Hatred in Between (Battle of the Brains Series #1) - Tagalog

Chapter 1

"I really hate Jaja," sabi ni Fire habang kumakain ng cookies and cream ice cream.

Katatapos lang niyang bilhin ang sadya niya rito sa mall at nabilhan na rin niya ako ng mga calligraphy pens sa Art Bar, as she promised. Kaya ngayon ay nasa food court kami nakatambay, kumakain ng ice cream.

"It's the tenth time I heard you said that line since pagkaalis natin sa bahay," sabi ko.

Well, that's true. Unang kita ko pa lang sa kaniya pagkababa ko sa sala kanina ay alam ko nang inis siya. She's rolling her eyes while mumbling something, and I think I know the reason kung bakit gano'n siya.

"Why can't your brother treat me like a friend? Or kahit acquaintance man lang? Lagi na lang niya akong binabadtrip," reklamo niya sa matining na boses.

"Lower your voice, nasa labas tayo. Mahiya ka naman," sabi ko. Nakakahiya kaya at maraming tao. Nakatingin na nga sa amin yung mga tao sa kabilang table.

"I don't care. I want to let out my inis to him," giit niya.

"Ano ba ginawa niya?" I asked after taking another bite of my coffee crumble ice cream.

Simula pa naman noon, hindi na sila magkasundo. I can clearly see that Fire is trying her best to get along with Kuya Jaja every time na pumupunta siya sa bahay, but Kuya doesn't seem to like Fire's presence. Ewan ko kung bakit, close naman sila noong mga bata pa kami, pero simula nang mag-high school si kuya ay para bang lumayo na ang loob niya kay Fire.

"Well, I saw him in your living room pagkarating ko sa bahay niyo, and he's playing his violin. I don't want some dead air, and you know... to ease the awkwardness between us. So, I asked him if ano'ng piece yung pineplay niya," she said after finishing her cup of ice cream.

"And? What did he say?"

Knowing kuya, for sure he just ignored Fire's questions. Hindi naman iyon masungit palagi, kapag sinusumpong lang. Tsk, parang babae.

Fire sighed. "He didn't answer my question—"

"As expected," I interfered.

"—instead, he told me na tatawagin ka lang daw niya. Ikaw naman daw ang sadya ko, ang dami ko pang tinatanong. Eh ba't hindi niya ayusin muna yung pag-uugali niya? He's being so rude na!" Inis na saad niya habang parang batang nagmamaktol.

Ang mga taong hindi nakakakilala sa kaniya ay malamang na iisipin na isa siyang spoiled brat. But no, maarte lang talaga siya.

I don't know what to say para kumalma siya, so I think I'll just listen to her rants hanggang sa mapagod na siya. But wait, why is she so affected? Oh yeah, I remember. I smirked inwardly.

"You're so affected, ah. Baka naman you still have a crush kay Kuya?" I looked at her humorously.

She smiled sarcastically. "Hell, no, Brin. Dati lang 'yon, so don't bring back what's in the past. What I am just saying is that he should at least treat me nice like he used to before," She said, and I think I saw a glimpse of sadness in her eyes... o baka namamalik-mata lang ako.

There are a lot of assumptions and ideas running inside my mind right now, ngunit hindi ko na lang isinatinig. There's really something... and I want to dig deeper and talk more about it, but I know that Fire's not in the mood to tell things.

I tried to talk to Kuya Jaja about why is he acting cold and snob with Fire, but he just shrugged his shoulders and patted my head. That's one of the things that I hate about him, he always keep things to himself. I think I know what's going on, and I just want him to tell me about what he feels... or what he thinks, but he always choose not to be transparent.

Pagkatapos naming kumain ng ice cream ay umuwi na rin kami kaagad. Nagpahatid na lang ako sa driver nila.

Masyadong mabilis na lumipas ang oras. Before I know, heto at pasukan na at nasa loob na naman ako ng classroom namin. The A-Class.

Nag-tatake muna ng assessment test bago mag-enroll ang mga pa-grade seven students sa Academy. Ito ang nag-dedetermine kung saang section sila mapupunta at maglalagi sa buong Junior High School years nila. Siyempre, karamihan sa kanila ay gustong mapunta sa A-Class. Dito napupunta ang mga estudyanteng madalas ipinanlalaban sa mga inter-school competitions, lalo na sa academics.

But of course, limited slots lang. Students who scored above the 90% of the test takers are only qualified to be a part of A-Class. Sa batch namin, umabot sa three hundred ang test takers, meaning thirty students and naging part ng A-Class, and I am one of them.

Isa pa pala, ang top five scorers ng assessment test ay automatic na magiging scholars despite their monthly or yearly household income. Since I was the top one scorer of our batch, I automatically became a scholar. Hindi ko rin alam kung coincidence ba pero ang ibang apat na top scorers ay mga kaibigan ko rin.

"Brin!!!" Ang matining na boses ni Saffire kahit nasa pintuan pa lang ng aming classroom ang bumungad sa akin.

Yep, she's also a student in A-Class, though not part of the top five. Sa likod naman niya ay kumaway lang sa akin ang kakambal niyang si Ice, the top three.

Magkaiba ang kakayahan nilang magkapatid. Saffire is good at arts and literature. When it comes to painting, playing musical instruments, writing stories, articles, and poem, no one can even question her ability. She won several writing and journalism competitions, and is part of the journalism and newspaper club of our school.

On the other hand, Ice is also good at academics like me, especially in Science. He may be cold and less talkative than his twin, but he is more rational. Masiyadong seryoso at nakikipag-usap lang sa mga taong sa tingin niya ay may sense, based on my observation lang naman sa kaniya simula noong mga bata pa kami.

Namili na ng upuan ang kambal. As expected, Saffire sat beside me while Ice went for the seat behind Fire.

"Hey, you know what? May narinig akong tsismis kanina." Excited na bungad sa akin ni Fire.

Ang daldal talaga ng babaeng 'to.

I sighed. "Nakitsismis ka na naman?" Tanong ko rito while showing her may bored face.

"I don't know if it is true, narinig ko lang naman. Narinig din ni Ice nung pagkadaan naming sa faculty room ng Math teachers. 'Diba, Ice?"

Tumango lang si Ice sa sinabi ng kakambal niya. Ano naman kaya yung nasagap nila at mukhang seryoso rin si Ice? Now, I'm getting curious.

"Okay, ito na nga." Huminga muna ito nang malalim.

Ang tagal ah. Pa-suspense pa, eh.

"Come on! Spill!"

"Okay, okay." Natatawang sabi nito. "Relax, ito na. From what we heard kanina, may transferee raw dito sa section natin."

Wait, what?

I laughed. "Transferee? Dito? Sa A-Class? That's against the rules and policy of the school. No wonder tsismis lang talaga iyang narinig niyo." Sabi ko sa kaniya sabay sandal sa upuan ko.

Hindi makapaniwalang tumingin sa akin si Saffire. "Grabe ka sa'kin. Super harsh."

I just laughed at her and thought about what she said about that "tsismis". Yes, it's quite impossible, pero kung narinig niya talaga iyon sa faculty at nag-agree si Ice doon, mukhang may chance nga na totoo iyon.

There's only one way to find out, and that is to wait.

May fifteen minutes pa bago dumating an gaming adviser at magsimula ang klase. Since this is the first day of class, for sure ay puro orientation at class officer election lang ang magaganap.

Habang naghihintay, karamihan sa mga kaklase ko ay binati ako, of course I greeted them back. I still can't believe that this will be the last year na magkakasama kami sa isang section. Habang iniisip ko iyon ay narinig ko ang pagbukas ng pintuan n gaming classroom at ang pagsigaw ng kung sinuman iyon.

"Welcome back, ebribadeh! I miss you all!" Nag-flying kiss pa ang walang hiya sa kawalan.

That is Terrence, the top four. Considered as a jack of all trades, masiyado ring malakas ang sense of humor, sabi niya. But if you'll ask me, his jokes suck. Hindi naman maipagkakaila na he's the mood maker of our circle and class. Naiirita lang siguro ako dahil sa ingay niya, but I still consider him as one of my closest friend... kahit may pagka-abnormal siya minsan.

"Naks naman Terrence, pumogi ka, ah."

"Hi Fafa Terrence."

"Cutie mo naman po."

Tss, mga loko-loko.

"Ay tenchu. Kaya lang na kay Daisy na ang aking heart." Sabay finger heart ni Terrence. Sakto naman na kadarating lang ni Daisy, the soft girl of our class. Matalino, ngunit masiyadong mabait at may pagka-mahiyain, but she's too cute to ignore. Kaya maraming nagkaka-crush, at isa na roon si Terrence.

Parehong gulantang si Terrence at Daisy. Nagkaroon ng saglit na katahimikan sa classroom.

"Hala. Hehe." Sabay blush ni Terrence.

Inulan naman ng tukso ang dalawa, pulang-pula na ang mukha ni Daisy at dumiretso na lang paupo sa upuan na nasa left side ko. Si Terrence naman ay binati pa ng ilan naming kaklaseng lalaki bago naupo sa tabi ni Ice sa likuran.

"That's fine, Daisy. No need to be embarrassed, mas dapat pa nga mahiya si Terrence sa mga pinaggagagawa niya." I said to Daisy para kahit papaano ay kumalma siya.

Dumiretso naman siya sa aming dalawa ni Saffire at niyakap ako sabay tago ng mukha niya sa balikat ko.

"Inggit ako. Sali ako." Singit naman ni Saffire, at sumingit nga ng yakap sa pagitan namin ni Daisy.

After what happened, we all went back sitting on our respective seats. Hmm, may isa pang kulang. Siya na lang ang hinihintay ko para i-confirm ang tanong na nasa isip ko kanina pa.

Hindi nagtagal, dumating na rin siya.

Charles Ong, the top two. His specialty is in Mathematics. Magaling rin sa debate and has the perfect quality of being a leader. For three consecutive years, he was the president of our class, and from what he said to me last time we talked, plano niya ring tumakbo this year as the president of the student council. Niyaya nga ako to run as his vice president, but I refused. Those thing are not just my thing. Hindi ko hilig, so nah.

Nagkaroon na naman ng kaunting greetings with other classmates bago nilagay ni Charles ang kaniyang bag sa tabi ng upuan ni Saffire. He then went to me and Ice. Mukhang may sasabihin.

Hmm, may be this is about the question in my head right now. Hindi ko na kailangang itanong dahil mukhang sasabihin rin niya.

"What is it?" Tanong ni Ice.

"There will be a transferee in our class." Charles suddenly said. Tunog sigurado siya.

I knew it.

"If I am not mistaken, parating na siya ngayon together with Miss—"

Bago pa niya maituloy ang sasabihin ay nakita na naming ang pagpasok ng aming adviser kaya naman naupo na kami. Alam namin na siya ang adviser namin dahil nakita na namin ito bago pa magpasukan. Kasunod niyang pumasok ang isang lalaki na naka-uniform. Mestizo at matangkad ang lalaki. Mukhang siya yung sinasabing transferee. There is just one thing that I noticed.

He looks familiar.

Umugong ang mga bulungan sa aming classroom, kung hindi pa sinaway ni Charles ay baka mas umingay pa iyon. I know it can't be helped, lahat malamang ay nakaramdam ng gulat.

Our adviser started her brief introduction bago ipakilala ang lalaking nakatayo sa tabi niya.

"So, this is your new classmate. Introduce yourself, Oliver."

The guy smiled confidently showing his perfect set of white teeth before introducing himself.

"Good morning, everyone. My name is Oliver Alvis Andrada, but you may just call me Alvis or Oliver. I'm from the city science high school, and I just transferred here. Please take care of me."

Karamihan sa mga babae sa aming classroom ay mukhang natuwa. Si Saffire naman ay kinurot ako sa braso at tumingin sa akin while mouthing the word "pogi".

Pinaupo na siya ng adviser, at sakto, ang upuan sa likod ko na lang ang wala pang nakaupo. Lucky him.

Maya-maya ay nagtaas ng kamay ang isa naming kaklase.

"Miss, puwede po palang makapasok sa A-Class kahit anong grade level na?"

Inayos muna ni Miss Baconawa nag kaniyang salamin bago sinagot ang tanong.

"Alvis is an exceptional student from his school, and his parents requested if he could take an exam for the A-Class during his enrollment. And guess what? He got a perfect score."

Nagulat ako sa narinig. Puwede pala iyon? And he got a perfect score?

Nabuhay ulit ang bulungan sa aming classroom. Narinig ko namang tumikhim ang lalaking nasa likuran ko.

"Wow, pare. Talino mo pala? Idol!" Tuwang sabi ni Terrence sa kaniya kahit nasa pagitan ng upuan nila si Ice.

The Oliver guy behind me just chuckled.

Well, it's just natural. Dapat talaga ay magpakitang gilas siya if he wants to be a part of the A-Class. Hindi yung sa simula lang magaling.

"Nice naman. Brinley! Mukhang may tatalo na sa'yo ah." Terrence insensitively said.

I smiled sarcastically at him while gritting my teeth. "Shut up."

Namutla naman ito at nag-peace sign. "Oo na. Ito naman, 'di mabiro." Nanahimik na rin si loko. Buti naman.

"So, Charles?" Si Miss.

"Yes, Miss?"

"I will entrust Alvis to you since he is a transferee. Just make him familiarized with our campus."

"No problem, Miss."

I looked at the Oliver guy behind me and he smiled. I want to smile back, ngunit hindi ko magawa.

I have a bad feeling about this... about him.