Dreams and Wonders

Chapter 7

[Cairo Gascon's POV]

Bigla naman akong nataranta nang makitang lahat sila ay nakatingin sa akin. "Oh, I'm sorry. Good morning, everyone! My name's Cairo Gascon and you can call me Cai. I hope we will have fun in this class and I hope we all get along. Th-that's it, thank you," I smiled at them and sat back down.

What the h*ll was that? I totally messed up. I practiced all night para sa mga linyang 'yon at nagkamali lang ako. I shot my head up as the teacher called me.

"Mr. Gascon, it seems that you are a transferee in this class. And from the city at that. Do you mind kindly telling us why you transferred here?" she politely asked.

"It's a private matter po. I hope you understand, Ma'am Cara," I replied sincerely.

"It's okay. I was just wondering why you transferred dito sa province when you were already in the city. Anyway, patuloy tayo. Next," pagpapatuloy niya.

I just smiled it off and shrugged at my seat. I still couldn't believe I stuttered while introducing myself. Maybe because something was bothering my mind and that includes missing my friends a lot.

A minute passed at bigla akong nawala sa isipan ko nang may kumuhit ulit sa balikat ko.

"Bro, okay ka lang?" tanong ng lalaki kanina. He looked concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. By the way, I'm Cairo. Nice to meet you," I said as I laid out my hand for a handshake.

His face lit up and accepted my handshake, "Oh, ako naman si Ken. Nice to meet you too, bro. May itatanong lang sana ako."

"Sure. Ano 'yon?" pagtataka ko.

He was hesitant for a second but still proceeded anyway, "Ano skincare routine mo, bro?"

No'ng sinabi niya 'yon, para akong sirang orasan na pinoproseso ang mga sinsabi niya. Skincare routine? Handa pa naman ako sagutin ang mga tanong niya kung sakali tungkol ito sa bakit ako nag-aral sa probinsya.

"Ken, are you serious? Skincare routine?" I chuckled.

Palihim na tinuro niya naman ang mga kaklase namin sa likod. I followed his gaze as well. "Kita mo 'yong girls, bro? Lahat ata nakatitig sa'yo. Except sa isa doon sa dulo," he said while pointing at the girl who was the first one to introduce herself earlier.

Confused as I am, tumawa ako nang konti at ibinaling ulit ang atensyon sa kanya. "Hindi ako nagmamayabang, ha? Pero wala akong ginagamit na skincare routine."

Gulat na lumaki ang dalawang mga mata niya habang tinatakpan ang kanyang mga bibig. "Weh? Meron 'yan. Ayaw mo lang sabihin, eh. Sige na, bro. Para magka-girlfriend na ako. Kita mo 'yan, oh? Lahat nakatingin talaga sa 'yo."

"Promise, bro. Wala talaga. Baka kasi hindi hiyang 'yong products sa aking mukha," pagpapaliwanag ko.

"Sige na nga. Sabi mo, eh," he gave up and slouched back on his seat.

To be honest, I have never tried having a skincare routine. Although, I want to try it out since I am nearing my early 20s and my parents' advice is to have a skincare routine by that age. Kahit raw na sunscreen ilalagay kada araw ay importante ito. I actually haven't thought about trying it until Ken asked so maybe someday I'll buy some skincare products. It was funny how he asked it, though. I literally wasn't expecting he'd ask that. I expected him to ask if I had any girlfriend, or why I moved here to the province, and what it feels like to study in the city. I smiled at the thought.

Bumaling ulit ako sa kanya nang matandaan ko ang sinabi niya kanina. "By the way, can I ask you a question?"

"Sige lang. Ano 'yon?" sagot niya.

"Yong babae sa dulo, bakit no'ng nagpakilala siya, ang daming tumawa? Hindi naman sila gano'n tumawa sa ibang classmates natin," I looked at the girl sitting at the corner of the room.

Nang marinig niya 'yon ay may bahid na lungkot ang mata niya. "Ah, si Sydney. Marami kasing mga sabi-sabi tungkol sa pamilya niya, specifically sa Mama niya."

I looked back at him. "Bakit? Did her Mom do something?"

He looked left and right to see if someone was eavesdropping on our conversation. Nagtaka naman ako kung bakit dapat pa niyang ibulong. "Sabi kasi nila, nagtatrabaho raw yung Mama niya sa bar. Parang pokp*k. Gano'n."

Kumunot naman agad ang noo ko. "And where did you get that information? Did she tell you?"

He sighed, "Sa mga chismis ng kaklase natin. Usap-usapan kasi ang family background niya since senior high school. Lahat ng mga kaklase natin ay alam ang tungkol sa Mama niya."

Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala sa narinig ko. "Is that the reason why they laughed at her earlier?"

"Most probably," he replied nonchalantly.

I can feel my temper rising within me as I blurted out, "That's just sick, dude. It's not good to jump to conclusions and judge others. It's only a rumor so why are they making a big deal out of it?"

"Nakakita kasi ang isa sa mga kaklase natin sa nanay niya doon sa bar na kanyang pinagtatrabahuan. Every since senior high school, 'yan ang puntirya nila sa kanya," sagot niya na ikinadismaya ko.

If there's one thing I learned myself from my Dad, it is to never judge a person no matter what the status of their life is. Mom's life was simple back then compared to Dad's, but he never tried to talk about her status in life. The same as with Sydney's mother, people should not judge other people because not everyone has the same status in life.

"I don't want to judge since I don't know the whole story, plus, I still haven't met Sydney," I tried my best to calm myself down saka nagpatuloy, "but judging her using her Mom's background is infuriating-" bigla akong napahinto nang nagsigawan ang mga lalaki sa classroom namin. Naalala ko na nagpapakilala pa pala yung iba dito and as I looked up at the front, biglang naging blanko ang isipan ko.

Standing right in front is my ex-girlfriend. Chloe Sanchez.

"Good morning, everyone, especially to Mr. Gascon. Hi, Cai!" Biglang tumaas ang balahibo ko nang tinawag niya ang pangalan ko at bumaling ang ibang mga lalaki sa akin na masama ang tingin. This is awkward. "Anyway, I'm Chloe Sanchez and you can call me Chlo without the 'e' if you like 'cause you know, two syllables is kinda long, yeah. So ayon, I'm expecting that I'll be friends with everyone in this class. Sounds fun, right? That's all and thank you, guys!" she said excitedly and the boys went wild.

I still couldn't figure out why she was here until a tap on my shoulder boggled my thoughts.

"Cai, you were saying something?" asked Ken.

"Oh, never mind. I forgot what I was about to say as well," pagpapalusot ko.

"Okay," he replied and set his eyes back at the front.

I looked at the ground for what seemed like forever and still figured out why Chloe is here, in the same classroom as me. Shouldn't she be studying in the city? We broke up a month ago because I found out her true colors and I clearly have no intentions of even being friends with her ever again.

So much for all those nonsense thinking, natapos rin sa wakas ang pagpapakilala sa aming lahat. It was just in time for our next subject and our teacher dismissed the class saka kami nagsitayuan at nagligpit ng aming mga bag.

Knowing Chloe, she will probably come toward me and ask to talk everything out and so I immediately made my way out of the room. I looked at my class schedule to see what room my next class would be in. Akmang pupunta na ako sa next class ay nakarinig ako ng malakas na kabog sa sahig. I turned my head back at my classmates only to see Sydney on the ground and Chloe staring right down at her. I wanted to help her get up but a part of me wants to see if Chloe has changed her attitude and will lend her hand to Sydney. I was in awe when Chloe offered her hand to which Sydney's face lit up but only until Chloe pushed her hand back making her fall down on the floor once more.

Nang tinignan ko ang mata ng babae ay puno ito sa inis at gulat. Maybe she expected that Chloe was going to help her stand up but what she did was the opposite instead. I can feel the fire burning in her eyes as she locked her gaze with Chloe without blinking an eye.

I stood there as realization hit me. I should've helped her instead. I shouldn't have expected anything from Chloe. Ever since we broke up, she has become worse.

They continued laughing while walking Chloe noticed that I was in front of them. Bigla siyang natauhan at huminto sa pagtawa nang nasa harapan na nila ako.

"Cai, andiyan ka pala. Sa-saang room nga yung n-next class natin?" utal na tanong niya habang madaling tumingin saglit sa babae na nasa sahig at ibinalik ang mata sa akin.

Hindi na ako nagsalita. Instead, I diverted my gaze to Sydney na nasa likuran nila. Sinundan naman niya 'yon ng tingin.

She looked back at me and said, "Cairo, this isn't what it looks like. She pushed me first! Right, girls?" tanong naman niya sa dalawang babae sa kanyang gilid at tumango na lamang ang mga ito. She was stuttering. Obviously, alam kong nagsisinungaling siya. I can't believe her.

"Really? Hindi ka ba nagi-guilty sa tuwing nagsisinungaling ka? I saw it with my own eyes. You really did never change, Chloe. Another reason for me to distance myself from you," I said firmly. I will never let her fool me ever again.

As I said those words firmly, sinigurado kong hindi na siya makapagsalita pa. I really thought Chloe would change. That breaking up with her would change even a tiny bit of her attitude. But then again, after seeing what she did earlier, I can conclude that she never tried to reflect on her actions in the past. Hindi siya nagbago at hindi ko alam kung kailan pa siya magbabago.

Sinubukan niyang bukain ang kanyang bibig ngunit agad kong inalis ang mga mata ko sa kanya at ibinaling ito sa mga babae na nasa katabi niya. Agad silang nag-iwas ng tingin dahil alam kong hindi totoo ang sinasabi ni Chloe. But still, they're partly at fault dahil ni-tolerate nila ang ugali ni Sydney. Sabi nga nila, birds with the same feathers flock together. I should not expect that these girls will even try and correct Chloe's wrong actions.

I walked past them without saying another word. Hopefully, that will be my last interaction with Chloe. Dumiretso ako kay Sydney na nakaluhod sa sahig. I can't help but feel guilty because of not helping her earlier. When she was already in front of me, I reached out and offered my hand only for it to be slapped away from her face. I was shocked that I wasn't able to move from where I was standing and just felt the pain flowing through the palm of my hand. Tumayo na siya at pinagpagan ang sarili, not even bothering to give me a look. She picked up her bag and proceeded to walk away from me, towards the room of our next class.

Frustrated as I am, I balled my hands into a fist and reminded myself that it was my fault in the first place. If only I went to her earlier before Chloe could extend her hand, none of this would have happened.

Napabuntong-hininga na lamang ako at dumiretso sa paglakad sa next class namin.