Best Part

Eat

DAPHNE's POV

"Need another help?"

Narinig kong tanong na naman ni Cian kay Stracy pagkatapos n’yang sagutin ang unang problem na napunta kay Stracy. Tumango naman at ngumiti ng pagka lapad-lapad si Stracy. Napasimangot ako sa sobrang obvious na pakikipag flirt n’ya kay Cian.

Tsk! Landi naman talaga oo!

"No, Cian. You may now take your seat,” narinig kong pigil ni Sir Marco sa anak n’ya at saka humarap sa amin. “Ahm, Daph?" narinig kong tawag n’ya sa akin kaya agad na napakislot ako.

"Why, Sir?" I asked and stood up.

"Can you please help Stracy solve this one?" tanong n’ya sa akin. I tried so hard not to smirk when I saw the grimace in Stracy’s face when she heard that. Agad na tumango ako at saka taas ang noong naglakad papunta sa harapan.

Kitang-kita ko na ngayon kung paano naningkit ang mga mata ni Stracy at ang tuluyang pag-asim ng mukha n’ya nang makalapit ako at lingunin ako ng katabi n’ya. And of course, I did not bother to take a glance at his side. Baka isipin na naman ng lalaking ‘yan na pinagpapantasyahan ko ang mukha n’ya! Tss!

“Seriously? Daphne again?” Stracy sarcastically whispered as she saw me standing in the middle. I arched my brow to annoy her even more. I saw how she bit her lower lip in annoyance when she saw my lopsided grin. Ang sarap lang n’yang tawanan! I lazily walked towards her and crossed my arms in front of her.

“Aren’t you going to give me the marker?” patamad at halos inaantok na tanong ko sa kanya. Inirapan n’ya ako at halos padabog na inabot sa akin ang marker na halos hindi naman n’ya nagamit dahil si Cian ang sumagot sa problem na para dapat sa kanya. Tsk!

Stracy is the perfect definition of the phrase, ‘What is beauty when the brain is empty?’ Sayang lang ang ganda. Hindi naman biniyayaan ng kahit konting utak. I wonder where her parents’ genes go? Baka tumapon lahat sa kumot?

I gave her a meaningful look before solving the problem on whiteboard. Wala pang two minutes ay natapos ko nang sagutan ‘yon. Nakataas ang kilay na humarap ako kay Stracy at binalik sa kanya ang marker. “Easy naman… parang ikaw lang. Super easy to get!” I mocked her and grinned. Her eyes widened and looked at the guy beside me. Gusto kong magtaas ng kilay dahil simula noong sinasagutan ko ang problem sa whiteboard ay hindi na n’ya inalis ang tingin n’ya sa akin.

I wonder what he’s thinking though? Akala ba n’ya s’ya lang ang may kayang sumagot ng mga problems na ‘yon? Oh well… if that’s what he was thinking then think again. I’ll make sure he will see more than this in the coming days! Hmmp!

I faced Sir Marco and smiled at him. “Done, Sir.”

He smiled proudly. “Very good, Daph. You may now take your seat,” sabi n’ya at binalingan si Stracy. “Did you get that, Stracy?” he asked. Tumingin muna si Stracy sa akin bago alangang tumango. I bet she did not even get even a single thing! Filipino nga nangangamote na eh. Ano pa itong Math?

Tsk! Sayang ang talino ng Mommy at Daddy n’ya. Wala man lang s’yang namana!

Sir Marco even gave an activity after that and of course I answered mine the fastest way I can. Tinatamad na bumalik ako sa upuan matapos kong maibigay kay Sir Marco ang answer sheet ko. Muntik pang tumaas ang kilay ko nang makitang hindi pa rin tapos magsagot ang lalaking katabi ko. Kitang-kita ko din ang pagsunod n’ya ng tingin sa akin kanina nang tumayo ako para ipasa ang papel ko. I didn’t bother again to take a glance at his side and just lazily sit in my chair. Kahit nang nakaupo na ako ay kitang-kita ko pa rin ang pagsunod ng tingin n’ya kaya kumunot ang noo ko.

What the hell is this guy’s problem? Bakit ba s’ya tingin ng tingin? And I wonder why I felt so conscious about his stares? Sanay naman akong tinititigan at sinusundan ng tingin but this guy is somehow… different. I don’t know! His stares were making me uncomfortable and it’s annoying the hell out of me!

“Do you usually solve problems that way?”

Natigil ako sa pag-iisip ng kung ano nang marinig kong nagsalita s’ya. Of course, I did not not even bother to care. Humalukipkip lang ako at nanatili ang tingin sa harapan. Nakita kong tumingin s’ya sa gawi ko at ilang sandaling tumitig bago nagsalita ulit.

“Are you purposely ignoring me?” tanong n’ya na hindi na nag-abalang alisin ang tingin sa akin. Tumaas ang kilay ko.

“Are you talking to me?” tanong ko na hindi pa rin s’ya pinagkaabalahang lingunin. Narinig ko ang mahina at nakakaloko n’yang tawa kaya lalong tumaas ang kilay ko. This guy is really something huh?

“Is there anyone else here that I should be talking to?” he sarcastically answered kaya taas ang kilay na nilingon ko na s’ya. His eyes immediately turned to me. Hindi rin tumigil ang mga mata n’ya sa mga mata ko at naglikot pa ‘yon sa buong mukha ko kaya lalong tumaas ang kilay ko dahil sa sobrang obvious na panunuri n’ya sa buong mukha ko.

He’s shamelessly roaming his eyes around my face and I don’t know why I felt so uncomfortable with that!

I cleared my throat before answering. “I don’t usually answer if I don’t hear someone call my name. Ayaw ko namang maging assuming na kinakausap ako, iyon pala ay hindi. That’s pretty… disgusting,” sabi ko at inirapan s’ya. I saw him smirked without even ditching his stares. I swallowed as I saw him checking my table. Napatawa na ako bago sinalubong ulit ang tingin n’ya. “Were you thinking that I cheated to answer those very easy problems?” hindi makapaniwalang tanong ko dahil mukhang iyon talaga ang nasa isip n’ya. Oh well… halos lahat naman ay iyon ang maiisip lalo na kapag nalaman nilang principal ang Mommy ko at teacher ang Daddy ko. They would even think that I know the questions on our exams beforehand kaya palagi akong perfect sa mga exams at quizzes. Pero sino bang niloloko nila sa paniniwala doon? I already proved myself to everyone and I don’t even give a damn to those who wouldn’t believe in me.

And because this guy is new here, he might be thinking the same! Tumaas ang kilay ko.

Mukha bang may pakialam ako kung hindi man s’ya maniwala sa kakayahan ko?

“I didn’t say anything like that,” narinig kong sabi n’ya. He crossed his arms and leaned back to his chair while facing me. “You probably felt like defending yourself ‘coz it might be true that you’re cheating?” he mocked. I gasped and my eyes widened as I unbelievably looked at him.

“Snap the hell out of it. I’ll make sure you eat your words sooner or later,” mariing banta ko sa kanya at agad na umayos ng upo dahil dumating na susunod naming teacher.

The nerve of this guy to spew nonsense!