Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 2

“So have you found a tutor?” Ms. Santos asked Ella. They were back at the classroom, when most of her classmates had gone home.

Ella nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I found someone who agreed.”

Her teacher’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow. That was fast. I thought I had to give you time to find one.” Ms. Santos narrowed her eyes at her and asked curiously. “Who did you get by the way?”

Ella had to smile in chagrin. Ms. Santos was not going to believe her; she was sure of it. “Patrick Rosales, Ma’am, the varsity player.”

She was not mistaken as Ms. Santos doubled-over after hearing her answer. “Patrick Rosales? Your classmate?” 

Ella nodded.

“Why him?” The teacher lowered her voice. “He’s a bit of a delinquent, right? Weren’t you scared of him?”

Ella shrugged in response. “Well, he’s also good in Math. Didn’t he get the second highest score last periodical exam?”

Ms. Santos sputtered. “W-well, you’re right. He does have some talent in Math. But still—” The teacher frowned in curiosity. “How did you get him to agree to tutor you?”

“Errr…” Ella didn’t know how to explain it to her teacher. “He actually offered it,” she briefly answered. That was true anyway…

“Oh.”  Ms. Santos raised her eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were friends.”

Ella shook her head. “Uhmm… Not exactly. More like acquaintances.” Her lips twitched in a small smirk. “Although I would say that he is not as bad as the rumors say.” Heh. Who was I kidding? He just wanted to be introduced to Jasmine.

Ms. Santos nodded, finally accepting her decision. “Alright. As long as you get to improve your grades, I guess it doesn’t matter who you tutor is. Remember, we have a mini-quiz tomorrow.”

Ella said her thanks to her adviser before taking her leave. Once again, she met up with her popular cousin who was with her friends. When Jasmine’s friends bid their goodbye, Ella took it as an opportunity to tell her cousin about her plans for the days.

“Jasmine, I can’t go with you today. I have tutoring for Math until 6 pm.”

Her cousin’s eyes widened. “Oh. That’s wonderful! You finally found a tutor!”

“Yeah, it’s a bother actually…” Ella sighed. “But I have no choice. Please just tell aunt and uncle if they ask about me.” Ella knew that Jasmine’s parents probably wouldn’t, but she wanted to be prepared.

Jasmine giggled in response. “Alright. I guess I’ll go home by myself then.”

“Yeah,” Ella smiled at her adorable cousin. “Be careful on your way home. There are lots of creeps out there.”

That was one of the downsides of being attractive, Ella guessed. It was also the reason why they always made it a point to go home together. She was a lot shorter than Jasmine, but she usually had such an intimidating expression on her face, it deterred unwanted presence. Jasmine said her goodbye and went on her way, while she remained on her place.

Ella had some pressing matters to attend to.

It was four in the afternoon and Patrick found himself hurrying after their basketball practice that lasted two hours daily. Marcus and Anthony, his two best buds in the team, noticed his weird actions, so as usual, they set out to bother him.

“Hey, Patrick! What’s the matter? You seem to be in such a hurry,” Marcus asked.

“Yeah, Patrick. You’ve been really fidgety today. What’s wrong?” Anthony then put his hand on his shoulder. 

Patrick sighed, irritated. “Know what? Why don’t you mind your own business?” These two really make it a point to annoy him once a day.

“Ouch.” Marcus pouted. “Why are you always so mean to us, Patrick?” The talkative guy then started to bawl out loud.

Patrick wrinkled his nose in disgust at Marcus’s actions. “Dude, stop it with the fake tears. It’s not good to see a full grown guy fake crying in front of other people.”

Anthony’s reaction was similar. “Yeah, Marc, we’re all tired of your bullshit,” he deadpanned.

Marcus then stopped his display abruptly. “Dude, I just want to know what’s got in to you.”

Patrick scratched the back of his neck. “Well…” He, however, wasn’t able to complete his sentence as his coach called him out.

“Patrick! Someone is looking for you!” Coach Reyes yelled out.

The three tall guys looked toward the direction of their coach and were presented with a girl who was carrying a backpack. It was Ella, their classmate.

Patrick cursed deep inside at the sight of the girl. “Dude, I need to go now,” he told Anthony.

“Wait, Patrick!” Marcus called him out but he ignored him as he ran out to meet Ella who was standing by the entrance to the gym. The two who were left saw how Patrick grabbed Ella’s arm and dragged her away from their sight.

“What was that..?” Marcus couldn’t help but gape at the scene he had just witnessed.

Anthony glanced at him briefly and spoke up with a patronizing vice. “I think it was obviously Patrick pulling Ella along with him, Marcus. Unless you’re blind… or stupid.” He added.

Marcus pouted at his friend’s insult. “Dude, what I mean is when did they get familiar with each other? Just last Friday, Patrick didn’t even know Ella is our classmate.”

Anthony just shrugged, but then, Marcus gasped audibly, as if he just remembered something.

“Patrick did seem interested with Ella last time! He even asked me about her.” The talkative guy turned to his friend with wonder in his eyes. “Do you think Patrick’s crush has changed?”

“I dunno.” Anthony answered back. “Guess you’ll have to ask Patrick himself about that.”

“Oooh.” Marcus’s voice started to be colored with mirth. “This is awesome. I can use this as blackmail material for Patrick next time!”

Anthony shook his head at his troublesome friend. However, he too couldn’t deny that he was intrigued about what he had just witnessed.

Ella let herself be pulled by Patrick, wondering about his bizarre actions. He also seemed mad, although she didn’t remember doing anything that might infuriate him. I didn’t hit him with another stone, did I? She asked herself.

They went up the stairs and entered the rooftop, where no soul was to be seen. Patrick himself scanned the surroundings first before turning to her, his face and voice full of rage. 

“Why did you go to the gym? You should have waited for me in front of the classroom!” He yelled at her.

Ella got pissed off at his mad tone and answered back, yelling too. “What the hell is the problem with that? You didn’t tell me last time how we would meet! What was I supposed to do?!”

Patrick’s jaw tightened as he replied back in a restrained tone. “My teammates and coach saw you back there. Knowing them, they would tease me later.” He closed his eyes irritably, all the while whispering to himself in lament, “My reputation’s toast now.”

Ella snorted at Patrick’s display, thoroughly disgusted. “Dude, if you’re reputation’s what your worried for, it’s already toast. You’re quite infamous for being a delinquent, if you’re not aware of it.”

Patrick turned to her with a sneer. “It’s not what I’m worried of. I don’t care what people thought of me. People might think we’re dating! What if Jasmine hears about it and mistakes us as a couple? My chances with her would go down!”

Ella just stared at the ranting guy with deadpan eyes. She then shook her head, incredulous. In the end, she saw that they would not accomplish anything at all if they continued to bicker, so she told him in an effort to calm him down:

“Patrick.” He looked at her. “I would explain everything to Jasmine later, don’t worry. She already knows that I have tutoring today, and,” she looked at him sternly in the eyes, “I would make sure to emphasize how kind you are to agree to tutor me for free, and how good you are at math, and how you are merely helping me because you pitied me.”

“That good enough?” She then rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe this guy.

The basketball player seemed appeased. He sighed deeply, and then nodded. “Alright. Whatever.” He turned to her with a stern stare too. “Make sure to make me seem impressive to her, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ella answered. “I don’t get why you just couldn’t approach Jasmine yourself. It’s not like my cousin’s gonna eat you alive.” She added.

It was then that Patrick got obviously flustered, which amused her. Who knew that the infamous delinquent could act like that? He averted his eyes away from her, and stuttered. “Well… I-uh-I don’t want her to feel scared of me. You said it yourself. I have a reputation of a delinquent.”

Ella smirked at the way he was acting. It was such a sight to see him like this. This could be a good blackmail material too. He couldn’t be the only one with leverage here. “Hey, I already promised you. By the end of our tutorial lessons, Jasmine would be in so much awe of you. But remember the original deal; I must first pass our next quiz tomorrow. That’s your first test as a tutor.”

It was Patrick’s turn to smirk back. “Huh. I know I’m a good teacher, but it would depend on you too. If you’re really that stupid, then there’s nothing I can do.”

This guy was making her pissed off once again, so she told him loudly, “I’m not f*****g stupid! I just didn’t have anyone to explain it better to me!” Deep inside, she didn’t quite believe that, but hell if she would let Patrick one-up her!

“Then prove it to me, student,” the tall guy answered smugly.

Ella scoffed back. “Nah. Show me what you got, Sir.” She made sure to state the title in a patronizing way.

They then stared in each other’s eyes, thoroughly challenging one another. No one was going to accept defeat in this deal turned duel.

“It had been ten years since the incident, but there’s nothing we can do. This order came from the Court of Appeals itself. The presiding judge wants to reopen the case.”

The man sporting thick glasses over his wizened face looked back at the people seated in front of him from his desk. On top of the mahogany table, was a plaque stating his title. It said: Leandro Valdez, Chief of the National Bureau of Investigations.

“Oh, that’s interesting,” quipped a man leaning comfortably on the couch, his legs wide apart, as if he didn’t care that the man in front of him was his superior. The Chief glared disapprovingly at his impolite gesture, but did not point it out. He was already used to this man’s habits.

“Yes, and because of that, you’re the one I’m assigning for this project. The first step is to make contact with the sole survivor and witness of the assassination, the daughter. I have read reports that she was traumatized, so she currently couldn’t remember much of the details of that night. Fugue amnesia, I was told, but we would do what we can,” the Chief continued.

“Awww… Well, I guess it’s a job order then. I thought I would finally have my vacation,” the man grinned, his eyes hidden by his curly fringes.

The chief rubbed his nose in frustration. “Believe me, Keith, if I had just any choice other than you, I would assign it to another. But what can we do? You’re the best man for the job after all.”

“Hey, don’t flatter me too much, Chief.” Keith then playfully covered his mouth with his hand, as if he was shy. “I get embarrassed of praises.”

The chief grimaced in disgust at his subordinate’s actions. How could a man this immature become his best undercover agent, he didn’t know. To spare himself the headache, he proceeded to dismiss this annoying man.

“Whatever. Just make sure to send me your preliminary report by two days. Get out of my office now.”

“Ouch, that was mean, Chief.” Keith continued to pout, obviously trying to rile up his superior. At the harsh glare of the older man, he gave up, chuckling all the time. The infuriating man held up his hands, telling the Chief:

“Alright, I get it now, boss. I’ll get out of your sight.” The happy-go-lucky man then went  out the door, whistling some happy tune. 

Chief Leandro Valdez could do nothing but shake his head. Keith Salvador had always acted like a loose cannon, but at the end of the day, he had always gotten the job done. He had trust on him to do his job right.