Chapter 7

"Hindi ako makapaniwala na nakausap ko si Ajax, hindi lang 'yon, muntik ko pa siya makasabay

sa pagpasok," sabi sa isip ni Itzy. She leaned her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her

palm as she gazed out the classroom window.

Her seat was located at the back of the classroom, near the window, so she could see the view

outside.

"Aish!" Agad nagbago ang posisyon niya, hawak na niya ngayon ang kaniyang buhok dahil sa

inis. "Kung hindi ko pa na-realize agad na naglalakad ako kasabay si Ajax, maaaring makita

kaming dalawa ni Loxley at ang grupo niya. Kung nangyari 'yon baka umuwi na naman ako na

maraming pasa sa katawan," sabi pa niya sa kaniyang isip. Pumikit siya ng mariin nang

ma-imagine ang posibleng mangyari kung nahuli sila ni Loxley.

"She must be crazy, look at her pulling her own hair," one of her classmates said, while making

fun of her.

"Na-miss niya ba ang pananabunot ni Loxley ng buhok niya kaya siya na ngayon ang

gumagawa sa sarili niya?" Tugon naman ng isa pa sa kaniyang mga ka-klase.

"Has she gone mad? Oh, it's so scary," sabi ng isa pa.

As soon as Itzy heard that her classmates were talking about her, she sat up straight and slowly

scanned the classroom with her eyes. Most of her classmates glared at her with disgust and

irritation. After a few moments, the class president stood up from her seat and approached her.

Itzy smiled, thinking that the president would defend her, as she often did. But to her surprise,

the president slapped her.

SLAP!

Dahil sa lakas ng sampal na kaniyang natamo ay nahulog siya sa kaniyang inuupuan. Gulat na

napahawak si Itzy sa kaniyang pisngi at dahan-dahan na napalingon sa class president. Kita

niya ang nag-aapoy na galit sa mga mata nito.

"P-Pres," hindi makapaniwalang bulong ni Itzy.

Wala naman siyang ginawa na ikagagalit nito kaya sobra ang pagtataka niya. Lagi siya nito

pinagtatanggol tuwing nagkaroroon ng bulungan o kapag binabato siya ng kaniyang mga

classmates ng masasamang salita, pati na rin kapag may nagsimula bigla ng away sa kaniya.

Ito ang unang beses niya makatanggap ng sampal sa taong akala niya ay kakampi niya. Pero

may kakampi nga ba talaga siya sa loob ng paaralan na ito?

Hindi lamang siya ang nagulat sa pagsampal sa kaniya ng presidente nila, kun'di maging ang

mga kaklase niya. Dahil na saksihan ng mga ito kung paano siya ipagtanggol nito lagi. May

napatakip pa sa kani-kanilang bibig habang nanlalaki ang mga mata dahil sa gulat. Nagkaroon

din ng bulong-bulungan sa paligid, sinasabi na baka nagsawa na sa pagtatanggol ang president

sa kaniya.

"Or baka naman nandidiri na rin sa kaniya si Ms. Pres," bulong ng isa.

Nagkibit-balikat ang katabi ng babae at sinabi, "Probably. Kahit sino naman ay aayaw na

lumapit sa kaniya. Just a look at her face makes me want to vomit."

The other one laughed. "I know right? Yucky~"

"Silence!" Sigaw ng president dahilan para tumahimik ang paligid.

Nanatiling nakaupo sa sahig si Itzy habang naiiyak na nakatingala kay president. Umigting ang

bagang ng babae at nag-squat para maging ka-level niya si Itzy. She grabbed her chin and

slapped her one more time.

"Oh~" the whole class hissed in unison.

Ang kanina pang luha na pinipigilan ni Itzy ay tumulo na. Hindi dahil sa sakit ng sampal ng

presidente ngunit dahil naramdaman niyang pinagtaksilan siya.

She slowly turned to the president, tears streaming down her cheeks, and asked, "D-Did I do

something to upset you?"

The president smirked and replied, "Sasampalin ba kita kung wala? Who do you think you are?

Huh?!"

Without warning, the president slapped her again, hitting both her cheeks.

"Stop! Stop it!" Itzy screamed in despair, pleading for the president to stop.

The president finally ceased her assault as blood began to form on Itzy's cheek.

She tried to collect herself and wipe away the tears, but they just kept flowing. Itzy could feel the

eyes of her classmates on her, and the humiliation only added to her pain. She knew that she

needed to leave the room before she completely lost her composure, but her legs refused to

move.

"Cry more! You deserve to receive a slap from me!" The president exclaimed, her eyes were full

of anger.

"I don't understand why you're so angry," she replied, her head bowed in exhaustion from the

slap. "I didn't do anything wrong, and no one deserves to be slapped for no reason." Tears

streamed down her face as she continued, "I trusted you and thought you were different from

everyone else. But it seems like I was wrong, and I feel foolish for believing in you. How foolish

of me to think that I have someone by my side."

She snapped. She grabbed her hair to make her look at her. "How dare you talk back to me?

You don't deserve any of this, you say? Well, you won't deserve this if you haven't talked to

Ajax! How dare you smile at him? How dare you walk together with him!"

Her eyes widened as the realization hit her. So it was because of Ajax. She thought that no one

had seen them and she assumed that only Loxley and her group would be angry if they found

out, but she didn't know that their class president had a crush on Ajax, and she had hurt her

feelings by talking to him.

Gayunpaman, hindi niya kasalanan lahat ng iyon, wala siyang kasalanan. Hindi siya ang

nagsimula ng usapan. Si Ajax iyon, kasalanan ni Ajax ang pakikipag-usap sa kanya.

"What? I-d-deny mo ba? Kitang-kita ng dalawang mata ko ang pang-lalandi mo may Ajax! At

wala kang maitatanggi dahil may kuha ako ng litrato niyo," she said and took her phone out of

her pocket. She opened the phone and showed the image of Itzy and Ajax talking.

Her eyes widened even further as she reached for the cellphone, but the president quickly

pulled her hand away, avoiding her grasp.

"N-No..." She shook her head, and the tears flowed down her cheeks again. "Erase that! I

wasn't the one who approached him! H-He talked to me first!" She tried to defend herself, but

the president wasn't convinced.

"Who do you think you are to tell me what to do? And don't blame Ajax; you brought it on

yourself. I'll send this picture to Loxley, and I'll wait to see what happens next," she said,

standing up to turn away. She was about to start walking when Itzy hugged her legs to stop her.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing? Let go of me!"

But instead, she even hugged her legs tightly. "I won't let you. D-Don't send it to Loxley. I won't

let you send it."

"Fuck!" The president cussed. "Grab her this instant and stomp on her! I don't care what will

happen to her after this. Do it while the professor hasn't arrived yet," the president ordered the

whole class.

Upon hearing her statement, the entire class proceeded to remove Itzy's arms from around the

president's legs. Once successful, they proceeded to stomp on Itzy, one by one, until she lost

consciousness. Instead of taking her to the infirmary for medical attention, they simply returned

her to her desk and positioned her as if she were taking a nap, continuing with class as normal.

Walang kamalay-malay ang mga guro na sinaktan si Itzy at ipinagpalagay na natutulog lang

siya.

"W-What should we do? It's time to go home, but Itzy still hasn't woken up yet." One of the

students who stomped over to her asked.

Lahat sila ay nakapaligid sa kaniya. Ang iba ay puno ng kaba at takot ang dibdib, habang ang

iba naman ay walang pakialam sa maaaring mangyari.

"I... I-I didn't stomp on her that hard," the other person said, sounding scared.

"What? I saw you stomping her head, you know?" The other one said, crossing her arms.

"Perhaps you're the reason that she lost consciousness."

"No way! I'm going home, wala akong kinalaman dito!" Sabi ng babae ngunit bago pa man siya

makalakad ay hinarangan na siya ng isa pa.

"Saan ka pupunta? Walang uuwi hangga't hindi pa natin alam ang gagawin sa babaeng 'yan. At

anong sabi mo? Wala kang kinalaman? Kasasabi lang ni Emma na tinapakan at sinipa mo ang

ulo niya kanina."

"T-That... Hindi 'yon totoo!" Deny niya ngunit wala ni-isa ang gusto maniwala sa kaniya.

"Manahimik kayo, pwede ba?" Pagpapatahimik sa kanila ng president.

"Bakit kayo nagsisisihan? Hindi ba't si Ms. Pres ang dapat na sisihin natin? Inutusan niya tayo

na gawin 'yon!" Sabi ng isa na sinang-ayunan naman ng lahat.

The president turned to her and asked, "Huh? Sino namang tanga ang sumunod sa sinabi ko?

At hindi ba lagi niyo siyang binu-bully? Kung maglabas ako ng salita sa dean, sino sa tingin mo

ang paniniwalaan sa'ting dalawa? Ikaw na simpleng estudyante o ako na honor student?"

"M-marami kami at isa ka lang! Malamang paniniwalaan nila ang marami kaysa sa'yo!" Tugon

niya, hindi maitatago ang kaba sa dibdib dahil alam niyang may point ang sinabi ng president.

"Oh, really? Marami akong proof nang pang-b-bully niyo, tingin mo paniniwalaan pa rin kayo?

Aakalain lang nila na gusto niyo ako paalisin sa eskwelahan na ito dahil marami akong proof ng

pang-b-bully niyo."

"Tama na nga 'yan. Wala tayo sa posisyon para magsisihan, lahat tayo ay may kasalanan. Ang

dapat nating iniisip ay kung anong gagawin kay Itzy," suggestion ng isa pa.

"We don't have to bother ourselves with that. Let's just go home," said the president. The group

of students standing with her exchanged uneasy glances.

"What? Are you serious? Paano kung mabahong amoy ang sumalubong sa'tin bukas pagpasok

dahil namatay ang isang 'yan dito?"

"If you want to call an ambulance for her, then go ahead. I'm going home," the president

responded, turning away. Everyone followed her with their eyes and eventually ran after her,

leaving Itzy alone in the cold classroom.