TEN YEARS AGO…

AERA put her plate down on the table with a frown. She heaved a sigh as she sat on the chair across Penelope. They were in the cafeteria. It was her vacant period and her friend’s lunch break.

“What’s with that frown?” Penelope asked.

She looked at her best friend as she picked her utensils.

“You know why I transferred to this school. It’s all because of you,” Aera said bluntly.

“Right.” Penelope took a sip of her drink.

“But you’re in section one, and they put me in section two!

She was her friend since childhood. Aera was so fond of Penelope. She even convinced her parents to transfer her to that school so that they could be together.

“Come on, Aera! You came here weeks after the opening of classes. You’re lucky enough that the school still accepted you. Your section doesn’t matter.” Penelope stole a dumpling from her plate.

“But I wanna be with you…You’re my favorite person.” She pursed her lips.

“Here you go again… you and your obsession with me.”

“Obsession?” Aera raised a brow.

“Nah!” Penelope shook her head. “Never mind that.”

“I am hoping for a miracle to happen,” Aera said dreamily as she propped her hand on her chin.

“There can be miracles when you believe…” Penelope said in a singing tone.

They both laugh at that.

“Pen.”

They both looked at the direction of the voice. Aera saw a tall, chubby boy approaching their table. He looked at her for a while and then turned his gaze on Penelope.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said. He sounded a little annoyed.

‘Who is this boy, and why is he talking to my dear best friend like that?’ Aera stared at him with a knotted forehead.

“Why?” Penelope asked.

“Did you forget? We must go to the market after class to buy the things that we need for tomorrow’s cook fest.”

“Oh, yeah! I’m sorry, I… uhm… I almost forgot about that.” Her friend turned to her. “I can’t go home with you this afternoon, Aera.”

“I’ll come with you—”

“No, you can’t,” the boy said.

“And who are you to decide?” Aera scowled at him.

“Choy, can we just let her come with us?” her friend asked, pleading.

“She’s an outsider, Pen. She might spy on us.”

Aera snorted. How competitive. As if she cares about the cook fest.

And just like that, he left them.

“I’m so sorry, Aera. But Choy is right, your from the other section. You can’t be with us this time.” Penelope heaved a sigh.

“As if I’m interested in your plans,” she said.

Aera stuffed her mouth with dumpling.

SHE dragged her chair beside the window and sat there with her pen and paper. Their subject teacher was absent that they, leaving their class vacant. Everyone was busy chit-chatting with one another, some play games, but Aera wanted to write a song. She was about to write the first line when the class suddenly turned quiet. The reason, their class adviser, came in.

“Villaraza,” the teacher beckoned her to come over.

Aera stood up immediately and strode toward her adviser. “Yes, Miss?”

“The principal wants to talk to you.”

Her classmates all looked at her.

Aera walked out of the room confidently; she knew to herself that she didn’t do anything wrong. But she couldn’t stop wondering why the school principal wanted to talk to her.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am,” Aera greeted when she entered the principal’s office.

The principal gave her a warm smile. “Have a seat, Aera. Let’s wait for Choy before we start.”

Aera didn’t know why, but her heart started to thump like crazy right after she heard that name. She patted her chest, trying to calm herself.

A short moment of silence ensued, and then the door opened. Choy came in. Aera felt awkward when he turned his gaze on her.

“Have a seat, Choy.” The principal pointed the vacant chair across Aera.

Choy did what he was told. He cleared his throat and looked at her again. Aera looked away and pinned her gaze on the table. There was something in his stare.

“Do you know each other?” the principal asked.

“Yes, Ma’am, we—”

“Not really,” Choy said politely. “We just met at the cafeteria last time.”

It wasn’t the case for Aera; she knew him already. She and Penelope had been talking about him behind his back.

“Oh, I see…” The principal smiled at Aera. “Anyway, I wanted to see you, Aera, to tell you the good news.”

She put her hands above her lap. “What’s the good news, Ma’am?”

“We put you in your current section because you’re a transfer student. But you have proven that you deserve to be on the star section, so we decided to transfer you to section one,” the principal informed her.

Aera’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t help but squeal in amazement. Her wish came true!

“Really, Ma’am? Oh, thank you so much!”

“Yes. Choy here is the class president of section one.” The principal turned to him. “I want you to look after Aera for the next few days, Choy. I hope that she will be able to befriend your class.”

Choy didn’t answer, he just nodded.

“Aera?”

“Ma’am…”

“Is everything clear now?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” she said with a smile plastered on her face.

“Alright, then you two are dismissed.”

They both stood up, and for an unknown reason, they raced to the door.

Choy walks faster than her, leaving her behind. Aera tried to follow his steps. She was too close to running just to follow his pace.

“Choy, wait!”

Choy halted, and she bumped on his back.

“Aww!” Her nose hurts, luckily it didn’t bleed.

“What?” He turned to face her.

He literally looked down at her. Choy was tall, and Aera was short. Her height only reached his chest.

She sniffed.

“I… uhm…”

Choy poked her forehead.

Aera’s jaw dropped. She didn’t expect that he would do that, and she was not prepared by the way her heart reacts. It seemed that it wanted to come out of her chest that very moment.

“I will introduce you to the class tomorrow, and my responsibility ends there, okay?” Now that they were outside the principal’s office, he was showing his true color. “You are not allowed to depend on me,” he told her.

He leaned forward, their lips almost touched.

“And don’t call me ‘Choy’ when we are not even close. Call me ‘King Craig’.”

Aera blinked consecutively. Was he bullying her?

“Aera, girl!”

She winced when she heard that familiar voice. She saw Penelope coming on their way. At the corner of her eye, she saw Choy stood straight, and his expression softened.

“What happened?” Penelope asked.

“Starting tomorrow, she’s one of us,” Choy informed Penelope.

“Oh, great!” Her friend hugged her. “Let’s be seatmates, hmm?”

“Okay…”