It's the first day of the week and Diana's feeling inspired! She remembered her weekend with
Ariay. It's not the usual weekend getaway but at least she got to spend some time with Arjay. She
stretched her arms aloft her head.
'When will I get to see you again, Ariay?' she asked.
Her mind was in that state when she heard her brother calling from outside her door. He was
knocking on the door as if he wanted to tear it down.
"Hey sis! I know you had a great time last night but you're going to be late now! Aren't you up
yet???" he asked while knocking.
She reached for her phone to check the time. Her eyes widened when she saw the time: iťs 7 o'clock! She immediately stood up and grabbed her towel. She opened the door. Janwill was still standing outside her door, but he's all ready for school.
"Why didn't you wake me up?!?" she snapped at her brother.
"I did! It's my fourth time knocking on your door." He said. He shook his head, rolled his eyes and left her.
She rushed to the bathroom and took a very fast bath. She went out of the bathroom and changed
into her uniform. She doesn't have time to eat and put on her lipstick. She will just do it at school. She
combed her hair and went to school.
When she arrived, the flag ceremony already started. She went behind her students line.
"You're a little late today, ma'am Diana." Her co-teacher noticed.
"Yes ma'am, I noticed that too." She said and smiled a bit.
After the flag ceremony, the students went to their respective classrooms. Some of her co-
teachers went with their students but she went immediately to the faculty room to put down her things
and put on some lipstick. She needs to look presentable since it is Monday. She went to her advisory class.
Upon entering, the class was in chaos! She breathe deeply to calm her nerves. She held her forehead.
"Ma'am, don't enter the room yet! We are still cleaning!" her students said and shoved her out of the room.
"Hey people! That's impolite of you ---" and they closed the door in front of her.
She groaned and went to the nipa hut in front of their classroom. She waited for another 10 minutes. The door opened. The class President went to fetch her.
"Ma'am the classroom is all cleaned up.
"It should! You kept me waiting for 10 minutes." She said and stood up.
She went into the classroom and to her surprise...
"Happy birthday, Ma'am Diana!" they greeted her in chorus and they held a cake in front of her.
She's speechiess! How did they even know it's her birthday? She even forgot it's her birthday, for
Pete's sake.
"I uhhh.. thank you so much! How thoughtful of you! H-how did you know it's my birthday today?"
she asked.
"Before we answer that, ma'am, make a wish first and then blow your candle!" the vice president
of the class told her.
She closed her eyes and made a wish. She opened her eyes again and blew the candle.
"Thank you guys. I also appreciate that you kept it a little private by not singing. But I am really
happy for this surprise. I wasn't expecting this. I actually forgot what today is, to be honest."
"How come you forgot your birthday, ma'am? It's highly suspicious." The jokester of the class said.
"You know, Alwyn, when you get older, there are more pressing issues you need to deal with and
remembering your birthday isn't one of them. But anyway, we should have a short discussion before we dig in to the cake. Go back to your seats now." She said and the students went back to their proper seats.
She put the cake on the table at the back of the room and she started the discussion. As she
promised, she cut the discussion short so they could eat the cake together.
Ariay called Janwill after his class period with them. The boy went immediately to him.
"You called for me, sir." The boy said, more of a statement.
"Yeah. Can I ask for your sister's number? We went to the same seminar but I forgot to get her
number. I chatted her but it seems she's not very active on social media." He remarked.
"You're referring to my sister Diana, right sir? Because I actually have 4 older sisters." He said.
"Oh, sorry, my mistake. Yes, I'm referring to Diana." He said
Janwill brought out his phone and browsed. He handed Arjay his cellphone.
"Here sir. But you need to text her first and introduced yourself because she tends to ignore
unknown numbers calling and texting her. She even ignore me sometimes. And she spend less time on social media because once she started browsing on it, she won't stop until her phone's battery is dead."
He smiled at his rant. He saved Diana's number on his phone and gave Janwill his phone back.
"Thank you for this, Janwill." He said.
"Yes sir. Do you still need anything, sir?"
"No, I'm okay. Go back to your classroom now."
The boy nodded and went back to the classroom. He went to the faculty room.
Diana was still in her advisory class, eating cake with them. The class was having fun telling jokes
and she's just listening to them, laughing with them if the jokes are funny and getting their attention if
the jokes are becoming a bit inappropriate.
Her attention was caught by the chime of her phone. She checked it, there's a text coming from
an unregistered number. She opened the message.
HI DIANA! THIS IS ARJAY ALTAMIRA. I FORGOT TO GET YOUR NUMBER YESTERDAY. WHEN
I REMEMBERED, YOU'RE ALREADY GONE. I ACTUALLY CHATTED YOU BUT YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT SO 1 JUST ASKED JANwILL FOR YOUR NUMBER. I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND. GOOD MORNING, BY THE WAY. :D
She read it again... and again... and again. She's not hallucinating! It's really Arjay! She replied back.
GOOD MORNING, TOO, SIR ARJAY. YEAH, I WASN'T ABLE TO SAY GOODBYE YESTERDAY BECAUSE
YOU'RE TALKING WITH SOMEONE. I DON'T WANT TO INTERRUPT YOU SO I JUST WENT AHEAD.
She sent it and waited for a reply. Her phone chimed in again. She can feel her heart thumping
loudly on her chest. She's actually feeling thrilled, in a romantic way. She swallowed her smile, afraid that one of her students could catch a glimpse of her smiling and they will tease her non-stop. She read the reply.
IT'S FINE. I UNDERSTAND. I'M SORRY IF I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR PERMISSION FIRST BEFORE
GETTING YOUR NUMBER, BUT YOU WEREN'T ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA SO, I HAVE TO IMPROVISE. :D
Another smiley! She's going to burst but she need to calm down.
'Oh my gosh! Is this real? If this is a dream, please don't wake me up now. I don't want to wake
up now.' she said to herself. She replied back.
I DON'T MIND AT ALL, SIR. I'LL TEXT YOU LATER. I STILL HAVE MY NEXT CLASS. - Diana.
He smiled. He replied back.
OKAY. HAVE A NICE DAY AHEAD. :D
"Oh, shoot! I still have my next class!" he said and rushed to his next class.
After his class, Arjay checked his phone. It's already break time but Diana hasn't replied to him
yet. Should he text her again?
Or she's probably busy. 'I will just wait for her text. I don't want to be a bother to her.' he said to himself.
He went to the school cafeteria to buy some snacks. When he got his order and was about to leave, he saw Janwill sitting on a table with his friends and they are busy eating their snacks. He went to them.
"Mind if I join you guys?" he asked them.
The three boys looked at him and they all smiled.
"No sir, we really don't mind."
They offered the available sit to him.
"Thank you." he said and he took his seat. They continued eating their snacks. "So you are the
best of friends in the class." He said more of a statement.
Yes sir. Actually sir, we came from the same school in elementary and we were classmates back
then, too." Janwill explained. He nodded.
"Oh, that's why you are close. I have been here for a week and I can't still memorize, who's who. Except for Janwill because
he's Diana's brother. So, who's Eduard again?" he asked.
"That's me, sir." Said the tallest among them.
"Ohh, okay. That makes you Anthony, then?" he asked the shortest among them.
"Yes sir, that's me and only me. " he said.
He nodded.
"At least now, I know the three of you. It's a progress for me." he smirked. "But just give me two
more weeks and I can assure you, I know you all by name and faces by then."
"It's fine sir. Some of our teachers still doesn't know who's who, and we've been here for almost
two years now." Eduard said.
"Wow, that's very unfortunate. I think it's the teacher's responsibility to know his or her students. But, anyway, 1 don't speak for everybody so.." he left his sentence hanging and shrugged his shoulders.
"Sir, may we ask you a question?" Anthony asked.
"Sure, what is it?" he asked back.
"How did you get to know ma'am Diana? We're just really curious, sir."
He smiled.
"Why don't you ask Janwill, here? Diana is his sister."
"He doesn't want to tell us, sir."
"She made me promise to her that I won't tell a soul. You know my sister "
"1 will just tell you then. We were schoolmates in college and we were under the same college
department."
They nodded and punched Janwill in the arm.
"That's it? That's what you're keeping to us?" Anthony asked.
"She made me promised " Janwill yelled at his friend. "I'm sorry sir, I did not intend to do that in front of you."
"It's fine. Come on, boys. If he wants to keep his promise to his sister, let him be. Don't force
someone to tell you their secret."
"Yes sir. Sorry sir."
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Janwill."
"Sorry, bro." Anthony said.
"It's fine."
The bell rang for the next period.
"Guys, you need to go back to your classroom. I'll go ahead." He said and left the boys.
He went back to the faculty room to prepare for his next class.