Everything in Me

Chapter 5

Nanginginig na humawak sa aking kamay si Claire nang makita na halos agawan ng kulay ang mukha ng mga kaklase namin na sumabak sa defense. Nakatayo lang kami sa labas ng room habang naghihintay na matawag ang aming grupo. Tapos na si Jace at maayos ang kinalabasan kaya naman ang panagiti-ngiti na lamang ito.

 Kanina pa nagbabangayan ang dalawa sa tabi niya at pakiramdam niya ay mas lalo siyang nahilo. Pareho silang hindi mapakali, palakad-lakad si Claire at siya naman ay panay ang buntong hininga. 

I've been tapping my feet and scratching my arms to release stress and frustration. My arm was almost red when Kai who was standing beside me caught my hand and told me to stop because it will soon bleed if I won't. He held my trembling and sweaty hands to calm me down.  I know I could defend our paper without even giving too much effort, but my mind is messed up because I'm a one hell of an overthinker. 

"Hey," he whispered. "You remember what we practiced right?"

"Y-yeah, it's just I'm really panicking right now, sorry." 

"Hey, it's fine. I understand, just breath okay? Nothing will go wrong, we've practiced enough. Shake it off hun," he said while holding my shoulders and looking straight into my eyes then let go of me afterwards. 

He held my hand again as we sat together across the corridor."Hun?" Mas lalo yata sakong kinabahan. I could feel my heart doing a live drum solo. All Icould think was curses and how soft and huge his hands were. I even forgot for a moment that it would soon be our turn. I wanted to intertwine our fingers but I couldn't even move my hand. I just let it stay like that.

Claire who was frantically going over their paper smirked at me when she saw our hands. I quickly looked away to avoid her  teasing eyes. Claire's group was called so I stood up and hugged her before she went in. 

 I calmed myself and  went through my notes. I read the highlighted parts because it's easier to remember. I just have to use it to recall the whole context. 

"Fuck this up in front of him and you'll never see light again," I told herself and pulled every ounce of confidence I have left in my system before going back to our group. It was after awhile when Claire came out of the room with a little smile. I frowned and asked her what happened. Claire was about to answer when a woman's voice boomed in the hallway.

"You bitch!" Chiara, our classmate rushed towards us and went for Claire's hair. Good thing I was fast enough to hide Claire behind me back but my friend removed my grasp from her and lunged for Chiara.

Oh crap... this is bad.

"How dare you remove my name from the group?!" Chiara asked and tried to slap Claire but the latter was more swift to grab her opponent's hair and kick her legs to pin her on the floor. I just watched at the side and laughed internally. Chiara should've known who she was messing with. Claire could've easily broken her neck if she wanted to. 

"Tangina ka? Ano bang ambag mong gago ka? Ang kapal ng mukha mong magtanong eh ilang beses na kitang ni-remind ng part mo pero puro seen ang nakuha ko." She inhaled, trying to not overdo things. "I've been nothing but a patient and good leader to all of you but you're the only one who really had the audacity to come up to me and demand to include you when you didn't do anything!" Claire dipped Chiara's face on the floor even more.

Jace and Kai also watched with horror in their eyes, looking at how mad Claire was. Based on their looks, they pitied Chiara but knew she deserved it. The commotion attracted some attention and the panelists also checked on the scene. The two were separated and was sent to the OSA to fix the situation. Jace followed Claire and just wished me some luck.

The six of us stood up in front of the panelists and delivered our paper's important insights and briefed them about it. We were almost finished and was satisfied with our prof's reaction. After we defended our paper, the panelists just gave comments and asked a few questions which we answered well. They congratulated us and  called for the last group.

Sa wakas ay nakahinga na kami  pero nang maalala ni ko na nasa OSA nga pala ang kaibigan ko ay tumakbo ako papunta doon. Kai also ran with me and took my bag. Sa baba kami ng room naghintay kasama si Jace na hindi raw pinapasok. Paglabas nina Chiara at Claire ay nakataas pa rin kilay nung isa na ngali-ngaling itulak ni Claire para madapa.

"So what happened? Do you need a lawyer?" tanong ni Kai.

Tumawa si Claire at inaya kaming umalis na. "Gago hindi, okay na 'yun. Malinaw naman na walang ambag 'yong bruha. Na penalize lang ako fro creating a commotion."

"Ha? Eh di naman ikaw ang nanugod ah?" sabi ni Jace.

I stared at the Chiara's back, who was walking away from us but then turned around and gave us the finger. "Seems like she's asking for more. Should we give it to her?" tanong ko kay Claire.

Hinampas niya ako at pinandilatan ng mata. "Tange, 'di pwede baka malaman ng school, SC officer ka pa naman."

Naya rolled her eyes. "Bitch please, if I'm not smart enough to get away from trouble why even study?"

"Ah basta, 'wag na. Hayaan mo na 'yon, 'wag matigas ulo please lang, Naya."

The three looked at me and waited for me to say something. I reluctantly agreed not to do anything to Chiara. Nagyaya nalang si Jace na tumambay nalang muna kami sa may park at kumain ng street foods. Tamang kwentuhan nalang at asaran dahil wala namang binigay na gawain sa amin dahil kakatapos lang ng mini defense.