Gifted Academy

Chapter 4

Bago kami lumabas ay pinalamutian muna ni Trix ang aming buhok ng mga maliliit na bulaklak.

Nagmukha din tuloy akong Terran.

"Ang ganda mo," biglang puri ni Elaine habang pinagmamasdan ako.

Alam ko. Echos. Bumagay kasi ang mga pamamuting bulaklak sa suot kong dress ngayon.

Bumaba na kami ng aming building at may nakakasalubong na mga lalaking gifted mula sa kabilang wing ng dorm. Ang kabilang wing ng dorm ay off limits din naman during curfew hours.

May mangilan-ilan na mga napapatingin sa amin kaya medyo nako-conscious ako. Hindi ako sanay sa maraming tao lalo pa at mga lalaki.

"Are you uncomfortable?" tanong ni Elaine na nahalata ang pagiging hindi ko komportable.

"Medyo," sagot ko dito.

"Ganyan talaga kapag bagong simula pa lang ang klase. Sa dati kong school ganito din naman pero pagkalipas ng ilang mga araw eh masasanay ka din naman. Isa pa, tandaan mo na maganda ka kaya ka nila tinitingnan. People love to admire beauty," litanya nito.

"May dati ka palang school," I asked her as we stepped on the escalator.

"Uh, yes. Yung ibang nag enroll dito ay galing na sa ibang schools like me. I was from Myriad School of Gifteds. Doon tinuturo ang basics ng gifts natin. Pero mas advanced kasi dito sa Gifted Academy. Yung iba naman first school nila to kaya they usually end up at Tiro or Private Tier. First school mo ito di ba?" tanong nito sa akin. I nodded.

"For a beginner, you have landed on a quite high tier Raya. Ibig sabihin nito ay it's either they assessed you to be smarter than a beginner or stronger than a beginner. Or... both," pag explain nito sa akin.

Nakarating kami sa main cafeteria at puno na ito ng mga estudyante.

"Raya sa center kami," I heard a faint whisper carried by the wind and I automatically looked for the middle part of the caf.

Nang makita ko sila ay kumaway sila sa amin.

"Nandoon ang mga kaibigan ko. Will you join us?" I asked Elaine.

"U-uh. You are having lunch with the Gifted Prime?" she hesitantly asked.

"Oo pero mababait naman sila kaya ayos lang yan, Tara," I led our way towards them. Elaine stopped and curtsied at them so I curtsied too.

"Your highnesses," she greeted.

"Lady Laurent," the Prince of Terra greeted her. Makes sense dahil Terran si Elaine.

"We reserved a seat for you Raya and we also took a seat for Lady Elainne," Sabi ni Shan.

We took our seat kaya our seating arrangement looked like this:

Shannon at the head of the table-Aqua Prince-Aeris Prince- Lustro Prince-Terra Prince

Ira the Ice Princess- Renee-Fire Girl form the screening-Elaine-Kea- then me at the end of the table

"So don't worry kasi may pupuntang waiter maya maya dito to take your orders," sabi ni Renee sa amin.

"Anyways, we have to introduce ourselves," Renee said and looked at the princes.

"Ezekiel from Aqua," he said looking bored.

"I'm Philip from Aeris," he said while looking straight at me which made me look away. Is it him? Well that's impossible.

"Collin from Lustro," he said and smiled a little. Huh. Mysterious like Prince Ezekiel.

"Uh, hi I'm Caleb from Terra. You can just call me Caleb," he said with an easy smile. I can see that Prince Caleb is quite a charmer. Pero hindi ko siya crush.

"I'm Ira Mitchell Levine, Crown Princess of the Crystallum Kingdom," huh. We know.

"Hi! I'm Renee Irene Lockhart, Phil's cousin," sabi naman ni Renee.

"Lady Helea Angelique Brimstone, daughter of Lady Serene of Aqua and Lord Thanos of Lustro," the fire girl said. Hindi na ako tumingin kay Kea dahil alam kong nakataas na ang kilay nito.

"I'm Elaine and this is Trix. We are from Terra," Elaine gestured at Trix who's lounging at her shoulder. Elaine is really graceful. I'm starting to wonder why is Shannon like this. Hyper.

"Hi, I'm Kea from Aeris," Kea said kaya ako naman.

"I'm Raya from from Aeris too."

"Hi everyone! Welcome to Gifted Academy! I'm Shannon, Zeke's favorite sister because I'm his only sister," sabi naman ni Shannon namedyo nagpagaan ng atmosphere sa table namin.

We heard someone clear hi throat and found the waiter waiting for us to give our orders.

We are in an easy chatter when our food arrived. The boys are well, boys. They have full course meal. Ang mga prinsesa ay kanya kanyang tanggap ng mga salad nila, well Elaine too and the Helea girl. While Kea is into chicken, I'm eating all sorts of seafood.

"So, fire gift pala ang naging dominant sayo Hel," Shannon asked.

"Yes but I can also make liquid but its only liquid fire," sabi nito. Wow parang lava. Para siyang bulkan. Charot.

"How are you at your dorm, Raya?" Renee asked me.

"Maayos naman. Roommates kami ni Elaine," I told them.

"Woah. You have to share rooms," Helea commented. Which is not really necessary by the way.

"Which reminds me, Elaine why did you end up at the Master Tier?" Prince Caleb asked. Now all our attention is at Elaine.

"I wanted to be on the Master Tier. Its more peaceful there. I can live an almost normal life," she explained.

"But you're sleeping on the same building with boys," he reasoned. May something ba sa kanila?

"I'd be sleeping on the same building with boys regardless of my tier, Caleb,"' she explained exasperatedly.

"Are you... magjowa?" Renee asked and the two looked at her and shooked their heads.

"Okay, sabi niyo eh," she rolled her eyes but the two were still glaring at each other.

"Too bad we only have one class together, Ra," sabi ni Kea sa akin. Magkatabi kasi kami.

"You have to learn a lot to prepare for the yearly rankings which is two months from now," Prince Philip said to no one in particular but was looking at me. I saw prince Ezekiel glanced at me too.

"You're actually pretty, Raya. Are a noble too?" biglang tanong ng Ice Princess.

"U-uh. Salamat po mahal na prinsesa. And no, I am a commoner," I answered and earned collective gasps from around me. Huh. I didn't anticipate a lot of people were eavesdropping on our conversations.

"Ay siya lang ata yung commoner na napasama sa table ng royals beh," I overheard a conversation at my back. Kea and Elaine looked alarmed. Shannon looked pissed.

"Well, who cares? Raya is my friend. Noble or not, no one is going to take that friendship from me," Shannon said loudly and the murmurings died down.

"I'm just curious Raya. If you don't mind, I just want to see from your point of view. What are your plans in life? We ladies raised in a different way, we have definite futures. So, ikaw?" Helea asked and I heard snickers from behind me.

"I don't like how you talk to my friend," Kea told her bluntly.

"Its fine, Ke," I assured her and turned to look at Helea.

"Your Highness I plan to finish school, make a living and have peaceful life with my family. It may sound very simple but with everything and everyone I have now, I am contented," I answered her. Ayoko din naman kasi mang insulto at masira ang mood ng lunch namin.

"Now if you'll excuse me, there's something I have to do," I stood and left them with their fancy food and even fancier attitude.

Naglalakad ako papuntang dorm nang biglang lumitaw si Ira at Ezekiel na magka hawak kamay sa harap ko. Huh. Teleportation.

"Your Highnesses," I curtsied. Prince Ezekiel nodded and gave me and Princess Ira our space.

"Raya... I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to stress out your status. I asked thinking that you're like us. I'm really sorry. I didn't know. I hope you consider me as your friend too," she said.

Hindi naman talaga ako katulad niyo, Mahal na Prinsesa. In so many ways.

"Okay lang po. Naiintindihan ko Princess Ira," I answered, giving her the respect that she deserves.

"Please call me Ira. We are friends now so you don't have to address me so formally," she told me and gave me a smile.

Fudge. Ang ganda.

I smiled back. Fudge. Mas maganda. Charot.

The rest of the day went on uneventfully. Hindi umuwi si Elaine ng hapon kaya nakapagsanay pa ako ng iba kong gifts. I tried doing teleportation too gaya ng nangyari kanina kina Ira and it turns out, I can do it too. Medyo napagod ako kaya napagpasyahan kong matulog muna.

I woke up to the feeling of being mildly numb again. I tried opening my eyes but I can't! I gasped.

"Shhh. I won't hurt you," I heard a guy whisper as I felt the right side of my bed sinking.

I tried to struggle but to no avail. Sino ba to?

I felt him tracing my lips this time.

Then I felt his lips on me again and this time it lasted longer.

I made a sound in my protest but it turned into a different sound instead. My goodness!

I heard him chuckle and felt his presence leave.

Argh! Sino ba yun? Nagiging marupok na ako ha! Hindi pwede to. Baka manyak pala yun tapos dinadaan ako sa Shhh. I won't hurt you.

It has to be someone powerful for me not to feel his presence.