Goodly Justices (Veneranda)

Chapter 1

I'm in the room right now, counting lizards on the ceiling. I haven't been out for almost a week now, I want silence to be able to think. have also done everything I can do here in my room, read books, wrote poetry, played the guitar and so on.

Malapit na ang pasukan, I remembered the enrollment today. I have no intention of going to school, I don't feel like going.

*Someone is knocking.*

"I don't want to go to school" I said.

when she knocked I knew it was Malliyah, She's the only one who has the courage to enter my room, others are afraid of me..I don't know about those people, I didn't do anything to make them afraid.

"No, you need to enroll, how do you study if you're just here at home?" she asked.

"Who said that I'm going to study?" I chuckled, she just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, like it or not, you have to...you also need to go out! what will happen to you if you just stay here in the room all day?!" She said, a little loud tone.

"Don't yell at me.." before I covered myself with a blanket.

"I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, Ayaw ka lang naman namin nakikitang umiiyak ka nalang sa kwarto e, you know naman how much we cared to you, walang mangyayari kung dito ka nalang lagi, thaliya." she said rather sadly. She hugged me.

"Fine, just stay away from me 1 meter, ang baho mo pa naman." asar ko.

*Tsk* "What ever, sort yourself out and then let's go downstairs, para maka alis na tayo." She said.

I knew she had already left the room, so I also removed the blanket that was wrapped around me.. it was so hot inside, I didn't turn on the air conditioner.

I took a shower and got ready, I'll accompany them to school para magpaenroll, baka kaltukan na ako nun pag mag iinarte pa ako.

When I came down, they were in the kitchen having breakfast..They almost all looked at me, like she-miraculously-left-the-room look.

"Ohhhh, Thankyou Lord, you heard my prayer" si kleo, habang papalapit saakin para yumakap.

"Stop, don't come any closer" sambit ko agad.

"You ha, madamot hug lang e" habang nakasimangot.

"So, did you bump your head so you thought of coming down here?" Si reese.

"f**k you reese" I rolled my eyes. I know ng aasar sya.

"Joke lang daw, so ano nga at napababa ka?" Tanong shy.

"Tatalon sa bangin sasama ka?" biro ko.

"Inaya ko sya sasama magpaenroll, tigilan nyo na nga sya" iritang sambit ni liya.

"Oh, have breakfast first ang payat mo na" aya ni rain.

I sat next to them even though I had no intention of eating, they forced me and said they were going to throw me out if I didn't eat. Their nastiness was so irritating that I did it...I threw them out of our mansion.

"Hoyy Thaliya buksan mo to o bubuksan mo!" Sigaw ni kleo.

"Tangina mo thali, sarap mong itali sa puno!" Si reese.

"Come on thaliya, open the door, its so hot out here!" iritang turan ni rain.

I just laughed at them while I was eating cereal on the sofa, They were banging on the door as if they wanted to destroy it. They have been outside making noise for almost 30 minutes, I heard they were fighting.

"Tanga mo naman, 30minutes na tayo dito sa labas. Ngayon mo lang naisip na may susi ka ng pinto" reklamo ni reese.

"Sorry na, ngayon ko lang naman nag function yung brain ko" si malliyah.

"Kelan pa ba gumana isip mo?" Asar ni kleo.

"Tama na yan, open the door faster! Iitim na ako!" Si rain.

Before they found the key in the bag, I opened the door, Shinn was just leaning there, and when I opened it, he fell down. So even though they were pissed off at me, they all laughed except for Shinn who I know his body hurts from falling.

"Nanggagago kaba?" Si shinn ng makatayo.

"Sorry di ko sadya, bakit kasi nakasandal ka jan?" Tanong ko na nagpipigil ng tawa.

"Nakakaasar ka, matapos mo kaming iwan sa labas ng halos mag iisang oras na. Pipilayin mo pa ako" nakasimangot na turan nya.

"Ikaw, bakit ngayon mo lang binuksan!!" medyo may tono na sambit ni malliyah.

"Dont yell at me.." mahina kong sambit.

"Sorry, nakakaasar lang kasi" pabalik nya.

"It's not my fault that you just knocked on the door again and again, you didn't even try to turn the doorknob to open it, it was open and I didn't even lock it." paliwanag ko.

"Ambobo nyo" si rain, kaya napatingin kami.

"Shut up, wala ka ngang ambag jan panay ka lang reklamo kesyo iitim." Pang aasar nya, she just rolled her eyes.

"Tara na late na tayo"

We used the pick up car, so we were all there. Kleo is the driver and Rain is in the passenger seat who doesn't want to get hot. while the four of us are in the back.

It will take a few minutes to get to the university we will study at, it is quite far from the mansion

"What's your plan?" Tanong ni reese, alam kong ako kausap nito dahil sakin sya nakatingin.

"I dont know, do we need a life plan?" Tanong ko.

"Gosh you-, malamang" irita nyang sabi.

"Ah aba ewan ko, akala ko kasi ipina nganak lang ako para may katuwang kayo sa buhay." Biro ko.

"Nevermind, what course do you plan to take?" Si malliyah.

"I dont know, maybe lawyer, same kina mommy at daddy" sabay ngiti ng pilit.

After I said that, silence enveloped the surroundings, no one asked or even said a word again. We had a quiet ride there until we arrived.

"We're here" sambit ko habang tinatapik sila isa isa, nakatulog kasi sila.

When they woke up, we walked out of the parking lot. As soon as we were at the entrance, we could see the beauty of the university.

"Ang ganda talaga ng Xyerist University" si kleo at tumabi saakin.

"Lets go inside" turan ko at nglakad na kami.

We first went around the inside to go sightseeing, they said we were too early, the enrollment was still at 8AM, our feet took us to the cafeteria which was right because my friends were hungry. I just ordered a coffee and a buko pie.

"Mag lawyer nalang din ba kami para may kasama ka?" Tanong ni malliyah kaya napatitig ako dito.

"No, take the course you really want, not the one you just took because you wanted to watch over me." sambit ko sabay kagat sa buko pie.

"Ayaw mo talaga samahan ka namin?" Nag aalalang sambit nya.

"Nope, I can take care of myself." I smiled "I don't want to rely on you guys all the time, you have helped me a lot, I don't want to be a burden" pahabol ko.

"Hush, sino ba nag sabing pabigat ka? Kakaltukan natin!" Malakas na sambit si kleo sabay dabog sa lamesa.

"Hoy kleo, Nakakaagaw ka ng atensyon andaming tao dito sa cafeteria" sambit ko.

"Pero yon nga, if you need anything tawagan mo lang kami ah, anjan naman si reese at kleo kasama mo sa law course" si malliyah.

Reese and Kleo are also taking law course, but I just don't know if they will be my blockmates because we haven't enrolled yet.

"Paenroll na tayo para makita kong magka blockmate tayong tatlo" she looked at her watch "sakto mag 8 na pag nakarating tayo don" sambit nya.

We were just walking and we could see from our place how long the line of those enrolling, even the line of those taking the law course.

We arrived, and took the line which course we intended to take. I won't hesitate any longer because we might be able to spend the night here if possible.

Hindi naman kami ganon magkakalayo lahat dahil halos tabi at tanaw lang namin ang isat isa.

Habang nag hihintay ay mabilis din ang urong ng pila kaya nilibot ko muna ang tingin sa paligid, may nakita ako ditong gym which is may pool para sa mga swimmers.

"Reese, how deep is the pool over there?" Tanong ko habang itinuturo kung saan banda.

Napatingin naman sya sa gawing iyon" Ah yan 10ft by 10ft" napataas naman ang kilay ko"they say the pool is almost 10ft, so only the olympics can swim in it. And the diving board is also 10 ft high"paliwanag nya. Napatango nalang ako.

So malalim nga talaga, My eyes are still there, I see a person there, she's not even wearing a swimming suit, she climbs on the diving board and...And tumalon sya?

I ran it without hesitation and as fast as a cheetah. I still heard reese calling me but I didn't stop, I ran towards it.

I heard them follow, I was already inside and before they stopped me I jumped into the pool.

"What the hell thaliya!!" Rinig kong sigaw nila.

I dived to the bottom of the pool, I know where the person who jumped earlier fell. My eyes hurt a bit because I wasn't wearing glasses but I didn't stop. I looked for it and found it lying on the floor of the pool. I pulled it up because I thought if I stayed longer I might run out of breath under the water.

"Do cpr" sambit ko habang hinahabol ang paghinga.

They had already called for help, so I didn't have any trouble getting out of the water. There is a rescue and nurse here when the University owns it.

They did CPR, while they handed me a towel, one of the rescuers also handed me clothes, her uniform for sure.

"take her to the clinic, now!" Paguutos ng isa.

The woman woke up, but immediately lost consciousness. We also said bye to leave, I also thanked the woman who lent me her clothes.

"I don't like the way you suddenly jumped into the pool earlier, thaliya. What if something happens to you? What are we going to explain to mommy na pinabayaan ka namin?" medyo naiinis na turan nya. Alam kong pinipigilan nyang sumigaw.

"Sorry na, Nagulat lang ako na may biglang tumalon e sabi ni reese 10ft daw yon" paliwanag ko.

"Go to your room now, you need rest." Utos nito. Tumango nalang ako at tumaas na.

Malliyah is like a sister to us, yes she is older than us, so she's just like that if she worries, especially since I am the youngest of all of us. Because she gets scolded every time something happens to us, even though it's not her fault. We have been living together in this mansion for a long time, our parents built it for us, we each have our own room.

After I finished taking a shower, I went to Malliyah's room and she was there because I heard someone crying, was she crying?. I knocked before entering to her room.

"What are you doing here, Didn't I say earlier that you should rest?" Sambit nya habang umiiwas ng tingin.

I feel sad her situation now, I don't want anyone crying because of me, because of what I did, I'm not used to hugging someone cause I'm not comfortable with it, I dont know why, but it feels like I'm suffocating...but because I want to, I hugged her tightly.

Nagulat naman sya sa bigla kong pagyakap "Hush, Dont cry please, I'm sorry for what I did earlier" bulong ko. Pinunasan ko ang luha nya.

feel like I'm stabbed every time I see someone crying, whether it's my fault or not.

"N-no it's not your F-fault, you just wanted to help.. that's it, I j-just dont want to be scolded again by mom. I dont wanna hear hurtful words." umiiyak nyang sambit.

"Let's not tell to tita, please, When she finds out I'll be the one to talk to her, okay?" sagot ko. At tumango naman sya.

I don't want them to be hurt, I don't want them to hear hurtful words from anyone. I will protect them from everything like they protect me.

"Nadie puede lastimarte" bulong ko.