Chapter 2

A for Ambiguous

Flashback

10 years ago

I was walking in the hallway carrying a sandwich bag and a can of soda. I was looking for a perfect spot I want to eat my snack with. I found a line of the empty bench facing the baseball court. No one was watching the practice game aside from a girl staring into the abyss. I never saw her before. Is she a transferee? She’s not focusing on the game, and I guess since the player made a home run, she didn’t even flinch. I took a seat, one bench away from her. I don’t want to be a nuisance since I think we want some time alone.

I opened my soda and took a mouthful bite of my sandwich. This is what my high school life looks like. It’s not boring. It’s just peaceful like I want it to be. I have friends, but they’re not like those friends I hang out with.

It’s the first month of my last year, and I think I did well for the four years I’ve been here. It looks like I have to graduate with not much of a memory to remember. At least I did well for surviving this far from all the troubles like other kids. As long as I could, I have to get away from all the troubles. That’s one of my mom’s wishes. I’m not that kind of a guy who would be subject to bullying since I’m tall and neither fat nor thin. I want to thank my father for giving me his genes.

I took the last bite of my sandwich and drank my soda. I saw a tall guy made another home run for his team, and his mates came running towards him. They were doing their high fives, and some tapped his back. A sign of victory, I thought. I turned my head to the girl who was watching with me here before. She’s gone. I was relieved. If she’s still here, I don’t want to start a conversation anyway about the game. It would be awkward.

The game was over, and the tall guy who made the last home run went out of the court carrying his sports bag. Some girls ran over to him, giving him kinds of stuff. So that’s where the crowd’s been watching. I know him. He’s a guy in the first section, a senior just like me. Well, some boys were born to be a campus heartthrob, and he’s like that. That’s the last thing I want to be.

I put my trash on a trash bin and walked away. I’m going back to our classroom since the bell just rang. I saw a girl running through the hallway as some policemen chased her. I know her. She’s Audina Morris. She’s one of our school troublemakers. She was supposed to graduate last year, but she didn’t make it due to her suspension. Now she has to take some supplemental classes’ to graduate this time.

I immediately moved over since I don’t want to bump into her, but she did. Is it on purpose? I don’t know.

“I’m sorry. Can you hide this?” she asked me while showing me a folded piece of paper.

She didn’t let me speak and hurriedly slip the paper into my pocket.

“Thank you.” She was about to run when someone called her name.

“Ms. Morris! Stop where you are right now!” Our Prefect of Discipline shouted out as soon as she saw her. She ran away again as fast as she could and laughed so hard at the end of the hallway before she made a turn.

“Did she give you something?” The Prefect asked me.

“No. We just bumped with each other,” I lied.

“Okay, now go back to your room. The bell just rang,” He commanded.

“Yes, sir.” All I could say before heading to my classroom.

“Hey, I saw Audi running in the hallway. I bet she broke another rule.” I heard one of my classmates whispered to her friends.

“Yes, and it was the Prefect chasing her this time.”

“Is it something serious?”

“I heard she stole the answer key for the upcoming exam next week.”

“What?”

I went to where my desk is, and my heartbeat went faster when I remembered Audi slid something in my pocket. My hands were shaking while I secretly opened the paper she gave me. And may God forgive me from all the curses I said inside my head when I saw it was the answer keys summarized on that small piece of paper.

-0-0-0-

Present

“So you’re an accountant. Wow, you’re good at balancing?” she asked.

Our food arrived 5 minutes after we ordered them. Kitchie ordered chicken pesto, and so I did. I really want to eat pasta for 3 days now, and I never had the time to order some even on weekends.

I laughed at her question and said, “I guess you could say that.”

She’s not what I thought she was. She’s sweet, kind, and she always smiles. It’s far from what I imagined, and this date is not like the other dates my mom set me up.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, but you’re likable. How come you go on set-up dates?” She mentioned earlier that her mom is just like my mom, setting her up for dates, even if she doesn’t want to.

“Actually, I never go on all the dates my mom set me up. I usually do a little research about the man who set me up with.”

I stopped. So she had a little background check about me? In just that short period of time?

“And yes, I know something about you. Just a little bit, though, since I still want to hear some stories from you.” She chuckled.

“Wow! I’m sorry all I did was to guess about the candy, and I bought it just this lunch break since I only got a call from my mom when I arrived at my workplace.” I told her.

“Yeah, I told mom I have to check you out first before calling it a go.” She looked me in the eyes as she said those words. She’s honest.

I was hurt since it was a bit unfair. What if she didn’t like me?  Maybe this date never happened in the first place. At the same time, I was thankful she did that. At least I know I have passed her initial screening.

“I guess I have something you’re curious about since you’re okay with this meetup, and you said you want to hear some stories from me?” I asked.

She smiled and faced her plate. She rolled the pasta on her fork and ate it like how a princess of England eat her pasta.

“You know Audina Morris?” she asked.

I remember that loud woman. Who the hell can forget that troublemaker? I looked at her and saw her sweet smile again. She never gets tired of smiling, didn’t she?

“Yes.”

“She’s my cousin. We graduate from the same university in college, and the moment I told her about mom setting me up with you, she laughed hard and said, you’re a funny guy.”

She what? If Audi is her source of information and told something about me, I could end up dying without even trying to die. That woman can make a story exaggerated as it looks like.

“Your face is red. Are you okay?”

Of course, I’m not if it is Audi who we’re talking about.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I lied.

“She said you’d been friends since high school with four other people, and that made her high school days even louder.”

-0-0-0-

Flashback

“Audi is suspended for two weeks. My mom told me she would be given a special exam.”

I heard rumors about the girl I saw running in the hallway at break time. The paper piece is still in my pocket, and I don’t know what to do with it. I guess I have to dispose of it when I get home. Luckily the class was over for this day, and I hurriedly went to the locker room to gather my things. I can’t even think straight when I was in class. I have a piece of information I should never have. I feel like I was a criminal on the run.

I was surprised, almost jumped on my feet when a girl was standing behind my locker door. I think I’ve seen her somewhere.

“I know you have it. I saw it,” she said in a lifeless tone.

Oh! She’s the girl on the bench watching the baseball game.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

She smiled and asked me a question I should never have answered if this piece of paper was never in my possession.

“I’ll give your name to our Prefect of Discipline, or you hand it over and come with me?” Her lifeless tone has a deepness that could make you shiver in fear. Who is this girl?

As someone who lived life as peaceful as it was and wants to live that life as long as he can, of course, I choose the latter.