Stars Are Out

Chapter 2: Meet Cion Acosta

Cion’s POV

“Mama?” I said, finding her.

“What is it?” she asked, sweating because she just got the laundry.

“I’m an exchange student in my dream school!” I excitedly said.

“Raven High International School?!” she was shocked, as I was earlier.

“Yes, and on a full scholarship! I’ll start school here tomorrow!” I was jumping with joy.

“Oh geez!” she hugs me.

***

“Mama, I gotta go,” I said as I got my bag and kissed her cheeks.

“Take care, okay? Be brave!” she reminded me.

“Yes yes. Bye!” I waved at her before going outside.

I walked past our gate and looked around to see if there was a taxi. After a few minutes and seeing nothing, I walked until I got to the highway. I waited there for a taxi. I took a taxi after a minute. I got there.

“Raven High please,” I said to the driver.

I feel proud and satisfied as I said my destination.

While on the road, I got my earphones out of my bag and then played songs from my phone. A smile was pasted on my face the whole trip. The moment the taxi stopped in front of the gate, I let out a deep breath. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. People are looking at me like they are amazed. I thought maybe they were amazed because of my intelligence, which got me here.

I started walking to the teacher's launch and I found it in 10 minutes. I knocked 3 times and then opened the door.

"Good morning, I'm an exchange student," I said, asking for guidance.

"Ah!" A middle-aged woman said as she remembered me. "Come with me. I'm your adviser! Mrs. Ligaya Cruz," she said as she offered her hand.

"Cion Acosta," I said as I shook her hands.

We walked through halls and buildings until we got to my classroom.

"Everyone, meet your new classmate. Cion Acosta," she said upon entering the classroom and pointing at me.

"Please introduce yourself to the class," she said, and stepped back to give me their attention.

I stepped up and introduced myself, "Good morning everyone, I'm Cion Acosta from Krinks High School. I’m 16 years old. My hobby is painting. And I hope to be friends with you all!” I gracefully said. I was really nervous.

All of them clapped with a smile on their faces. Seems like they’re good people.

“You may sit behind, Ms. Leonore.” She pointed to the girl.

I nodded and went to my seat.

“Hello!” the girl greeted me as I sat. She has a hairdress and it looks like she’s a Muslim.

“Hi!” I greeted him back.

“I’m Zia, and this is Cath, my best friend,” she introduced herself as she pointed to her friend beside her.

“Hello!” I greeted Cath and she just smiled at me.

“By the way, here’s a survey sheet. You’ll have to put your 3 preferred careers there,” she said and gave me the slip.

“Thanks!” I said with a smile and looked at the slip.

As I look back at Zia, she is already focused on our teacher. So that’s what I also did.

***

After 2 hours, it’s snack time.

“Hey, do you wanna join us?” Zia asked.

“Yeah, why not.” I smiled. “By the way, where will I give this?” I asked and showed the slip I filled in.

“Oh! Attorney, Painter, and also a Philanthropy?” she said shockingly, and I just nodded. “Wow! I also want to be a philanthropist. By the way, you have to pin it there,” she said as she pointed the pinboard at the back.

“Thanks! And philanthropy suits your personality,” I said, and walked to the pinboard.

After I pinned my slip, I walked with Zia and Cathy to the canteen. And it’s h*ll so far!

“You guys can wait here, I’ll treat you two.” And then Cathy walked away.

“I didn’t expect it to be this far from our room,” I said, still gasping for some air.

“Hehe,” she shyly chuckled. “You gotta be used to it, cause everything here is far from our room,” she said.

We talked a lot about our favorites and then Cathy returned.

“Apple pie for all of us,” she said as she put down the tray.

“Thanks, Cathy!” I thanked her.

“Welcome! And just call me Cath,” she said while smiling.

“Ok, Cath!” I said.

We talked as we ate our food. It’s a little embarrassing because she gets to treat me to snacks. After snack time, we ran until we got to our classroom because we'd got no more tie to just walk. We were panting too much after we sat in our seats. We laugh as we look at each other, exhausted. A minute later, a teacher entered the room, so we kept our focus on the lesson.

***

After another 2 classes, it’s already lunchtime.

“Do you have lunch?” Zia asked.

“Yup, I’ll take my lunch here,” I said while getting my lunch from my bag.

“Oh, I guess I’ll leave you both, bye!” Cath said as she walked away.

“You will also have your lunch here?” I asked.

“Yup, why?” she also asked.

“Uhm nothing. I just expect that all students here would love to go outside the campus or in the cafeteria,” I said, and had my first bite.

“Bro, you got the wrong news,” someone said and sat beside me. “By the way, I’m Kyle.” He smiled and also had his first bite.

“Yup, it’s tiring to walk a mile,” another person spoke and sat beside Zia. “Chibi.” She smiled and ate.

“They’re right, by the way, I’m Amanda.” A girl sat on my left.

“Ohh okay, that’s cool,” I said and continued to eat.

“Do you have bullies here?” I asked.

“Yup, but it’s in the past,” Chibi answered.

“In the past? Why? Are there also student councils?” I asked.

“Yes, there is. But they can’t deal with bullies,” Amanda answered.

“Eh? Then who did stop bullying?” I asked again.

“Zia. She was so brave that those bullies stopped bullying and even became her friends,” Kyle answered. That made me shocked.

“What did you do to them, Zia?” I asked her.

“Nothing. I just talked to them,” she basically said.

“Please tell us the whole story, Zia,” Amanda begged.

“ OK fine.” She rolled her eyes cutely. “When I knew that we were bullying some students, I talked to them gently and asked about their problems. I just asked them as I walked with them. And then, after I knew their problem, I told them that ‘hurting someone will not satisfy your revenge’ and I also said to them that ‘the best revenge is having a good life. And then boom! We became friends and they stopped bullying,” she told us the whole story.

“Wow, you’re like… an angel!” I said.

Then suddenly I felt all the eyes on me. They were looking at me like I had done something wrong.

“Uhmmm… Something wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing, we just thought if…” Amanda nodded at Kyle.

“If you have a crush on Zia,” Kyle whispered to me.

“Huh?! No!” I refused. “ It’s just… Cool! Because in our school they will deal with bullies by calling their parents because they also don’t know how to deal with them. And then here? Zia is the one who stopped them! It’s just culture shock,” he explained.

They all nodded in chorus, saying that they believed me. But they also gave me a smirk!

I just shrugged my head at them.

“By the way, why did you want to be an exchange student here?” Chibi asked.

“Ahh that’s because this is my dream school, but since my mother can’t afford it, I studied really hard at my previous school to ask for a scholar here,” I said.

“That’s cool!” Zia said, amazed.

Then Chibi, Amanda, and Kyle looked at her suspiciously. With that, Zia and I slapped our foreheads. Then all of us laughed out loud.

After 30 minutes, we finished our food and some of our classmates were going back to their seats one by one. And later on, our teacher arrived.

***

After 4 more classes, it’s finally time to go home.

“Goodbye, Zia and Cath!” I said as I walked out the door.

“Bye!” I heard Zia and Cath say in chorus.

I walked out of the campus in 15 minutes and got myself a taxi. I told the driver that I was going to the mall. I got to go there because I have got a part-time job. It’s good to have a job and help Mama with all those bills.

While on the trip, I thought about how my day would go. It’s good to have Zia as my classmate, because without her I’ll probably end up as a lonely student, and they will probably bully me, especially since I’m a scholar. Or maybe they are all friendly and just don’t know how to interact with a newbie. Oh well, everything is fine at school. I’ll just have to study hard because they dig deep in every lesson.

After I got off the taxi, I went straight to the bathroom to change into my work clothes. After that, I went to our café store, where I worked.

“Good afternoon, Sir!” I greeted our boss.

“Good afternoon, start your work. Customers are coming,” he said, and went to his office.

I started my work. And after a few minutes, a little girl came in.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am!” I greeted the customer.

“Good afternoon, don’t call me Ma’am because you’re older than me,” she said in a cute voice and rolled her eyes.

Wait, that eye-rolling is familiar. Maybe they are related?

“What’s your order then?” I asked, shaking the thought in my head.

“I want a slice of strawberry cake and two wintermelon milk tea please.” Then she put a credit card on the countertop.

Oh wow, rich kid.

I punched her order and gave back her card.

“ Orders will be served in 8 minutes!” I smiled.

She ignored me and went to her table. I just shrugged my shoulders and faced my back. I got a slice of strawberry cake and put it in a nice clean plate. I also got the two milk teas ready. And then I put the orders on the tray with the receipt. I walked the tray to her table and put it down. Before I went away, I noticed a familiar girl that called my name.

“Cion?” she said, unsure if that was my name.

I faced the voice and was shocked at what I saw. “ Z-Zia…”

“You work here?” she asked and I just nodded. “Really? Cool! Do you think I can also work here?” she asked again. She’s really amazed.

“What? You can’t do that! Just work at Dad’s company!” the little girl suddenly burst out.

“Nevermind!” she rolled her eyes at the little girl, cute. “By the way, she’s my sister, Zylin,” she said, smiling.

Ohh that’s why. Both of them wear that hairdress.

“Oh! Cool! I’ll just see you around hehe” I said. “Work,” I said, excusing myself.

“Oh right! See you around!” she said and waved.

I continued my work. And after a few moments, Zia and her sister left. So I cleaned their table and found a big tip. Wow! Really? 2000 pesos?! I just got a slap on my forehead. Really rich. After working for almost an hour, my customer came in.

“Good afternoon! What’s your order?” I asked without looking, because I was checking past orders.

“Black coffee, kiddo.” A baritone voice spoke. I know who this is.

“How dare you show up to me,” I said with a blank face.

“I’m here for a black coffee dumbo.” He smirked.

This old man is really testing me. I got his black coffee ready.

“Don’t you ever show up unless you want to sue yourself, j*rk!” I said as I served his drink and tightened my jaw out of irritation.

Good thing that my co-worker went in for his shift. I immediately changed into my normal clothes and went out of the café. I can’t take the same air with a fre*aking criminal.

I went to another store to buy some water to calm myself. And as I went out of the mall someone spoke.

“I’ll never end up in jail.”

“Every criminal will get their punishment,” I said as I gritted my teeth.

“Tell me where you live and I’ll fix your mom,” he calmly said like he had done nothing wrong.

“Hah. Fix? Or do you want to break her into dust so that there will be no victim that will testify to your bad deeds?” I smirked.

*Boogsh!*

He punched my stomach and I ended up sitting on my butt.

“You want to add your case?” I asked, still smirking.

“Stop the case and I’ll never bother you and your mother.” He got hold of my collar.

“Are you that evil that you can murder people?” I asked, acting like a super curious kid.

*Boogsh!*

I got another punch from him.

“You better stop punching me, Ronald. Or else you’ll end up in prison for your whole life if you murder me,” I said, piercing his eyes.

“You’re just a f*cking mistake!” he shouted at me, even his saliva splashing.

“Everything you do is a mistake, Old jerk!” I said while grinning.

He pushed me, causing me to lie on the ground. And then he kicked my back.

“Arghh!” I groaned as I felt my back hurt.

I got up and hurriedly got a taxi to the park. It’s very spacious there and no one will be there at that hour.

As soon as I got to my destination, I told the driver to wait for me. I got out of the car and yelled.

“AAAARGHH!” I yelled my lungs out.

“WHY ME?! WHY MY MOM!?” I shouted out loud.

I cried for a few minutes and then got myself up. I went in the driver's taxi and told the driver to take me home.

“Treat yourself first, kiddo,” the driver said and gave me his first-aid kit.

“Thank you,” I thanked him and I treated myself. I also wiped my tears and drank water.

When I got home, Mama welcomed me with a hug. I hugged her back.

“Wait,” she said. “Did you see him?” she asked, and I nodded.

“H-he did that to you?” she asked, looking at my wounds.

“Yes,” I said unlively, then she cried.

“Shush, it’s okay Mama. I’m fine,” I hugged her and patted her back.

“W-what did he say to you?” she asked.

I told her everything not because I wanted her to cry or pity me, but because I knew that she'd be in more pain if I lied.

“You’re not a mistake, son!” she said as she cried.

I hugged her again, “Yes Mama.”

I comforted my Mom until she felt better.

***

“How about let’s stop the case?” she asked as we ate our dinner.

“Not going to happen, Mamam,” I blankly said and I continued eating.

“But this will continuously happen if we don’t stop the case!” she worriedly said.

“I can’t die with his punch and kick Mama,” I said.

“But, son! I can’t get to see you like that! A bruise on your face, and dirt on your shirt?” She can’t eat properly as she is worried about me.

“I’m fine, okay?” I asked while looking into her eyes.

“He’ll surely come to you again!” she said hysterically.

“Okay, okay,” I gave up. “I promise that I will not let him hurt me again,” I promised.

“You promise?” she asked.

“Yes, Mama,” I said while smiling.

***

I am now lying on my bed. Thinking about my day. It’s good to have new friends, but my day went down when I saw that old guy. He’s my father, but I do not consider him as one. He hurt my mother and nearly murdered her! He took advantage of my mother, who thought that his love was true. Turns out he only wants money from my mother. My mother’s business went down because someone is corrupting money, and that’s Ronald. Stealing money from my mother. He committed nearly murder, harassment, stealing, and physical assault, and he is also a d**g dealer. I can’t believe that a father would hurt his wife and son. His own family. I hated him, and I promised to myself that if the attorney we knew could not get him to jail, then I would!

I calmed myself. I did breathing exercises and thought of the other part of my day. Zia, she’s so genuine that I thought she was an angel from heaven. But I hope to be friends with some good boys because they will definitely understand me.

The thought of having a girlfriend or falling in love suddenly came into my head. My ideal girl? Simply an angel. Someone who fears the creator, kind, beautiful inside and out. And someone who can accept me. Suddenly Zia came into my head. Do I have a crush on her already? Hm… I shifted my bed position. Maybe I have a crush on her. But what if she’s into a rich guy? What if she’s into a more handsome guy? I’m not that rich and handsome. But one day, I will be successful… Maybe when that day came I can pursue her already. Wait, what?! P-pursue?! I said I have a crush on her. I do not like her to the point that I’ll have to pursue her! Wait… Maybe I do like her… Or even love her? Ehhh?!!

“Are you crazy, Cion?” I told myself.

But thinking of her lovely face… She’s simple yet elegant and kind. It’s almost like she’s not simple because… Ehhh? Why am I even thinking of her? D-do I really love her? No, maybe I just like her.

I’m now arguing to myself. Putting a pillow above my face, thinking that it will stop me from thinking of her.

“Crazy Cion.”