Must Be Love At First Glance

First day of school Another chapter is open! It's my senior era in highschool. Kinakabahan ako sa future ko, will I make it? The future's behold within our palm, we can strive higher self! Let's go! I was standing with an empty mind, staring at blue sky while the sunlight lays on me and the air is swinging my hair perfectly. Now, is our first day of going back to school after a long summer vacation, we are here gathering at this wide ground for our flag raising ceremony but before it started, suddenly I heard a voice that awakened me. “Nasa‘n po dito ang linya ng grade 10?” tanong ng isang lalaki sa studyanteng nasa harapan niya. He‘s charming with his glasses on, white and tall. Halos lahat ng mga babae sa linya ng bagong grade 10 students humihiyaw sa kilig, parang first time makakita ng gwapo sa campus ah? “Beh, ang gwapo oh.” nakangising bulong ko kay Melissa na nasa likuran ko, she‘s my classmate since grade 10 until now on 11th grade by the way. “Oo nga, Elora!” halikhik niya. I smiled before facing the flag pole as the ceremony were about to start. In the middle of our ceremony, I slowly turned my head to this transferee na nasa gilid naming linya, nakapila sa huli. As I slowly took a glance of him, nagulat ako ng konti dahil nakatingin na pala siya sa‘kin! Dahilan para mapangiti ako at kinilig ng konti. Gosh! Nahihiya na ako tuloy! Tumingin muli ako sa kaniya but this time nasa guro na nasa harapan naming lahat ang atensyon niya. After we sang the three ceremonial song that every school did when it was flag raising ceremony, our new adviser Mr.Bernal approached me and picked me as the model for the senior high school uniform demonstration along with the chosen grade 12 male student. Nang matapos na ang dalawang studyanteng napili para i-presenta ang junior high school uniform, tinawag na kami ng kasama ko para umakyat sa stage at ini-presenta ang aming sinusuot na uniporme bilang seniors. Nanginginig at kinakabahan na nakatayo sa harap ng maraming studyante, tumingin na lamang ako sa aking matalik na kaibigan simula nu‘ng grade 9 pa lamang kami na si Leian Mae Montañui at ngumiti, trying to wash away my nervousness. I looked at this transferee but he‘s not looking so I got off the stage after Mr.Bernal‘s demonstration. . . . . . . . . . . Narito na kami sa loob ng aming classroom, greeting each other, spending time talking about our whole summer vacation while Mr.Bernal isn't here yet. “Every one settle down now.” wika ni Mr.Bernal nang pumasok na siya sa room namin. “So, how‘s your summer vacation? Masaya ba? Nakapag-travel ba kayo sa iba‘t-ibang lugar?” mga tanong ni Mr.Bernal. Si Sir hindi parin nagbabago after 2 months not seeing each other, he' still greeted us with his adorable smiles. He was still my favorite teacher, who‘s the funny one, easy to get along and kind. I‘m glad that he is our adviser this school year. Some of my classmates answered, “Okay naman Sir! Enjoy na enjoy!” “Sir, napakasaya dahil pumunta kami ng Dinagat!” “Hindi medyo Sir, hindi pinapayagang gumala e.” Natuwa si Sir dahil sa aming mga naging tugon at hindi niya rin mapigilang magbahagi rin ng kaniyang summer vacation. We haven‘t started our lesson today on his subject kasi first day pa la‘ng naman instead, we spent our time talking about anything. . . . . . . . . . It‘s our vacant time since our subject teacher for our second subject, oral communication, wasn‘t here in our school because of an emergency cause. Naglakad-lakad ako dito somewhere in campus, there‘s a lot of students roaming around kasi malaki ang school namin. Maraming magaganda‘t gwapo ang nakakasalubong ko‘t nakikita, but there are also mean girls na tumititig sa‘kin, iniirapan ako at gossiping something to each other while looking at me and chuckled. Is there something wrong about my looks? Baka, haggard ako or napapangitan la‘ng talaga sa‘kin. Dapat compliments ang mga 'yan mga teh ah! Hindi ko na lamang pinagtuonan ng atensyon ang mga babaeng ‘yon, sa halip nagpatuloy la‘ng ako sa paglalakad. I stared blankly at the blue sky as the breeze danced my hair gracefully, suddenly I remember my best friend since 9th grade who was already transfered in other school, Charm Grace Villanueva. If she’s still here, siguro kasama ko siya ngayon, tumatawa sa bawat kwento namin habang naglalakad, I‘ve been missing her since the vacation. Because of loneliness, I stopped on walking to reached for my phone inside my bag to call Charm but, as I insert my hand in my bag, bigla akong nabangga ng isang lalaki na may dala-dalang soda at natapon ito sa akin dahilan para mabasa ang harapan ko. “I-I‘m sorry. . .” a charming boy apologizing at me. He‘s thin, fair and tall, his face is almost perfect, he has a brown eyes, thick brows and lashes with his glasses on, pointed nose and pinkish lips, he almost looked like Louis Partridge of Enola Holmes. I just stared at him for a seconds, completely shock but also mesmerized by his looks at the same time, siya ‘yong transferee kanina sa flag ceremony! “I-it‘s ok-ay. . .” I responded in shyness. “I spilled my drink at you, pardon me. In return let me assist you in the comfort room, if it's okay with you?” he calmly uttered. “H-ha?” wala sa isip kong sagot. I don‘t know but I felt embarrassed. He chuckled before talking again, “I said, is it okay with you na ia-assist kita patungong confort room para samahan kang magpalit in return?" What? As in sa loob ng banyo? Mukhang mapapasabak ako nito ah. "Don't worry sa labas la'ng ako ng C.R. hahaha." napatawa siya, napansin siguro niya na medyo nagulat ako. “Y-yes, okay la‘ng.” sagot ko at nginitian siya ng konti, deep inside para na akong masusunog sa hiya and I‘m shaking a little. Nandito na kami sa labas ng comfort room, he opened his bag and gave me his badminton shirt with his surname on and a number 2 printed on it, I politely accepted his shirt and thanked him before going inside. Minutes later, after changing, inayos ko muna ang mukha ko and then lumabas na. I looked nice with his shirt on, ang bango pa talaga, mukhang alagang downy siya. “It suits on you.” tumingin siya sa‘kin from head to toe. Tumitig siya ng may ngiti sa labi, I can see his eyes smiling too. The way we stared at each other, it feels like we have known each other ever since. We were walking down the hallway, heading towards my classroom for another class session and he insisted to accompany me, total malapit rin la‘ng naman ang classroom nila. “By the way, ako nga pala si Raizen Cortez.” inabot niya sa‘kin ang kamay niya. “I‘m Yvonne Elora Caviño, it‘s nice meeting you." I smiled and we shaked hands. “You too.” he shortly answered with a sweet smile crafted on his face. We talked a lot, knowing that we have a lot of common pala, like being a swifties, KathNiel fans, both loved moon and astronomy. I didn‘t know that this kind of guy would hang out with me even in a short time, dahil hindi naman ako gaanong kaganda, cool and hot like the other girls, in fact, kahit nu‘ng grade 10 pa lamang ako, some kids are calling me by names such as loser and a witch. He's different though. Nevertheless, sabi nga nila don‘t judge a book by its cover. “Elora! Hindi ka pa ba papasok? Malapit nang magsimula ang third subject natin!” Hazel Ann Panteriore, one of my classmates and a good friend of mine too. Nagulat ako nang marinig ko ang boses ni Hazel, I was too distracted that I forgot where I was going to. Tumingin ako kay Raizen na ngayo‘y nakatingin na pala sa‘kin, we laughed kasi hindi namin namalayan lagpas na pala kami sa classroom ko dahil sa aming 'Talk A Lot'. Right after, we bid our goodbye‘s. "See you again Elora." "See you." . . . . . . . . I was laying down on my comfy bed after I got home from school, hindi pa ako nakapagbihis dahil tinatamad pa ako, I just focused my sight at the ceiling, blinking my eyes a plenty of times while thinking about the short moment Raizen and I have lately. I couldn‘t help but I felt my blood rushing into my cheeks and butterflies made me shiver in thrilled. Maya-maya pa‘y tinawag na ako ni Mama para sa hapunan, kaya nagbihis na agad ako pagkatapos lumabas ng kwarto. “Ito pala ang kanina ko pang naaamoy! Ang sarap ng ulam natin Ma, adobong atay ng manok.” masayang sambit ko at umupo na. “Syempre luto ko ‘yan at alam kong favorite mo ‘to!” nakangiting tugon ni Mama at umupo na rin. “Nothing is more delicious than your mother‘s cook Elora. Kaya taob na naman ang kaldero natin ngayon!” masayang wika ni papa tsaka hinalikan si Mama sa noo. “Sos, nambobola ka pa talaga Paulito!” tugon ni mama, halatang kinilig si mama kay Papa kahit medyo nakasimangot ang mukha pero may ngiti naman sa labi. Napatawa naman ako na pinapanuod ang parents ko. Nakakataba ng puso, we‘re just a simple and humble family, not so wealthy yet, happy and contented. Hays, they‘re so sweet, how I wish to have that kind of greatest love soon. Pagkatapos naming kumain at maglinis ng kusina, pumasok na ako sa kwarto ko to watch some movies dahil hindi naman ako busy sa acads, while my parents nanduon pa sa sala nanunuod ng T.V. series.