*Seaon's P.O.V.*
It has been almost two months and I can now say that the city life in Cebu is very different from the rural life there in Capiz. Whilst I woke up on the sound of the birds chirping there and sleep in the melodies of the crickets, here I wake up to the sound of horns beeping as the impatient drivers honk at each other on the busy streets and I can sleep over the piles of papers or well, schoolworks that I have to do. That's right. I wished for a normal life and my brother ever so selflessly, granted it. Although I missed the view of nature outside my window there at his residence at Capiz, the site of the buildings and other buzzing city infrastructures here in Cebu promised a protection from lurkers of nature itself. Even if it didn't do my nose and ears some good due to air and noise pollution, at least it didn't push me to the brink of insanity. My hands brushed against the amulet that's dangling in my neck as I look at myself in the mirror. I have my red curls in a ponytail and I'm wearing simple clothes so as to not attract snatchers, not that I'm fond of the fancy. It's a Saturday yet my friends and I have to meet up at Starbucks to talk about this project of ours. Yes, my brother enrolled me to college at the University of San Carlos and I'm currently taking up Literature, because why not? So far, my life has been pretty much normal as I bustle along with the others to get into some jeepneys to be able to reach my destination.
By the time I got down from the vehicle, I heard a 'ping' in my phone and I strode inside the building before opening it. It's a message from my brother that says, "Don't take too long, I have a business meeting and Eden has her duties. Mama would be waiting for you." He probably meant, don't go beyond 10 pm. So I just replied with an, "Okay:)"
So yes, the whole family moved to Cebu after that day that I'm not going to mention but it's not at all a bad thing since Sean's business partners are mostly based from Cebu anyway and Eden got a referral here too, so everything went well for us, except that the apartment is significantly smaller than the house but we're not bothered. Anyways, I found myself in Starbucks and I spotted the short haired petite friend of mine, her name's Angel and yes, she's such an angel.
"Hey!" I greeted, sitting down on the seat next to her. "Where's Jovie?" I asked. Jovie is my other friend who is kind of the opposite of Angel but she's not entirely a devil it's just that she has a temper and is not afraid to start a fight, if you ever get on her bad side, but thankfully I didn't so...
"She texted me that she's on the way. Cursing about traffic." Right. Traffic is really irritating.
"Good. Why do we have to meet on a coffee shop anyways? I'm not a fan." I complained and Angel just chuckled, sipping on her coffee. I can't believe these people, it's the middle of the afternoon and they'd prefer an intake of hot caffeine? I could never understand them.
"Hi guys! I'm sorry, am I very late?" There's Jovie, plopping down on the seat in front of us looking annoyed but her mood automatically changed when Angel pushed an unopened cup her way, heh, see? Coffee is also her meds. "Thanks!" She said.
"Nah, you ain't very late. Season just got here." Angel provided and I just nodded.
"So, how are we gonna start this thing? I seriously don't know what to do! I mean what do you guys think?" Jovie asked and I just took the paper from her. She gets easily frustrated most of the time and I don't want her ranting in Cebuano. But really, she asks about the topic and then later on would just laugh at it like, what? At least I have one normal friend here.
So the topic is about the Philippines under the Spaniards, some colonial stuffs that I know nothing about but at least I'm willing to read about it. Apparently we're going to make a scrapbook about what the country went through under the hands of the foreigners and all of that. "Well, we can do a bit of a research and just jot down the important information and then we can search up some proof photos and place them on the book." I suggested.
"Yes and we can divide it into two, you know, the good and the bad influence of the Spaniards?" Angel butted in and as expected Jovie cheerfully agreed. So Angel took out her laptop and we started working on it. And delve into it for four straight hours, it's a good thing they kept buying coffee though, or else we'd be thrown out.
"Can we take a break?" Jovie complained and I looked at the time in the cafe's wall clock that reads 6 pm damn.
"Yeah, yeah wait. Let me smoothen this out for a while." I said as I pasted out the last photo. Yup, we're almost done but gosh! We need a break, I'm getting cramps.
"Come on! A little stroll would really help!" Angel seconded as we put away the things.
"Hahay kapoya sad ani ay, di gyud ko ganahan ug mga pili-pilit." Now there goes Jovie speaking Cebuano. I just wish I'm not in a foreign country you know? But Tennessee is not an option for rehabilitation. Yeah. I'd loose my mind there for an entirely different reason.
So we made our way outside the cafe, happy to act like teenagers just chilling on a Saturday night. Damn we need dinner so we grabbed some meal in McDonald's and went our merry way around the mall, cause we earned it. We were trying on shoes when an overly high pitched irritating voice ruined our moods.
"If it isn't Angel and her demon friends. Of course I have to English this out because of miss foreigner over there." Layla, that annoying barbie girl. What does she have against Angel anyway? And by the way, she sounds bad with her English.
"Unsay problema nasad nimo?" Of course that's Jovie facing off against her literally.
"I don't have a problem. But you will." Layla said as she pushed a lot of shoes off the rack and flipped her rebounded hair before leaving.
"You little-"
"Jovie, calm down." Angel and I said at the same time, holding her back.
"I'm calm! I hope she trips on her way down the escalator." She said as she helped us arrange the shoes.
"The last time you said that, Monica one of Layla's friend rolled down the stairs and was unconscious for three hours." Angel said as a matter of fact.
"Good for her!" See? You don't want to be on her bad side. She has a rather lethal mouth. We just gave her a look. When we're done with the shoes we decided to go somewhere else. This is a big mall after all. When we neared the escalator to get up to another floor, we noticed a crowd forming at the bottom of the other escalator that's a level down from where we are.
"What happened?" I wondered when I spotted Layla being carried by some medics. Angel and I looked at Jovie who just grinned.
"What? It's normal for bitches to sometimes trip on their way down, right?" Eh? Is it normal or is there something not normal about my friend? Or even if she's not normal, I just hope she's not as paranormal as those beings that I encountered in Capiz.
"Right." Angel just agreed and we eventually went on our way out of the scene and into a bookstore, cause we all love books. We scanned some books in a store called BookSales and I was enjoying it until I spotted a book entitled "Enchanted" and was rather bothered by the blurb.
Apparently, there's this quiet girl who caught the attention of an engkanto prince... Okay, I stopped reading just by that first paragraph because a certain engkanto prince came on my mind. Ugh! There's no happy ending with that book because they are too different and one or another, that prince, as handsome as he is would do something really traumatizing to the girl like possess her to get her soul so they can be together! And that's not how a prince should swwep you off your feet and into his kingdowm! Ugh! I am frustrated!
"What's the matter?" Angel asked and I almost jumped, noticing that I'm still holding the book rather tightly.
"Nothing." I said calmly, putting it back to the shelf. "It's already 8, should we head home now?" I added and they all agreed.
Time flies so fast when your days are uneventful. Not that I wish them to be eventful, I much prefer a boring yet peaceful life now after I've been through what I've been through, at least for a fraction of my 19th year of existence, I got a taste of what it is like to have your mind and your heart played at the same time when they're not really in sync with each other. And I am very much willing to leave it behind now that I'm turning another year older. Yes, I'm turning 20 next week, so I just have to get through this week and live life fully anew next. Which wasn't a problem because in college, it's easy for my time to go by when I'm attending lectures and doing schoolworks.
All was well until Friday came and I was walking towards the school gym because Jovie and Angel had their P.E. class there while I was on my Humanities class which ended pretty shortly. I was nearing the outside of the gym when I saw a crowd of students, circling at a scene. Probably one of those famous idiots or such. I was planning to just pass them by but I ended up squeezing through because there is no other way to enter the gym. And a student grabbed a hold of my shoulder.
"Yes?" I asked.
"You're friends with Jovie and Angel right?" The guy asked.
"Aha, why?" I replied. He just pointed to the center of the crowd and that's when I bothered to actually look at what's going on'. On the center of the circle of buzzing students were two girls in a ramble, pulling on each other's hairs, rolling on the ground. I recognized one of them to be Layla and the other one to be... Jovie! I immediately pushed myself closer to the cente, muttering a few 'excuse me' on my way. When I'm a ring of students away from the innermost circle, I noticed Angel trying to stop them but they won't budge. Then Jovie had somehow managed to get ontop of Layla but a basketball player, Neil, I think that's his name, pulled her away. I don't know but Jovie was really mad that she even threw a punch on him. Now, I initially thought that, that Neil guy was there to stop the fight but I was wrong, apparently he came on Layla's rescue and I read what he's gonna do next that's why I was able to get into the scene itself before his raised fist ever come down on my friend. Stopping him midway with the all-too-familiar uplock hold, he was at least plus half of my size and a bit taller than me, he had a considerable amount of muscle since he's an athlete but it didn't make me appear weaker than him because I had a firm stand and an equally firm grip on his wrist. Then I twisted his wrist outward, making him wince on the pain that it guaranteed.
"That's enough!" I thundered. But Layla came behind me and charged at me, it's just that her lame barbie fight is nothing against my almost a decade martial arts training, so I easily turned towards her held both her thin wrists tightly on a vice grip and simply shook my head at her whimpering self when I let go. "What is the matter with all of you?" I asked, standing in betwween them threatening anyone who'd make a move.
"What's this?" About time! I just sighed when Mr. Almonte, one of the Physical Education teachers broke into the crowd. "Ms. Almacen, Mr. Flores," he called out to Layla and Neil, "Ms. Marquez, Ms. Anton," he then said, looking at Angel and Jovie. "Get yourselves together on the clinic, then report immediately to the guidance office." There were murmurs but Mr. Almonte threw them all a hard look, making the crowd disperse. "Ms. Tarver?"
"Yes sir?" I responded as I helped Jovie up.
"Thank you for intervening. But next time, don't play the hero by getting in between fights." I just nodded at him. I know what he means but he doesn't know that I'm a martial artist that's why he gave me that sort of warning. I've been told that so many times though so I'm already used to it.
"What the hell happened?" I hissed at my friends as we walked our way to the clinic.
"Layla came stomping our way saying that Jovie is a mambabarang like her lola, after something bad happened to her when Jovie defended me against her." Angel provided.
"What is that?" I asked, referring to the unfamiliar word.
"A mambabarang is a witch." Jovie said through clenched teeth and by this time we reached the clinic and was entertained by the nurse.
"Come on, we all know who the real witch is. You didn't have to reach that way." I said, lowering my voice because Layla is in a bed next to where Jovie is and it's only a shower curtain separating us.
"I wouldn't have if she didn't say anything about my grandmother." Jovie hissed out as the nurse tended to her bruises.
Oh... I guess she had a good reason to fight back that way. I mean, I never met my grandmothers, yes plural, on both sides, but I'd really blow off if someone ever say something bad about them. I mean, hell I'd punch someone in the face if they say something unethical about any of my family members, it's a slap in the ego you know?
"Okay, you have got to calm down now though." I decided to say and she just took a deep breath.
"Yes, and Season?" Angel butted in.
"Hmmm?"
"How did you do that? I mean that easy twisting and turning their joints thing that left them whimpering?" Right, that was exaggerated, I didn't twist and turn their joints that much but I just chuckled at Angel.
"I study martial arts back at Tenesse." Simply said and she seems to be amazed. Yeah right.
"That must be very cool!"
"In a way. If you know how to make use of it in the right way, time, and place." I agreed.
Eventually, the nurse said we're free to go and we went straight to the guidance office. I mean they went inside with Layla and Neil while I stayed back, waiting for them in one of the benches. It's been half an hour since they got inside and I'm starting to get impatient. I didn't know this is how my last teen day would be like. Yes, tomorrow is already my birthday so I'm hoping no drama would come around.
"Hey." I turned to my right and saw Monica sitting on the other edge of the bench that I've been sitting on. Yes Monica, one of Layla's minions. She's not really that bad but she gets so into the Layla style when she's around her.
"Hey Monica." I said normally.
"I know I'm not in the position to say anything against your friends." She started off and I have a bad feeling about this. "But, you don't really know them. There's something witchy about them, we just don't know if it's Angel or Jovie but one of them is definitely a mambabarang. We have proof." She continued on and I just rolled my eyes at her.
"Thank you for sharing your opinion, but I didn't ask for it." I curtly said. Then I just looked ahead, not bothered by what she said. My friends are normal people. They're normal. Or at least I'm begging fate to let them be as normal as I want them to be.