02x32: The Rose With Many Thorns

Austin begins having visions aout a mysterious person giving someone a rose. These visions distract him throughout the entire day. It just happens to be on the day of one of his Math Contests.

THE ROSE WITH MANY THORNS

 

     A white void, he was in it again. He was unable to move. It was cold, there was no wind, the feeling of the place was incredibly surreal. Then there it was, a red rose, fluttering down towards him, as if wind was blowing it. There was definitely no wind. To think of it, he felt depressed just standing there.

     As the rose dropped to the ground in front of his feet, the thorns became sentient and detached themselves from the rose. There it was, a perfect rose. Then it hit Austin, he had this dream before only it felt worse this time.

     The thorns climbed up his body, heading for his heart. He couldn’t move any part of his body except for his eyes. He had no choice but to watch as the thorns dug into his heart. The pain was unbearable. His entire body flushed with excruciating pain but he was unable to move at all.

     There he was, watching as the white void became a black void.

     There was a faint image, a hand handing a rose to another hand. What was this? What was going on?

     He woke up, it was February 12, 2010. It was 5:30 already but he was still sleepy. He switched the band to Time Manipulation and slowed it down tenfold. He slept for two more hours. He reverted time to normal and got ready. Time for his competition.

     He tried walking to school for once and, when he arrived, waited for Maan and Lui. He waited in the KaWaLi area which was near the Patola Area, hoping that Janella would arrive early.

     There it was again, the black void, the faint image of an awkward smile dominated the void. It lowered to show the same thing he saw earlier: the rose being handed from one hand to another.

     Austin snapped out of it. What the hell was happening?

     Soon, Monica arrived. Austin went to her.

     “Hey, Nica, what time does Janella usually arrive?”

     “Around 7, why?”

     “I just wanna say good bye before I go to the math competition.”

     Cue screech tease and Clara arriving.

     “What goes on?” Clara asked.

     “Austin’s waiting for Janella to arrive.”

     “Why?”

     “He says he wants to say goodbye before he goes off to his Math competition.”

     Cue second screech tease.

     “Okay, okay, stop. I’ll try to stall the other guys. You think you can help?”

     “Sure, we’ll wait in the entrance and when she arrives, we’ll tell her to hurry up. Just be back here ASAP,” Nica said.

    “Okay, thanks a lot guys. I owe you one.”

     Austin went towards Sr. Alan’s office. He said they weren’t complete yet. It was already 6:45, there might be a chance.

    

Austin went back to the Patola area. Alyssa was there.

     “Hey, Austin. Waiting for Janella?”

     “Uhm… actually, yeah.”

     Cue third screech tease of the day.

     “Okay, okay. I think it’s time to�"“

     He saw, near the entrance of the canteen, Nica and Clara pushing Janella along. They finally pushed her all the way to the Patola area. Awkwardness ensued.

     “Hey…” Austin said.

     “Hi.”

     “THIS IS LAME! COME ON, AUSTIN! SAY IT!” Nica yelled.

     Austin took out the chocolates.

     “I just wanted to give these to you.”

    Austin handed her the chocolates.

     “And this,”

     He took out a small pink package and gave it to her.

     “Thanks,” she said.

     “BOOOORIIIIING!!!” Nica said.

     “Anything else you wanna say, Austin?” Clara said.

     “Isn’t the bus gonna leave you?”

     “No, it won’t leave me. I just wanted to see you before I departed.”

     Cue a triple simultaneous screech tease.

     Austin started to separate himself from the scene.

     “I’ll bag the medal for you!”

     “Good luck!”

     Austin ran towards the motorpool when suddenly, he was back in the black void.

     A relatively skinny guy was approaching the girl with a rose. The girl turned around but all that could be seen of her is her mouth. Then she smiled awkwardly.

     “Austin!”

     He was back, he couldn’t remember what he just saw and was all dizzy and disoriented.

     “We’re going to be late!” Maan said.

     “Oh, sorry.”

     “Let’s go,” Lui said.

     They entered the bus and headed for the school.

 

Sr. Edmond was the one with them this time. He wasn’t that bitter towards Austin. In fact, he was actually back to his usual self, at least for the day.

     Austin was trying to interpret the messages from the black void. What were those. All he could remember was a random mass of color but among all things, the rose.

     While they were still on their way, there it was again, the black void.

     There was no sound, only the image of a mouth talking. It was surrounded by the void, it felt like thoughts. Austin read the lips, it was basically saying, “Will I or Will I not?”

     The black void surrounding the mouth filled with the backdrop of the canteen. The guy, rose in hand, started to approach the girl.

    

They finally arrived. Austin’s head was hurting. They were escorted to the Knowledge Channel, it was just a fancy name for a regular hallway with rooms. Austin waited for a while, reading his math book, reviewing on some of the formulas when he found himself in the black void again.

     The same relatively skinny guy was heading out towards the rose vendor. He took out some money and purchased the rose. He headed back towards the canteen and the backdrop disappeared. It was his mouth. “Will I or Will I not?”

     They entered the room. They were team 5, It was quizbee style where they had to write their answers on a piece of paper and pass it to the judges. They were doing much better than in elementary. Austin and Maan could safely say that Lui was their lucky charm.

     A somewhat rude coincidence followed the final question when Austin blacked out again.

     It was only a vision within a vision. Everything Austin had seen was simply being replayed although in first person. He was heading toward the rose vendor and bought the rose. He headed towards the CWS and approached a girl. Before she turned around, everything flushed into a random mass of colors and it reformed into the bigger picture, the guy in front of the rose vendor, about to purchase the rose.

     “Austin, are you okay?” Maan asked.

     “Yeah, my head just hurt from all that mathematics.”

     “Austin, you look pale,” Lui pointed out.

     “As long as I have pupils, I’m fine.”

     “Now, it’s time for the Awarding. Third Place Goes to, Southville School for Boys.”

     They received their bronze medals. Austin bit his lip in anticipation.

     “The second place goes to, Elizabeth Seton School.”

     At least he still bagged the medal for her. He went up the stage and received their silver medals.

     “and the first place goes to, Ateneo.”

     They received their gold medals and everyone exited the room. Time flew by so fast, it was 10:30.

     He resumed thinking about these odd visions he’s been having. Why was he having these visions? As predicted, he was in another one.

     The guy awhile ago was talking to someone else. Thank goodness for that long chin, Austin recognized him as Ernst. But anyone could be talking to Ernst. Then everything was a giant mass of color again and it reformed into the first-person thoughts.

     Austin woke up again. He waited for a while, trying again, in vain, to decipher the visions. He switched the black band from time manipulation to psychic powers. He tried to map out his mind. It still didn’t work.

     The Sophomores exited the room as the Juniors entered. Sr. Edmond decided to take everyone to the nearby McDonalds. He opted for a healthy, natural walk rather than a shortcut.

     They finally arrived and Austin ordered fried chicken. As he ate, he was still trying to figure out the visions. It seemed clear while he was in the visions but, like a dream, he couldn’t remember it when he woke up. All he remembers are the colors and the rose.

     He kept on trying to have another vision but nothing happened.

     The Juniors caught up with them. There was a lunch break so the Seniors didn’t have to go back immediately.

     Soon, everyone was finished with their food and they walked back to the school.

     The Seniors went in now. Austin only had to wait for another hour. What if these visions were like the visions he had last year of the boy descending, pointing his hand at his face, and firing him into oblivion. Who was this guy.

     He gave up on it and conjured a Sudoku book. He tried to solve it but just like everything he had been trying to do for the past five hours, it was in vain. He decided to announce his victory to his three best friends. Ernst and Janella behaved and didn’t use their phones in class. Joel, however, replied.

     “Congrats”

     “Thanks. We ate in McDonalds, it was delicious!” he replied, teasing Joel.

     Joel’s reply, however, was unexpected but he should have seen it coming. How could he have missed it?

     “Oh, nice. Today was boring but lunch was fun. I gave Janella a rose.”

      Austin’s blood boiled and rocketed to high temperatures. He could’ve sworn he was turning into the Hulk. He needed to punch something but he couldn’t. He had to fight the rest of the hour off. When they were finally on their way home, Austin’s anger destroyed all common sense and he didn’t even think of teleporting back to school.

     When he arrived, Janella was gone, Joel was gone, Ernst was gone. He received another text. It was from Janella.

     “Sorry for the late reply, Congrats!”

     “Thanks,” he replied.

     He was being bothered by Joel’s actions for the remainder of the day. After dinner, he couldn’t help it anymore and he teleported to her floor.

 

He knocked on her suite and she answered it.

     “May I come in?”

     “Of course! Go right ahead.”

     “Thanks.”

     He went in and sat in the seat.

     “I know,” she said, smiling. “No orange soda.”

     Austin didn’t smile at this.

     “What’s wrong?”

     “Umm. I’m going to be straightforward, can I ask you a question?”

     “Sure.”

     “Did Joel give you anything?”

     “Why would you ask that?”

     “No reason.”

     “Is it okay if you just ask him,” she said as the smile disappeared from her face. “I had a bad day today.”

     “Please, answer the question.”

     “Fine, he did. Because…, just… Can I change the topic? How are you?”

     “Oh, I’m fine,” Austin said bitterly.

     “Did you miss me? Haha, just kidding.”

     “In fact, I did.”

     Janella remained quiet, not expecting a straightforward answer like that.

     “You know? My day really sucked today. I’m so stupid.”

     “Well, at least Joel made your day. All he did to my day was ruin it.”

     “I knew it! That’s why I didn’t want to tell you in the first place, you’d be mad at him! Wait a minute… You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

     “Well, of course. I wish I had never joined that con�"“

     “What is the matter with you? To tell the truth, my day sucked because you weren’t in it!”

     Austin felt bad now. He sat there in contemplative silence, thinking about what he had just done. Janella sat on her bed.

     After a few minutes of this awkward silence, she spoke again.

     “Austin?”

     Austin didn’t reply. He just looked her in the eye with an apologetic expression.

     “Are you still mad at him? Look, just forget what happened, okay?”

     How could he forget one of his best friends’ first betrayals?

     “Okay, I will,” Austin said. At that point, he didn’t know whether it was the lie or the truth, all he knew as that he was going to try, for her.

     He stood up and headed for the door. He turned to face her.

     “Hey, Janella, I’m sorry.”

     “Yeah, it’s okay.”

    Austin headed out. Before he was truly out of earshot, he turned around again.

     “Janella!”

     “Yeah?”

     “Advanced Happy Valentine’s Day!”

     “Advanced Happy Valentine’s Day too! Good Night. Forget what happened, okay?”

      Austin smiled at her and went ahead. Once again, he didn’t know whether he would forget. He wished he could but how could he?