Black Sheep

Chapter 3

Academia de Santa Ines
14 years ago

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit

"What do you think?" he asked.

He watched her as she stood at the edge of the stairway, peering over the top step and the clear 'No Entry' sign roped across it. She walked toward the little parapet, terminating in the school's water tank mounted three meters above them.

"I don't think we should be here, SJ. What if Ma'am Ybiernas sees?"

"It's the Angelus, none of them are supposed to be moving." He reached out a hand to help her over the rope. Despite it being blazing noon, the tank afforded them cool shade from the sun. He sat against the wall and she followed beside him.

"You want?" She pushed her lunchbox toward him, not meeting his eye.

"No, thank you. I'm not hungry."

"It's lunch break, SJ. Don't be silly." When she glanced at him, it was as if the sight burned, because her cheeks turned red. She fumbled with the bag's zipper and pulled out a yellow plastic container of rice, and an identical one with hotdogs, bright red and wrinkled. "Let's share."

"Thank you," he said, taking the proffered fork. "I will make up for it. Treat you to fishballs after school?"

"I shouldn't--"

"You promised to walk with me," he said, hoping fiercely that she wouldn't go back on her word. "Besides, don't believe what your tita says. You will not get typhoid from Manong Doods' fishballs. I swear -- I've been eating them every day since grade 3 and I've never gotten sick."

She rewarded him with a soft smile, and that was enough to make his heart dance in his chest.

They ate together, sharing sips from her thermos filled with sweet Sunny orange. The Angelus was still going on.

"SJ?" she asked.

"Mm?"

"Why do you..." She swallowed thickly. "I mean...you know you'll get in trouble when you answer back at the teachers. But you still do. Why?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "I can't help it. Sometimes...sometimes they say things that really make me mad."

"Like when Sir Lim said the kodigo belonged to Andre?"

He nodded. "Everyone knows it was Migs and his friends who were exchanging kodigo; they were all so rowdy during the exam. But because it's everyone's favorite Migs, no one suspects him. But when they throw their cheat code away and it happens to land near Andre's desk, suddenly he's the culprit? The guy doesn't even talk most of the time."

"Still. You shouldn't have called Sir Lim a power-tripper in front of everyone in the class."

The back of his neck would turn raw if he didn't stop rubbing it. It was only noon and he had already visited the principal's office. The principal had also promised to call his parents, so he had another lovely sermon, perhaps an encyclopedia volume thrown at him too, to look forward to after school.

"You're right. I shouldn't have said that." He sighed. "I wish I was more like you, Ling."

"Me?"

"You're so good. Like a saint. I bet you'll go straight to heaven when you die."

"Why are we talking about dying?" She shuddered, but smiled when he realized what he'd said. "I'm only they way I am because I don't want to get into trouble." She twisted the hem of her blouse. "I don't want to be noticed."