Written: Saturday. March 7, 2020.
It was still morning time in Maharlika High. The teachers don’t usually get inside of their respective advisory classes until the morning assembly begins. Though some of the teachers, often the new ones, are already present looking after their students. Toby’s classroom didn’t have a teacher yet inside. But a lot of students were there already. Some were still dozing off, trying to catch just a little bit more ounce of sleep before the school day starts. Given that it was a Monday, some meant half of the class.
Toby arrived late that day. But it wasn’t the kind of late where he’d get stopped at the school gate by one of the guards. He was late on being early.
Mara stepped inside of the classroom, moving towards Toby, and stopped dead at the side of his arm chair. She had a school uniform on, which only made things more confusing for Toby. Where’d she get those clothes? He thought to himself. Mara’s eyes looked tired and red, like they’ve been crying non-stop for several days. Toby really couldn’t tell whether he was looking at Lady Veergha disguised as Mara, or if this was actually the girl he had spent two long years trying to get her to like him, only to force himself to fall out of her spell in the end. And the bad part was that Mara had just started to see Toby the same way at that point.
“You and me.” Mara trounced, her voice cracked as she tried to speak. “Outside. Now.”
Some of the students noticed the elephant in the room. It wasn’t unusual that a student from another class dropped by in another classroom. Most students do that from time to time to hang around with their friends from other classes. But to see Mara, a Candidate-for-Honor student, with way above-average looks, come inside of another classroom, and go near Toby, a wastrel student of borderline average looks, was unorthodox for these students. Their attentions were now glued to the scene.
“Are you… actually her?” Toby cautiously asked to her. He lowered his voice as to not let the other students know what they were saying. Mara, on the other hand, went on a different approach.
“Stop whispering!” She yelled. Several of the students gasped and snickered around them. They were enjoying this. “I need to talk to you this instant. I will not have myself waiting on your behalf.” Then she storms out of the classroom.
Toby gave out a sigh of relief. “Definitely not Mara.”
June, who’s just been silently observing, was the only other person to hear this. “Do you want me to come with, or… ?”
“No, you stay here and wait for the others to come.” Toby said to her. He pointed towards the empty seats near them. June nodded as she got clear of the message. “Look after Omnius, he’s inside of my backpack. Don’t ask why. Alright. I’m gonna deal with this myself — “
Mara tapped aggressively at the jalousie window, which only made the situation worse. Toby’s classmates teased him for this even more. “You’re in for it now, buddy.”, “What have you done this time?”, “Mara and Toby? This is gonna be good.”
“I’m already regretting what I just said.” Toby told June. “But to hell with it.”
He goes outside of the room and finds Mara looking down from the balcony. They were on the third floor of the High School building. As Toby gets closer to Mara, he sort of forgets that this person isn’t really who she looks like, seeing a similar image of something that happened between them in the past. Mara looking down from the balcony, observing the small people as they go around the school grounds. Toby approaching her, after about two minutes of trying to catch his breath and thinking of what cool thing he could say to her that day. He’d always just end up greeting her a good day, or accidentally stumbling on his feet and waving at her as he swiftly tries to get away from the embarrassment. Mara would always just smile at Toby, cause she was polite that way. And Toby would smile to himself because he saw her smile at him. And that image of her smile would last the whole day for him.
“What are you looking at?” Mara asked Toby, snapping him back to reality. “Why do you have a smile on your face?”
“Nothing.” Toby answered her, clearing his face of the smile. “I just thought of something. Hey, guess what?” Toby raised his hands to her. “I don’t think I have your powers anymore. See?” He twisted and turned his hands in the air. “No flames, no burning back-hand hair.”
“That’s very funny, Toby.” She said in a serious look. “What is this? Another one of your games?”
“What do you mean? I thought you came here to — “ Toby’s heart started pounding. Wait. He thought to himself. Did I see it wrong? Are you actually her?
“I didn’t come here to catch up on lost time, okay?” Mara said to him. “I mean… I dunno. Maybe.”
Toby took a few steps back from her. His face turned pale, his heart rate going fast. Why are you here? He thought. Why are you here? He tried making sense of what was happening, which was difficult, because things were starting to get dark around his eyes. Is this really happening? Are you really here? “What do you want?” Toby suddenly yelled out loud. Loud enough for his classmates inside of the classroom to hear. Mara took one step back, shocked by his sudden burst of volume.
“There you are.” She said to him. “Can’t say I miss that side of you, Toby.”
Toby just looked at her. His eyes were plastered on her face, not really looking at her, but through her. Through every single memory he’s had with her — with Mara.
Mara noticed the way he looked at her, and turned her gaze down. “I was just wondering if you were okay, is all. There was a fire in one of the classrooms, and you were the only one who didn’t attend any classes last Friday… I got worried.”
It took a while for the information to get inside of Toby’s head. “You were worried about me?”
“Oh, come on. That’s what you got out of all of that?… Yes, I did got worried about you. It’s not like I don’t pass by your room everyday.” Toby then realized that he always does see Mara passing by his classroom everyday during break time, even though it totally didn’t make sense for her to do so. Mara’s classroom was way back to the other end of the hallway, and the way to the cafeteria was way nearer if she had just taken the staircase on their side of the building. “And when I noticed that you weren’t there the other day, my brain just started thinking of a lot of stuff and… started thinking about you.”
Toby’s face lighted up again. “So you’ve been thinking about me again?”
Mara punched Toby’s shoulder. She genuinely punched his shoulder, which made Toby scream a little. He rubbed his shoulder afterwards.
“What’d you do that for?” He asked her. Toby suddenly took a step back as Mara threw herself to him, wrapping her arms around Toby. He slowly and cautiously wrapped his arms around her. The hug seemed to last forever, until the morning bell rang. Mara pushed herself away from Toby. Toby blinked a couple of times, trying to understand what just happened. “… What’d you do that for?”
Mara punched him again, on the other shoulder. Both of Toby’s arms were now sore. “See me at recess.” She said, and promptly turned her back on him. She started walking towards the end of the hall, to her classroom.
Toby just stood there for a moment. What the hell just happened? He thought to himself.
“Mr. Luna.” a man’s voice called out from behind him. “Mr. Luna?”
Toby looked back. It was Mr. Summers. “Sir! You’re back!”
“Good to see you back in class, kid.” Mr. Summers said to him. “Better get inside for the morning assembly.”
“Y-yes sir.” Toby replied. Mr. Summers nodded at him and went inside of the classroom, leaving the door slightly open.
Just as Toby went for the door, he looked back first to the end of the hall. Mara wasn’t there anymore. Toby recalled what just happened a minute ago. After all I did to you. He thought to himself. I didn’t think you’d forgive me. But there you were, by my side again. He still couldn’t quite believe it all. So he felt both of his shoulders, twitching a little in doing so. He felt reassured somehow because of it. What happened was real. It was real, and it wasn’t just some dream that I just had. He groaned a little when he put pressure on his right shoulder. And damn, can that girl punch the hell out of me.
It was still morning time in Maharlika High. The teachers don’t usually get inside of their respective advisory classes until the morning assembly begins. Though some of the teachers, often the new ones, are already present looking after their students. Toby’s classroom didn’t have a teacher yet inside. But a lot of students were there already. Some were still dozing off, trying to catch just a little bit more ounce of sleep before the school day starts. Given that it was a Monday, some meant half of the class.
Toby arrived late that day. But it wasn’t the kind of late where he’d get stopped at the school gate by one of the guards. He was late on being early.
Mara stepped inside of the classroom, moving towards Toby, and stopped dead at the side of his arm chair. She had a school uniform on, which only made things more confusing for Toby. Where’d she get those clothes? He thought to himself. Mara’s eyes looked tired and red, like they’ve been crying non-stop for several days. Toby really couldn’t tell whether he was looking at Lady Veergha disguised as Mara, or if this was actually the girl he had spent two long years trying to get her to like him, only to force himself to fall out of her spell in the end. And the bad part was that Mara had just started to see Toby the same way at that point.
“You and me.” Mara trounced, her voice cracked as she tried to speak. “Outside. Now.”
Some of the students noticed the elephant in the room. It wasn’t unusual that a student from another class dropped by in another classroom. Most students do that from time to time to hang around with their friends from other classes. But to see Mara, a Candidate-for-Honor student, with way above-average looks, come inside of another classroom, and go near Toby, a wastrel student of borderline average looks, was unorthodox for these students. Their attentions were now glued to the scene.
“Are you… actually her?” Toby cautiously asked to her. He lowered his voice as to not let the other students know what they were saying. Mara, on the other hand, went on a different approach.
“Stop whispering!” She yelled. Several of the students gasped and snickered around them. They were enjoying this. “I need to talk to you this instant. I will not have myself waiting on your behalf.” Then she storms out of the classroom.
Toby gave out a sigh of relief. “Definitely not Mara.”
June, who’s just been silently observing, was the only other person to hear this. “Do you want me to come with, or… ?”
“No, you stay here and wait for the others to come.” Toby said to her. He pointed towards the empty seats near them. June nodded as she got clear of the message. “Look after Omnius, he’s inside of my backpack. Don’t ask why. Alright. I’m gonna deal with this myself — “
Mara tapped aggressively at the jalousie window, which only made the situation worse. Toby’s classmates teased him for this even more. “You’re in for it now, buddy.”, “What have you done this time?”, “Mara and Toby? This is gonna be good.”
“I’m already regretting what I just said.” Toby told June. “But to hell with it.”
He goes outside of the room and finds Mara looking down from the balcony. They were on the third floor of the High School building. As Toby gets closer to Mara, he sort of forgets that this person isn’t really who she looks like, seeing a similar image of something that happened between them in the past. Mara looking down from the balcony, observing the small people as they go around the school grounds. Toby approaching her, after about two minutes of trying to catch his breath and thinking of what cool thing he could say to her that day. He’d always just end up greeting her a good day, or accidentally stumbling on his feet and waving at her as he swiftly tries to get away from the embarrassment. Mara would always just smile at Toby, cause she was polite that way. And Toby would smile to himself because he saw her smile at him. And that image of her smile would last the whole day for him.
“What are you looking at?” Mara asked Toby, snapping him back to reality. “Why do you have a smile on your face?”
“Nothing.” Toby answered her, clearing his face of the smile. “I just thought of something. Hey, guess what?” Toby raised his hands to her. “I don’t think I have your powers anymore. See?” He twisted and turned his hands in the air. “No flames, no burning back-hand hair.”
“That’s very funny, Toby.” She said in a serious look. “What is this? Another one of your games?”
“What do you mean? I thought you came here to — “ Toby’s heart started pounding. Wait. He thought to himself. Did I see it wrong? Are you actually her?
“I didn’t come here to catch up on lost time, okay?” Mara said to him. “I mean… I dunno. Maybe.”
Toby took a few steps back from her. His face turned pale, his heart rate going fast. Why are you here? He thought. Why are you here? He tried making sense of what was happening, which was difficult, because things were starting to get dark around his eyes. Is this really happening? Are you really here? “What do you want?” Toby suddenly yelled out loud. Loud enough for his classmates inside of the classroom to hear. Mara took one step back, shocked by his sudden burst of volume.
“There you are.” She said to him. “Can’t say I miss that side of you, Toby.”
Toby just looked at her. His eyes were plastered on her face, not really looking at her, but through her. Through every single memory he’s had with her — with Mara.
Mara noticed the way he looked at her, and turned her gaze down. “I was just wondering if you were okay, is all. There was a fire in one of the classrooms, and you were the only one who didn’t attend any classes last Friday… I got worried.”
It took a while for the information to get inside of Toby’s head. “You were worried about me?”
“Oh, come on. That’s what you got out of all of that?… Yes, I did got worried about you. It’s not like I don’t pass by your room everyday.” Toby then realized that he always does see Mara passing by his classroom everyday during break time, even though it totally didn’t make sense for her to do so. Mara’s classroom was way back to the other end of the hallway, and the way to the cafeteria was way nearer if she had just taken the staircase on their side of the building. “And when I noticed that you weren’t there the other day, my brain just started thinking of a lot of stuff and… started thinking about you.”
Toby’s face lighted up again. “So you’ve been thinking about me again?”
Mara punched Toby’s shoulder. She genuinely punched his shoulder, which made Toby scream a little. He rubbed his shoulder afterwards.
“What’d you do that for?” He asked her. Toby suddenly took a step back as Mara threw herself to him, wrapping her arms around Toby. He slowly and cautiously wrapped his arms around her. The hug seemed to last forever, until the morning bell rang. Mara pushed herself away from Toby. Toby blinked a couple of times, trying to understand what just happened. “… What’d you do that for?”
Mara punched him again, on the other shoulder. Both of Toby’s arms were now sore. “See me at recess.” She said, and promptly turned her back on him. She started walking towards the end of the hall, to her classroom.
Toby just stood there for a moment. What the hell just happened? He thought to himself.
“Mr. Luna.” a man’s voice called out from behind him. “Mr. Luna?”
Toby looked back. It was Mr. Summers. “Sir! You’re back!”
“Good to see you back in class, kid.” Mr. Summers said to him. “Better get inside for the morning assembly.”
“Y-yes sir.” Toby replied. Mr. Summers nodded at him and went inside of the classroom, leaving the door slightly open.
Just as Toby went for the door, he looked back first to the end of the hall. Mara wasn’t there anymore. Toby recalled what just happened a minute ago. After all I did to you. He thought to himself. I didn’t think you’d forgive me. But there you were, by my side again. He still couldn’t quite believe it all. So he felt both of his shoulders, twitching a little in doing so. He felt reassured somehow because of it. What happened was real. It was real, and it wasn’t just some dream that I just had. He groaned a little when he put pressure on his right shoulder. And damn, can that girl punch the hell out of me.
End of Chapter.
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