You Never Know

Seconds, that's all it takes to change everything.

New school year means new class. New class, for me, means a whole other world or to be exact nightmare. I can't even begin to describe what i feel when I see his name on the same paper as mine! I prayed and prayed that God wouldn’t punish me like this. Putting me in the same class with him is pure cruelness. I swear I’m gonna curse all the crazy teachers and staffs in this rotten school. Ugh, seeing his name gives me a foul mood. How the hell am i going to get through this year?

He has always been annoying to me. I was once in the same class with him, a few years back. Funny thing is that I found him rather cute initially. He’s quite handsome but God, his laziness is beyond measure despite the fact that he is a very smart kid. We just know right away that some people are smart in our class right? He’s that type of guy. But he is super duper lazy that he barely study at all. What’s annoying is that he still gets good score effortlessly.

One thing that annoys me more than his laziness is his tendency to bully me. I don’t know why but he always picks on me. Sure, he bullies other kids. But i feel like I have always been his main target. I've tried to ignore him but the more I ignore him the more he bullies me.
I literally have no idea how I’m going to pass this year. Let's just hope I don’t come home crying and beg on my parents to transfer to another school.

Just when I think it can't get any worse, God knows what I did so I deserve this. My name is Regina and his is Roger which means he's my lab partner for the rest of the year. God!
first day begins, and no later that I can exhale he already does his thing. He intentionally pours his orange juice all over me! Well, not all over me, right on my backpack to be exact. But its the same. It’s my new backpack! It’s a brand new model and it's waterproof! Thank God he doesn’t wet all my books, but I think the orange scent will lasts.

Just when I think my day can’t get any worse, our teacher feels lazy to write and explain difficult things to us so he decides that we'll have a lab day. As soon as I hear him say I realize that it just does.
At the lab we are told to use the microscope to look at some particulates. The teacher says that the things we're using are so fragile,so if we break anything we have to replace it. How unlucky I am, working with the kid who's famous for breaking things (roger 'accidentally' kicked a pottery at our school one day).

"Roger, I know you hate me but can you please be a good boy just for an hour? I really need your help, not on this project, but I need you to just be still and leave me alone.. Okay?"

"Your wish is my command, miss." he answers.
Of course it doesn’t last long. 10 minutes later he's already ogling at our particulates and starts chattering.

"Hey reg, can I borrow the microscope just for a sec? This particulate is so cool! look at the color! I want to take a closer look!"

"Heck no. God knows you will end up breaking it."

He then shows me his challenging face. Here we go, i say to myself.

We start our arguments. It's only a whisper at first but then his voice gets louder and so does mine. He gets his hand on the microscope and I do the same and we start fighting for the microscope like a kid fighting for a lollipop. But what he does next surprises me. He kicks my chair, making me lose grip on the microscope so he gets it. Meanwhile i fall backwards, my head hits the table next to us so hard, and my ears start ringing, my vision starts blurring. For a second I think I’m gonna lose consciousness. I touch my head where it hurts and I’m surprised to see blood on my hand. The class crowds me, making me more dizzy. It's like I’m mot getting enough oxygen. I look up at roger, who's standing tall in front of me while I’m half sitting half lying on the floor with a bloody head. His face shows how surprised he is.

"Go away," I mouth to him. And then I lie back again, my headache is too much.

I think I hear roger shouts to the people around me to make a way, and I feel my body being lifted somewhere. Then, I hear someone murmurs 'sorry' to me multiple times.

I woke up to the white ceiling and wall, it takes a while for me to locate myself. It appears that I'm in the school clinic.

“Regina, u awake? Are you okay?", he looks like he has been asleep or crying?
then the memory hits me like s**t. He does this to me. What the hell is he doing here.

"Go away", I say and my sound comes out harsh, slower, and weaker than what I intended.

“Regina, I didn't mean to harm you. I am so sorry" and all I hear is just the ringing in my head

"Just. Go. Away" I say loudly this time and he goes.

Then the nurse comes in and tells me that I’m gonna be okay but that she's worried because I passed out for 9 hours, longer than it normally takes for light concussion and suggests me to visit the hospital. Don’t be confused, I passed out for 9 hours and nobody comes,right? I know. Well, s**t happens. I’m an orphan, a very rich one to be exact. My parents was killed in car acc apparently because the air bag in the car they were driving in was malfunctioning and it appeared that it was the company's fault so I got lots of money. Ha! like they can pay my parents life with their money.

After being able to stand without toppling I go home and try to sleep more since my head hurts like hell but sleep never finds me and I am suffering.
The next morning, the pain doesn’t go away so I drink some aspirin and drive right back to school and its amazingly cruel that the first person I see is him.
He looks like hell someway. He walks my way and I walk the other. I just don’t get it. Bullying and teasing is one thing but this? This is too much and I don’t think I can let it go just like that. In class he tries to talk to me but I just keep on ignoring him for the rest of the day constanly accompanied by my everlasting headache. My head gets worse and worse and it takes everything I get not to pass out when I walk to my car after the school bell rings. Unfortunately there he is again blocking my car.

"Regina, just listen to me okay? I need to tell you how sorry I am. I never meant to hurt you. I am so sorry. Regina? Regina?!"

The next thing I know is that I woke up in a car, but not mine. I try to sit but some kind of unnatural force, maybe an alien holds me down. I try and try to speak but I can't. what's happening to me? All I know is that he is the one who’s driving and it makes me even more nauseous.

“Regina, just hold on okay? I'm taking you to hospital, we're close, just hold on for a while", he says soothingly and the weird thing is it works. I become less panicky and decide to just go with it.

And while driving quite fast, he begins his side of story "guess i'm gonna tell you know everything. I have been interested in you since the first time I met you. I tried to get close to you but I bet you didn't realize it because you’re that difficult to impress, then I found out that the only thing I can do to get your attention is to be annoying. And you will never know how grateful I am to be in the same class with you. Yeah well actually, I requested that but that doesn’t matter anyhow. And also I am sorry for the backpack okay? I know it’s waterproof by the way thats why I poured it there. Bottom line, I really like you and I am so so so sorry I hurt you Reg”. He’s practically sobbing now.

I try to say something. That I understand that I forgive him but I just can’t. My head is killing me, it feels like someone is hitting my skull from the inside. My eyes lolled back, I’m trying hard to keep my consciousness but the pain is just too much. Roger realized my sudden stillness and he starts shaking me gently. I can feel him, but I can’t respond him.

"Regina? Oh God, reg? Please be okay please be okay we're just a few minutes away from the hospital. Hold on, hold on." He says in a panic while starting to drive like a lunatic.

I want to answer. I want to squeeze his arm, his fingers, anything, just to tell him that I’m still here and I’m trying to stay alive, but I can’t. I vaguely feel being put on a bed, feeling doctors and nurses hover above me. They light my eyes, put finger on my wrist trying to search for a pulse. They give me oxygen. They talk in a hurry, like i don’t have much time left. They diagnose me, saying some medical jargons i don’t understand. Last thing i hear before the drug numb me is a soothing nurse voice. "Don’t worry, dear, we got you. But you have to fight too, for your charming boyfriend out there. Okay?" She doesn’t know, but I say yes multiple times in my mind.

I open my eyes, feeling disoriented once again. I look at my surroundings and I remember that I'm at the hospital. My mouth is dry and i'm so tired even though I must have laid in this bed for hours. I see Roger sitting in a chair beside my bed. I smile a little and try to comb his hair with my fingers. He jolts awake as soon as my hand touches his head.
"Regina, you're awake. Thank God you're awake!" relief washes over his face.
"You stayed," I say to him in disbelief.
"Of course I stay, who's gonna tease you as soon as you wake up if I leave?" he smiles and tries to tickle me but i wince a little and he retreats.
"Sorry reg, I didn’t mean to.. are you..?"
I grin. "Gotcha!" He has been through enough, this pain is just for me, and for know, he doesn’t have to know. I am gonna make this moment counts.
"That was not funny!" he pouts, and I laugh out loud despite the pain. Our hands brush, and I grab his and hold it tight

"Thank you, for staying. And I heard you. Back in the car, I understand. I don’t blame you anymore. It’s not your fault" I want to say many thing but I feel stregth leaving my body.

"Anything for you. And by the way Ii need to call the doctor when you're awake. Your pretty face makes me forget everything"

I blush crimson at his words. Damn him and his flirts.
A nice-faced woman with a red hair and a fair skin comes in. She introduces herself as dr. Garrett. She says she's going to test my reflects and if they're good then everything is good. She examines me for a while, and my hand is still holding Roger's. Dr.Garrett smiles when she sees our hands.
"Ah, young love, so beautiful." she says.
I look at roger and manage to smile. Apparently that's the only thing I can do when he's around, smile. Gosh, how much have changed in just a couple of days. His affection he gives to me recently makes me realize that I’ve liked him since forever too. It’s just that his bullying buries my feelings for him.

I'm about to say my realization to him, that i like him too, just as much as he likes me, but then it feels like my head explodes. My hand tightens around Roger's, my body tense from trying to hold so much pain. The machines beside me beeps loudly. I can hear roger screams at Dr.Garrett.
"What's happening? What's going on with her? You said she's going to be okay! She laughed with me just minutes ago! What did you do?" his voice gets weaker and weaker. I think he's crying.
"It seems her internal bleeding is too bad to handle. We tried to control it on yesterday's surgery but it comes back. You need to stay outside roger, believe me when I say we're gonna do everything we can to bring her back to you." I hear Dr. Garrett say.

Bring me back? but I’m not gone! I’m here. I’m here. I need to tell Roger that i like him. I need him. He's the only one who has shown me what it's like to be loved since my parents died. I am trying to hold on, but I can’t. I feel myself slipping away. A tear falls from my left eye. I’m going to leave him, and he doesn’t know how i feel about him. Oh God. Goodbye Roger.




THE END