After the 50th anniversary the three of them accidentally attended together, Diana avoided Arjay and Albert. They called her, texted her, and chatted her, but she ignored them. She had a lot going on in her mind, and being distracted by them is not an option.
It’s been two weeks and she knew she’s being unreasonable with them but she just wanted her head to be clear. Yes, she likes Arjay that much, but she still can’t process the fact that they are already close and everything she dreamt of could possibly become her reality now. She cannot process that, and Albert, Albert is another issue she needs to deal with.
Diana sighed by the thought of Arjay and Albert. How can she deal with the both of them? She let out another sigh. She grabbed her things and went out of her room and straight to the main door.
“You’re not going to eat, sis?” Anne asked her.
“No. I need to do something. I will just eat at the cafeteria later.” She replied.
“You seemed to be bothered by something these past days. Are you okay?” Anne asked worriedly.
She smiled at her sister.
“Of course, I’m okay. Why would you think that?” she asked.
Anne shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know. Since that party, you seemed to be a bit off. You keep on rejecting calls. You barely use your phone…”
“I’m okay, sis. Don’t worry about me. I will go now. Bye!” she said and went out of the door just to be surprised. “A-Albert?!” she exclaimed.
Albert looked at her and smiled. He walked towards her. Diana met him halfway.
“W-What are you doing here?” she asked when they were in front of each other. She continued walking. Albert walked with her.
“I’m worried about you, that’s why I am here. To check up on you. You keep rejecting my calls. You don’t reply to my messages. Did I do something? Or is there something I said that hurt your feelings?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that, there are a lot of things going on in my mind right now… and no, you didn’t do anything or said anything that hurt my feelings.” She answered.
She continued to walk past Albert’s motorbike but he grabbed her hand which made her stopped walking.
“I’ll take you to the school.” He said and let go of her hand.
He picked the helmet and handed it to her. She wore the helmet and they both get on the motorbike. When they arrived in front of the school gate, she took off the helmet and handed it to Albert. She got off.
“Thank you.” she said and turned her back to him.
“Diana…” he called out, which stopped her from walking away. She turned around.
“Yup?” she asked.
“Can I invite you out to dinner, tonight? I just wanted to talk to you… intensively about things.” he said.
She nodded. He smiled and went off. She sighed. She knows about the things Albert wants to tell her about, and she wasn’t ready for that. Not yet. Not today, not tomorrow, not in the near future. But if he really needs to open that thing up now, maybe she can consider. Albert had been so considerate towards her and her feelings, so maybe she could return the favor. She doesn’t want to make Albert wait for something she couldn’t give, but she can’t tell him that, not directly. She’s not that heartless. So if talking to him deep and thoroughly could help not only her but also him, then, she could spare him the time he needs.
She sighed once more before walking towards the faculty room. Upon entering, a memo was handed to her by one of her co-teachers. She looked at her co-teacher.
“What is this, Ma’am Ana?” she asked curiously.
“A memo about JS Prom. It’s actually addressed to you.” Ana replied to her.
“Addressed to me? Why me?” she asked.
She put down her bags.
“You might want to read the content of that.” She smirked.
Diana read the memo. She frowned.
“JS Prom concept? Why would I be the leading committee for this?” she said. She didn’t hide her annoyance on the matter.
“Well, you are good with concepts and decorations.” Ana remarked, shrugging her shoulders.
‘Come on! There are a lot of things going on in my head right now, I won’t be able to think about this!’ she complained on herself.
“What day is it?” she asked and looked at the calendar. She held her forehead. “It’s already February 8. And I need to present this concept on Wednesday?!?” ‘Great!’ she said to herself.
“Good luck with that. I know you could do that. You’re great in artistic concepts anyway.” Ana said and left her.
She rolled her eyes and prepared herself for the flag ceremony. She went out of the faculty room and went behind the line of her advisory class. After the flag ceremony, they all went back to their respective classrooms.
She was in the middle of her class discussion when suddenly there was a knock on the door. She stopped her discussion.
“Excuse me, ma’am Diana. Ma’am Mayo is calling for you.” the student, who knocked on the door, said.
“I will be there. I’ll just leave an activity for my class.” She said.
“Okay, ma’am.” The student said and went on her way.
“Kindly do exercise 3 on your book. Write your answers on a whole sheet of paper. If the bell rang and I won’t still be here, kindly pass your activity paper to Ms. Javier.” She instructed them.
“Yes ma’am.” They all answered in chorus.
“Okay, Therese kindly write all those who will misbehave in the class while I’m not around. Any misbehavior: like noisy, standing, exchanging seats with your classmates, and the like, will be listed down and I’ll deal with them later. Behave Grade 10.” She warned her class before leaving.
“Yes, Ma’am.” They said in chorus.
She went to the principal’s office. She knocked on the door. The principal raised her gaze and as soon as she saw Diana, she smiled and gestured to ask her to come in. She went inside the office.
“Good morning ma’am. You called for me.” she said, more of a statement.
“Yes, please have a sit.” The principal said. She took a seat. “I presumed you have read the memo.” she began.
“Yes ma’am, I did.” Diana simply replied.
“Yes… I am sorry if the memo kind of startled you, since this will be the first time in three years that you have been here that we are going to conduct again a JS Prom. I actually read it in a magazine column that we should still keep the essence of the Junior and Senior Promenade. So this celebration is a trial and error, if I am being honest.”
She kept her silence and looked at the floor, trying to process what the principal had just said to her.
“Diana, are you still with me?” the principal asked.
She tilted her head a bit and frowned. She opened her mouth to say something but she hesitated.
“You have something in mind?” the principal asked. She looked at her.
“You said this new JS Prom is a trial and error, ma’am. When would you like to conduct this event, ma’am? And who will join?” she asked.
“I was thinking, the last Saturday of the month of February. Would that work? And for the participants, of course, Grades 10 and 11, since Grade 10s are in their last year of Junior years and Grade 11s are in their first year as Seniors.”
She nodded in agreement, but her mind still doesn’t agree with the event.
“Could you plan until Wednesday?” she asked.
“I don’t know ma’am, but I will try.” She said and smiled a bit.
“Thank you, Diana. I know I could count on you. Don’t worry, if this event doesn’t fall as planned, I will not blame you. Anyway, this is just a trial and error.”
“Will that be all, ma’am?” she asked.
“Yes, dear. Thank you. Don’t announce it yet until you have the plan for the event. I will wait until Wednesday.”
“Yes ma’am. I will go to my class now, ma’am.” She excused herself. The principal nodded.
She went out of the office and froze.
“Hi!” Arjay greeted her and smiled.
“H-Hi! Sorry, I’m in a hurry, I still have my class.” She said and continued to walk but Arjay grabbed her hand.
She stopped and looked at him. He sighed and let go of her hand. She turned her back to him and went on. Arjay followed her with his gaze.