Crestfall

Chapter 2: Fortuitous Rendezvous

CHAPTER 2: FORTUITOUS RENDEZVOUS

∆∆∆

June 7, 2010. 7:28 A.M. Monday.

I went to school with a downed face. My dad woke me up from deep slumber in the middle of the night and told me that I was shouting so loud. He shook me so hard before he managed to wake me. When I came back to my senses, I realized that it was really a dream.

Damn these nightmares. Don't you have a rest night or something?

"Good morning!"

"Good morning, Miss July."

The first period started. I am now in first year college. I am taking up a 2-year Computer Science course, and as a tradition of schools for the first days...

"Okay, you have to introduce yourself in front. I don't care what your hobbies are, I don't even care where you live. I want to know what your name is, how old are you, and what do you want us to call you. Let's start!"

W-Wait. Isn't it too rushed?!

"Let's start from that boy in the back."

Thank God I'm in the middle row. Just beside the window on the left side of the room. I noticed that the seat on my right was empty. Absent on the first day, huh?

"Good morning everybody. I am Nicolas Guzman. You can call me Nicolas or Nick for short. I am 17 years old. Thank you."

The whole class applauded after Nick's intro. The girl on his right stood up and walked to the front.

After a minute of watching my classmates introduce themselves in front and ranking the girls from the girl of my dreams to the worst nightmare, I felt a sudden pain in my abdomen.

"Ugh!"

I twitched my body. It hurts.

No No No No. No. Not now.

Damn, why didn't I take a piss before I came to school?

I held up my hand.

"I am sevent-- Huh?" The girl introducing in front suddenly stopped talking after noticing my hand.

"What is it? Mr.---?" Miss July asked.

"Uhm.. I hate to say this, but.. may I go out?"

My school resides in the city of Kampola, just east of the shopping mall. It's name is St. Elmo Academy. It is a private school so it doesn't have too many students enrolled. As I walk through the Arellano Building's corridor (this building is for the college class), I noticed...

"Huh?.."

...someone's following me.

That person wore our pure white school polo uniform, black slacks, a pair of shiny and somewhat pointy black leather shoes, and a familiar smile. As he gets nearer and nearer, I stopped my pace.

"Yo, Jared." His smile widened.

"Yo, Ivan. I thought you haven't bought a pair of new shoes yet."

"Ah. This?.." He raised his right foot towards me.

"I don't know. If you call that a shoe, then yes."

"Haha! Stop those lame jokes. Hahaha!!!" He held his stomach and laughed like an i***t. If that was lame, why are you laughing then?

"..This came from my Tito - Tito Arnold, my mother's older brother. He heard from my mother that I haven't bought a new pair of shoes yet. So he bought me a pair yesterday and delivered it this morning. Is it cool?"

No.

"What's with that frown in your face? SMILE! It is our first day. By the way, why are you out here walking in the corridors like a zombie we see in those famous post apocalyptic games? You're suppose to be in the room introducing yourself, right?"

I want to ask you the same question.

I started walking again - towards the restroom. Ivan started shouting "Hey!" like an i***t.

Sorry, dude. I really gotta go. I don't want everybody here to see me leaking in the corridor.

My eyes threw a gaze at the science laboratory as I walk my way to my destination. The science laboratory is just in front of one of the school's restroom. I noticed the lab's door.

"It's open." Maybe somebody's inside? My eyes noticed the sign nailed at the door.

No students inside while class hours. (Except Science class)

As I was wondering what is going on inside the lab, I entered the restroom.

When I returned to the classroom, I noticed that the boy introducing in front...

"My name is Lucky Serrano..."

...is, definitely, the boy sitting on my back. Wait. It means after him will be...

"Next. Oh, you returned just in time. It's your turn." Miss July noticed my presence standing outside.

I walked in front of the whole class like a living dead and stopped right where Lucky left off. I stood straight, breathed in, and spoke...

"My name is Jared Sandoval. I am 17 years old. Uhm... M-My.. or rather! Y-You can call me Jared, for s-short. Thank y-you!.." Then a 90 degrees bow.

Silence.

I didn't receive a round of applause like my other classmates who already introduced themselves. God, you can kill me now.

I returned to my chair with a very sad face. Maybe, this is not my day, I thought. I recalled my intro to self-analyze what went wrong.

"Hmm.." I closed my eyes and concentrated. I am already deaf, I can't hear everyone now. I need to focus to see my mistakes!

"Hmmmmmm..."

!!!

What the..! I remember now! Jared, why did you say, "I am Jared and you can call me Jared for short"?! That's the same! SAME!!!

As I weep while sitting uncomfortably on my chair, I felt a deep penetrating felling on my left shoulder.

"Huh?" I looked back and saw one of my Cute Girl Rank No. 1 classmate poking my shoulder with her black Pilot ballpoint pen.

"Hi, Jared. My name is Janinna." She showed me her pearly white teeth. God, I thought a while ago that you can kill me now, right? Is she the angel of death? Well, you can kill me 3000 times.

"H-Hi Janinna." I replied with a wry smile. I don't really smile a lot. Sorry. This is it. This is my best shot.

Janinna wore the girls' sailor uniform of St. Elmo Academy. Her eyes were slightly green. I don't know if that was contact lenses, or just natural. I doubt her citizenship because of her uncommon skin tone. She is very white, almost like a Caucasian skin. Her hair is long, I think down to her waist. She also has this cute and kind charisma. A perfect dream girl for a boy. That's why I ranked her number 1.

"I saw you last night on Paraiso's park. You were there watching the fallen star with the crowd. I think you were with your father, right?"

"Ah, yeah. Do you live in Paraiso?" By the way, I haven't told you earlier, but my town's name is Paraiso. That is also the Filipino translation of the word "paradise".

"Yeah. I also saw you with Ivan last night when you were heading back home. Me and my mom were walking just behind you."

"You know Ivan?" My classmate on the far right side of our row stood up to introduce herself. She wore glasses and a very cute ponytail that sways in her every move. Her complexion can be classified as white. I don't know if she has a blood of a foreigner, or just anemic. But then, I can rank her number 1 just like Janinna - who started to answer my question.

"Yes. He is my cousin."

"Huh? I have known him since elementary school. I didn't know he had a cousin in Paraiso." The glasses girl just finished her introduction and now silently walking to her seat. Her name is Shyrhine. A very cute face complemented with a very cute name.

"Of course, you wouldn't know me since now. My family just transferred in the town last month from the US, and my mom enrolled me here in St. Elmo yesterday. Last night, Mom heard a rumor that on 10:37 P.M., a santelmo just showed up and fell down the town's park. She wants to see the santelmo so we decided to go to the park to look at it. And just as I expected, the rumors are wrong." I can sense her disappointment just by looking at her lips twist.

"Wrong?" I asked.

"It was not a santelmo. It is a shard of Senea's Star." She replied while staring on the blackboard.

Okay. I am hearing things.

Heh. Maybe, I am crazy. Janinna's beautiful, but to hear her say that stupid thing, it was unbelievable. Maybe, she's trying to pull off a prank or something. Nice try. I was about to say something idiotic, but she spoke first.

"It is nice meeting you, Jared." She smiled at me again, then stood up and returned to her seat. The boy who she changed seat with, Lucky, also stood up and headed for his chair.

What's with this "Senea's Star"? Hmm.. I have to know the story, too. I guess the library is the right place for my hunger of information. I need to know what the hell is going on - and what the hell just happened on June 6, 2010, at exactly 10:37 P.M.

∆∆∆

The first period was Logic. It was a '1-hour Super Mega Sleepy Subject", because of the subject itself (we discussed about True and False for the whole hour) and our Logic professor, Mrs. Calixto. The second subject was Communication Studies. Then followed by Mathematics (Algebra Review for Computer Programming) and then ended the morning with Values Education. After that exhausting morning session, lunch break came. I rushed to the library (in Rizal Building, just beside the Computer Laboratory) without eating anything for lunch.

There are 4 buildings inside St. Elmo Academy. The first one (just beside the school gate) is the Silvano Building. Silvano is for the elementary students. It has 12 classrooms - six on the first floor and another six on second floor. The second building (adjacent of Silvano) is the Arellano Building. This building is the largest among all the buildings of St. Elmo Academy. It is for the college classes. 8 classrooms on the first floor, also 8 classrooms on the second floor, and another 8 classrooms on the third floor. It also had a basketball court on the rooftop.

The third building is the Villanueva Building. This building is assigned for the high school class. It has 8 classrooms on the first floor and 7 classrooms on the second. The last room on the left end of the building is being used by the high school teachers as their faculty room.

Lastly, the Rizal building is the place you would want to go if you want some place to relax. Inside the Rizal Building is the Canteen, the School Theater, the Computer Laboratory (well, you must have to ask for a teacher's permission before you would be allowed to use a computer and browse the internet), and the school library - my destination.

After entering the building, I saw Allen and Ivan eating their lunch on the canteen. It would be very nice to join them, but as for now, I should skip the idea. I need to head for the library. I walked briskly and quickly to avoid detection by them.

"JARED!!!"

"!!!" s**t. The cover has been blown.

"Hey! We're here!" I looked back to them and smiled. I decided to go back to Canteen and talk to them for a minute.

"Hey, Jared. Where are you going? That way leads to the CompLab and the library, right?" Allen asked. Well, Ivan, Allen, and I are already friends since our elementary days. We graduated elementary and high school here in St. Elmo. And since Grade 1 until 4th year high school, we were in the same section. After the high school graduation, we took our own different paths in college. Ivan took Hotel and Restaurant Management, Allen took Business Administration, and I took Computer Science.

"I want to read a book or something. You know, to refresh the mind." I replied.

"Have you eaten your lunch?" Ivan then asked.

"Nope. Don't have the mood." I answered while staring at their lunchboxes. Allen's lunch was very delicious to look at. Rice and a Filipino cuisine, Chicken Adobo. Ivan's lunch was somehow tasty. Rice and fried chicken.

Yeah, you look like chickens to me now.

"Then how will you suppose to 'refresh' your mind if you haven't eat something for lunch?" Ivan's irritating smile returned to his face. This guy's proud of the moronic paradox he just came up with.

"Hey.." Allen called me.

What now? You're not going to ask me if I'm going to meet someone, are you?

"..You're going to meet someone, aren't you?" Allen smirked.

I just twitched my eyebrows while threatening his life inside my mind.

"Hey, hey. You should eat first before you meet that lucky girl. Studies have proven that if you don't eat something in time, whether it's breakfast or lunch or dinner, you have a greater chance of having a bad breath. That is the reason why everytime we wake up, we have bad breaths. So, don't waste the time now. Eat! You don't want that girl to collapse in front of you when you kiss her, right?" Ivan explained.

Hey. Why did I nod to that?

"Shut up, you two. I don't have a date, okay? I'm going." I turned around and walked out. I don't have time to argue with them.

"Jared! Tomorrow, be sure to tell us what happened, okay?!" Allen yelled.

Whatever.

∆∆∆

I arrived at the library five minutes after I left the canteen. There were few people inside the library so the atmosphere was somehow peaceful. I greeted the librarian.

"Good noon, Mrs. Pantoja." She is an old woman in her 50's. She has been the librarian of St. Elmo Academy for 23 years. Although I spent my ten years of schooling here in St. Elmo, the last time I saw Mrs. Pantoja was 6 years ago, when we held an Egg Hunting Event and I was assigned by my groupmates to find eggs in the library with some of my friends.

"Good noon, Hijo." 'Hijo' is a term used by the elder to casually refer the younger males. 'Hija' is for... Come on. You should get that by now.

Her weak smile gave me additional confidence to ask her for something uncommon.

"Uhm.. Mrs. Pantoja, do you have a 'Kids Section' here?"

"'Kids Section'? I don't think we have books appropriate to that section. Do you mean nursery and fairy tale books?" Her smile didn't left her lips.

"Y-Yeah.."

"I'm sorry but we don't have that kind of books. But feel free to browse the library. You know, some lost things just show up when you don't look for them. So read something random, maybe a science or english book, then let your eyes discover what you're looking for."

Yeah. Maybe?

"Well, thank you, Mrs. Pantoja, for the.. uhm.. great advice. I'll just find something else to read." I smiled then walked away from the counter.

I scanned each and every one of the books in Literature Section. At the end, I found three books that might certainly contain the tale of the Senea's Star. I found an empty chair at the far left of the Social Studies Section shelf. It is slightly covered by the shelf and the wall, so it is highly unnoticeable. A perfect spot.

I sat down and stared at the books I picked.

- The Untold Legends of the Philippines 

- The Untold Legends of the Philippines II 

- The Untold Legends of the Philippines III

Very smart, indeed. You just picked a series, Jared. Well done.

I started to flip open the first book and scanned the Table of Contents, to speed up my search, but after 30 minutes of scanning the entirety of the three books...

"Shit."

...I failed to find what I am looking for. I stood up and my eyes saw a familiar face. 'She' was standing at the far right end of the shelf beside me. And she was...

"..."

"J-Janinna..."

...staring directly to my eyes. She's not moving, and her face didn't have any emotions at all. What do we call that? Uhm.. Poker face, I think.

I noticed her rosy lips mumble something. Weird. She's so different when I talked to her this morning. Maybe she's going through something right now? I walked towards her.

"Hey, Janinna." I cheerfully called her name.

"Are you looking for the legend?" She replied.

"Legend?" What the... She had some pretty good intuition.

"The legend of the Star of Senea."

I faced the shelf and reached for the third row above to place the books I took. "How did you know? You have some telepathic abilities, huh?"

"Yes."

I almost laughed out loud when I heard her answer, but I held it in. I'm just kidding here, Janinna.

"Really?..." I finished placing the books back to their respective shelf.

"Yes." I faced her upon hearing her say 'yes' for the second time. Her facial expression didn't change.

"...O-kay... So, what if I was looking for that story? "

"You can't find it here. And it is not just a story made by those filthy writers who write for money."

"Hey, don't generalize. There are very good authors out there, and they are MANY. Anyway, why can't I find it here? Many of our country's legend is here."

"Because it is NOT a legend."

"Who is Henry Lokiman, then? My Dad told me he was the author of the book about that legend."

"Henry Lokiman doesn't exist."

"Ivan told me his mother read the story for him once. So it means she USED a book, right?"

"Her mother didn't use a book. She used her own notes."

"Then how did his mother know the story?"

"Ivan's mother's mother told her the story, using her own notes, too."

"Then how did his' mother's mother knew th-- Wait. I can't understand you."

"You are just helping yourself to not understand."

I pursed my lips for a moment while examining her face. She said those unbelievable words like it was nothing, like it was really true. But, what if it IS true? Dad strongly fought for this fact as Mom rejected his thoughts. Could it be that the world is going to end? Let me have a girlfriend first!

"If it is not a legend, it is a fairy tale, right? Some of m--"

"After classes. I'll wait at the gate." After saying that, she turned around and left me.

W-Wait! What?!

"Hey!" I tried to call her but she ignored it. I guess I don't have a choice, I thought. Looks like she know everything and she'll tell it all to me. It'll have to wait.