Best Part

Guy Beside Me

DAPHNE's POV

Hindi makapaniwala na nakatingin ako sa side ng lalaking 'to. Pagkatapos ko s’yang batiin, na hindi ko naman usually ginagawa dahil kadalasang mga lalaki ang unang bumabati sa akin, pagkatapos ay wala lang akong matatanggap na response mula sa kanya?

Seriously? Didn't he find me attractive?

I felt so damn disappointed it was really the first for me. Walang kahit na sino lalo na sa school na ito ang nagtangkang balewalain ang presensya ko. S’ya lang! At galing pa sa isang transferee na katulad n’ya? Bagong salta lang pero mukhang ang taas na kaagad ng tingin sa sarili! Tsk! He is the kind of person I really can’t stand being with!

“Sa pagkakaalam ko, wala ang white board sa mukha ko.”

Kumunot ang noo ko nang marinig sa sinabi n’ya. Nakaharap pa rin s’ya kay Ma'am Alice na kasalukuyang nag didiscuss ng hawak n’yang subject which is El Filibusterismo. Ni hindi man lang n’ya nagawang lingunin ako habang nakikipag-usap! What the frick! How dare this guy talk to me without even facing me? Where’s the respect there, huh?

And seriously? Natatagalan n’yang makinig sa subject na ‘yan? It’s so boring with the capital B!

And wait! That’s not the point there. Ano na ngang sabi n’ya? Akala ba n’ya tinitingnan ko s’ya? Huh!

“I beg your pardon?” Nakataas ang kilay na tanong ko habang hindi inaalis ang tingin sa kanya.

“Come on. I know you clearly heard what I said,” sagot n’ya na hindi pa rin ako ginagawang lingunin! Iritado ko s’yang tiningnan.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you but I am freaking not looking at you,” I said, emphasizing every word.

“Yes you did and you were not just looking at me, you were staring at me," confident na sabi n’ya habang nananatiling nakatuon pa rin ang atensyon sa harapan. Tumaas ang kilay ko.

Aba't ang kapal naman ng mukha ng lalaking 'to! Did he just blatantly say that I was staring at him?

Seriously? Anak ba talaga s’ya ni Sir Marco, my favorite Math teacher? Hindi ako makapaniwala! Hindi kaya ampon lang talaga ito?

Sasagot pa sana ako pero narinig kong tinawag s’ya ni Ma'am Alice.

“Yes, Marcus Cian?”

Tumayo kaagad s’ya at confident na sumagot. “It is called The Reign of Greed, Ma'am,” sagot n’ya. I arched my brow. Ngumiti si Ma'am Alice at ang mga classmates ko naman ay halos napanganga sa kanya. I don’t know if it was because of his answer or it was because of his face! “And please call me Cian. My real name is too long and I am not really used to hearing someone calling me that,” he said and gave out a lopsided grin. 

Ma'am Alice smiled and nodded. I almost saw her blush because of that! What the hell is happening here?

“Cian then,” ngiting-ngiting sabi n’ya. “By the way, Cian is right. The English alternate title of El Filibusterismo is The Reign of Greed.” she said and continued giving out some information regarding the topic. She elaborated on it and I was quite surprised to see the annoying guy beside me actively participating in the discussion. Mandalas na mas marami pa s’yang alam kay Ma’am Alice and I can see how she was amazed by how Cian explained things in the book!

Muling umupo s’ya at pagkatapos ay nakinig na ulit sa discussion. I pouted my lips and looked in front.

Hmmmmm. Mukhang may ibubuga yata talaga ang isang 'to. Ni wala man lang kasi akong nakikitang notes na sinusulat n’ya habang nakikinig at nakikipag participate sa discusion. He seemed to know a lot about the subject and for some reason, it was annoying the hell out of me!

And because of that, my competitive self just won’t back off. I just found myself listening to what the teacher is saying and actively participating in the discussion. Hindi pa rin ako nililingon ng katabi ko kaya lalo tuloy akong nag-init na sumagot sa mga tanong! I flipped my hair when I saw how he pursed his lips while listening to our teacher.

“We all know that El Filibusterismo is the sequel of Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere. And like the first book, it was also written in Spanish. Now, the question is… When and where was it first published?”

My adrenaline kicked in as I heard the question that was really, really familiar to me! Besides, I already read that book for the nth time, to be honest! I immediately raised my hand while looking at the guy beside me.

“Yes, Daph?” Ma’am Alice called out so I gracefully stood up and confidently answered her.

“It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium,” I answered and also added some important details that happened during that time and of course, I saw how Ma’am Alice dropped her mouth in amazement while listening to what I was saying. Oh well, most of the things that I have added weren't actually written in the book so I was expecting her to react but she didn’t. It’s either she was afraid to argue or she was plain satisfied with everything that I have said. She just nodded and gave me a thumbs up.

“That was a very informative answer. Very well said, Daphne,” nakangiting papuri ni Ma'am Alice kaya nakangising umupo na ako. Nakita ko pa kung paano ako sinundan ng tingin at nilingon ng mga kaklase namin nang makaupo na ako. I bet they also didn’t know about that because their knowledge was quite limited to what we only tackled during the discussions. Tsk!

And when I simply looked at the guy beside me, kitang kita ko kung paano tumaas ang kilay ng mayabang na Cian na ‘yon matapos n’yang pasadahan ng tingin ang desk ko at makitang wala akong kahit na anong books sa table ko maliban sa notebook ko na puro drawing lang naman ang nakasulat. I smirked and did not even try to take a glance at his side!

Lalo akong napangisi nang makita kong umirap si Stracy sa akin.

Good-for-nothing b!tch! I mouthed then rolled my eyes.

Phoebe was also smirking while looking at Cian’s side. Lalo akong napangiti nang pasimpleng kumindat s’ya sa akin!