Diana woke up early the next day because the seminar will start at exactly 8 am. But that's not
the real reason why she woke up early. She is actually excited! Well, who could blame her? She will spend
the whole day with Arjay and it's very exciting for her because it never happened before.
She stretched her arms and stood up from the bed, smiling.
"Good morning!" she greeted even though she was alone in the room.
She went out of her room and went straight to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She was done
cooking hotdogs and scrambled eggs when Anne entered the kitchen.
"Wow, you're up early." Anne noticed.
"Yes. The seminar will start early so I need to be there before 8." She replied. "Since you're here
you checked on the rice. I will just take a bath." She said and left her sister in the kitchen.
She went to the bathroom to take a bath. When she was done, she put on a silky white long
sleeves and a black slacks. She went back to the kitchen to eat breakfast. His father and Anne was there, having their cups of coffee.
"Let's eat!" she told them and grabbed her own plate and spoon and fork.
"You can eat first. You need to be early for the seminar. We'll just eat after I come back from the
farm." Her father said.
"Okay. Anne could you make me some coffee, too?" she asked her sister.
Anne didn't respond but stood up to make some coffee. She went back to her seat and handed
the coffee to Diana.
"Here, sis." She said.
"Thanks." She said and began eating
When she was done eating, she put her plate in the sink and went to the bathroom to brush her
teeth. She put on some powder and lipstick before taking another one last look at the mirror. She
grabbed her bag and went out of her room.
Anne was alone in the kitchen, still drinking her coffee but their father was already gone.
"I got to go." She said to her sister.
Anne nodded and she went to the front door. As soon as she opened the door, she was startled
to see Albert waiting on his motorbike. He saw her and he smiled.
"Good morning! I thought you went already. Good thing I saw your father while I was on my way
here and he told me your still here." he greeted her.
"Uhhhmmm... What are you doing here? I thought you were mad at me last night?" she asked,
puzzled.
He handed her the helmet.
"Me? Mad? Last night? l'm not mad. I was just silent. That doesn't mean I'm mad. But I'm sorry if you thought that I was mad. Actually I am picking you up. I will take you to St. Claire, So, let's go?" he
asked.
She walked towards him and got the helmet from him. She put it on,
"If you're really sorry, then you're forgiven. But why are you picking me up here? It's too early."
She said as she sat behind him.
"Well, the seminar will start early and I thought you might be late again so I thought of picking
you up, preventing you to attend the seminar late." He said and he started the motorbike.
She hit him on his shoulder. He laughed.
"What? You're a professional late comer back in high school! You can't blame me for worrying
you might be late again."
"Excuse me, Mister? For your information, I am not a professional late comer anymore. I'm just
professional now." She said and rolled her eyes even though he can't see it.
"Whatever you say. Hold on, ma'am." He said and drove off.
They arrived safely at St. Claire even though he almost make the motorbike fly. She removed the
helmet and hit Albert's stomach with it.
"Thank you for almost not killing me!" She said sarcastically.
"You're exaggerating again. That's just 50kph. Besides, we arrived just in time. You still have time
to register your name and retouch your make-up." He remarked
"I don't wear make-up, nitwit. Anyway, thanks for the ride." She said and was about to turn
around and leave when Albert held her wrist. She looked at him.
"Can I pick you up later? After the seminar, I mean."He said and let go of her hand.
She nodded.
"It's fine. Why are you asking permission now? You picked me up at our house a while ago, without
permission." She reminded him.
"Yeah... Well l'm asking because you might go with someone else." He stated.
"Go with someone else? Who will I go with?" she asked, but then she realized. "Oh, you mean...
well, I gave you my word already. You can hold on to that." She said. "1 should go now. Thanks again,
Albert." She said and she walked towards the hall.
She went to the registration area to sign on her name. When she was done, she went to the
seminar hall. She was looking for Arjay when she heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned around.
"Oh, hey Diana! Good morning!" it was Arjay, he was talking to an older woman. He then excused
himself and went to her.
"Good morning sir." She greeted back
They walked towards their table yesterday.
"See? I reserved a seat for us. I kept my promise." he said and smiled.
She smiled back. He has a very nice smile, Diana felt like fainting with her thrills. But she kept her
feet. Arjay showed her to her seat. She seated immediately before her knees could betray her.
"You really did. It seemed like you came here early." She commented to keep the conversation
going.
"Not really. I came in just ahead of you. A matter of minutes." He said.
She nodded and was about to get through her bag when he spoke again which made her stop.
"I saw you with him, actually. Albert... his name is Albert, right? l don't intend to be rude for asking
this, I'm just curious. Is he your boyfriend?" he asked.
She swallowed. She didn't expect he would ask that.
"Does your silence means... yes?" he asked again.
She looked at him and laughed nervously.
"No.. I was just startled with the question. No, he's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend." She
answered him.
He mumbled but Diana couldn't grasp what he said.
"What?" she asked.
Arjay smiled and shook his head.
"Nothing. Why do they always follow that Filipino time? If they are conducting seminars like this,
it should always be on time." He changed the topic.
Diana nodded in agreement. Her mind was still on the thing he mumbled. 'Did he say good? It
sounded like good. Gosh Diana! Stop assuming, for Pete's sake. He could have said okay, or probably
something unrelated to you and Albert.
She shook her head slightly to shrug the thought. The first speaker of the day went in front and
began the first topic of the seminar. The topic was very interesting but nothing sinks in on Diana's mind.
She glanced at Arjay and he was very focused on the speaker. She tried to put her mind on the speaker
but she's looking at her peripheral to take a short glance at Arjay.
'Diana, stop! Pull yourself together. You need to focus on this seminar because you're going to
reiterate this tomorrow. My gosh!' she castigated herself and groaned slightly.
Arjay looked at her.
"Why?" he asked worriedly.
"Huh?" she asked innocently.
He shook his head and returned his focus on the speaker. She fixed her seat and tried to put her
focus on the speaker but the speaker was already giving an activity for them to do.
"Okay, I hope you still have the activity you did yesterday because you're going to need that for
this activity. So, go to your partner yesterday and discuss how you would implement the methods that
matter in the language arts classroom using the types of media you chose. You will present your ideas
after our coffee break." The speaker said.
Arjay faced her. She was clueless as to what methods the speaker was referring to, because first
of all, she couldn't focus a while ago, and second she heard it but she didn't listen to it.
"1 still have the copy of our activity yesterday." Arjay said.
"Great. So what method are we going to use?" she asked, trying to conceal her ignorance of the
topic.
"I have something in mind but let's hear your idea first." He said.
She bit her lower lip discreetly. How can she tell him that she didn't understand anything? She
came up with an idea.
"How about we just used your idea and I will just supplement if I could think of something that is
worth appending?" she suggested.
He looked at her intently. She smiled.
"Okay, if you say so." He said and told her his ideas.
She sighed in relief. At least she wasn't put into any embarrassment. She congratulated herself for quick thinking. It's a first time for her. She shared additional ideas until they finalized their work.