02x06: Excitement in August

The Linggo ng Wika proves to be exciting as the unexpected happens. Austin tells Joel about his crush.

EXCITEMENT IN AUGUST

 

     The third week of August was usually the main week of the celebrations. Ms. Ruby had given them the task of making a game booth during the festivities. Sr. Leo started to show his dark side before this but usually makes up for it the day after.

     To be frank, the reason the students were so excited for this month was because, well, no classes. Austin, being part of this group, couldn’t wait for it.

     They were tasked by the school to make “banderitas” out of recycled materials. Well, cutting the bottles in half was child’s play due to their powers. Ernst was mostly useless this time because all he did was put laughing gas in the bottles and if anyone opened them, they, and a 10 meter diameter, would burst out laughing.

     While they were doing this, Austin and everyone else received a survey form from Alecz.

Would you like to have a Freshmen-Sophomore’s night? Yes No

     Austin hated most of the sophomores. They had tortured him in his 5^th grade. One of the sophomores, Migz Ramoy called his mother a b***h and still torments him in one of the clubs (Oral Interpretation), another one called him gay, another one threw a ball at his head, and to top them all off, they’d all call him “Nerd, or Geek.” 5^th grade, it was definitely the second worst year.

     Austin checked yes anyway. It would be a great opportunity for him to make his first move with Janella. It was still a crush and Austin was new to the whole thing. He didn’t know how girls thought, what they wanted, or anything else. He had a lot of rough brush-ins with them in the 5^th Grade and well, it was bad.

     Anyway, Austin, Joel, Ernst, Janella, Aubrey, Danie, Bea, and a few more people were tasked to cut out “BUKIDNON” from magazines. Austin was feeling kind of assy and decided to draw moustaches on the faces in the magazines. Soon some people were following suit. Austin couldn’t help but laugh but maybe it was Ernst. Soon Bea acted up again.

     “What are you doing?”

     Well, Austin was thinking of a nasty comeback. Yeah, he was feeling really assy. He noticed that she was also not doing anything but yelling at the people in the group.

      “What are YOU doing?” Austin retorted.

     Once again, he could barely hold in his laughter and the other group members too. Well, he looked at Ernst and he was doing his thing, just gassing up the atmosphere.

     Some of the other students were practicing for a dance competition, Poem recitation, essay writing, and so on.

     That day, the school also decided to ban cellphones and rumors were being spread that there was going to be a cellphone inspection.

     Austin went down for recess and went to buy his usual food, Clara, an old student and classmate of his, was buying the same thing.

     “Austin, how’s the decorations?” she asked.

     “Easy, powers make life easier. Hey is it true that they’re inspecting cellphones?”

     “Yeah, students are hiding them all over the school.”

     “They’re gonna lose their cellphones if they keep this up.”

     “Actually, I fell really bad for Janella, John, and Rico”

     “Why?”

     “Didn’t you hear?”

     “No. What happened?”

     “They got nervous and tried to hide their cellphones over the blackboard, they threw them over and they got stuck at the back of the board.”

     “Can’t they use their powers?”

     “Sadly, no. Something’s preventing them.”

     “What?”

     “I don’t know. There’s black lining around the walls.”

     “Ok, see you later.”

     Austin was struck with concern. 3 of his friends have lost their cellphones and there was anti-radioactive matter lining the walls. He waited for the bell to ring and ran to the classroom. They resumed their preparations while Austin went to the blackboard and switched the black band to phazing.

    He tried to phaze his hand through the blackboard but it won’t go through. He climbed up a little and he saw the anti-rad matter. He tried reversing its polarity like in last year’s intramurals but something was not right. It didn’t work.

     He tried using super strength to budge the board but it didn’t work, he didn’t want to get scolded for vandalism and he can’t fix it due to the anti-rad matter anyway.

     A few of the guys were trying to retrieve it but to no luck. They informed Sr. Edmond and Sr. Leo about it. Everyone but some boys, Janella, Rico, and John were working. Austin sat behind Janella and he wanted to comfort her. Go ahead. Say it. You can do it. Just comfort her.

     Speak of the devil, Justin and Danie appeared behind him and comforted her. Lost opportunity. He tried to formulate a plan using normal objects. Turns out powers don’t make everything better.

     After going through tons (three) of ideas, none of them were possible.

     Austin went for lunch along with the rest of the class. He ate his lunch and played a few rounds of Ninjas and Magic. The bell rang and he went back to the classroom. He saw a wooden board under the blackboard to have a missing nail.

     “John, they got the cellphones?” Austin asked.

     “Yeah, the maintenance took care of it.”

     Janella had a big smile on her face but Austin felt as if he at least tried to make a plan.

     There was never an inspection. Janella was so happy about this that Austin got her number. Austin was also happy. This day was happy but Austin just remembered last year, the cause of everyone’s happiness was just the resolution to the problems he caused. He just brushed anything heavier than that off his shoulder and called it a day.

     The days after that were uneventful really.  Soon, it was finally the “Linggo ng Wika”, the main focus. It was pushed back to the last week of August.

    

Day 1 �" August 24, 2009, they had this boring ceremony. Well, to the mind of a thirteen year old kid in the 21^st century, anything without action, explosions, blood, gore, music, video games, or “kickassness” was just boring wasn’t it? Well, not exactly for Austin. He just wanted to make a move. He had two-hundred pesos. There were rides outside, each costs one ticket which costs twenty pesos each. After the program opening the whole week, Austin did what any guy would do. Play Ninjas and Magic. He was getting addicted and more and more guys were playing it, not just the nerds. Hell, even the sophomores started joining in. Austin being one of the nerds, started getting addicted to it.

     Unlike other nerds, Austin could hang out with the “cool kids” he wasn’t exactly part of their group. He could just blend in. Well, he resisted peer pressure pretty well but since most of them played guitar, he kind of wanted to learn guitar.

     Soon, Ninjas and Magic became tiring with the whole third dimension stuck to it so Austin, Ivan, Roey, Ernst and some guys they didn’t know went to the most immature of the rides, the inflatable playground. Since they had superpowers and the playground was pop proof, they could use their powers all they wanted. Ivan was just running around the inflatable while Roey was bouncing while playing a NAM (Sort for Ninjas and Magic) match against Lance, the guy who helped them last year who was also in their group.

     There was also a centrifugal cars ride called the Caterpillar. It was a perfect place for a 3 minute date due to the centrifugal forces forcing them together. He, Ivan and Michael Chua, probably the coolest of the clique, were all in one car. The centrifugal forces were squishing them together and they never wanted to do it again.

     Sr. Leo wanted everyone from Bukidnon to go on the “Pirate Ship” ride which everyone called “Anchors Away” after the ride back in an amusement park, “Enchanted Kingdom” back in the country. While waiting in line, Austin was nervous as hell. He had nearly puked when they went on that ride in September 2008. Even with superpowers, puking is irresistible. Somehow, the girls forced Sr. Rommel on the ride. When they got on the ride, Sr. Leo went on the boys’ side. The students took their seats, and unfortunately, Sr. Rommel had to sit with the girls.

     The ride started and some people were screaming although the swing angle was still very low. It started to rise. The boys’ side would go down, the boys would yell, the girls’ side would go down, the girls would yell, startling Sr. Rommel. It was a fairly long ride and Austin bet Sr. Rommel was halfway deaf already but then Austin suddenly jerked in his seat. It’s been a fairly long time since he had a vision this specific. A spike was headed straight for the ride’s main joint.

     He looked up at it. Sr. Rommel was covering his ears as the girls were screaming, especially Justin who was screaming her insides onto him. When the boys’ side was at its highest point, he saw a faint flash of light in the distance. Was he simply paranoid?

     Ernst had inadvertently released laughing gas but Austin found it easy to resist. He heard the girls scream as the boys’ side reached its highest point. Suddenly, it came true. As the boys’ side was going down and the girls’ side was rising, a spike hit the joint and somehow exploded. The ship was sent flying towards the Luzon Building. Austin tried using his powers but he noticed something on the floor of the ship, anti-rad matter.

     He quickly attempted to reverse the polarity; Ernst’s laughing gas suddenly disappeared probably due to the anti-rad taking effect. This was a different kind of anti-rad since it appeared out of nowhere and can’t be reversed.

     They were heading straight for the shore.

     “Quick, everyone, quickly shift your weight towards the shore!” Austin yelled.

     Everyone leaned away from the shore and suddenly jerked towards it. The ship was slightly pushed and continued its course. It hit the very edge of the shore and finally stopped at sea. The anti-rad matter was gone and Ernst decided to release gas to lighten the situation. He noticed Sr. Rommel’s power of increased senses didn’t help at all since the girls screamed their heads off in this whole situation. Sr. Leo had been taking pictures of the whole flight as if it happened to him every day.

     Their game booth had been called “Thriller” in honor to the late King of Pop. They dressed Ernst as Michael Jackson too since Ernst loved him and his music. The objective of the game was to guess the object in the “secret box” by using your sense of touch. The students of Bukidnon took shifts in guarding the booth. After lunch were Rico, Janella, Austin, Kat, Ricardo and some other people’s shifts but after lunch was a dead time for game booths as no one played. It was Janella’s shift and her “shiftmates” left her alone in the booth. Austin had a lot of extra money so he was planning to buy her a ticket to the Caterpillar. She didn’t experience the Anchors Away situation so she doesn’t have much trauma in that area. Austin would save her anyway so he went on. Go ahead. Ask her. You want this don’t you? Don’t be a wuss. Make your move. Just say it. “Want to go on the Caterpillar with me? I’ll pay.” Forget your naivety on the matter and just walk up and ask her.

     Every second of his thought on this matter, he took one step towards the booth, Soon he was in front of her just staring into space, looking like an idiot.

     “Austin, what are you looking at?” Janella asked.

     Austin’s face grew red but he snapped out of it and looked at her.

     “Nothing. Um, so…” Austin said with his nervousness grabbing his collar and pulling back hard. “… where are your shiftmates?”

     “That was pathetic, why did I say that?” Austin thought but he lightened up when he saw her laugh.

     “Shiftmates? Is that even a word?”

     “Umm, I made it up, I think. Any way…”

     Ask her. It’s just 3 minutes. Go. Now Austin! Be the man you wanted to be.

     “Do…”

     He looked behind him, looking for inspiration but speak of the devil, Justin and Danie were there. Since they knew that Austin was crushing on Janella, they were probably in teasing mode.

     “Hey Janella, what are you doing with Austin?” Danie said.

      “AYIEEEEEEEE!!!!” Justin wailed.

     “Great, moment ruined…” Austin thought.

     Janella looked at her watch.

      “Oh will you look at that, my shifts over,” she said.

     She signed the time out. Austin was up next.

     “Good luck, it’s gonna be pretty boring. Why don’t you keep him company, Danie?”

     Janella loved teasing him with Danie or Justin.

     Janella and Justin left.

     “What were you doing with her?” she asked.

     “We were talking.”

     “Talking about what?”

     “Ok, fine I’ll tell you. Just don’t tell her and tell Justin not to tell her, ok?”

     “Sure.”

     “I was gonna ask her to the Caterpillar. I was gonna pay for her.”

     “Oh my Goodness, no really?”

     “I’m not the nerdy 11 year old anymore Danie. I’m almost 13.”

     “Well, good luck you two.”

      “Don’t post this on Facebook!”

     “Alright!”

     “Keep it a secret!”

     “OK!”

     Justin and Janella arrived again.

     “Man, they were really talking!” Janella said.

     “Ok, you girls go have your fun now; I’ll take care of the booth, ok bye!” Austin quickly said.

     Austin was just sitting around waiting for an hour to pass then Joel walked up to him.

     “Hey Austin, you have a crush on Janella?”

     “Didn’t the ‘Vanitiez’ tell you?” Austin said mockingly.

     “Who are the Vanitiez?”

     “We have little in common since I asked that question last year.”

     “Anyway, I just overheard you and Danie. Awww, 3^rd grade Austin leveled up to a freshman umm….”

     “Calm down Joel. I never felt this way towards a girl before.”

     “What about P…”

     “NEVER, felt this way…”

     “Okay, fine I believe you.”

     The rest of the week was uneventful aside from the dance contest which they lost. On Friday, they had their “Palarong Pinoy” where they played Native Games. They were unaltered. No superpowered variants to hold up traditions. Austin played “Dama” which was just a different version of checkers. He lost to a Junior.

     It was the end of August and they were back to school. Back to classes would have been more appropriate. But Austin was going on a vacation with his mom and Patrick on September 5, 2009. They were going to a place in Tagaytay Highlands called the Woodridge Place. Coincidentally a place where he’d meet a new adversary.