Find Me In The Stairs. ( Taglish )

End Room in the 4th floor.

After meeting Ivo, I rushed na papunta sa St.Martin de Porres Building. 10 minutes more before my first class I don’t wanna be late naman on my first day. Anlaki pala talaga ng UST, andaming mga estudyante ang nagkalat sa paligid karamihan ay freshman din gaya ko.

I bump into someone sa sobra kong pagmamadali.

“ Oh I’m sorry, nagmamadali na kasi ako.” agad kong sabi.

Paglingon ko sa kanya ay mukhang tila galit ito, hindi ko naman siya masisisi medyo malakas ang pagkakabangga ko sa kanya.

I noticed na same kami ng suot na uniform. Mukhang med student din siya kagaya ko.

“Ano ba naman yan first day na first day, ugh kairita. Bulag ka ba?!” galit niyang sabi sabay irap.

“ I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to-.” She cut me off....

“ Alam mo, just get lost! Sinisira mo araw ko.” Ani niya at nagpatuloy na sa paglalakad.

Tinitingnan ko siya habang papalayo na sakin, ang ganda niya na sana kaso ang taray. Natawa ’ko kasi ganon din pala ko umasta. But that’s just outside. Soft kaya ko inside kung alam lang nila.

I got lost from my thoughts, then naalala ko na I’m late na nga pala. Ano ba yan Maureen.

I continue to run as fast as I to find my building, if I’m not mistaken 4th floor sa may last room ang first class ‘ko.

I saw the stairs from the ground floor up to the following floors, I really love using stairs than elevators kasi i think naeexercise ako and it helps me to relax my mind as well, i know it’s weird most of the people will choose the elevator for convenience but im part of that konting tao na will choose the stairs.

I was thinking of using the stairs but I am really late na, So I used the elevator na lang. Maybe after school I’ll use the stairs para maglibot-libot na din.

As the elevator goes up I started to feel mixed emotions, nagsisimula na kong pagpawisan at ganito ‘ko when I’m nervous, pinagpawisan ako specially in my hands. I’m nervous but excited at the same time. Im thinking kung anong mangyayari mamaya.

I’m here na sa 4th floor, I’m just finding the last room kasi according to my schedule doon ko daw ito matatagpuan.

I checked my watch to see the time. Yes thankfully I made it on time. Nakahinga na ‘ko ng maluwag. I opened the door of my room and most of my classmate are there na, konti na lang inaantay.

As I enter the room, everyone is so quiet. It feels like they are all evaluating me. Some girls are smiling, some doesn’t even have expressions on their faces. But one thing is for sure they’re all looking at me. I got anxious.

Then I remembered di ko pa pala natatanggal mask ko. Nasanay na kasi ako na naka mask because of the pandemic. Thankfully Covid ended na so we get the chance to get back to our normal lives and that includes face to face classes.

The moment I removed my mask and fixed my hair it feels like another evaluation was happening.

“ Oy shawty!” a guy shouted out of nowhere. Other guys at the back laugh because of that guy who shouted.

I’m kinda shy but deep inside I was so happy that someone appreciated me. It made me smile a little.

I looked for a vacant seat and sat there while waiting for our teacher.

“ Hi.” a girl approached me.

“ Oh, Hi ” I said while smiling.

She looks nice, ang ganda niya and mukhang friendly. She’s the first one to talk to me after entering the room.

“Ang ganda mo.” I said.

“ No, its you. You look like a Goddess. Btw my name is Bernice Sabrina, Sab for short. But you can call me Abby too if you want.” She replied.

Her eyes are sparkling. You can see the sincerity on it. She is really nice pala. I like her already.

“ My name is Maureen, u can call me Mau if you want, nice to meet you.” I replied at inabot ko ang aking kamay to shake her hand.

“ Omg, I like your accent. Foreigner ka ba?” she asked.

I guess she noticed my accent. I mean it really is showing when I speak english. I can speak tagalog naman but i feel more comfortable speaking in english, thats why i used it more often.

“ Oy imported daw guys!!.” someone shouted. The voice came from the boys at the back.

Nagulat ako ng bigla na lang nila akong pinalibutan. They formed a circle and Im literally in the middle of it. It’s almost the whole section but other people ignores it. If I was in their shoes siguro ganon din gagawin ko. I mean ako lang to, wala namang ganon kainteresting sa life ko. But yeah maybe because I have accent thats why they’re interested.

It is so loud, everyone is talking and asking me , even the girls. Di naman ako nainform interview pala ito???? I feel like I’m a celebrity na Lol. They’re setting my confidence so high. I can’t

“ Foreign-ger ka ba?” They laughed.

“ Ang ganda mo naman.”

“ kung May boyfriend ka na daw ba?my friend here is asking.”

“ Naol matangos ilong!!.”

“ Ano skincare mo mare?”

“ Sabihin mo nga pete paka?” A guy said pertaining to the movie Spiderman. They all laughed. They’re all so extra. HAHA.

It seems like everyone is having fun. Im not used to this. I mean, not gonna brag but I kinda got the attention most of the time when I was in High School. But I didn’t expect them to be this welcoming. I’m glad.

I spoke na “ I’m not a foreigner, I am a pure Filipina. My dad and mom are both Filipinos. I got this accent because we used to live in the UK but I insisted to study here in the Philippines when i was about to start High School. Clear?” I smiled.