My Guardian Angel

Chapter 2 - Friends

I've arrived at school, and because I'm so early before my class starts, I'm alone in the classroom. I think I still have 30 minutes to spear.

I sat down at the very back near to a window. We don't have any sit arrangement but I always sit at the back, I like to see everything in the classroom and it became a hobby for me as well. I always sit at the back because of my surname 'Yalito' since elementary, so I feel that there is something wrong when I sit at the front, or even in the middle.

And while I'm waiting, I'm just here sketching in my sketchbook. I'm sketching the black angel figurine that I've just had. It's really beautiful.

This is what I do almost every day, since in elementary up to today. Gone to school pretty early just to draw. I can't do this at home because I'll be really busy helping my Mom do chores or do my assignments or projects.

I like to do it here in an empty classroom. It's quiet and it makes my mind relax.

I like drawing since I was 2 and I also like sharing my knowledge in drawing and even in any kind of art form to others. That's why I enrolled as an art teacher. Well, more specific as a MAPEH (music, art, physical education, and health) teacher. In this school, you can't choose one, because MAPEH considered as one subject.

I have no problems with music because I also like it. And health subjects are some basic health tips. But in PE, I really have low stamina and sometimes clumsy. I just hope the school I'm going to work at in the future is not too sport oriented.

But art is something I'm excited to learn and teach about. I like to know people through their art, even they think that they're not good at it, you can still tell their personality through it. That's what art means...well for me that is.

"Hey! Alice!" I heard a familiar voice and when I was about to look at him from my back, he just suddenly ruined my hair! Ugh, why is he here?!

"Ken! Stop it!" I said it while trying to stop him, but he keeps avoiding my hands to push him away.

And for a minute later, he stopped and just sit beside me with his innocent smile, "That's much better! You're a perfect witch now, Alice" and then he laughs like a maniac.

"Ugh! Why the heck are you here?! You're on a different floor than us, Ken!" I said frustrated while trying to fix my hair.

"Oh come on, is it bad to say hello?" he said innocently.

"No, but ruining their hair in the process to just say hello is something a psycho will do" I said sarcastically while still trying to fix my hair. Why is he good at ruining somebody's hair?! Ugh!!

"OK, OK, fine, I'll fix it for you, so stop struggling so much" and then he stands up, went to the back of my chair, and started to fix my hair, "do you have a comb and any kind of hair tie?" he asked.

"I swear Ken if you do something funny on my hair, I'll strangle you to death" I said it as a threat but I know he'll just treat it as a joke.

"Jeez, murderer much? I'm just trying to fix your hair that I messed with so stop threatening me" he said jokingly.

"OK fine, here" I annoyingly said while handing him the comb and one small hair tie that I have in my shoulder bag.

"Thanks, and stop pouting, you are not so cute when you're doing that" he said teasingly.

"I am not pouting! Just fix my hair already" at this point I'm just pretending to be annoyed.

"OK boss!" And I think he also knew that I'm just pretending now. And with that, he started to comb my hair.

I don't know what he's doing to my hair but he's doing it with so much care and gentleness, and it makes me relax and comfortable. Well, what do you expect from a guy who is taking care of his three younger sisters almost by himself? I'm surprised that he's not yet gay at this point. And because I'm feeling relaxed, I started to sketch in a new page on my sketchpad. while he's fixing my hair.

Kenji Fernandez a.k.a Ken is a really reliable guy, but sometimes a joker if he wants to. But if he did something wrong, he immediately fixes it. He's smart, friendly, a good leader, very well respected, and almost all the girls I knew are saying that Ken is a really handsome guy. Am I the only one who can't see that? Ken is a half Japanese and he is basically a chinito, so I can somehow see that he's good looking.

[A/N: Chinito-Filipino called this to a guy who has slant-eyes/small eyes and has a cute face. Chinita-is a girl version of it]

Ken and I knew each other since...I think since birth? I don't remember when we first met because both of our fathers are best friends and we're both neighbors back then, but I remember how we became friends.

It was the first day of kindergarten, and because I'm too shy and nervous to meet new people, I was in the corner of the classroom, just drawing by myself. Ken and I knew each other, but he can make friends so easily, that's why he's always in the crowd. And the me who can't stand in a crowd chooses to be alone.

And because I was alone, there's these group of kids who just started to insult my drawing, saying it looks like poop and some nasty insult. I was about to cry when Ken just step in and said, "you're just jealous of Alice because she's good at drawing than you guys, people who insulted others artwork are the crappiest of all"

As a 4-year-old, I think most of the kids don't know what 'crappiest' is, including me, but he said it as a big insult than poop, so one of the kids who bullied me got angry and punch Ken to the face, and they just fought until the teachers break them off.

Ken was so beaten up, and after our parents got there and discuss it with the teachers what happened, we went home early that day. I was so sorry for Ken to be beaten up like that, so I want to apologize to him but I don't know how, so I just draw him a picture of him beating up all the kids to make him feel better, and as a form of apology too.

I was about to go to his house when the doorbell rang, I was the one who opened the door and saw Ken standing there looking all determined with a paper in hand.

"Here" he just said and hand me over the paper he had.

When I looked at the paper, I just suddenly laugh out loud. It was a bad stickman drawing of me (I think) standing proudly on the top of piled kids (I think?) with a paper on both of my hands with a drawing in it, like showing it to the world proudly. I was impressed by myself that I somehow understand his drawing back then.

And when I realized that I was laughing at his drawing, I stopped and thought he'll get angry at me, but he just smiled at me with his beat-up face with some teeth missing, and that made me laugh even more.

As a kid, I may not understand perfectly what he was trying to say in his drawing, but I may have the gist of it. "Be proud in your drawings!", "Don't let the people around you discourage you on what you really want to do!", "Show them what you got!" These are maybe what he wanted to say in his drawing back then, even though I may be wrong, I appreciate the thought of it. And that's when we became friends.

"All done!" he suddenly said which makes me surprised a little because I was out of thought.

"That took you a while, what else were you doing to my hair Ken?!" pretending to be annoyed while looking at him at the back of my chair.

"Just looked at it and be amazed" he said so proudly.

I was a bit suspicious of him when he said that, but I just pulled out my smartphone, go to the camera app, and surprise at what he did to my hair. He did the waterfall braid thing on my hair!

[Picture 1]

My hair wasn't that long and it is curly so it's hard to do these things, but he did it like a pro!

"Do you like it?" He proudly asked and just sat again beside me.

Yes, I like it, but...I don't want to show him that I like it, because he'll be all cocky about this stuff, so I'll just tease him a little,

"Yeah... I'm really impressed" I said it nonchalantly, "but...what do you expect to a homo who likes to do this kind of stuff?" and I laugh at his face.

"A homo?! Oh, you take that back little missy" and he pulled both of my cheeks, not too hard though.

"Hey! Stop it!" and we jokingly tease each other.

This is how we are, we always tease each other and we don't really mean it if we said mean things to one another. But when it comes to some serious matters, we knew from the start that there is something wrong. We're like siblings, even though we're the same age, I treat him as an older brother, and he treats me as his little sister.

"Oh wow, Alice..." he stopped teasing me and looked at my drawing all impress, "you draw this while I was fixing your hair?" he asked.

"Ah yeah..." Oh yeah...I was drawing earlier, I almost forgot. I sometimes do that, I just let my hand draw by itself depending on how I feel and forgets afterward that I was drawing something.

When I looked at my sketch, it was an unfinished sketch of a silhouette of two children, one is a girl and one is a boy, who are both talking to one another, laying under a big tree. I think this scene seems familiar...

"So you were remembering the past when I was tying your hair, am I right?" he just suddenly asked.

"How did you know?" I also asked him.

"Well...it's blindly obvious that these two children here are us when we were kids, right?" he proudly said.

I sometimes dislike his cocky behavior, "well you don't know that. It may just be different kids that I just randomly sketched" making some facts.

"Oh...believe me, I have a picture just like this at home. Do you want me to bring it tomorrow to show you how right I am?" He really doesn't want to lose in any kind of argument, even in little things. And I think I may know what picture he is talking about.

"OK fine" I said defeated, "I remember the time we became friends. How you were beaten up and some of your teeth gone missing because of it haha" I said teasingly and then laugh when I remember that image of him again.

"Hey! I was protecting you from the bullies you know" he said sulking.

"Hehe I know, thanks a lot Ken-Ken" and then I rustle his hair. Now it's my turn to ruin his hair.

"Hey! Stop that!" and just like what he said, I stopped ruining his hair, "and stop calling me Ken-Ken!" he said annoyed while fixing his hair. He really doesn't like calling him this nickname of his.

He said something else but I didn't hear him because it was kind of a whisper, "did you say something, Ken?" I asked.

"Oh nothing" he said kind of like he was panicking a little bit, "I was just mumbling to myself hehe" and then he laughed it off like he was embarrassed about something.

I want to ask him about it again, but they suddenly appeared with their big smirking face, "oh stop it, Jill, Rena, I know what you're thinking about" I just don't like what their smirk means when they saw us together like this.

"Oh, whatever do you mean Alice?" Jill said like she doesn't know what I mean while they walk toward our direction with their teasingly smile.

"Hey, Ken," Rena said and then put her arm around his shoulder, "what are you doing here all by yourselves in this empty classroom? Are you two not doing something that may disobey the school rules?"

"He-Hey! what are you even t-talking about Rena?!" Ken asked all embarrassed. Wait why he's embarrassed? He just may be uncomfortable what Rena is saying to him.

"Stop it you two, you just making Ken uncomfortable, you know" I said a bit annoyed. They always do this when they see us together.

"OK alright" Rena said while raising her hands up like she is surrendering, "I'm not gonna take your man Alice haha" I knew it she was gonna said that.

"Ken and I are not a thing OK, we're just like siblings, nothing more nothing less. So stop this teasing of us, please!" I really hate this kind of teasing. I know this is childish for me to be annoyed by this kind of thing but when you're constantly being tease like this for years now, it's really tiring.

"I'm really sorry about this Ken, they just love to tease people sometimes" I said to Ken.

"Wh-Why are even sorry for? They're not like strangers for you to apologize like this for them. I'm fairly aware of what kind of personality they have, and besides...w-we're all friends here"

Huh? Why did he pause like that?

"O-Oh look at the time, I'm gonna be late so I should be going" he said and suddenly stands up, "see ya, Rena, Jill and...Alice" when he said my name he smiled but a smile like he was hurt?

"A-Ah yeah, see ya" I just said. Maybe it was just my imagination.

"Yeah, see ya Ken" they both said.

And when Ken is gone, they both seat down in front of me and Jill just said, "He got hurt with a big friend zone for sure"

"Yep, I agree" Rena just agreed.

Wait, friend zone?

"What do you mean friend zone? We are really friends so why is he hurt by that?" Am I wrong about this?

"Are you dense that much? He's obviously has a crush on you!" Rena just suddenly blurted that out loud like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Here we go again, "how many times I told you? Ken doesn't have a crush on me OK? He's always like that, he always treats me as his little sister"

"But you're special to him" Jill said like it's facts, "he even tie your hair like this" and then she touches my hair, "am I wrong?" with her slightly seductive eyes at me.

"Jill! Stop that!" I just blurted.

"With what?" She said like she doesn't know what I'm talking about and then she stopped touching my hair.

"Don't act dumb, you're doing 'that' again!" talking about her 'gaze'

"What do you mean 'that'" playing dumb again, "Oh, do you mean..." and then she came close to my face, like 1 inch apart while touching my chin, "...like this?" with her seductive gaze again.

"A-Ahm Jill?" Why does my heart beat fast whenever she do this to me?! Is my face turning red?! I don't know anymore!

I saw her teasingly smile again, and then... "Your so cute Alice whenever you're blushing and panicking" she just suddenly hugged me like I'm some kind of pet, "that's why I can't help it to tease you so much ~ "And if you take care of it and won't lose it, we may meet again, Alice Yalito"

Huh?

"OK class, please take your sit!"

"Dang, Ma'am Pillar is already here? You better answer me later, Alice" she said pretending to be serious, and then she properly sits straight in front of me facing the white board. And Rena just suddenly appeared and sit beside Jill.

But why did I suddenly remembered about that day?

Why did that faceless man appear in my head?

"Before we start our lesson, I would like to welcome you first your new classmate" I heard Ma'am Pillar said that to us, so I got curious and looked at the new classmate who just entered the room.

And when I looked at him, my heart suddenly beats faster then before and my mind just went blank for a second.

"Hello there! I'm Angelo Lee" He said so cheerfully, and then he looked in my direction like he's trying to say something to me, "nice to meet you!"

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To be continued...

Some Character Details:

Name: Alice Yalito

Nationality: Filipino

Age: 19

Height: 5'2"

Course: Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in MAPEH

Hobby: Drawing, Collecting angel figurines

Name: Jillian Mondez

Nationality: Filipino (but have Chinese blood from her grandparents)

Age: 19

Height: 5'4"

Course: BSEd Major in MAPEH

Hobby: Teasing people she knew, Singing, Observe people

Name: Reanalyn Santos

Nationality: Filipino

Age: 19

Height: 5'5"

Course: BSEd Major in MAPEH

Hobby: Running, Sometimes dancing, Playing mobile games

On the next chapter will be the boys this time.