03x14: Double Trouble

With all the external threats recently, Austin is only barely phased but when someone threatens Janella and the rest of his friends, it becomes way more personal.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

 

     Tuesday was one of the best days of his life. Friday and Monday were a free days.

     That was a slight exaggeration but nonetheless, on the surface it was.

     Austin was not able to initiate Project Torture Ymara because he was too busy talking about movies. He managed to start it a little bit by talking about horror movies, Ymara’s least favorite kind.

     That recess, Austin hung out in the Patola area.

     “Hey, brother!” Janella said.

     “Hey, sis. Wow, this is mildly inappropriate,” he replied.

     “Oh, yeah, Austin, can we talk to you about something?” Rica said.

     “Sure.”

     Rica and Mo-on took him to a secluded spot.

     “There’s a certain member who is in disapproval of you,” Rica said.

     “Let me guess, Justin?”

     “How’d you know? You’re psychic aren’t you?!” Mo-on said.

     “Actually, right now I’m pyrokinetic.”

     “Well, don’t take it too hard,” Rica said.

     “I won’t”

     “Come on, Austin, You look like you’re about to cry,” Mo-on said.

     “Don’t cry!” Rica said.

     “I’m not gonna cry!”

     Seriously, he wasn’t going to cry.

    

TLE was the usual routine. They ran out of truth and dare ideas so they listened for once.

     Lunch was fairly eventful as the “Mango Tree Gang” finally got a name.

     “Well, we’re awesome, right? Anyone who disagrees will get kicked in the balls. Anyone who disagrees that doesn’t have balls, which means you, Bi�"“

     “Shut it…” Bianca said.

     “Anyway, that person will have to go on a double date with Ernst, Ernst, and Ernst.”

     “So I date myself?” Ernst asked.

     “No, you date Bianca and yourself AND yourself at the same time. The double date will take place at McDonalds and you will all order a Royale with Cheese.”

     “Wait, does that mean we have to go to Amsterdam?” Ernst asked.

     “Anyway, we are awesome, we are guys,”

     “One more and I’ll,” Bianca said.

     “Shall I add fries and mayonnaise to the menu?” Austin said threateningly.

     “No, please, no!” Ernst begged.

     “I won’t. Anyway, this meeting is social; therefore, we are a society.”

     “Get on with the point!” Ernst said.

     “Five words: The Extremely Awesome Guy Society. T.E.A.G.S. for short.”

     “That’s retarded!” Bianca said.

     “You will learn to love it once we go to the disco on the fifth floor and go ‘TEAGS! TEAGS! TEAGS!’… You know, like ‘TUGS! TUGS! TUGS!’.”

     “Seriously, stop that.”

     “Bianca, Ernst, congratulations, you got a free trip for four to an Amsterdam branch of McDonalds of YOUR CHOICE!”

     “Yay!”

     Bianca took out a chit and charged it and threw it at Ernst’s head. It bounced off and hit Austin’s face.

     “What was that for?”Austin asked.

     “For fun, now if you guys haven’t noticed, Ernst has gravy on his chin,” Bianca said.

     “I do?” Ernst asked.

     “Congratulations, I now pronounce you husband and Ernst.”

     Bianca shot another chit at Austin, knocking him back a few inches.

     “Funny, I never thought my powers could be so fun to use.”

     “Congratulations,” Austin said in pain.

 

In the Library, Rica and Mo-on announced that another member is in disagreement.

     “Okay, I can’t guess. “

     “Peanut Butter and Justin.”

     “Hmm… Peanut Butter. Is it Ernst?”

     Rica and Mo-on glared at him.

     Austin looked over at the table. It can’t be Nica or Janella. Justin’s eliminated. Only one person was left.

     “Abi?”
     Rica and Mo-on slowly nodded.

     “Austin, don’t cry. It’s gonna be okay!” Rica said.

     “Were here for ya,” Mo-on said.

     “I’m not gonna cry!”

     Honestly, he wasn’t.

     “Don’t hold it in, letting it go will make you feel better,” Rica said.

     “I’m gonna sit over there.”

     Austin approached the table as Justin and Abi stood up. Austin sat down beside Janella as Rica and Mo-on took the opposite seats.

     “Nica, take it easy on him, he’s on the verge of tears,” Rica said.

     “Oh? Why?!” Janella asked.

     “I am not!”

     Nica hit him on the head with a cartolina.

     “Did that hurt?” she asked.

     “No, why?”

     She hit him again.

     “How about that?”

     “No, it was merely annoying.”

     She hit him again.

     “How about that?”

     Austin did not reply.

     “Anyway, I was not going to cry!” Austin said.

     “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay,” Janella said jokingly.

     “Hey, that’s what I said!” Rica said.

    

Austin went the classroom for Math class.

     After the usual greetings, Sr. Geck told everyone to stand up.

     “Okay, today I will announce those who have PTC’s. Sit down as your name is called.”

     Spirits fell as he said those words.

     “Austin, Maan, Ymara, sit.”

     They followed.

     “Ibarra, Justine, sit.

     “B 3-8, sit… G 7-12, sit… G 19-21, sit… B-20-21, sit…”

     The remaining people were getting nervous at this point.

     “G-18… G-1… B-17… G-6… B-15… G-4… B-2… G-13…”

     Sweat was falling to the ground…

     “B-9…”

     Mo-on’s face was almost in tears.

     “Mo-on, don’t cry!” Rica said.

     “Everything will be alright!” Austin said.

     “Why? What’s wrong?” Sr. Geck asked.

     “Sir, he’s on the verge of tears!” his seatmate said.

     “Too bad, I should’ve held him up longer.”

     Everyone laughed.

     “Congrats, Mo-on, you’re safe. Last one…”

     Everyone still standing prepared their hearts for breaking.

     “G-3, congrats. Those standing, I’m sorry. Better luck next time.”

     This was considered Judgment Day for some of them.

     Sr. Geck also announced the Top 8.

     “Number 8, Clutch; 7, Owen…”

     “YEAH! OWEN!”Austin whispered.

     “6, Justine; 5, Alecz; 4, Austin.”

     He was out of the Top 3… Rica and Mo-on reacted likewise.

     “Austin, it’s gonna be okay!” Rica said.

     “Yes, Austin. Don’t cry!”Mo-on said.

     “Austin, is something wrong?” Sr. Geck said.

     “No, sir.”

     “Don’t cry. It’s gonna be okay…” Sr. Geck said in a similar tone to Mo-on and Rica. Frankly, he still wasn’t on the verge of tears.

     “3, Ymara; 2, Basti!”

     “NAKS, BASTI!”Joven shouted.

     “Imba naman si Basti!” Jeffrey said.

     The entire class applauded him.

     “Congratulations, Basti. And the best in Math for the first quarter is, Maan.”

     They applauded and it was over.

     The rest of the day was pretty uninteresting but Austin got to say goodbye that day. It was complete.

 

The next morning, Rachel brought an eyeglass cleaner (She sat behind Ymara and beside Justine).

     Ymara played around with this cleaner, borrowing everyone’s eyeglasses and cleaning them. It was too easy to torture, really.

     Math class had turned hardcore since yesterday. Austin claimed it was “nothing personal, just business” and it was. He wanted to be on top. He recited a lot more, raising his hand every few seconds.

     During Art class, Austin asked Sr. Philip if he had seen Kick-A*s. He said no and Austin offered to lend him his copy.

     During ZL, they had to pick a new activity. Austin chose the one he enjoyed the best, Film reviewing. They had to watch a movie and write a review/analysis.

     Ms. Rose said that she would reserve an AVR for the class. She told Austin to make a survey for which movie.

     In the Creative ZL2 period, Ms. Anne finally agreed to a Music Group. Austin was lead, Sean and Sang Woo were Rhythm, Renz was “bass” (he would use the lower octaves of a piano), and Jib was vocals and percussion.

     They were going have a “CV Party” to celebrate the friendship that they built which meant they had to perform in front of the class.

     For Kinesthetic ZL2 this quarter, the teachers decided on a Palarong Pinoy which was basically an Intramurals with Pinoy games.

    

The next day, Austin began the survey. Among the choices were August Rush, Back to the Future, Batman Begins, District 9, Fight Club, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Inglourious Basterds, Kick-A*s, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Leon: The Professional, Memento, Shawshank Redemption, Shutter Island, Terminator 2, and V for Vendetta.

     Austin obviously didn’t care about the ratings.

     The leading choice was Kick-A*s followed by Shutter Island followed by District 9.

     He handed the DVD to Sr. Philip and he said he would return it on Monday.

     Mo-on and Micherenz began a small feud. Mo-on would randomly throw stuff at him, usually chalk. It was deemed the Micherenz Guioguio Shooting Range.

     CCF time was the most interesting as their topic for the day was Turning Points.

     Ms. Mac asked them about their turning points.

     “Yes, Joven?”

     “My turning point was when I met Bettina.”

     The entire class laughed at this, Ms. Mac included.

     “Funny but seriously, Joven?”

     Joven pointed out his and Ms. Mac asked for more volunteers. Justine raised his hand.

     “My turning point was when I transferred to Seton.”

     “Why?”

     “I had to leave my friends behind, make new ones. I never really got used to it until the fourth quarter. And then there was the superpower thing. It was a pretty big mess but I’m happy now.”

     Justine sat down.

    “Any more?”

     Austin raised his hand.

     “Yes?”
     “My turning point was when I entered high school. When I was in sixth grade, I was a nerd, a loser. I was bullied and�"“

     “Wait, Austin. How did you feel about that?”

     “Truthfully? It sucked.”

     Mo-on then started going all emotional. Rica stood up and comforted him.

     “Mo-on, what’s wrong?” Ms. Mac asked.

     Austin turned his head.

     “Mo-on, what’s the matter?”

     “You know?” Rica said.

     “Mo-on?” Justin asked.

     “I’m okay, go on,” Mo-on said, partly laughing.

     “Anyway, Austin, please,” Ms. Mac said.

     “Well, the whole accident thing happened and then I became head of the Power Regulation Unit, saved the island, got even a little bit of respect. Then summer came.

     “That summer, there was this movie that changed my view on life. It is now my favorite movie.”

     “May I ask what movie?”

     “Fight Club.”

     Looks like someone misinterpreted the message…

     “Then I met the girl of my dreams, I became friends with more of the popular kids and here I am now.”

     “Thank you for sharing that, Austin.”

     Austin sat down and checked on Mo-on. He said he was okay.

     After a few more examples, Ms. Mac finally shared hers.

     “Personally, my turning point was the Linggo ng Wika. Before, I never really rode rides with my advisory class. No matter how hard they begged, I’d refuse. But what happened during Linggo ng Wika, not just the ride but the bonding, it really changed me. I really felt like a family along with you guys and Sr. Jojo.”

     Everyone went, “Aww…” at this.

     Lunch was uneventful. He spent it with TEAGS, goofing off in the Library. Janella and Rica said that he missed a few good laughs under the bridge. Mo-on was back to his usual self, yelling at Cyril from far away.

     During Science time, they had an experiment in which they had to blow into a liquid to infuse carbon dioxide into it. Their partner would be their seatmate.

     Austin was the blower and he succeeded in the first experiment. For the second, he was having a harder time. He was using a green straw.

     “Austin, any time soon?” Ymara said.

     “I’m trying!”

     Still, nothing…

     “That’s it, I’m helping.”

     Ymara took out a green straw and helped. Still nothing happened.

     “You try again, I’ll observe the others.”

     Austin looked out the window at the ocean. It was one of those times where he would just think about random stuff. He maintained the gaze as he blew into the solution again.

     He snapped out of it and looked down. To his horror, he was blowing the green straw. Austin took it out, vaporized it and put in a new green straw.

     “Hey, how is it?”Ymara asked.

     “Still the same…”

     Ymara went off again as Austin switched the band to Hydrokinesis. He swished water in his mouth and spit in the sink.

     “You swallowed some too, huh?” Jeffrey asked, also spitting.

     “Maybe, yeah.”

    

The next day was also pretty uneventful.

     They began the health class in P.E. that day. Health class would take up half of the intended time. Their topic for this quarter was Reproductive Health.

     They had to make a slogan. Among the suggestions were some pretty nasty ones like, “Think before you ****”, “A condom a day keeps the baby away”, and some purely nonsensical ones like, “Masturbation a day keeps the baby away.”

     Later that Lunch, Janella was incredibly pissed off.

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

     “Nothing.”
     “Come on, tell me.”

     “It’s nothing.”

     Austin tried the “glare method” that worked on him countless time before but that didn’t convince her. Instead she terrifyingly glared at him.

     “Okay then. If ever you want to talk to me, I’ll be right there beside the guy with the long chin. Okay?”
     She didn’t even chuckle.

     Austin went the TEAGS table and talked to Bianca.

     “Alright, Bianca, spill.”

     “I came prepared, in case you are wondering. Anyway, we had no teacher in our last period. DDN was getting noisy and Janella got pissed. She stood up and told everyone to keep quiet. Then Joyce stood up and said, ‘No, you shut up!’ She got pissed, obviously.”

     “Joyce? I need more descriptions before I send my team of sentinels to bust her a*s!”

     “Joyce Magboo, DDN.”

     “Let me guess, she’s the typical pretty b***h who thinks she can boss everyone around?”

     “Actually, she is butt ugly and she’s in the TWP.”

     “Well, that explains it. I bet her face is all fat and flabby.”

     “Where are you going with this?”

     “And her cheeks make her face look like a pig’s a*s.”

     “Is this going somewhere?”

     “TEAGS codename for her, Pig’s A*s. Okay?”

     Later that lunch, Mo-on took out his masterpiece, a bunch of cartolina taped together with carbon paper on one side.

     He lay it down near Cyril’s spot and waited for someone step on it.

     “This isn’t going work,” Austin said.

     “KARLA! COME HERE!” Mo-on said.

     “What for?”

     “Step on the carbon paper and then, keep walking please.”

     “Why?”

     “Just please!”

     Karla did it and there were footprints on the cartolina. Mo-on positioned himself near Cyril and shouted at the top of his voice.

     “ANONG GINAWA MO? (What did you do?) PUNASAN MO YAN! PUNASAN MO YAN! ANONG HINIHINTAY MO? PUNASAN MO!”

    Everyone who knew what Mo-on was talking about was laughing their a*s off. Karla gave Mo-on a high five on a job well done. Cyril and her brigade left.

     During English, they were given a 150 item test on conjugating irregular verbs.

     “Why are you such a boring, if not torturous, seatmate?” Ymara said.

     “Ymara, switch with Tasha,” Ms. Sharon said, balancing the brainpower.

     “Hello, Tasha, let’s conjugate!”

     “That didn’t come out right, did it?”

     “No, it did not. Anyway, what’s the past form of light?”

     “Lighted?”

     “No…”
     “Oh, wait, just kidding! Lit! Sorry, I’m not a�"“

     “Past participle?”

    “Umm… Lit?”

     Austin continued this, playfully mocking her mistakes and tutoring her using humor. Tasha was laughing too hard, probably due to "hyperness". Ymara just stared in envy.

     When they finished, Tasha and Ymara switched back.

     “Thank you very much, Austin!” Tasha said.

     “No problem, practice conjugating!”

     Ymara sat down with a smug look on her face. Austin nonchalantly turned to face her and smiled mischievously.

     “You were saying?”

     “Why can’t you be that fun when I’m your seatmate?”

     “Because it’s so damn fun to torture you. Trust me, almost all of my seatmates… and Ernst, I torture with love and compassion. You should take that as a compliment. When you leave this place, you will miss me. Just ask Dory.”

     Ymara turned to Dory and pointed at Austin. She nodded slowly.

     “See?”

     Ms. Sharon then told them to group themselves. They had to make an Indian Doll for the second quarter. The project was on Monday.

     Aika was wearing an “I <3 CV” pin

 

Over the weekend, Austin watched the original Star Wars Trilogy again, aside from that, nothing special happened, except when he rewatched the prequel trilogy again and finally realized that it absolutely sucked.

    

The next Monday, the survey was still pretty much the same only this time, Fight Club was in third place, probably due to CCF time last Thursday.

     There were also no classes on Friday. The Patola Family planned on going to the mall to watch Despicable Me. Austin was going with them.

     Austin poofed up a hologram of a Pig’s A*s and placed it in Joyce’s compartment.

     “Dude, you’re really serious about that?”

     “Yes, I bet she would like to see herself in the mirror?”

     “I am not in this.”

     “OH YES YOU ARE!”

     “What’s in there?”Arjona asked. Austin took out the hologram. Arjona laughed.

     “Nice one!”

     Austin looked at Bianca, she was facepalming.

     “What?”

     “Why did you show it to him? He’s in cahoots with Pig’s A*s!”

     “Who cares, she’s gonna see it anyway.”

     Ernst walked in and put his things down, he looked in his compartment.

     “WHAT IS THIS?”

     He took out the Pig’s A*s hologram. Arjona had teleported it there.

     “You know what? I don’t want too much trouble.”

     Austin took the hologram and vaporized it.    

     After the morning assembly, Sr. Geck commented on their singing.

     “In fairness, your notes are all over the place…”

     They looked around, expecting to see pieces of paper on the floor.

     “I mean musical notes, anyway, Good Morning CV!”

     “Good Morning Sr. Geck! We are exci�"“

     “Haven’t you gotten over that? You usually don’t sound excited at all.”

     “We are!” they said.

     “If you say so. Okay, resume.”

     “We are EXCITED to see you!”

     “Good, take your seats…”

 

     During recess, the DDN people in Patola and TEAGS announced some bad news.

     “What’s going on?” Austin asked.

     “Arjona told Joyce! Joyce, Arjona, and Gelina Salas are best friends. They are also all in the TWP. Now, they are waging a war between TWP, Patola, and TEAGS!”

     “Well, by the power of Greyskull, bring it on!” Austin said.

     “What?!” Bianca said in protest.

     “They oppressed Janella; I simply returned fire, even retreating my troops... or troop but that's beside the point! If they want to start a war, I’ll be very glad to hand them their asses on a silver platter, served cold.”

     “Klingon Proverb,” Ernst said.

     “No, Austin. It’s okay,” Janella said. “You don’t need to fight for me.”

     “This could lead to expulsion, you know?” Nica said.

     “Is there a clause in the student handbook that prohibits pig asses in the premises?”

     “Just stop, Austin,” Janella said.

     “Well, it’s time. I’m going back my room. Just shoot that bouncy, bouncy, chit of yours around the railings to the CV room if you need me to start a war. Adios!”

      After recess, during science time, Sr. Jojo was reviewing last week’s lesson regarding parts of the leaf. Midway during the review, Ms. Mac passed by.

     “CV, let us take a moment t welcome… THE CO-ADVISER, MISS MAC GUMBAN!”

     Sr. Jojo began a slow clap as the rest followed and gave Ms. Mac a standing ovation.

     “Sr. Jojo, talaga!”Ms. Mac said with a smile on her face.

     “Anyway, back to the lesson about the leaf.”

     Sang Woo looked like he had a headache at this point.

     “Sang Woo, are you okay?”

     He nodded.

     “Do you know our topic? It’s the leaf? Have you seen a leaf?”

     He shook his head in pain but of course he has seen a leaf.

     “NO? Well, CV, if you do not see the leaf, you are the leaf itself!”

     The entire class broke into laughter at this. Sr. Jojo perfectly delivered that one. To make things better, Ms. Mac passed by again.

     “Let us welcome back the Co-Adviser, MISS MAC GUMBAN!”

     “WOOO!!!” The class applauded. It was times like these that made Austin proud to be in CV.

     During English time, Austin helped a bit with the doll. He got bored and sewed through a plastic bag, separating it into four compartments.

     “Austin, what is that?”Ms. Sharon asked.

     “Well, to be honest, I don’t know, Miss. I guess it’s a plastic bag with four parts, a new innovation perhaps?”

     “Austin likes to innovate, miss!” Mo-on said.

     “Or so I heard,” she replied.

     “On another topic, Ms. Sharon, what do you think of Star Wars?”

     “I think the original trilogy is brilliant.”

     “Agreed. I absolutely despise the prequels.”

     “The original trilogy is far superior.”

     “Of course.”

     Austin saw a side to Ms. Sharon he hadn’t seen that much yet. She was the most fun teacher to talk to when it came to movies.

     Eventually the discussion went from Star Wars to Indiana Jones to Quentin Tarantino to Michael Bay’s suckiness and finally to Kick-A*s. Austin wanted her opinion on it so he dropped by Sr. Philip’s office and picked up his copy.

     “How was it, Sir?”

     “The best!”

     “Who’s your favorite?”

     “Hit-Girl, of course!”

     “Agreed, sir.”

     “Anyway, thank you Austin!”

     “No problem. If you have any more requests, just tell me.”

     Austin looked for Ms. Sharon in the other Faculty center but she wasn’t there. He ate lunch first.

     They went the Library afterwards and, what a coincidence, Ms. Sharon was there!

     “Hey, Ms. Sharon! Here’s the DVD.”

     “Oh, thank you.”

     “Enjoy the film. Oh yeah, it’s very violent so you might not want show it to kids or some�"“

     “Oh, haha, okay.”

     They sat down and Austin talked to Janella a bit. Nica joined in along with Bianca.

     “I mean, Agnes is just so cute. She goes all, ‘IT’S SO FLUFFY!’I just melt,” Nica says.

     “Hey, Ernesto!” Austin says.

     “OH MY GOSH! IT’S SO FLABBY!’ Nica said, pointing at Ernst.

    

During AP time, Sr. Leo got pissed at Mo-on’s noise and asked for scotch tape to shut him up. Joven was more than happy to give him some and he put it on Mo-on’s mouth.

     They had a planting activity during TLE time. There was a mound of soil on each table.

     Everyone in Austin’s group played with the soil except for Aldrich.

     “Come on Aldrich!” Kristina said.

     “It’s just soil!”Marise said.

     “Maybe there are worms!”

     Marise and Kristina put their hands in the mound and took it out.

     “I think that means it’s clean,” Austin said.

     “Well, there are germs!” Aldrich said.

     “Aldrich!” Karl said, putting his finger near Aldrich’s left cheek. He turned to face Karl and his finger made contact with his face.

     “Well, Aldrich, you’re baptized now,” Austin said.

     “AH!” he said, rushing for the sink.

 

The next day was uneventful.

     Wednesday, however, was pretty eventful. Ms. Sharon thought Kick-A*s was okay.

     They also had a mass that morning. It was Mama Mary’s birthday after all.

     After the mass, there were Marian talks. They were arranged randomly and as if by the touch of destiny, Austin and Janella were beside each other.

     Austin’s worries came back when she begged Mo-on (who was beside her) to change seats. Shipping in mind, he refused.

     Austin took out a piece of Origami paper and started to fold something for Janella. He folded a tulip and gave it to her. She answered with a “thanks” and Austin felt sad. He was determined to win her back though.

     Kick-A*s won the vote with Shutter Island in second. Ms. Rose deemed Kick-A*s too inappropriate, much to Austin’s dismay, and they had to settle for Shutter Island.

     When the “hushing lady’ appeared onscreen, Ymara immediately hugged Alecz, who was beside her, in fear.

     They didn’t finish it (of course) and went for lunch. It was uneventful.

     Ms. Rose was also in charge of the Creative ZL of DDN. For some reason, they also chose Film Reviewing as their activity. They didn’t have a movie though and went to CV for help.

     Austin decided to give them the time of their lives by giving them Kick-A*s.

     They continued to practice their song (Where Is My Mind by the Pixies) but Renz kept screwing up. Sang Woo tired to help him though but still no good.

     This was only made worse by the random guys from CV AND DOR who would go in, play with the piano, and press the “DJ” button for s***s and giggles.

     They began the Palarong Pinoy that day. Austin asked the DDN people about Kick-A*s and most of them loved it so far. Janella didn’t like it though, having seen the first part already last August 26.

     She also loved cats and when Kick-A*s said “**** You, Mr. Bitey!”she was offended.

     On his way to the transport car terminal, he ran into Patrick and Mo-on.

     “Hey! You guys know each other?!” Austin asked.

     “No,” Mo-on said.

     “Patrick, this is Mo-on. Mo-on, this is Patrick.”

     “Hi,” Patrick said, waving his hand and firing it up.

     “You like showing off your powers?”

     “Sort of… yeah!”

     “Bye Austin!” Mo-on said as he went in the front most car.

     “So, you like him?” Austin asked.

     “Yeah!”

  

The next morning was unremarkable but Recess was mildly interesting as Cyril passed by while the Patola family and TEAGS were discussing. (Note that not all TEAGS members were there and the main ones were Austin, Ernst, Johan, and Bianca).

     Austin waited for DDN that lunch. On the way out, Austin spoke to Arjona.

     “Hey Arjona. You told anyone about the hologram?”

     “No. Why would I?”

     “No reason. Is it forbidden to ask?”

     Austin went over to his friends and led them to lunch.

     During Music, they had a practical test, being required to sing Ya Nan Fe.

      The paring was random. By chance, Mo-on was paired with Bettina.

     Bettina was starting to have a bad reputation and Austin was finally starting to understand why Renz hated her so much.

     She stood up and hesitantly sang with Mo-on, who was overshadowing her.

     On her way back to her seat, she pushed Mey’s head hard enough to send it forward a bit. At this point, Mey was probably her only friend.

     On the way back, Austin was stalking to Mo-on.

     “She’s complaining about being my partner?! I should be the one complaining!”

     “You talking about Bettina?” Renz asked.

     “None of your business, Guioguio!”

     “Yes, we are,” Austin said.

     “I don’t understand why in here, the ugly girls are the total douchebags.”

     It was the sad truth. In their world, the pretty girls were actually nice and the stereotypical “ugly but kindhearted girl” did not exist. Instead, the biggest b*****s had a face to match with their attitude.

     He waded through another Guidance class and stood outside DDN, waiting for them to come out. He looked inside and saw them closing their eyes. “Why do they get to play games?” Austin thought.

     Some of them raised their hands while their eyes remained closed. Austin didn’t mind this and looked back at CV. Mo-on was walking towards him.

     They put down their hands. Ernst had a “well, that sucked!” look on his face and they were dismissed. Sr. Chris took his things and went down.

     Austin fixed his collar.

     “Let’s go,” he said to Mo-on.

     When he entered, the first thing he saw was Bianca breaking a pencil in half in anger.

     “Pig’s A*s! Austin!”

     He then saw Janella crying. Nica and Bianca were comforting her. Alyssa and Justin from the other section also saw this and rushed to her aide.

     Austin’s blood was boiling. He approached Bianca.

     “Alright…” he said in a very serious and frightening tone. “What the f**k happened?”

     “We had a lot of spare time and Sr. Chris decided to have a little activity. He told us to right a question on a piece of paper and pass it forward. He put them in a box and shook it around. He drew one question and it was, ‘Is Janella a b…’ you get the word! He told everyone to close their eyes and raise their hands for yes.”

     “I peeked,” Ernst said. “Eric raised his hand, Joyce, Gelina, and Arjona for sure. Even some surprising ones like Daniella!”

     “DRIX?! What about them?!” Austin asked.

     “Loyal as can be.”

     Austin went Janella.

     “Janella, it’s gonna be okay. Just let it out for a while. You gotta get to your bus,” he said coldly.

     They helped her stand up. On Austin’s way out, he snapped and went back in the room.

     “Austin!” Bianca and Ernst said.

     Austin put a soundproof field around the room and shouted with all hid might.

     “TO ALL THE B******S WHO RAISED THEIR HAND, GODDAMN YOU!”

     Austin charged a cosmic beam and shot it out the window, straight into the ocean, causing some water to cascade upwards.

     He removed the soundproof field and ran towards Janella.

     He was breathing fast, red-faced with anger.

     “Austin, calm down,” Ernst said.

     “Yeah man, you’re heating up.”

     “Am I?” he said threateningly.

     He ran ahead to the waiting area where Nica and Clara were accompanying her.

     “Want to take her from here?” Clara asked.

     “If it’s okay,” he said more calmly.

     Clara and Nica stood up and Austin sat beside her. Ernst and Bianca ran into the waiting area and saw this scene. They decided to back off.

     “Are you okay now?”

     She had stopped crying at this point.

     “I feel a bit better.”

     He was really failing at a consolation.

     After a while, Jack Bungag went near them.

     “Man, that wasn’t pretty. Janella, there were a lot.”

     “Jack, can you please leave us alone?” Austin said firmly.

     “I wasn’t one of them I�"“

     “Jack.”

     Jack went away.

     “Hey, just forget about it, okay?”

     “I am.”

     “Think about tomorrow.”

     She smiled a little.

     “Actually, I haven’t asked yet.”

     “What? We’ve been planning since Monday.”

     “I don’t think I can go. We have to watch the base at Woodridge.”

     “Berna’s going with us, Janella.”

     “That is exactly why I can’t come.”

     “I can send someone to watch over. I’m pretty sure someone will be willing.”

     “It’s my responsibility, Austin.”

     Austin didn’t want to be happy at Kyle’s expense so he just accepted this fact. He still hoped that Destiny would intervene again and convince her to go with them.

     Janella had calmed down and she was pretty much back to normal.

     An awkward silence followed and he wanted to break it.

     “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

     “Hmm… I’m not sure. Maybe a vet?”

     “Ooh. I’m pretty sure you’ll make a great vet.”

     “You?”
     “I wanted to be a doctor. Then I got introduced to the art of film. Now, I wanna be a filmmaker.”

     “Oh…”

     That was the end of that topic. The next awkward silence was harder to break. She broke it this time.

     “Can you just leave already?” she asked gently.

     “But you won’t have anyone to talk to.”

     “I just want to be alone for a while…”

     Austin wanted to say it. He wanted to say it in person before he went away.

     “Come on, just say it. It’s just three words. ‘I. Love. You.’ That simple. It’s true, it’s right here, say it!” he told himself.

     “Please?” she said.

     “Okay then… Take care, okay?”

     “Of course.”

     “Bye.”

     “Bye…”

     Austin went to the transport cars and rode back to the hotel slowly. He didn’t really know how to feel about what just happened. He hoped that tomorrow would cheer him up.

Reviews

[RA Fernandez]

@Justin I guessed.

“There’s a certain member who is in disapproval of you,” Rica said.
“Let me guess, Justin?”

Process of elimination at the time. Those were dark times indeed :-|

[Anne Lubag]

Rica told you? >.