The trial continues

"Sir... I hope we can have a chill convo about the incident involving your kid, Cons, and Ma'am's nephew, Chris. This is Chris's guardian, Ma'am Donaldo."

"Hey there, Ma'am! Funny thing, Ma'am Donaldo here was my classmate in elementary school, so no worries about that. Plus, what happened to my son isn't that big of a deal. It's actually good for him to experience stuff like this. He's not getting picked on for no reason."

"Alright, Mr. Resultay. So, Mrs. Donaldo is representing Christopher, and you're here for Constancio. Mrs. Donaldo will explain why Chris did what he did. Let's bring in Cons so he can hear it and clear up any misunderstandings."

"Hey classmate! Anyway, according to my nephew, he did that to Cons because Cons kept saying embarrassing stuff to him. Cons is a real trash-talker. He went overboard with the insults... That's already bullying."

"Excuse me, but I think it's better if Cons and I talk directly. I wanna confront him! Let him speak! What's his problem with my looks, huh?", I said, standing up.

"Man to man. Let him explain why he's picking on me! I can explain why I hit him! Here's what Mr. Nunez wrote down earlier; you can show it to Cons or his dad... But him! What's his problem with me?"

"Alright Christopher, we understand. Calm down."

"I can't calm down. This is taking too long... In the end, I'll be the one getting punished."

"T-That's not how it---", Ms. Manlapaz said, but I cut her off.

"Let him speak! Now he's acting all nice! Like he's innocent! Say it now, Cons, that the other day, you and Robert followed us to Jennifer's house! Let's be honest! Speak up! You humiliated me to make yourself look good, to get Jennifer's attention! I don't care about that... Instead of just wooing Jennifer, you had to drag me into it..."

The class started their teasing chants again.

"Christopher, are you saying... Okay, let's be direct....", Ms. Manlapaz said.

"Are you guys in a love triangle with Jennifer, you and Cons?"

"AAAAAYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!", the class screamed in unison.

"M-Ma'am, that's impossible...."

The room fell silent.

"Ma'am, Jennifer and I are second cousins!!"

"AAAAAAAAAWWWWWW.....", the class groaned like they were disappointed and surprised, then started whispering by the big window.

Saying that made me feel relieved. I glanced at Magnolia. Our eyes met. She was just as shocked because she just found out Jennifer and I are cousins.

"Come on, kid! Let's wrap this up. Mr. Nunez, where are the other teachers? What's going on?"

"Ma'am, there's a meeting for the Christmas Cantata practice and other festive activities."

"You heard that, take a break! Head to the canteen!"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!", the class cheered, scattering in all directions.

Once everything settled, we got back to our serious discussion.

Ms. Manlapaz was about to speak, but I interrupted her because I was getting impatient. "Ma'am, the problem is, Cons is already courting Jennifer... She agreed, but he still won't leave me alone. Even this morning, when I was walking with Magnolia, he humiliated me again?"