me." I said.

"He's crazy!"

I just shook my head at Prof's hyperness. When we arrived at GAS 2, we saw a few students here. Some of them waved at Prof, probably familiar with him.

"Prof!" we turned towards the person who called out to Prof.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ernest. He studies here?

Prof immediately pulled me and sat me next to Ernest. I smiled at him and he returned the sweet smile. Prof sat next to me, sandwiching me between the two of them.

"Angelle, it's nice meeting you again," Ernest said with a smile.

"Me too," I replied.

"So, you also took GAS?" Prof asked him.

"Yes, actually I was supposed to take ICT, but I thought there were already a lot of ICT students among the hype beasts of Buras." Prof laughed.

Who are the ICT students?

"Yeah, even Russel switched to ICT," Prof added.

"Excuse me? Who among the hype beasts are in ICT?" I asked.

They both looked at me. "Russel, Kervin, and Paps, and let's not forget Link." I nodded in response to Prof's answer.

Prof and Ernest chatted, understanding each other as true hype beasts. More and more students arrived in our classroom. And after a few moments, our homeroom teacher arrived.

"Good morning, GAS 2. I'm Archie Anselmo, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the whole year." He introduced himself and smiled at all of us. "I hope that until the end, we'll still have this many students and no one will leave or drop out." He continued.

Sir Archie just gave a few details about himself and then excused himself for a moment. When he returned, he discussed the school's rules and regulations, as well as his own rules inside the classroom. See?

After that, came the highlight of the first day of school: the introduction portion that people still complain about. It's like they never get used to it. The ones in the front introduced themselves first, and since we were second to last, it took quite some time before it was our turn to introduce ourselves.

"Anyway, Angelle, can we have lunch together later?" Ernest suddenly asked while someone was speaking at the front.

"Um, we can—" I was about to reply when Prof interrupted me.

"She'll be joining us for lunch later, Ern." Prof winked at him, and Ernest nodded and looked at me.

"I'll invite you next time." He said, and I nodded in response.

When it was Prof's turn, he stood up and went to the front to introduce himself.

"Supp, buddy! I'm Albert West Scott, 18 years old. And I think a short intro is enough for you to know me," he said, winking and causing the girls to suppress their excitement.

I just sighed and stood up from my seat. Prof gave me a "good luck" sign and sat back down. As I made my way to the front, I took a deep breath before facing my classmates.

I smiled. "Hello, everyone! My name is Angelle Renzlyn Musco, I'm 17 years old. A former student of COMBER National High School, that's all. Thank you!" After introducing myself, I bowed and returned to my seat.

Ernest stood up next and introduced himself. "Good morning, I'm Jahn Ernest Villa." He gave a brief introduction and then sat back down.

After we finished introducing ourselves, the nervousness and pounding hearts of our classmates finally subsided.

RIIIIING!

When the bell rang, Prof invited me to go to the canteen where Ate Jove was. When we arrived at the canteen, I smiled upon seeing them.

"Couz, sit here." Ate Jove said, pulling a chair next to her.

I sat down and smiled at Wendell, who was sitting across from me. I opened my lunch bag and took out the lunch box inside. I almost winced when I saw Superman displayed on the front.

"Eh? Angelle, do you like Superman?" Paps Justine suddenly asked when he noticed my lunch box.

"My mom must have packed the wrong lunch box for me," I pouted.

My companions chuckled softly. Lica just laughed while taking a picture of me.

"I'll send this to Mom," she said, focusing her attention on her cellphone.

"Do you want me to order for you, Angelle?" Kervin, who was sitting next to Wendell, asked.

"This is okay, Hero's packed lunch will go to waste if I don't eat it," I said with a smile and opened it.

There was only a small portion of rice inside, just the way Hero likes it. Mama packed hotdogs for the ulam. Aw! So sad.

"Will you be full with that?" Andre asked.

"Yes, it's still food after all," I replied.

"Let's share, do you want some?" Wendell offered, but I shook my head.

"Thanks but no thanks," I declined.

I glanced at Link, who I just noticed was sitting near Prof. He looked serious and wasn't talking much. Link is acting strange today, I noticed that he's not engaging in conversations as much as he used to. Is there something wrong?

"Ate Jove, what happened to Link? Why does it seem like he's not interested in chatting?" I whispered to Ate Jove, who looked at Link.

"I think he doesn't have a girlfriend," she jokingly replied, which made me roll my eyes.

"I'm asking seriously," I said, and she smiled and flashed a peace sign.

"You know, I'm just trying to make you smile. By the way, I don't know why Link is like that now, but earlier we bumped into Gipsy with her clown minions." She said.

Is it because of Gipsy? It's been a month since they broke up. Does Link still love Gipsy?

Ugh! I don't care if he still loves Gipsy. But when I remember that I'm the reason why they broke up, I feel guilty as if I've done something terrible.

Lunch break quickly ended, and we all went our separate ways. Prof and I were about to enter the GAS building when I saw Gipsy and Link heading towards the Lie Garden, as they call it.

I stopped walking, causing Prof to look at me in surprise. "Why did you stop?" he asked.

"Um, you go ahead to the room, Prof. I just need to go to the bathroom for a moment," I excused myself, and he nodded.

I don't know why I wanted to follow the two of them. Why am I feeling nervous?

He bid me farewell and went ahead to the room. I walked towards the Lie Garden. I quickly hid among the lush grass near the tree where the two were talking. I just wanted to find out something, I wanted to know what was bothering Link.

"Now you're begging me to come back to you, what do you want?" I heard Gipsy say.

I adjusted my hiding spot and peeked at the two of them. Link had his back towards me, while Gipsy was facing him, but they couldn't see me because I was covered by the leaves.

"I'm not begging, Gipsy. I just want you to come back to me," Link said.

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow upon hearing Link's words. So, does he still love Gipsy? But why did he kiss me on the forehead? What was the meaning behind all the things he made me feel?

I felt my chest tighten, so I held onto it. I shouldn't be feeling this way because I have Isiah.

Oh, come on, Angelle. You're just being an issue. Wake up!

"What do you want? That I just go back to you just like that? When I asked for us to get back together after I fought with your precious Angelle... you didn't want to!" Gipsy said, raising an eyebrow.

"My mind was a mess during those days,"

"Really, huh? Or maybe you've fallen for that girl, Angelle."

"Gipsy, let's not involve Angelle in this."

"Why don't you—"

"Angelle?"

I almost jumped in surprise when someone spoke behind me, and when I turned around, I saw Timothy standing in front of me, innocently looking at me while holding a bag of chips. I quickly glanced at the two of them and stood up from my hiding spot, pulling Timothy away from the Lie Garden. He looked at me with a puzzled expression while munching on his chips.

"What were you doing in the Lie Garden?" he suddenly asked. I stopped walking and let out a sigh.

I don't know why I wanted to follow the two of them. Why am I feeling nervous?

He bid me farewell and went ahead to the room. I walked towards the Lie Garden. I quickly hid among the lush grass near the tree where the two were talking. I just wanted to find out something, I wanted to know what was bothering Link.

"Now you're begging me to come back to you, what do you want?" I heard Gipsy say.

I adjusted my hiding spot and peeked at the two of them. Link had his back towards me, while Gipsy was facing him, but they couldn't see me because I was covered by the leaves.

"I'm not begging, Gipsy. I just want you to come back to me," Link said.

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow upon hearing Link's words. So, does he still love Gipsy? But why did he kiss me on the forehead? What was the meaning behind all the things he made me feel?

I felt my chest tighten, so I held onto it. I shouldn't be feeling this way because I have Isiah.

Oh, come on, Angelle. You're just being an issue. Wake up!

"What do you want? That I just go back to you just like that? When I asked for us to get back together after I fought with your precious Angelle... you didn't want to!" Gipsy said, raising an eyebrow.

"My mind was a mess during those days,"

"Really, huh? Or maybe you've fallen for that girl, Angelle."

"Gipsy, let's not involve Angelle in this."

"Why don't you—"

"Angelle?"

I almost jumped in surprise when someone spoke behind me, and when I turned around, I saw Timothy standing in front of me, innocently looking at me while holding a bag of chips. I quickly glanced at the two of them and stood up from my hiding spot, pulling Timothy away from the Lie Garden. He looked at me with a puzzled expression while munching on his chips.

"What were you doing in the Lie Garden?" he suddenly asked. I stopped walking and let out a sigh.

"Um, I saw a kitten there." I forced a smile.

Timothy threw the bag of chips into the trash can, then faced me with a smirk on his lips.

"You can't fool me, Angelle. I saw you earlier following the two lovers," I bit my lip upon hearing what he said. Someone saw me? "And I heard them talking about their relationship." I let out another sigh, busted!

"Okay, I followed the two of them. I just wanted to know if they got back together," I admitted.

"They might have just gotten back together."

Might? So, it means there's a possibility that they got back together?

"Why are you asking?" Timothy spoke again when I didn't respond.

"Just curious,"

He nodded and looked at the large clock in the covered court. He took my hand and pulled me towards the GAS building.

"Why?" I asked in confusion.

"You're going to be late for class,"

My eyes widened, and panic started to set in. Shit, this is the first time this has happened! OMG. What should I do?

"What should I do?" I asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it with Sir Archie."

I remained silent as we arrived at GAS 2. Timothy knocked on the door to get Sir Archie's attention as he was speaking at the front, and he successfully caught his attention. Sir Archie approached us and smiled at Timothy.

"Yes, Timothy?"

"Sir Archie, I saw Angelle in the Lie Garden, she was throwing up. I think she ate something bad," he said.

Sir Archie looked at me and nodded. "Thank you, Timothy. You can go back to your room,"

Timothy nodded and smiled, bidding us farewell. I nodded as well and entered the classroom, taking my seat.

Damn, that was a crazy reason. If I were the teacher, I wouldn't believe it.

"Are you okay?" Ernest asked, I smiled and nodded weakly.

"I wish you had just told me that you weren't feeling well so I could have taken you to the clinic," Prof said.

"It's fine," I said with a smile, burying my face in the table.

I ne

eded to act weak because if I didn't, Timothy's alibi might fail, and we could get in trouble if it's discovered that he lied. Urgh! Why did I have to be curious?

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, answering my own question. So, Link still loves Gipsy.

And what was the meaning behind the kiss he gave me?