04x02: Agusan Del Sur

AGUSAN DEL SUR

June 13-20, 2011

 

     It was Sunday morning when Adam came knocking on Austin’s door. He was holding a cane in his left hand.

     “Hey, you’re on your legs!”

     “Thanks to you. Still getting used to it though. I haven’t mastered it yet.”

     “Adam, get inside and have a drink.”

     Austin sat down in the dining area while Adam drank his juice standing up.

     “Adam, you do know that the reason you can walk is not because we revitalized the screwed up nerves that led to you paralysis. We simply gave you muscle strength and a constant psychic flow from your mind to your legs. Without your powers, you’re back to normal.”

     “But it feels like I’m just a bit off balance. Nothing too unusual.”

     “It’s supposed to feel like that, I guess but I’m just warning you. Avoid ARM’s like the plague.”

     ARM stood for Anti-Radioactive Matter. They were a special kind of substance which did not support the energy from the rock. As a result of this, it disabled any genetic enhancement the rock might have caused.

     All of a sudden, Austin heard a voice from his suite’s entrance.

     “Austin, I decided to just barge in. Hope you don’t min�"“

     Erika Sanchez, 15 years old, stopped in her tracks.

     “Erika, you’re back…” Austin said awkwardly.

     The encounter degenerated into a staring contest after a while so Austin decided to break it up.

     “Adam, this is Erika Sanchez, a member of the Alpha Branch of ENIGMA and a good friend of mine.”

     “Nice to meet you,” Adam said.

     “Erika, this is Adam Morales, new student and a reborn man.”

     “Reborn? What does he mean by that?” Erika asked Adam.

     “Uh-uh… what he meant was that I am… uh�"“

     “Long story short, he’s more err… you know, forget that I said that.”

     “Sure um, sorry for barging in. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

     “It’s always nice to see you Erika.”

     Erika exited the same way she went in. She had “ghost powers” which comprises physical possession and intangibility.

     Austin returned to sipping his juice when Adam dropped to the bed.

     “Lost focus, you have, hmm?” Austin said in a Yoda voice.

     “No, I just�"“

     “Lost focus, yeah, Erika’s a nice girl. You should be friends.”

     “I haven’t seen her in school. Is she in our batch?”

     “She is supposed to be a senior right now.”

     “Oh… too bad.”

     “You like her, huh?”

     “I do not!” Adam said, standing back up. “I mean I do but I don’t like her as in I’m not crushing on her. I’m not that shallow to fall victim to love at first sight.”

     “Adam, it’s okay. Just remember, love at first sight isn’t always unreliable. The last girl I fell in love with at first sight became Beelzebub. Trust me, watching that happening is more horrifying than Terminator 3.”

    

Monday came. The morning ceremony was dull. Austin spent the entire expedition back to the classroom talking to Lui.

     Lui was a good friend of Austin’s back in fourth grade but there was a falling out somewhere in the middle. During Austin’s a*****e phase in the fifth and sixth grades, at least until the incident with the superpowers, Lui was more or less a target. For most of first and second year, they were pretty much friends. He was a great aid in last year’s battles.

     By the first Monday of the year, people were already getting overwhelmed by work.

     “Austin!” Tennet Rojas said.

     “Yeah?”
     “Do we have a quiz this week?”

     Scanning… scanning…

     “Uhm… I’m not sure.”
     “Sure, um, yeah, you just aren’t cutting it as president for me.”

     “Tennet you’re awful,” Mary said in his defense.

     “I mean, come on!”

     Don’t be fooled, Mary and Tenet are great friends. IN another story, Austin felt a sense of dread at this moment. A sense that he would lead this beloved class to great failure in the future.

     The only notable thing happening after was someone calling Ms. Cha “Ginoo”(Sir) accidentally or deliberately during Filipino class.

     Compostela Valley had a reunion during lunch.

     “Remember the time when Jib left then we all gave him a T-Shirt?” someone said.

     “Yeah…” some said.

     “I have one,” Ms. Mac, their adviser, said. “Remember when Owen brought that delicious java rice to the farewell.”

     “Oh yes…” a lot more people said.

     “Wait,” Sir Jojo, their adviser as well, said. “Ipinapatawag ko po si Binibining Cha, ang pinakamahusay na guro sa kagawaran ng Filipino!” (I would like to call Ms. Cha, the most excellent teacher in the Filipino Department)

     Sir Jojo yelled this across the canteen. Ms. Cha came close to the table, smiling.

     “These students have been complaining that you have not been teaching them,” Sir Jojo said in a joking tone. “You just keep on frowning and yelling and frowning and�"“

     “No, miss! We didn’t say that,” CV replied.

     “Haha, joke lang!” Sir Jojo added. “But someone did call you ‘Ginoong Cha’, right Sean?!”

     “No, miss, hindi ako yun!” (It wasn’t me!) Sean retorted.

     “Who was it, really?” Austin asked Sean.

     “Jack, duh…”

     “Sorry to bother you, Miss Cha. See you later,” Sir Jojo said.

     “Okay lang. Sean ha! MAg-ingat ka sa mga sinasabi mo ha?) (It’s okay! Sean, be careful of your words…) Ms. Cha said while parting.

     As the reunion came to a close, Austin realized that he was sitting beside Marise (AKA Autumn for future reference) all this time. As everyone stood up, Austin was having one of his inner conflicts.

     “Come on, Austin, do it.”

     In case you have not guessed, Austin was really bad with this kind of thing.

     RING!

     “D****t, just tell her everything you want!”

     “Marise!” Austin said.

     “Yeah?” she replied, turning around with that beautiful smile.

     “Enjoy the reunion?”

     “You blew it, Austin…”

     “Of course. Say, did Sean really call Ms. Cha�"“

     “No, it was someone else,” he leaned close, “But let’s keep that our little secret.”

     “Sure.”

     “See ya later.”

     As Austin was walking back to the classroom, he was bombarding his mind with one word: “D****t! D****t! D****t! D****t!”

     Their next class was Math time. Ms. Eds had them scheduled in the AVR (Audio Visual Room).

     “Which one of you is the Timekeeper?”

     Roey raised his hand.

     “Inform me if it’s five minutes before time, okay?”

     “Yes, miss!” Roey said. Just before Ms. Eds turned all the way around to write their whereabouts on the board, Roey took out a gigantic bottle wrapped in a towel and took a proportionally gigantic swig from it. Presumably, it only contained water.

     Ms. Eds did not leave this unnoticed. She leaned in and said, “Oy pare! Kamusta naman pare?!” (Pare �" a term close friends or just people call each other. Increasingly appropriate in this context since drinking is usually involved. Kamusta �" How are you)

     Hilarity ensued as they went to the AVR.

     Midway through the discussion, Riez raised his hand to recite.

     “Yes, you, what’s your name?” Ms. Eds asked.

     “Riez…” Riez said in his iconic, flat, tone.

     “I mean your real name.”

     “Riez…” exact same tone.

     “That’s not your nickname? What’s your full name?”
     “Riez… Danell Valenzuela.”

     “Okay then, what’s your answer?”

     A few hours later, they got put into their new seating arrangement. Kristina Escobar was now Austin’s seatmate. Afterwards, CCF class came. It was time to present their products.

     Mary’s group presented the JAckinator 2000. It was a “drug” designed to make Socco (slim physique) into a Reiji (relatively more muscular physique) in a week. After one more week, it would make you into a Paulo (Much more muscular physique) but if used too much, will cause the subject to become a Jack (disastrous physique). Jack was also relatively dark skinned and people frequently made racist jokes but Jack didn’t mind. He would actually use his skin color as a humorous advantage.

     After a few more minutes, Austin’s group presented the Pass. Aside from the intro of “From the visionary mind of Riez Valenzuela”, long story short, it was crappy but at least they had fun doing it… or not.

     During Computer time, they met their Computer teacher, Sir Ricky Adorna. He introduced himself in a very organized PowerPoint Presentation which also included the house rules. Afterwards, he put ADS in a seating position in Alphabetical order alternating boys and girls. He then paired everyone up by twos and let them introduce their partner as a computer part.

    Unfortunately, each pair was teased incessantly by everyone else. Tennet and Pilapil had the most clever shipping name. Pilapil was usually called “The Fish” and Tenet was called “Net”. It was only natural to call them “Fishnet”. Shane and Reiji were “Sheiji”. Jack and Gen were “Jackgen”. Roey and Belle became “Roeybelle”. Jack and Bernie did not have a creative name but Paulo Tuason was a very vocal supporter.

     After that, the day ended well.

    

During dinner with TEAGS later that night, Austin got a pretty angry customer.

     “So anyway, why would a�"“ Austin said.

     “Fernandez!” a voice behind him yelled.

     “�"want to get pissed off at a guy li�"“

     “FERNANDEZ!”

     “�"if the circumstances clearly pointed to going�"“

     “HEY PUSSWHIPS!”

     Austin suddenly felt a direct pain in his head which spread to his entire body. He fell to the ground as the people around them stopped eating and stared.

     “Resume your… dinner. Argh! This is… just a… day in… the… life,” Austin said.

     “You gave me a limit? You stupid little twat!” Marvin yelled.

     The pain stopped when Kyle hit Marvin with a psychic orb.

     “Lay off him.”

     “Everyone within a meter of him, get away from him!” Austin yelled.

     Austin pushed the TEAGS table away. He lost focus when Marvin put him under again.

     “Caught, red handed. You gave me a one meter radius, you scrawny little f**k?!”

     “Didn’t you catch that when I warned ever�"ARGH!”

     The pain stopped when a chair flew through the air and hit Marvin in the face.

     “Stop it, Marvin,” Adam said.

     Marvin stood up and approached Adam.

     “Now that you’re capable of standing up, you think you can take on the world! Pathetic.”

     “No, Marvin, you’re pathetic,” Austin said. “You probably have unresolved issues within you acting out. I suggest you deal with these issues without screwing around with everyone else.”

     Austin dropped down again, clutching his head, but not making a sound.

     “You’re gonna give me a bigger radius or I’m gonna fry your brain right now!” Marvin said.

     Austin began laughing.

     “Marvin, if you think that I’m feeling threatened by you, after the past three years,” Austin lifted his head up and stared Marvin straight down in the eye, “you’re very well mistaken!”

     He casually waved his hand in front of him as a dark circle formed under Marvin and sucked him in. Screams were heard from within the small shadow on the floor as Austin closed it up. He made a lifting gesture towards the ceiling, fifteen meters up. He opened up another shadow portal on the ceiling. Marvin dropped out of it and down into the ground in front of him.

     “You’re not getting your radius.”

     Austin sat back down and enjoyed the rest of his dinner. Everyone else in the room was staring at Marvin.

     “Dude, that was awesome,” Ernst said.

     “Nice shot by the way, buddy,” Austin said to Kyle. “You too Adam.”

     “You decimated Marvin Dela Cruz!” Adam said.

     “He was breaking the peace, now everyone, go back to your dinner!” Austin said.

     Everyone was still watching as two people put Marvin on a stretcher.

     “He’ll live. He’s made to survive drops like that. Now enjoy your dinner,” Austin said.

     Everyone watched Marvin being wheeled out.

     “Guys, I’m taking my dinner to my room. The atmosphere here is way too weird.”

 

Later that night, Kyle knocked on Austin’s door.

     “Kyle,” Austin said as he opened the door. “I’m fine.”

     “I know you’d say that but that’s not the reason I’m here.”

     “Well, what?”

     “I was kind of wondering if you would switch around the members of Team Alpha.”

     “You’ve been in my head again, haven’t you. Anyway, I have given that some thought. Michael didn’t seem all to into the team anymore as of late so I put him on the bench.”

     “Decided on a new lineup yet?”

     Austin went in his room and got out a green notebook with a double cover and opened it to a certain page.

     “After days of contemplation, I have decided on the following individuals: My team consists of Johan, Bianca, Adam, and Lui. Your team consists of Mo-on, Alyssa, Patrick, and Janus. Ernst’s team�"“

     “Ernst is team leader?”

     “No, I just decided to call it ‘Ernst’s team’ because it sounded beautiful. Of course he’s the leader. I trust the guy.”

     “No offense meant. I was just wondering how he’d lead a team with his powers.”

     “As I was saying before I was interrupted, Ernst’s team consists of Bam, Sean, Ivan Handog, and Rico. John’s team consists of Ivan Chan, Ibarra, Roey, and a slot yet to be filled.”

     “Did you just put Ernst with the band?”

     “No, I put him with four people who just happen to be in the same band.”

     “Your sarcasm has become unnervingly dry in the past twenty seconds.”

     “Nice job with that excruciating burn. Anything else?”

     “You busy?”

     “Not really but I can’t do anything with you for the next two hours.”

     “Why?”

     “I’m going to do some routine checks in the Tau-Upsilon-Phi sectors. Unless you wanna come along, I’m not available.”

     “Sure, we can do that.”

 

After the routine checks, Austin finally decided to continue Fellowship of the Ring. The next morning, he actually couldn’t stop reading since he reached the “Bridge of Khazad-dum” chapter.

     Apparently, the high school student body had been assigned specific waiting areas for the morning.

     “The freshmen and sophomores will take the catwalk,” Student Council President Philip dela Torre said. “The Seniors can take the Trellis and the area under the bridge  while the juniors can take the benches in the hallways and the area under the bridge.”

     The way their area was announced was particularly offensive since the Trellis and Catwalk were excellent places and yet the “bottom feeders” had to settle for out-of-the-way benches but so far, it was a petty thing to have a day ruined for. Also, they were forbidden from going up to the classrooms before the morning ceremony without consent.

     Ms. Cha’s period was particularly amusing. They had a diagnostic test that period. During the item analysis, Jack would raise his hand in contorted, lazy, and for a split-second, vulgar positions. Despite Ms. Cha’s lack in medical expertise, she probably plausibly diagnosed Jack with ADHD. She did, however, mistake him for “Quilantang”, another “pseudo-delinquent” from the batch.

     During Lunch, TEAGS was walking through the hallways when Adam suddenly stopped.

     “Adam, what’s the matter?” Austin asked.

     “Stacy?” Adam murmured.

     “What?”

     “Stacy!” Adam said, running towards a girl about 5’4”  with dark brown hair and trapping her in a hug.

     “Adam!” the girl replied. “Oh my God, you’re on your two feet! What happened?”

     “Long story. What the heck are you doing here?”

     “I was enrolled late. Then I was absent for the first week. We our flight was delayed because my uncle broke his leg and dad wanted to stay but, I’m here now.”

     “Stacy Alvarez?” Austin asked.

     Stacy grew quiet when she saw Austin and the others approach.

     “Stacy, this is Austin and Kyle, Ernst, Bianca, Ivan, Janus, and Roey.”

     “Nice to meet you,” Stacy said, reaching out for a handshake. She shook Austin’s hand for quite a long time before moving on to the others.

     “Guys, this is Stacy, my best friend since kindergarten.”

     “Nice to meet you,” Austin said. “Want another handshake?”

     “He’s kidding, obviously,” Adam said, stammering a bit.

     “I’m sorry, I’m not usually this reserved, even with new people,” Stacy said.

     “No problem. You’ll get used to this guy soon enough,” Ernst said, pointing at Austin.

     “Him, it’ll take a bit longer,” Bianca said, pointing at Ernst.

     “Um, excuse me for a second,” Stacy said. “Adam, how many minutes ‘til end of lunch break?”

     “I don’t kn�"“

     “Twenty point thirty-five,” Austin said to Adam. “Enough time to catch up. You want us to leave you guys?”

     “If it’s okay,” Adam said.

     “Of course. See you in class. Wait, speaking of class, which one are you in, Stacy?”

     “Agusan del… Sur I think?”

     “Small world!” Adam said enthusiastically.

     “I’m in with you?! That’s awesome!”

     “Guess I’ll be seeing both of you in class later,” Austin said as they left Adam and Stacy alone.

      “He’s in with us?” Stacy asked.

      “Yup.”

     “Anyway, about you walking? Is your story twenty minutes long?”

     “Okay, so this place is crazy and all with all of us having superpowers and stuff. I asked for something to make my legs work and they gave me something.”

     “Wow, twenty minutes just flew by!”

     “Did you get your powers yet?”

     “Not yet.”

     “You’re not even the least bit shocked about this?”

     “I have a younger cousin in here. I might not see things coming from a mile away but I have good sources.”

     “We’re on the twelfth floor. Wanna hang out after class?”

     “Sure.”

          

During English class, Ms. Jen decided to get to know the class. The main focus of the year was American and English literature. She flashed a powerpoint presentation with pictures of American and English stuff.

     “Okay, it’s about time we got to know each other. When I call you, I want you to tell me whether the picture refers to American or English culture and then say your name and a brief description of yourself.”

     The pictures began and so did the introductions. Eventually, Jack raised his hand.

     “Yes, you.”

     “That’s American, miss.”

     “What’s your name?”

     “Jack”

     “Well, describe yourself.”

     Ms. Jen’s class actually had a sort of cheery atmosphere at this point in the year already.

     “I’m… black.”

     Everyone roared with laughter.

     “Can you please give us a more substantial description?”
     “I… have… sex appeal?” Jack said with all the pride he could muster.

     Even Ms. Jen joined in with the laughter before flashing the next picture of Barack Obama.

     “This is very easy,” Ms. Jen said.

     “African,” Sean said.

     “That’s racist!” Ms. Jen commented as some individuals laughed at Sean’s refuge in audacity.

     During AP time, Ms. Emily split the class into five and gave each group a piece of acetate. She asked everyone to write down as many terms that can be related to history.

     Austin was with Ivan Handog. He was a great help since he was obsessed with war.

     At the end, everyone was asked to present their work. One team mentioned the Pearl Harbor Bombing to which Anne Sino Cruz inquired “SINO SI BOM-BING?” (Who is Bom-bing)

     Everyone went quiet. Five seconds later, Anne followed that up. “Ah…, “Bombing”. I get it…”

     During P.E. Time, Sir Mike, the boys’ teacher, announced that they would be merging with the girls.

     On the way to the AVR, the boys of ADN and ADS were being excessively noisy.

      When they entered the AVR, the girls were all seated in the chairs, being watched over by the new teacher, Ms. Janet Buitizon.

     The boys sat on the floor in front. The noise did not stop.

     “That’s it! Boys, get out!” Sir Mike yelled.

     On the way out, they were greeted by Ms. Janet’s colorful entrance into this tale.

     “See boys? That’s what you get for being noisy. And aside from being noisy, you smell like crap.”

     She scoffed. “Boys…”

     For obvious reasons, Austin began to find the equivalent of the word “misogynist” for anti-men people.

     On the way home that day, Austin saw Patrick in his uniform.

     “Hey, welcome to the High School Uniform, man!” Austin said.

     “Thanks!”

 

After school, Austin was invited by Adam to talk with Stacy.

     “Well, technically, I’d be lying if I said my story isn’t interesting but it’s long.”

     “But it’s so cool,” Adam said. “Tell her about the elevator.”

     “Well, a friend of mine can manipulate gravity. So one time, we were infiltrating this one base which had a broken elevator. This guy flips gravity onto the wall and then they walk upwards.”

     “Dude! Stace, we gotta try that! Austin, can you get Mo-on to do that or something! I have never walked in an elevator or up an elevator shaft! Hell, I barely even walk!”

     Throughout the conversation, Austin would notice Stacy glancing at Adam.

     Later, during Stacy’s power placement, she and Austin were alone in the Base.

     “What power do you want?”

     “What do you recommend?”

     “I don’t know. Umm… “

     He noticed her staring into space. He knew that look all too well.

     “Hey… Stacy.”

     She snapped back into the scene.

     “Yeah. Sorry?”

     “You like him, don’t you?”

     “Who?” she said, bewildered.

     “I don’t mean to intrude but, come on. Adam…”

     “I… well…”

     Austin put his hand on her shoulder.

     “Stacy, you can trust me.”

     He smiled at her and went back to the console.

     “Adam can manipulate emotions.”

     “Excuse me?”

     “That’s his power. You want to make a statement? I suggest you take that into consideration.”

     “Austin, I think you’re stepping way beyond your bounds.”

     “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just, I see you look at him and I sense something, alright? I just feel like, I don’t know. I don’t know what it feels like from the girl’s point of view.”

     “Austin, I’d really appreciate it if you’d stop.”

     “I’m sorry,” Austin said really apologetically. “I just… “

     “Adam’s my best friend. That’s all there is.”

     “Okay, let’s get back to business. I’m sorry.”

     “Austin, how about manipulating thoughts?”

    “What like mind control? Inception?”

     “No. Inhibiting thoughts to be precise. “

    “You sure about that?”

     “What’s better than confusing people?”

     “A lot of things but if you say so.”

     Austin activated the Dome and asked Stacy to step in. Afterwards, he took her to the ward.

     “Stace, it’s kinda late. I’ll ask room service to bring you your uniform. You can be at home here for the night. I’ll be downstairs if you need me. Just press Tau-Upsilon-Phi on the elevator. Good night.”

     “Austin. That girl in the other classroom, Mary Louise?”

     Austin did a half smile.

     “Ah, now you’re prying. Who told you?”

    “Told me what? She went to me and asked to be my friend. Do you?”

     “Damn it.”

     “Good night, Stacy. I will see you in the morning.”

  

The next morning, Austin was in the Island-Wide INTELSS, all dressed up for school, looking at other people going through the third floor hallways when suddenly, Marise passed by.

     Austin paused the feed.

     “One day...you’re going to be the happiest person on this planet…”

     Austin went to the main level of the Base to check on Stacy. The ward was empty so Austin just took his things and went to school.

     He spent the morning reading the Lothlorien chapters in Fellowship.

     They had their first Guidance class that day. Ms. Kit, their guidance counselor, never fetched them after the assembly. She told them afterwards that she won’t be fetching them anymore. They should just go to the classroom. Lui questioned what makes her so special.

    During Lunch, TEAGS played I’ve Never. In case you don’t know the rules, the people around the table take turns saying “I’ve Never ______” If anyone in the game has done the aforementioned action, they drink. Otherwise, they don’t. Unfortunately, as Anton was sneaking a drink, Janus dropped a “I’ve never kissed Ernst”. Needless to say, Anton kissed Ernst in some logically fallacious universe.

     During Chemistry, Ms. Mariliz mentioned the original notion regarding burning about Phlogiston. Someone mistook this for Phlogesterone.

     During AP, Ms. Emily mistook Austin for Joel for some unexplainable reason. Austin was filled with shock first, anger second but quickly moved on. (Joel was his former best friend who betrayed him for a girl.)

     During Music time, Tuason demonstrated his exaggerated vocal exercises while Sean admitted that he was actually enjoying.

 

The next day was pretty uneventful. Austin was just fired from being DRIX’s manager but he still had the rights to the webpages. Also, he had another talk with Marise that afternoon, much to his delight. To top it all off, he finished Fellowship and went straight to Two Towers.

 

The next day was uneventful as well except for the fact that it was Friday. Austin hung out with Roey and Ivan. Unfortunately, they were with Reginald as well playing Yu-Gi-Oh. When Austin tried speaking to them, Reginald replied with, “Hey you! Shut up!”

     Austin walked away.

     As he entered the hotel doors, Adam ambushed him.

     “Hey Austin! Stacy told me what happened the other day!”

     Adam then made the most angry face he could muster.

     “What about it?” Austin asked nervously.

     “You didn’t tell me you were in lurve!”

     “What the f**k is ‘lurve’ Adam?”

     “Humanity has been asking that question for a long time now and yet an answer has yet to be found. Dude! You should go for it!”

     “What do you know about it? You have anyone in mind?”

     “No. Why?”

     “Nothing… Oh, and for the record, she knows.”

     “Aaand?”

     “That’s it.”

     “Dude, you are not Pandora’s box. You have to let your emotions out.”

     “Are you gay, Adam?”

     “Yes, I am happy. Did you know they make the best pancakes here?”

     “I’ll act on my own time. See you later.”

     Austin continued to his room and read Two Towers. He stopped after a while and went to a new room he set up in his suite. It had direct access to the INTELSS. He went back to yesterday afternoon during his conversation with Marise.

     “I just know, in some universe out there in the infinite future, I am making you the happiest person ever…”

     He closed the feed and tried to get back into Two Towers. Unable to get all his thoughts out of his mind, he decided to go to bed.