Conflicts

I felt distraught throughout the day. Much of my time was spent on tasks assigned by the faculty and the council in preparation for an event related to the senior high curriculum. I'm stressed because I can't bring myself to leave my members, who are struggling just as I am.

"Rianne!" I saw that Ma'am Celine called me.

"Yes, ma'am?" I asked when she suddenly slipped something into my hand.

"Here's the payment for last time," she said.

I almost forgot that she said last time that she would pay me later for cleaning her office.

"I'm going to call you again to ask for your help. Would that be all right? I suggest you bring your brother too, so you have someone to assist you," She said with a smile and a nod.

I'm always grateful to people like her. They are eager to help me in many ways.

"Yes, ma'am... Thank you so much for this."

When she began to walk away, I immediately peered at the money that she gave.

I automatically jumped when I saw a thousand bills in my hand. I thought she'd give me half as that was what we talked about, but anyway, I'm so happy.

As I walked to the canteen, I suddenly felt all my tiredness fade away. I decided to buy some food for AJ to give to him.

While I was paying, I noticed Elton approaching, along with some of our new classmates.

"You definitely got some money today!" he commented quickly when he saw the bill I was handing to the lady at the counter.

As he walked away to grab a drink from the fridge, I insisted on paying for his drink as well.

"Wow, you're rich today!" he teased me.

"I just received my payment from Ma'am Celine, so I thought I would buy some food for AJ and myself," I said as I was collecting my change.

"Does she think she's rich?" I suddenly heard someone say from nearby.

I glanced over and instantly recognized the girl who sat in front of me in class; she was laughing. I chose not to respond and simply walked away.

"Let's go…" Elton said, gently pulling me along.

"Is she one of your classmates? It's ridiculous that she would say something like that when she attends the same public school as we do," I replied, my annoyance growing as I started eating the empanada I had bought.

"Just let them be. They're just some of the spoiled kids here because their parents work at the school. It's the same with Paul, the other guy they were with." I couldn't help but feel curious about them.

"Really? Who are their parents?" I asked while texting my brother to come to the canteen since it was recess.

"Lara is Sir Del Mundo's daughter, and Sir Ocampo is Paul's dad," he replied.

I looked at him, confused.

"Is he really Sir Ocampo's son? I had no idea that Ma'am Annie and him have a son who's our age…" I said, reflecting on Miss Annie, our science teacher from Grade Nine.

"He's a child out of wedlock," he said, almost whispering to me.

I nodded slowly, absorbing the information. I didn't ask any more questions because I didn't want to get too involved in other people's lives.

 It's their own business anyway.

Finally, I spotted my brother entering the canteen. I waved from where Elton and I were sitting. He immediately noticed us and began to run over.

As he ran toward us, I noticed Lara walking backward and talking to the boys. Panic surged through me when I realized my brother was about to collide with her.

Just as I feared, the collision happened.

Everyone in the canteen stopped and turned to look at them. A moment later, we heard a scream, prompting us to immediately get out of our seats and rush over.

"Look what you've done!"

Lara shouted as we arrived, while my brother was wiping the mess off his clothes.

Both of them had gotten food on their clothes from Lara's order. I helped my brother stand up and began to assist him in getting some of the pasta off his uniform.

"Ate…"

He talked while nervously looking at me.

"Why are you here?!" Lara furiously asked when she saw me.

"I'm helping my brother. What's your problem?" I asked, too.

"What are you going to do with my clothes?! You have to do something about this!" She keeps screaming, and it's becoming quite irritating.

As much as I want to yell back, I'm trying to keep calm.

"Can I just wash them for you? Would that work? I can give them back tomorrow," I asked kindly.

"You'll wash them? I don't want my clothes to be hand-washed by you!"

At that moment, I felt a surge of frustration.

"Right? Can you just change your clothes and give them to me? I'm going to the laundry shop if that's what you're worried about. Are you happy now?" I couldn't hide the sarcasm in my voice.

She stomped away, and I noticed the two boys with her looking at me, but they didn't say anything and just followed her.

Elton helped my brother change his clothes, so thanks to him, my brother won't have to go back to class with spaghetti stains. We decided to let AJ eat the food I bought for him in the classroom since it might be embarrassing for him to eat it in the canteen.

When we returned to our classroom, I decided to take a nap since it was still break time. However, I couldn't seem to sleep and merely closed my eyes the entire time.

I suddenly felt my seatmate return, and when someone tapped me, I pretended to be waking up from a nap.

"You're awake now?"

Lara asked, handing me her uniform. "Make sure you take it to a laundry shop, like you said. I told you I don't want it hand-washed." I nodded and slipped her clothes under the desk.

Just as I was settling down for another nap, my seatmate, Noah, spoke up.

"I can pay for the laundry if you want, since you might not have any money for it…" He said in his monotonous tone.

I couldn't tell if he was being nice or insulting me.

I just stared at him, and he began to chuckle.

"Why are you staring? Do you really need money for the laundry?" I could definitely tell he was mocking me this time.

"Hey, that's too much…"

I heard Paul, his friend, say as Lara added more to the teasing.

"She's in awe of your kindness, you know. You should at least say thank you…" Lara chimed in mockingly.

Paul tried to intervene, but they continued to laugh at my expense.

"Shut up!"

I shouted as I abruptly stood up.

I couldn't hide my anger as I glared at them, and I noticed the whole class was looking at me.

"Who are you? What did I ever do to you? Is it that big of a deal that my brother bumped into you?" I asked, noticing her shock. "You're definitely at fault here! You were walking backward in a crowded place, and my brother is to blame for that? I don't understand why you're so angry about what happened when, to begin with, you were the one who was stupid and made a mess of both your clothes and my brother's! Did you even think about that?" I said, unable to hold back.

"Don't worry, I'm still going to the laundry shop for your uniform, even if it's not really our fault," I sarcastically said, facing Noah, who was looking at me.

"You! What is it about you, anyway? I didn't even ask for your money when I could afford the laundry. Whose money are you showing off again? Ah, it's from your parents, right?"

I was beginning to lose my patience with him. "You're annoyingly flaunting money that isn't even yours…"

I aggressively pulled Lara's uniform from under my desk and shoved it in front of them.

I laughed when some bits of food stains landed on them. After that, I folded the uniform and slipped it into my bag. I was about to walk out when he grabbed my blouse.

"Get off…"

I warned Noah. He tossed some of the food bits at me.

"It's not fair that you're doing this…" he said, not flinching as he continued to hold onto me while I started hitting his arm.

Paul was trying to stop him as well, but he wasn't even listening.

He's acting crazy…

"Honestly, I mentioned that because I know you're taking home the leftovers from the cooking lab. If I'm going to live like you, I might be miserable..."

I couldn't think of anything to say, but I was completely shocked by what I had done to him.

I slapped him.

I slapped him, and I know it was hard when he was facing the right side after and was not even moving.

I swear I did not mean it to be that hard.

Guilt washed over me as the entire class stared intently at me. I immediately ran as fast as I could to escape their gaze.

Desperately trying to hold back my tears, I reached the school gate and pleaded with the guard to let me go home.

As I walked home, tears began to fall from the embarrassment and guilt of what had happened. I finally broke down when I arrived home and saw my mom doing laundry, looking tired and sweaty.

She stopped when she saw me and smiled, which made me want to cry even more.