Ada: The Witch Huntress

Chapter 3: Ada

“Here comes the witch!”

Ada Almazar was about three-classroom away from their room as she strode through the slippery ground of their school’s fourth-floor hallway. She heard how Reynan informed their classmates about her arrival before he quickly entered the confines of their sultry classroom. She considered Reynan as the president of the dumbest association of their class. He loves to bully others so no one could intimidate him despite his appearance.

Reynan's face droops on its left side. He’s lucky that she wasn’t like him. Or else, she’d inform him in front of their classmates how her aunt could heal him, but she would do everything in her power to stop that.

Oh, happy day.

She sings in her mind whenever she’s feeling the urge to succumb to her emotions. This is a place where she shouldn't let her feelings get the best of her, as there were plenty of eyes watching and lots of mouths talking. If only she could screech back at them, she wouldn’t be laughed at like this by her not-so-perfect classmates.

She knew she wasn’t that pretty at all. It was a hard fact to admit, but, yeah, she had learned to accept it a long time ago. She has a round and plump face, and God knows how much she hated every single time a close friend tries to squeeze those chubby cheeks of hers. She has flat and brown brows that matched her straight, chest-length, natural auburn hair, making her look ignorant.

Apparently, her body is one of her greatest insecurities. Apart from being classified as morena for not having that fair complexion that everybody seems to have these days, she has a rectangular body frame, so no crop-top and hanging shirts for her as she doesn’t have a narrow waist to flaunt. Her legs are incredibly short, and her thighs are fleshy. Her arms are flabby, and unfortunately, she has a couple of plains on her chest instead of mountains. Sometimes, she’d want to puke whenever she’s about to wear a padded b*a. She’s embarrassed of herself.

However, her natural amethyst eyes are what she liked about her the most, as they always give someone an impression that she’s wearing contacts, and she felt giddy whenever someone is awed by her eyes. Actually, ever since she was young, she was curious as to whom she had inherited those eyes from. One day, she asked her grandmother if her mother had purple eyes, but then Ni’mula suddenly went mad, telling her that she looked nothing like her mom. She even got laughed at by her aunt back then.

After that scenario, she tried rummaging every closet she could find in their house just to have a glimpse of a picture of her parents, but she never found anything up until now. The only thing she knew about them is that her mother died giving birth to her. And, after her mother’s death, her dad quickly scurried his way out of her life. Every single time she asked her grandmother or aunt about her parents, they would either ignore her or get annoyed at her. Well, she couldn’t blame them, for they were the ones who took the hardship of taking care of her who grew up to be one stubborn lady.

She was about to enter their room when a strong arm suddenly draped over her broad shoulders. She quickly looked to her right and froze to the ground upon seeing a smiling handsome face near hers.

It was Ranel, one of the four men she has got a crush on from their class. He was about six-foot-tall, and it looked like he was having a hard time crouching to meet her almost five-foot height. He has brown, round tantalizing eyes, not to mention his thick and curly eyelashes that every girl dreams of having. He has a fair complexion, and his head boasted his short, black, choppy curls. He has this clean, crisp, and refreshing scent that makes her want to bring her nose near his skin.

Stop racing, you stupid dimwit of a heart!

She tried to calm herself down; afraid Ranel would feel the rapid thumping of her heart through her shoulders.

“Today is a happy day, Ada,” Ranel smilingly told her. Her eyes went round upon hearing his words. She remembered how she tried to calm herself with those words a while ago.

Is this fate? Is he really the one for me?

Though his name appeared last on her infatuation list, the mere thought almost made her hug him. Too bad, she saw the figure of a man in his forties, walking towards them, Mr. Estrada, their history teacher. She quickly came to her senses that she removed Ranel’s arm around her and opened their classroom door, then sprinted the way to her seat.

She could see the mocking faces of her classmates as she dashed, and before she could get to her seat, she was tripped by a foot that appeared out of nowhere. Thanks to her plump physique, she instantly losed her balance and fell flat on the red, waxed floor. She heard her classmates’ rumbled laughter around the room. She was about to get up when she saw a familiar pair of black leather shoes in front of her. She looked up and saw the handsome face of the person that stood before her. It was Franch, the first guy on her list. She went pale as she saw him stretched his hand to her. The thing is, it wasn't his hands she was looking at, but his plump, red, luscious lips. She always thought about how it would feel when those soft lips touched hers. She bit her lower lip at the thought.

She was about to reach for his outstretched hand when the door creaked open. He withdrew his arm to her dismay. Ranel and their teacher entered the room together after she completely got up by herself and walked to her seat on the left far side of the room. It seemed they have spoken for a moment outside before going in. She was already sitting on her wooden desk before she saw Ranel sat on his front seat.

“What’s that smell?” Mr. Estrada asked his class while his brows furrowed as he placed his books on the center table. Ada tried to breathe in air and immediately smelled the putrid scent of manure. Someone must have stepped on an animal feces.

“It’s the foul smell of the wicked witch of the west, sir!” Reynan exclaimed while glancing at her. The class burst into laughter once more. Ada saw how her teacher smiled at the joke. She almost wanted to cut off from his class for the day. Then she saw Franch smiling too, and her face completely went sour.

You are now officially the last on my list, Franch.

Then her eyes darted at Ranel’s seat, and her heart went numb when she saw him looking at her, especially when she saw that worried look on his face.

I now pronounced you as the first.

She nodded at him to let him know that she’s okay. He then shot her a smile before his gaze went back to the man in front.

The class was uninteresting, as usual. Who cares about the wars of the world centuries ago. Why do they have to memorize every damn person involved in those wars, every treaty they signed, every city they conquer. What do those stuffs have to do with her daily life? To think that those are included in every exam. Not to mention Mr. Estrada, who has a soothing voice that his speech sounded like a lullaby.

Her eyelids started to feel heavy, and just when she felt she’s about to doze off on her desk, a firm slap on her fat right arm brought her back to reality. It was her seatmate to the right, her childhood friend, her confidante, her worst adversary, her food-trip buddy, and the man whose name is second on her list, Christian Edbert.

‘What?’ she mouthed him.

‘I’m hungry!’ he mouthed back.

What? This man woke her up when she almost escaped the languorous class, just to tell her he’s hungry? She hissed at him. She swore she’s going to kill this man later. When she looked away, she saw a pair of eyes viciously glaring at her. It was Reynan’s.