Go, August, Go! FS2 ENGLISH

seven: promise

Yuna Abella and I were eating in silence in the cafeteria when Shin walked to us with his group. He sat next to Yuna while his two consorts occupied the seat on my sides. I raised a brow at them while Yuna regarded them with a vacant expression and leisurely continued with her lunch.

“What do you want?” I demanded as Shin lifted his already arched brows at me. He smirked at my acknowledgment of his presence. I rolled my eyes at the two boys, who were smirking while they started with their meal. Their presence was anything but fun, but Shin’s consorts always made everything fun for their master’s satisfaction. I never liked them picking on just anyone around the school. I could bet I would be a prey had I not made a little friendship with Yuna, his fiancee. It was very childish and irritating but Shin obviously had nothing to keep himself busy.

“Well…” He rested his elbow on the table and made a circular motion with his wrist in front of him. “I heard you’re retaking the tests? Can you really do that? Isn’t it unfair?”

I rolled my eyes at my plate.

“Don’t start now, Shin. Go back to your table,” Yuna exhaustedly told him. But Shin shrugged nonchalantly. Of course, he wouldn’t move just because someone told him, too.

He shifted on his seat and leaned forward on the table. “Right! I also heard Yuna wanted you to be at the party this weekend? Have you cleared your schedule for that?”

I squinted my eyes at Yuna, who was waiting for my response, too, before shaking my head at Shin. This guy was hearing lots of things that were none of his business. Indeed, his role was to pry someone else’s life. “No. I have no plans to attend.”

“Oh, my bad!” Shin exclaimed teasingly. The two smirked next to me again. I threw them a glare. “It’s in celebration of me getting two ranks higher. I heard you moved three ranks higher. You should be there to celebrate.”

I knew it, I thought to myself. I let out a sigh and picked up the fork, giving my attention back to my lunch the same way Yuna was doing to dismiss his presence. Still, I couldn’t help but give him a reply. “That’s for you, Shin. Your fianceé kindly wants to celebrate her future husband’s good progress with his academics. No matter how stagnant the progress is.”

He chuckled, and soon, it came out as barks of deep laughter. He turned on the side instead of throwing his head back. Other tables turned to us but they looked away as they recognized it was Shin, the bully. He even had the audacity to glare at anyone who glanced his way when he was disturbing everyone’s peaceful lunch.

“Says someone who stays far behind than the rest,” he replied without humor. He pointed a finger at me and moved it towards thrice as he added, “You just excel one year higher than me from the previous ranking. Don’t act too mighty now, Go!”

The two chuckled to boost their master’s confidence. But it was clear on Shin’s expression that I had offended him. With those harmful words. He indeed had little temperance. Little to no tolerance for anyone who insults him. Which was ironic because he often had so much in his sleeves whenever he picked on anyone. ‘Don’t do unto other what you don’t want other do unto you’. Did he know?

But a lump formed in my throat as August’s image appeared in my head. I guess I was not one to preach about it. Shin saw the change in my demeanor. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction thinking he had knocked some nerves on me. I gritted my teeth and narrowed my eyes at him.

“I’m not acting, Hyoshin Sy! I am one year higher than you. You’re a year behind from us, remember? Must I have to remind you that you failed last school year, and now you literally have to take all the tests? We’ll be moving to IUM next year, and you’ll be in your 12th—” I gasped as his long arm stretched out across my table, picked my plate and turned it over. He slowly, but firmly tapped it against the table until everything was on the table before roughly putting down the plate face down. Yuna and I jumped on our seats at the noise it created amidst the sudden still room. “H-Hey, Hyoshin!”

His eyes warningly squinted at me. Yuna shook her head and put down the utensils.

"Bold of you to rudely talk back at me," he warned.

“You started this, Shin,” Yuna simply told him as if scolding a child. Shin and I were staring at each other. I was literally shaking with rage! But he shrugged unapologetically.

“Hyoshin Sy,” I warned through gritted teeth.

Yuna rose from her chair and glanced down at me. “I lost my appetite. Let’s go?”

I didn’t want to! I didn’t want to lose against Shin this way. But knowing him, he would never want to lose, too. I may win against him once but he would make my life a living h*ll after his defeat. Throwing one last glare at them, I abruptly stood that the chair squeaked against the floor. Fisting my hands tight as I joined Yuna to her exit.

“I can’t believe him!” I complained as we walked down the hall. “He’s best at bullying everyone but no one must insult him? If he’s fearless, he should learn to be unaffected by insults. Besides, how can truths be offending?” I was 150 on the overall ranking of Grade 12. He’s 153 but of the 11th Grade! He failed last year, so…

“You’re on 150. I could never imagine myself going down to 10.”

My steps faltered at the insult. “H-Hey! That’s…”

She halted and blankly watched my stunned expression. “The truth. Are you offended?... You can insult Shin, but not to his face. Or as long as no one would report to him. You see, he’s obsessed at showing his authority.”

I rolled my eyes and began to walk again. She stepped on my side. “Will you really move forward to the wedding? I can’t imagine being engaged to him. I’m lucky my parents are not into a marriage of convenience. I’d rather marry—”

“An out-of-school?” she interrupted with a raised of her brow. I failed to realize that I must have offended her with my blabbering. “He’s kicked out from every school enrolled. At least Hyoshin is a high-class troublemaker. What are you thinking making a street gangster a boyfriend.”

I widened my eyes at her. She shrugged. “Lower your voice, Abella. Someone might hear you,” I hissed.

“Hyoshin’s character is rotten but my family and I can still be proud to be engaged to him. Unlike you."

Frustrated, I groaned loudly, catching the attention of anyone walking in the hallway. “Darn it! I get it now, okay? You two are meant to be! A perfect couple. Wow! Such a rear gem!”

Her brows knitted together. I rolled my eyes and walked past her in irritation.

“Are you coming this weekend?” she asked behind me.

I spun around, and my hair flew around me. “No! Stop inviting me, or I’ll ruin your party!”

“The more reason for you to attend.” She nodded.

My nose scrunched up before turning my back to her and continued down the hall. She wanted me to ruin the party. Why can’t she do it herself? Why does she have to throw him a party just to spite him? I would never understand their relationship! They obviously were against the engagement. Why not call it off? I hate Shin to the bone but I would never purposely want to be at the receiving end of his bullying. I just lost it earlier. In fact, he was still being kind to me. Knowing the worse of him, he could have spilled the food on my face.

After class dismissal, I retrieved the same books from my lockers for my self-study at Bree’s. I was waiting for Randy at the driveway when I caught Levi’s familiar Audi parked across the road. My anxiety level reached the sky. After checking that the other students were not paying close attention, I left the waiting area and crossed the road.

His friends should be stepping out at the sight of me moving towards them if they were in the car. Since no one was moving out, I could tell Levi was alone. He only opened the door when I was standing in front of the front door. The students could not see him from there but they could see him. That was better than any of them recognizing him as the ‘elite’s street gangster’. He had few friends at school through business partners. Although I could tell those kids were warned by their parents to stay away from Levi Suarez, most of them were simply thrilled to be with his company. Imagine breaking all the rules without being caught. Somehow, I realized it was one reason why I was with him.

How does it feel to be like those kids who cared less about rules? Our environment in IHM and at home was often uptight. We’re expected to act accordingly to promote peace and order, to be a good example for present and future business deals. Meanwhile, Levi and his group had so much time to unwind. All they needed was money and cars to go anywhere they wanted, to try new things. Never feared being caught knowing their parents would always back them up. What a headache to the parents, yes. But, it was indeed exhilarating to be… completely free. Right?

“Lev,” I called in a low voice as though anyone could hear me from here, which was impossibe. He bleached his wild hair—two silver piercings on both ears and one on the corner of his lips. I blinked as my heart thud. This looked meant he had a brawl with his parents and he wanted to spite them. There was a bruise on his left cheekbone, although it was healing. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s with the surprise? I thought you’d be excited to see me. It’s more than a week, Rox.”

Heavy stone was in my throat. I shifted on my feet as I struggled to gulp it down.

“No?” he prompted and raised a brow. The smile was in his eyes was gradually fading. “You don’t miss me?... Anyway, just get in. Let’s go somewhere else again. I’m not in the mood to fight you now. My parents are giving me a hard time again. I just sneaked out with my car. I badly wanted to be somewhere else. Let’s go.”

“I…” I bit my lower lip. “We’re not fighting, Levi. It’s just…”

“You’re not coming?” he noticed my reluctance.

“You see, we involved someone innocent the last time and—”

He chuckled with humor. “You involved him, Rox. I had no idea about your plans. You just did it. That’s smart of you, though.”

“But I regret it now, Lev,” I admitted. “I was in panic. I—”

“Get in, Rox. You can tell me about it on the road.”

I blinked and fell silent for seconds. He would be mad for sure. And I didn’t know how to tell him that I wasn’t coming. I nervously glanced at the driveway. Randy was still nowhere. “I… I’ve been busy now. My dad wants me to retake the test. I’m sure it’ll be different content and I have to work—”

“Is that why you have them?” He jerked his chin to the books on my chest. There was disinterest in his eyes. August naturally had no interest in me because I was a stranger. Suddenly, I was seeing the comparison with their indifference at me. Levi was supposed to be much welcoming since I was his girlfriend. “You can study while—” His hands reached out to grab the book from me but I stepped away from his hold. A deep crease instinctively formed on his forehead.

“I can’t go with you today, Lev. I’m sorry. I need to undo my mistake and also prepare for two exams.”

“What?”

“I also promised Sandro I would not meet you and—”

He chuckled and shook his head. His eyes watched me like I was stupid or something. “Those promises helped you get away. You don’t have to fulfill them. They must be broken at all times. Come on! Promises are for fools. You know that!”

Someone must have poured me a bucket of cold water. I felt the chill numbing my bones. Is that why he changed his mind last week? He promised he would help me out of this situation. I was terrified by the test result. He knew it. He witnessed it. He reassured me he would help me. But he wasn’t being serious with his promise, I see. What do I expect anyway? It wasn’t like this was the first time? I turned blind from all his smart reasonings and now…

“I’m not coming with you. I’m sorry,” I said with finality. My voice came out surprisingly cold, too.

“Why be sorry when you meant it?” he said matter of fact and with irritation dripping on his tone. “What’s with you today? Don’t tell me you’re still mad because we didn’t leave? I made you choose, remember? I told you why we couldn’t run away.”

“You made me believe we could,” I reasoned out through gritted teeth.

He was taken aback by my response but he quickly composed himself with a shrug. “I lied, okay? I wanted you to calm down. You looked like you were going to faint with fear. It’s just test results—look, you can even retake them? What’s with the fuss now?... If you want, we can get away today. Be gone for days but we cannot stay away for too long, okay? I’ll just need to make some sense out of my parents.”

It was a punch in the stomach. Was I blind? Why have I never noticed that he never cared? All he cared about was himself? How would he make his parents succumb to his wishes so that he could continue with that useless life?

I sighed heavily. I was just irritated. My mind was haywire and I didn’t want to throw it at him. “I love you, Lev—”

“I love you, too,” he said in a breath, almost uncaring, as though he cared less at the meaning behind those words. “Get in, Rox. We cannot stay here for too long—”

A shrilling horn came from the car that pulled next to the Audi. It’s our BMW. My heart leaped inside my chest as Sandro stepped out and shut the door with a thud. Levi quickly started his car engine and let out a curse.

“Let’s go, Rox. Let’s—” he was cut short when I left him and walked towards Sandro. I closed my eyes as Levi irritatedly shouted for my name. He shouted profanities as I walked past his car. Tires screeched aggressively against the asphalt road as he drove away. Sandro was scowling at me but I walked past him and got on the backseat without waiting for him to open the door for me. I threw the books on the space next to me and looked up at Randy.

“I’ll stay at the cafe again,” I told him before Sandro got on the front seat. I hustled on the corner and kept my eyes at the window while his disappointed and angry eyes bore into me.