Get Along Well The Series

CHAPTER 7: You Revolve Around Me, I Revolved Around You

CHAPTER 7

            After our last class this afternoon, I went straight to the conference room to finish the revision of my article. I also promised Jasmine to help her with her sports article since I have a background with volleyball. During the whole session, we both contributed ideas to our own works. When we finished our revisions, we went to the faculty room to submit it to our adviser, Ms. Drilon.

            Thankfully, our final output passed and we were given a go signal by our mentor. They will layout everything and the only thing that we need to prepare is ourselves for the Division School’s Press Conference which will happen on Thursday and Friday. We are two days away from the competition and the pressure is on for us because the competition was moved prior to the original planned date, so we should be more prepared than we were a month ago.

            Jasmine invited me to go to the mall because she wants to buy sets of clothes for the competition but I refused because of my agenda with Peter. So far during our tutorial journey, it is easy to teach Peter because he listens and he pays attention to my explanation.

            His goal is to have an average of 88 this grading period. I mean his grades are averaging 84 percent and it is not hard to attain four more points. I actually told him that if he wants to, he can push it to 90 percent. I believe that he can reach that goal.

            During the whole session, I will be in charge of teaching for his mental needs, while Peter is in charge of our hunger needs. Not to exaggerate but there was one time that he literally asked their family driver to bring us food from a fast food restaurant and he came with two bags of food. Chicken, spaghetti, ice cream, peach mango pie, fries and burgers. He likes to eat too much but he is not getting fat.

            Approaching the student lounge where we usually meet, I saw Peter there. I told him that I might be late today and surprisingly, he already started without me. Another good thing about Peter is that he cannot be easily distracted. He is really determined to make his parents proud.

            “Riley. You’re here.” I sat beside him and put down my bag. I glanced to his paper and he is now doing his assignment for Mathematics. While he is answering his assignment, I decided to finish my own homework for English. We were asked to create a poem about someone special in our life.

            I am thinking about writing about my parents but there are many things I want to tell about them. We only need one poem and if I will dedicate it to them, it will turn to a Mahabharata or something.

            As I struggle with my poem, I looked into Peter who is still busy with his agenda and then an idea came up to my mind. I decided to use Peter as the subject for my homework. I mean we’re friends and he’s special to me. He is like the only boy who’s hanging out with me like a real friend. It is a breath of fresh air. Jasmine and my co-members in the journalism club are the best. But sometimes it is also good to have someone who extends the relationship you have outside your professional duties. 

            He is planning to introduce me to his parents and siblings which is not necessary but he insisted because he said that he needs to give credit where the credit is due. If someone is willing to introduce you to their family, I’m pretty sure that’s a start of a real friendship or something.

            “Are you finish with your poem?” He asked me while closing his notebook, he is already done with his assignment.

            “Not yet, still thinking about who will be my subject is. You have already done this right?” We have the same English teacher.

            “I am already finished with my poem. Just waiting to be called for the recitation.” He sounded off confidently. “I wrote a poem about my siblings. You want to hear it?”

            “Sure.” He opened his bag and pulled out a yellow notebook which is for our English subject. I then focused my attention to him, waiting for to hear the poem that he wrote.

I am lucky to have

Siblings who give me love and care

Even though in blood, we are not related

The memories that we share

Started from the bond that we created

I am thankful to have

Siblings who do not condemn me for my mistakes

Instead, they give me guidance

On how to avoid giving my parents headaches

I promise to be

The sibling they want me to become

I will have a degree

In pressure, I will not succumb

            Peter is poetic, not going to lie. I can feel the sincerity of his words while he is reading the poem that he wrote for his siblings. It saddens me because I realized that he is much closer to his siblings than his parents. Now, I understand why he wants to win back the heart and trust of his parents. Maybe he wanted to have the perfect family.

            “It is good. I am sure your siblings will love it.” I replied with a smile. “You are closer to your siblings?” I opened the bag of potato chips and shared it with him.

            He digs in for some chips before answering my question. “I am closer with my mom. But I really want to do this as a gift for both of them. How about you, do you have any siblings?”

            I gave him a rough smile. My adoptive parents had a kid who is two years older than me but he died because of leukaemia. I entered into their lives because pregnancy is not possible for my mom anymore.

            “He’s in heaven now.” I tried to be uplifting when I told him that. To be honest, I am having mixed feelings. I wish I have met him but on the other hand, how can I meet him if the only reason why I am in their household is because of his departure?

            “I’m sorry to hear that.” I can see it in his reaction that he is regretting asking that question.

            “Don’t worry. I’m good. Since you are done with your assignments, anything else you want me to help you with?” I placed the bag of chips on the table and sit closer to him.

            “Well, I guess I’m good for today. I easily understood our lesson earlier specially in Algebra, thanks to your techniques and reminders,” he replied.

            “That’s good to hear. I’m glad that I could help. So, are you planning to go home early?” It’s just five in the afternoon and usually his family driver arrives at six.

            “Not yet. Our driver is with my parents and they are attending a party right now. So probably he’ll be here by six thirty or so.” He explained. “I really want to do something that I have never done before.”

            “What is it?” I asked.

            “Let’s go to the mall. I really want to go out on my own. Just wander around and eat. You want to join?” Thinking about his offer, there’s nothing left for me to do this afternoon aside from going home. Going out alone, I have never done that before and maybe this is the time to do it.

            “Okay. I’m in.” I mean he said we are just going to roam around the mall and probably eat in a fast food chain, I have enough money for that.

            We decided to ride a jeepney going to the nearest mall. It is actually ten minutes away but it took us twenty to because of the traffic. When we arrived at the mall, he told me that he wants to go the national bookstore first to buy some school supplies. As we enter the store, he immediately grabbed a basket where he will put the items he will buy. Coloring materials, illustration boards, plastic cover, ball pen, pad paper and manila paper. Those are the items he picked up.

            He is asking the lady in the counter about a certain type of ball pen and she assisted him about it. I told him that I will just go to the book section and he can find me there. Several shelves of books welcomed me. I immediately went to the fiction section to see if there are interesting books that I can buy.

            Romance novels are not my cup of tea. I want something like a mystery or something. Not that I hate that genre, maybe I can explore those kinds of books but for the mean time, I want a book that will blow my mind.

I passed by the Tagalog section and I was surprised to see the number of romance novels from different publishers and authors. I think I saw my mom once reading the same pocket novels. I picked up a book to see the synopsis at the back cover. This book I am holding is adapted as a television series and also one of the best-selling novels of the author.

But I guess this is for adult only because the cover is a lady showing her cleavage while the man is caressing her body. I slowly put it back to the shelf because I don’t want others to misinterpret me for reading obscene novels.

I went to the international best-selling section to see what are the hottest books there. One book caught my attention and it’s from a certain author named Dan Brown. I grabbed the book titled The Da Vinci Code and the first thing that came up to my mind is Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous painter.

I read the synopsis of the book at the back and I am quite intrigued about the book. It has something to do with the religion and its connection to Da Vinci’s past works. I looked at the price tag and sadly I am two hundred pesos short. I am looking at the about the author section of the book when Peter nudged me.

“You are going to buy a book?” he is carrying his basket full of school supplies. I guess he is ready to pay for the items.

“Nah. I am just lurking around. Looking for some interesting releases. Maybe next time.” I faced him. “Are you going to pay already?” I placed back the book into the pile of new releases.

“Yes. I already got everything I need. Let’s go?” I nodded.

Gladly there are few customers right now, so the line is not that long. I am looking at the books displayed in the counter and there are so many releases this year. Maybe it is time to save money so that I can buy some next time.

Once, I dreamed to be an author. I am really good at writing bed time stories for the other kids in the orphanage. If they are exhausted with the stories about the frog and the prince or anything fantasy, I am creating my own stories for them. The same characters but different adventures every night.

I still remember my story titled The Adventures of the Orphaned Kid. It is about a kid who grew up not knowing his parents and was left in the orphanage when he was a baby. The story is about giving hope and striving to be the best version of yourself everyday. When he was adapted, he promised his adoptive parents that he will study hard and strive to be a doctor for them. Too bad I didn’t have the chance to finish the story where the kid grew up and became a doctor, overcoming adversities.

Little did I know, the story that I created will come true to me because I got adopted. My main intention of telling that story is to give the other kids in the orphanage hope that one day they will be adopted and hopefully live the life they always wanted to have. Which I am doing right now. Studying hard for my parents and for my future. I am like their elder brother because I am the oldest kid in the orphanage and I treated them like my real siblings. So, it was hard for me to bid farewell to them.

            We are next to the counter when the cashier signalled me to come over. I looked beside me and I was stunned to see Peter gone. I handled the basket to the cashier to scan the items. Then suddenly, Peter came back holding the book I am looking to earlier.

            “You’re going to buy that too?” I asked him.

            “Yes, for you.” For me?

            “Huh?” He gave the book to the cashier. I was in shock when I saw the total amount that he needs to pay. He gave the cashier one thousand five hundred pesos for the items that we brought. “Y-You really don’t have to. I can save money for that.” I told him shyly.

            “Don’t worry. Just think of it as a gift from me to you.” We are walking our way outside the store when he pulled out the book and another item. “These are for you.” He gave me two items. The book that I was reading earlier and a container like item. I opened the second item he gave me and a pen is inside of it. But the thing is the pen looks expensive and my name is carved into it.

            “What is this for?” I looked back at him.

            “A token of appreciation. You’ve helped me a lot and that is not enough to pay your kindness.

            “But I am not asking for anything. I’m good with the foods you are sharing with me.” I laughed.

            “I know but I want to give you something memorable. I know you love to read and I thought maybe you may like that book because you are reading it earlier. The pen is like memorabilia because it is not an ordinary pen. It has your name on it which makes it unique and special.” He looked at me. “Like you.”

            I don’t know how to react with the last sentence he said. I’m unique and special for him? I am flattered to hear that from him. I can feel his sincerity behind those words. I never thought that someone can make me feel this kind of feeling that I am experiencing right now.

            I gave him a smile, “thank you so much for these.”

            He told me that he wants to eat, so we decided to go to the food court. Our final option is to eat in a fast food restaurant where the line is not that long. He texted their family driver so that he can pick him up at the mall instead.

While we are eating, he told me that during this time, he will rather eat outside than to eat alone in their house. His siblings are always coming home late because of their school commitments and their parents are always out of town.

I asked him why not eat with their housekeepers instead, he told me that by the time he got home, they already ate their dinner.

“Did you really drift apart with Vincent and his troops?” I’m curious if he is still keeping in touch with those bullies.

“Yep. I’d rather study than to be involved in their activities. They do not care about studying because they can pay the school in case they fail.” He exposed. “Like what my parents did every time I am being involved in any trouble or failing my subjects. Thinking about it right now, I am not proud that I managed to reach Grade Six because of bribing the schools.”

“That is the reason why you want to prove to your parents that you can graduate not because of their money but because of your effort, right?” I scooped my ice cream. Gosh, this is so delicious.

“Yes. Hopefully soon my father will recognize my effort. Right now, I am glad to see my mom being appreciative with my efforts. I know that time will come, that my father will acknowledge my hard work.” He is hopeful, I can see it in his eyes.

After our dinner, we waited for their family driver to arrive outside the mall. He asked me if I want a ride but I declined, it is too much already. When the driver arrived, I thanked him for the gift and the meal before bidding good bye.

On my way home, I am holding the box containing the pen he gave me earlier. I removed it from the box and I just noticed that there is a quotation on the other side of it. May this serve as a reminder of how great you are...

Little did I know, I was just smiling during the whole jeepney ride.

The next day, aside from getting a perfect score on our Quiz in Filipino, there’s nothing special happened during the whole day. I met with Peter in the quadrangle because the student lounge is occupied by the other students selling their food for their Home Economics project.

After fifteen minutes, Peter arrived with a bunch of snacks that I assumed he bought from the students in the student lounge. There is hotdog sandwich, spaghetti and caramel pancake. He placed the bag of food in the bench.

“Let’s eat,” he said while offering me the sandwich.

“Thank you. How is your day? Any assignments you need to finish?” I took a bite and waited for his answer.

“We have free time earlier during computer subject, so I decided to do it during our class. But I need you to check the solution I did for my assignment.” He replied while taking a sip from the water bottle. He handed me a bottle of orange juice. “Your favorite.”

I gave him a wide smile and opened the bottle of juice. In front of us are the students practicing their cheer dance routine for the upcoming Academy Day. As much as I want to join, we have another contest to participate into and it will be tomorrow. So, right now I am just enjoying this moment because tomorrow will be the judgment day for us.

I just hope that we can make it through because I want to go back to the Nationals. After the division level, we will go forward to the regional level then the national level. We worked so hard on this one so I am confident that we can pull this off. But on the other hand, we don’t know what technical difficulties will happen because usually, some schools are sabotaging other participants. I just hope that it will not happen to us because they will really see me turn into a super Saiyan or something.

Going back to Academy Day, grade six students are responsible for jail booth where you can send someone to jail for five pesos and ten pesos for the bail. If you have a crush on someone, pay us ten pesos and we can put you and him to jail together. Sounds cool right?

We are just enjoying our moment here when someone barged in. It’s Vincent and Ram. Surprisingly his other minions are not with them. “Hey Peter. I told you I have something to tell you. We are looking for you everywhere.” Vincent lauded dismissing my existence in the situation.

“I have something else to do. You could have just message it to me, no need for meet up.” Peter’s reply is as cold as ice. He is showing no interest with the proposition that Vincent is blabbering about.

“Why are hanging out with that fag, are fag too?” Ram insulted me.

Peter was about to reply but I interfered. “It seems like you and Vincent are so close together, are you two boy friends?” I smirked at him.

“What did you say?” Vincent angsty replied.

“I am asking him if you two are boy friends. I can see it in your eyes, it seems like it’s not just friends.” I want to insinuate something without using any insulting words, I am just asking. There’s nothing more fragile than someone’s ego. I am confident about my sexuality, I’m just not sure about theirs.

“Shut your mouth or else..”

“Or else what? I am just asking if you two are friends. Boy who befriends each other. What else do you have on your mind?” I like playing mind games with these bullies. Well, with the way I deliver my question, I really said it with a slight pause between boy and friends.

I can see it in Vincent’s eyes that he is slowly stabbing me in his mind. I just smiled and continued eating my food. I grabbed for the corndog and ate it maliciously in front of them.

“Stay away from him if you don’t want him to take advantage of you.” Ram told Peter.

“Don’t worry. I’m not that kind of person. I always ask for consent. Maybe I should ask your brother too.” I said playfully. Ram was about to come for me when I stood up and looked at him directly in the eyes. “Why, are you going to punch me?” I said fiercely. You know the scenario when the bullied stand up for himself, that is what I am doing right now. My upper chest is leaning towards Ram which resulted of him being outbalanced and fell on the ground. Maybe he thought I would be fazed by him, but boy, you’re wrong.

“Just go. I don’t have anything to talk about with you guys.” Peter instructed. Ram stood up and wiped his pants before following Vincent’s path.

I focused again my attention to the students while eating the corndog. Being bullied is one of the worst experiences that a person could experience. So, sometimes it is not bad to stand up for yourself.

“I never imagined that I will see that side of you. Usually you only do the talking, I really thought you will punch Ram or something.” Peter commented.

“Don’t worry, I’m just playing with him. Do you really think I will punch him in the face or something? That’s the last thing I would do if someone bullies me. I always go on their ego, the most sensitive part,” I said.

Peter showed to me the solution that he come up with. I told him that supposed to be answer is negative 2 but he came up with positive 2. I told him that he missed something during the whole process. He forgot that when adding two negative numbers, it will come up with negative answer, not positive. According to him, maybe he thought that he is doing multiplication instead of addition.

He asked me about my current state knowing that when I wake up tomorrow, we are going to face an adversity. I told him that the last thing I want to happen is for me to succumb into pressure and doubt. I know I can do it and pull it off because I worked my a*s off on my article.

Being a regional qualifier or not, I am happy and proud with what our team did. I know that they worked so hard for this and it will all boils down to the presentation of everything tomorrow.

We are enjoying our conversation when someone approached us. I glanced to the person standing in front of me and I saw a guy and beside him is Ram.

“Are you Riley?” the guy asked. I think he is around fourth year high school or something.

“Yes. I am? Why?” I responded.

“Ram told me that you are bullying him and you told him that you will harass me with consent? Are you sure about that, huh kid?” I can feel the angst on his words but I just gave him a disinterested look.

I put my attention on Ram. “Me? Bullying you? Do you even have a proof of that accusation?” I lauded. I gave Ram a sharp look and raised my right eyebrow. “Do you even have a proof that I told you that I will harass your brother? Any credible witness? Don’t you think that makes no sense at all? A grade six student, harassing a fourth year-ish student?”

“Look at my uniform, brother. It’s dirty, it’s all because of you.” Ram gaslighted. The nerve of this kid.

“Again, do you have any credible witness that can testify that I bullied you? Maybe you got dirt all over your uniform because you trip yourself or something. And for the record, between us two, who has the history of bullying? My record is crystal clear, I am not sure about yours.” I smirked and looked back at Ram’s brother. “I didn’t bully your brother. And about the...you know. The other thing, I’m afraid that’s not true as well.” I gave him a smile.

He looked at Ram. “There must be a misunderstanding here and I apologize for wasting your time.”

“It’s okay.” I answered. Ram and his brother left us there and I must admit, Ram’s brother is handsome. But nope, I barely dodged a bullet there. I am not going on that road, honey.

I looked into Peter and gave a big sigh of relief. “Not gonna lie, I was afraid that he might punch me earlier. Thank God, I know how to turn the tables upside down.”

“Yeah, you diverted your attention to Ram instead of explaining it to his brother. I can feel your crippling fear because of the confrontation.” He teased.

“I’m good with confrontation as long as there’s no adults involved.” I gushed.

Thinking about what happened, I think I should distance myself with Vincent and his minions because this time, I got away with it. Right now, I am always engaging in a verbal ‘fight’ with their group but what if one day, they decided to take things in physical way. Peter cannot be there for me all the time to mediate during our encounters.

            But of course, I still have to stand for what is right, if one day it boils down to physical fight then I would not hesitate to fight heterosexual kids ala Jackie Chan or Jason Statham.

Just kidding...

            Am I?