“I'm out!”

I organize my backpack for a comfortable carry. It contains all my notebooks and essential items.

We do have an old locker in our classroom; however, due to the sheer number of books, fitting my notebook in there has become impractical.

“Take care kuya Mark~!” Crystal shouts from the kitchen. She still has some household tasks to do before leaving to school.

I should be helping her but she requested to be the one to handle any chores at home few years ago and that I don't need to help. I am not sure what she wants but it's fine by me.

After she left, no one will be at home from 08:30 - 17:00.

My father who is a doctor in Manila so he rarely goes home, while my mother is a sales manager that works from 09:00 - 22:00 so she's still fast asleep right now. 

The one who's frequently at home is Crystal. She's not the type to hang around like any other highschool girls.

I'm wondering if she doesn't have any friends. And what the hell is she even doing everytime she's alone at home?

Well, uh, she's a teenager. I should leave her alone.

Anyway, it's fine if she's a homegirl. It's dangerous to be out there.

Although our city has a low crime rate, it is not free of crime. I rather have my little sister at home rather than her hanging around outside.

In that alley, there's an aunty cleaning there at this time. It's not her job, it's because her mini-store is in that alleyway.

It's too silent and I can barely see any soul, even though there should be kids playing here and there.

Looks like the murders scared the hell out of them. Even though there's no report of any incident of murder in our district for years, people are still scared to go out. The perpetrator is pretty brutal after all. And they're out there walking in the street freely.

“Hmm?”

In this lone street, there's one grandma squatting on the ground seemingly trying to get something from a crevice.

She doesn't look too old and in fact, it's obvious that she's beautiful when she was young. Her aged hair has still some visible blue strands in it as well.

“Grandma, what's wrong?”

“Ehm... I dropped a coin and it got stuck in there,” she looks confuse then she points at the crack on the ground.

“Oh I see. I'll take it from here. I see that you're having a hard time bending your back so please leave it to me.”

“Eh, but—”

“It will be more troublesome if you get injured grandma fufufufufufu...” she's going to refuse so I interrupted her immediately.

I squat down and shove my finger into the crack. Agh bloody hell, this crevice is moldy.

Oh, got it.

I give the 10 peso coin to the grandma, “It's kind of dirty.”

She leaves my arm hanging in the air and takes a handkerchief from her basket instead. She takes the coin from me and passes the handkerchief to me, “Thank you thank you.. Wash your hand and use this to wipe it dry. I'm really sorry for the trouble..”

I took it with my clean left hand and wave my right hand at her, “Please don't mind it. It's no big deal for me.”

“Hahahahahaha,” she's laughing when she suddenly becomes flustered.

“Ai! I need to hurry home..Thank you again. God bless you dear! Ah.. My son is probably hungry..”

“Ah— Wait! Where should I return this....?”

There she goes. She's gone. And oh she's pretty quick and agile given her age fufufufu.

Fuu~ I study her handkerchief carefully. It's made of silk and there's a beautiful embroidery of some sort of flower on its corners. I think this is handmade.

After washing my hands, I ride a tricycle towards our school, dismounting in front of the main gate.

There's a familiar presence behind me so I turn around.

It's a friend.

He is two heads taller than me and much more masculine than I do. He's ripped and damn tall. Are you really a Filipino? Mixed blood I bet.

That tied long dark blue hair of his makes him looks like a little bit of a bad boy. He looks handsome and cool and I wouldn't be surprised if he has a secret admirer.

He's kinda friendly towards me but he's aloof and hostile toward others so people couldn't get near him easily.

I don't really know why but he said I ‘saved’ him in the past.

I'm sorry but I don't remember.

“Good morning Jeremy!”

“Ah, yes. Good morning as well Mark-kun. Nice weather isn't it?”

What's with that cliché line?

Well, I understand that you have a poor communication ability so I should take the lead.

I guess I should ask about his weekend. Though, I can already tell what he did and I doubt he spent time outdoor given that he's kind of unfriendly.

“Did you spent your weekend gaming again?”

“Eh? No, I went fishing with my father.”

Uwahh— I'm mistaken.

“Heh, isn't it good. Was it fun?”

“Ah yes. It was fun.”

After that, he narrates what happened with an obvious happiness.

“I wish you could come next time.”

“Alright! Just contact me by then.”

Several meters away from our classroom, Jeremy glares at someone that bumped on him and that guy freaks out.

He's really hostile.

Our chairs are arrange in rows which are parallel to each other. There's a long narrow gap in the center of our room that serves as our walking path which also divides the chairs into two clusters that act as the left and right wing.

My seat is at the center of the room in the left wing besides the center aisle.

I put my bag on my chair and my seatmate in my right pokes me,“Reverren, do you mind if I copy your homework?”

“I do mind it.”

“Come on. As a fellow weeb, won't you care for me?”

“No.”

“Please. Flag ceremony is about to start and I'm not done with my assignment yet. Do you want me to get scolded by ma'am Iris?” she shows me an expression of a pitiful girl.

“Yes.”

“How dare you?! You didn't even hesitate,” she punches me with punches as soft as a feather.

“Fufufufu— hmm?” I lift my head and there's a wild Rose in front of me. 

Her appearance is alluring. Golden long hair and golden eyes. She's tall and slender but have the right plumpness in the right places.

She's glaring at me with cold eyes though. But I know she's not actually a cold person. Deep inside, I know she's sweet and timid.

Her coldness is just a defensive mechanism she developed. Just like her name, she's like a rose. Beautiful and weak but thorny.

“What could I help you with?” I take the paper from her.

“I...” she's hesitating with slightly reddened face. Rose tries to take the paper back but I won't let her. Even though frustrated, she gives up, “Humph. Draw me something for activity two. Aren't you good at drawing?”

“Fuu~ Alright my dear Rose. What do you want me to draw?”

“Wh— D-Don't call me that!” she tries to punch me but I dodge.

“That's right, Reverren. Isn't she taken by that rich guy from Sebastien highschool? Why are you flirting with her? Just find somebody else lest you get yourself into trouble.”

“Who's flirting with who?!” Rose gets mad at her.

“Uh. Sorry sorry Sevada. I didn't mean to offend you.”

“Humph! Draw a cute anime girls that's exercising. You better draw it fast!” she glares at me again before leaving.

“Fufufufu. Alright my dear Rose.”

“Hmmm.”

“What's wrong?”

“Humph! Don't talk to me,” this seatmate of mine is acting cold all of sudden.

“What happened to you?”

She looks like she's copying Rose.

“Well you obeyed Rose even though she was being harsh. So I thought you prefer those who are harsh to you.”

“I'm not a masochist.”

I'm a sadomasochist. Do your research.

“Really? Ah! That's right. Aren't you also pursuing miss Hecate? So why are you still trying to flirt with Sevada?”

“Eli-chan is my girlfriend.”

And Rose is my ex-girlfriend.

“Yes yes. I understand. She's yours indeed. How long you'll keep that act up? I understand you two are pretty close friends but it's impossible she'll agree to be with you.”

Too bad you're mistaken.

“Wait. Did you misunderstand her amiability? She's like that to everyone you know? She doesn't like you at all. You'll just be hurt if you keep that delusion up.”

Bloody hell. You're pretty harsh aren't you. I won't let you copy my homework.

“Flag ceremony is about to start,” a classmate knocks on the door.

“!!” my seatmate flinches.

“Damn it Reverren! It's too late.”