The Commoner's Notebook

Chapter Two: The First and Second

Hindi sinag ng araw, hindi tunog ng alarm clock, o ang matinis na boses ni Ate ang nakapag pagising saakin. It just happened. When I opened my eyes, a pair of eyes is staring intently at me.

"Good morning, Ma." I said in my raspy voice and immediately sat. There's only two reason why Mom is the first thing I've seen at the morning, first, it's urgent, second, it's bad.

"Henssy, get ready, we have something to talk about.

Iyon lang at nilisan n'ya ang kwarto.

Though I'm still half awake, cause it's literally 5:30, who's awake at this early in her uniform? Only mom. Even her so called son, Troy, doesn't wake this early. Ewan ko ba kay Mama, may issue ata na maunahan sa paggising.

Habang nag ma-mouth wash ay napaisip pa ako kung ano bang gusto n'yang pag usapan? What did I do again? Is this the vandal I made one week ago? Or my abscence this past few days? Or is it about my purchase of Nintendo Gravitational Controller? Pinag-ipunan ko naman yun ah!

Aaaaand, turns out it's both. Ano pa bang aasahan ko, kalahi ata ni Mama si Nostradamus.

"So you stole my prostethic, nagkalat ka sa mansion ng mga Federer, at ngayon ay tatlong araw kang absent? Excuse letter na ano? Na may sakit ka eh kahapon nga lang grabe pa ang pagtalon-talon mo sa badminton akala ko kung napano ka na!"

I pursed my lips in guilt... Napatingin ako sa plato ko na puno ng fried rice, na-guilty narin tuloy ako na kumuha ng ulam.
"Papasok naman na po ako ngayon, Ma."

"Dapat lang!" She told me. Kami lang ang nasa dining kaya't walang sumasabat sa usapan, which is si Dad, at walang kumakampi sa'kin which is si Ate.

"Siguraduhin mo, Henssy. Because from now on you are under the provision of 1-A section!"

My head flew at her. "What!"

"Yes. You. Heard. Me. Right."

"No, Mom! That's cheating!"

"Anak, come on. Mas magtitino ka sa 1-A. You won't slack off like this. I know you can do better but all you do is fail your test!" Pinanlakihan pa ako nito ng mata.

"Ma, pa'no sina Jean!"

"Eh di ililipat ko rin sila sa 1-A!"

"Stop using your prodigy privilage! Especially to me!"

Huminga ito ng malalim, stared at me intensely while sipping her tea and clearing her throat saka malakas na inilapag ang tasa sa lamesa at tinignan ulit ako ng matiim.

"The thing here, my child. Kapag nasa 1-A ka, mas marami ang opportunity na papasok sa'yo. Good quality rin yun sa future personal information mo. Idlanto University, 1-A graduate..." She reached my hand resting on the table. "I cannot just let you ruin your life because of your pet peeves with the prodigies. Sure, they can be annoying. But it's not enough for your life to just live in their shadow. I'm proud with your little achievements, anak. So please, don't try defaming the Federer again."

Napaisimid ako at sinubukang kainin ang nasa hapag. It's tasteless against my taste bud as I stared past at her back kung saan may isang malaking shelf na naglalaman ng mga awards at pictures n'ya, kasama si Troy, o mag isa. Katabi naman nito, palapit sa gitna ay mga awards naman ni Papa mula sa pagiging politician n'ya, sunod ay kahit hindi kasing rami ng mga awards nina Papa ay marami parin, mula naman sa mga writing contest na sinalihan ni Ate.