Denying Destiny

Poker Face

"Anong nangyari dito? Nakatulog?" I jumped when I heard Max's voice after almost 30 minutes of waiting to die.

Lian laughed and bumeso kay Max na kakarating lang. Max also kissed me on my forehead na nakakunot pa rin. "Omg girl ang dami ko nang kwento!!!" Lian was practically jumping from her seat. "Teka lang hold that thought. Kailangan ko na ng kape." Max raised his index finger at her and nagmadaling umalis para umorder.

Lian animatedly filled in Max with all the details including their most recent embarrassing encounter. I just kept rolling my eyes. As always.

"Ohmygod dito din sya nakatira??? I can't believe I missed seeing him tonight!" Max's eyes widened. "And te! Binigay nya number nya kay Stace! And kinuha din nya number ni Stacy!!" Lian added VERY enthusiastically.

"Kasi beadle ako. Every prof does that. He didn't give it to me intentionally because he likes me or whatever, so don't make it sound like that. God, unang araw pa lang natin syang nakikita." Sinimangutan ko sya kasi Lian definitely exaggerates everything.

Iba yung epekto sakin ng prof namin, but iba yung dating kapag pinag uusapan na ng mga kaibigan ko. I wonder why?

"Beadle ba yung parang class president?" Max asked.

"Yes. And diba parang lahat fate? He's Killian f*****g Roxas, he picked Stacy's class card from about 35 other cards, then dito sya nakatira, and we saw him again immediately?? On the FIRST day." Lian excitedly enumerated. No please don't say it like that Li!! I helplessly thought.

"It's more of plain coincidence. Not fate." I tried saying with a poker face pero deep inside tinatanong ko nanaman yung sarili ko dahil naalala ko nanaman yung manghuhula. No! You don't believe that s**t!

"But girl, seriously? Ilang tao ang may pangalan na Killian Roxas dito sa mundo? Wala. Sya lang." Max said at uminom sa kape nya. "We tried googling dati di ba? And nothing. No hits at all." Lian continued for him. Ilan nga ba ang taong may pangalan na Killian Roxas? Di ko alam. Probably meron din naman, for all I know. Sila naman ang nag google.

"Stace, it's now 2 out of 3. Don't you think totoo na yung sinasabi ng manghuhula? I mean Max left college after 3 years. His parents hated him for it." Lian said seriously saamin. Well more on saakin kasi ako lang naman yung hindi naniniwala. "Aray ha." Max said while drinking from his coffee again but with a smile.

Max f*****g betrayed me nung nagkatotoo yung hula sa kanya. He was now sold on the idea na nagkatotoo nga yung hula sa kanya. "A girl offered him that opportunity, just what the manghuhula said. And now Killian Roxas??" Lian continued.

"So kelan ka kaya mabubuntis?" I asked her seriously. She hated it when I do this. Feeling nya sya yung may pinaka panget na hula. Max laughed and Lian scowled at us and made a face.

"Pero okay, let's say it's true. Wala naman syang sinabi about Killian Roxas." I whispered the name. Too damn conscious na pinaguusapan namin sya ng ganito. "She just said the name. Yun lang she didn't say anything else about him." I shrugged. Nagiisip na agad ako ng argument for them to drop this.

"She said hintayin mo sya." Lian suddenly remembered. Ugggh yeah naalala nya pa yun.

"Hintayin saan? It's so vague. I mean pwedeng hintayin mo syang maging prof, ibabagsak ka nya. Or hintayin mo sya, magiging kapit bahay mo sya. Hintayin mo sya kasi mabagal sya maglakad. Hintayin mo sya sa elevator. Diba, hintayin saan? It could mean anything. So I say it's still 1 out of 3." I finally pointed. Ha. Ang galing ko don.

"May point sya bakla. Anong sagot mo don? Si Stacy lang ata ang papasa ng Bar." Max laughed at Lian, pinipikon sya.

"Hintayin mo sya kasi sya naka tadhana sayo?" Lian tried but she already saw my point.

I shook my head. "Wala syang sinabing ganon, Li. I told you you're just overreacting. Pinapunta mo pa si Maxie dito."

"Keri, Stace. Miss ko na kayo e." Max smiled saamin. "So kamusta yung bago mong movie? Pang Cinemalaya ba ulit yan?" I changed the topic and Max excitedly filled us with his new movie and yung mga chismis sa set. It felt good having Max with us tonight kahit konti lang naaral namin ni Lian.

"Balitaan nyo ko kay Attorney ha. And kung anong klaseng paghihintay ang gagawin nitong si Stace." Max said as bumeso kami sakanya pag tapos naming magkwentuhan buong gabi. "I wouldn't count on it Max." I said to him.

"Well ikaw na nagsabi. It could be anything. Anything. NOT nothing. Okay Lianna I just handed you your counter argument. Mali ata yung course ko ako dapat nag law." Max said again pinipikon nanaman si Lian. "Oo na oo na. Masyado na kong naniniwala sa mga hula." Lian rolled her eyes and hugged Max. "Don't be too busy. Ingat ka." I said and Max finally entered his car to leave.

Kinakabahan nako by the next class namin with Killian Roxas. Di ko alam if dahil ba I just drank two iced coffees already dahil kailangan namin mag aral until 2am kahapon for Poli and for Civ or kinakabahan ako for the recitation or dahil dun sa putanginang reaction ko sakanya when we last saw him.

Feeling ko yun. Nakakahiya talaga puta! I already left the typed copy of the email list on the professor's desk so I don't need to look at him.

Killian entered the classroom. His presence was already an announcement itself. "Good afternoon class." He greeted the class while motioned everyone of us to take our seats. "Thank you, Ms. Valdez." He lifted the copy of the email list and gave me a smile. Gusto kong lumubog sa upuan ko.

He called the attendance and began shuffling the class cards. The anticipation was killing everyone. "So some rules during recit, I'm requiring everyone even those who are not reciting to keep all their books and cases. Only written notes and the codals are allowed. We'll be doing a full round. Meaning if you were already called for recitation, you're immune until the last person in the class is called and graded then we reset for the next round. This class is 3 hours so more or less I'll be calling around 3 to 4 people for recit per meeting or 5 depending on how you answer. I almost don't ask for a full case recitation, but I ask for references on some cases. If you decide to use a pass, automatic 70 on your recitation grade for that round."

Lian and I placed our books on the floor. "Girl, kinakabahan ako." Lian looked worried.

He stood up to pace along the middle aisle while still shuffling the class cards and checking if anyone else still has their books opened somewhere. Naamoy ko sya nung dumaan sya sa gilid ko. OMG ang bango bakeeetttt?! Lalu akong kinabahan because I know it would be hard to concentrate in this class. Di lang dahil nakaka distract yung kagwapuhan ng prof namin who seem to be always reading every reaction that passes your face and eyes, but because this is the Killian Roxas.

As much as I tried to push the long-ago hula, I couldn't help but think about it lalu na pag patulog na ko. I ended up dreaming about Killian's deep set eyes for 2 nights already. It was so pathetic. I shook my thoughts away. Ngayon pa lang distracted na ko. I left my iPad on my desk which was alredy opened to my handwritten notes and yung codal kong pinapatungan ko ng siko.

Finally bumunot sya ng class card and he chuckled a little. "The most unwilling volunteer." Again, he almost whispered to himself while shaking his head at some irony we didn't really understand. "Ms. Valdez." He announced and smiled towards my direction and I stood up with a big lump on my throat. Dapat uminom muna ako ng tubig. Mamaya pumiyok pa ko.

Weird, but somehow for some reason, I knew I was going to be called first. One of the piling coincidences that's been happening.

Yesterday, I vehemently rejected yung mga pag aya ni Lian na mag aral sa Starbucks just to avoid seeing our professor and I really didn't want Lian to keep pointing any other "fated" encounters. I ended up drinking bad coffee last night kasi I really sucked sa pag timpla ng kape.

Killian placed the class cards on his desk as he passed it, but he didn't sit down. Instead he leaned on the wall near the door again like a young god with a perfect face and crossed his arms against his chest. Parang mas handa pa sya sa photoshoot kesa magpa recite. He looked at me and his hand touched his lips as if thinking. As if hindi nya alam itatanong nya. As if.

I wanted to throw up kahit alam kong yung first recitations are the easiest. I waited in anticipation for the first question. He stared at me which seemed like forever and I tried to hold his gaze not letting any emotion pass through my eyes. Buong araw kong prinactice kahapon yung poker face ko for this class while reviewing. Lian thought I was having a stroke or something.

"When do laws take effect?" He finally asked.

"As a general rule, laws take effect after 15 days following the completion of their publication either in the Official Gazette, or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, unless otherwise provided." I answered straight making sure my articulation was on point.

I'm not going to f**k this up. Not like how I f****d it up last Monday night. Killian was still staring at me. For a while gusto kong matunaw. Well it was normal for professors to do that during recitation. Wag kang mailang gaga!

"Can publication be dispensed with for laws taking effect immediately?" He continued to ask.

"No. Publication is an indispensable requisite. Laws taking effect immediately, though stated as such, take effect after publication with the 15-day requirement. The clear object of Article 2 of the New Civil Code is to give the general public adequate notice."

"What is the difference between ignorance of the law and ignorance of the fact?"

"Ignorance of law is no excuse for not complying with the law, ignorance of the fact however, eliminates intent to break the law as long as there is no negligence."

"Do laws have retroactive effect?"

"General rule is that laws shall have no retroactive effect. Exceptions are tax laws when so declared, interpretative statutes, procedural or remedial laws, curative laws, laws creating new rights, penal laws favorable to the accused, and when the law otherwise provides."

"How are laws repealed?"

"Laws may be repealed either expressly or impliedly. Expressly if express repeal is contained on the special provision of the subsequent law. Impliedly when the provisions of the subsequent law are incompatible with the earlier law and there is no express repeal."

I tried hard not to move my hands which I tend to do pag matagal na kong nagrerecite. Although nagkakaron na ng easiness sa boses ko. I don't want to be too robotic and I decided na ok lang naman na maningkit yung mata ko when enumerating. And I think ok lang din na gumalaw yung ulo ko. Jusko I was clearly overthinking this too much. I tried to relax, but not too much to lose the poker face. Sayang practice ko.

"Requisites of implied repeal?" He raised one of his eyebrows at me and I thought he glanced at my hands. Focus Stace!

"The 2 requisites are 1) the laws cover the same subject matter and 2) the latter is repugnant to the earlier law."

"Effects of repealing laws?"

"When a law which expressly repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the law first repealed shall not be revived unless it is expressly provided. When a law impliedly repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the prior law shall thereby by revived, unless the repealing law provides otherwise."

Killian almost didn't move from his position until now. He bit his lower lip slowly as if thinking again and again, raised one eyebrow at me. It only made him more handsome if that was even possible. I can hear Lian's breath hitched beside me seeming to agree with what I just thought.

"Principle of Stare Decisis?" Killian continued with the questioning.

I took a deep breath. "Stare Decisis or Judicial Precedence means that a ruling on certain facts established in a final decision of the Supreme Court has to be followed in subsequent cases by all courts where the facts are substantially the same."

The questioning continued for about an hour and a half. I felt I used up almost the first part of the outline. Feeling ko naman nasagot ko lahat ng tanong nya and I still tried to keep my poker face.

"Last question, Ms. Valdez before I give your other classmates a fair chance for recitation. What was your grade during your Persons class?" Killian licked his lower lip and smiled amusedly at me as he walked towards his desk to retrieve the pile of class cards and started shuffling again. I had to restart my heart in order to remember what he asked.

For the first time, I let an emotion pass my eyes. One of confusion. No other professor has ever asked me about a past grade. This was embarrassing. "97 sir. Attorney." I answered in a small voice. Killian smiled at me as if not surprised at my answer and motioned for me to sit down as he graded me and pulled another class card from the pile.

Lian's breath hitched. "Mr. De Jesus." And nakahinga ng maayos si Lian nung iba yung natawag. "Wow ikaw nanaman yung unang nabunot nya! Pero gaga ang galing mo mars! Kala ko uubusin nyo yung oras." Siniko ko sya to quiet her down as Killian's eyes averted saamin for a while. I tried avoiding his gaze and reached down for my tumbler to drink dahil natuyo na yung lalamunan ko from that long recitation.

Habang nag rerecite si Mr. De Jesus, pumikit muna ako holding the bridge of my nose as if the recitation took a toll on me. Well it did. Hirap na hirap akong wag magpakita ng kahit anong emotion sa mukha ko at yun yung nakakapagod. Ang sakit sa ulo. I wasn't normally like that during recitations, usually my hands moved when I spoke and I fidgeted, sumisimangot, sumisingkit, tumataas kilay ko, and I even smile when the professor ask me trick questions.

I suddenly looked up ng nakasimangot when Killian only asked about 12 questions to Mr. De Jesus not even half of the questions he asked me and called another student. What the hell?? Ako lang yung pinahirapan na nababad sa recit??

He showed his usual amused face kahit sa ibang tao na sya nakatingin when he saw my reaction in passing as if alam nya kung anong iniisip ko. I just tried to ignore him by pretending to update my notes which was already complete. Nakasimangot na ko buong klase.

After the fourth student reciting sat down, which again got fewer questions compared to me, the class ended and some of our female classmates approached Killian for questions.

I involuntarily rolled my eyes and made a face when we walked pass them and heard how basic their questions were. Nagpapacute lang I'm sure. I'm not sure if I was just imagining it, but I thought I heard our professor chuckled as I walked out of the classroom.