Jian

Thursday. 04:30am. I checked my phone before leaving my boarding house. I have to go to the Division of Student Affairs for my duty. I have been one of their student assistants for a semester and now, on my second. I started working here when I was in my 2nd year second sem. I'm 3rd year now. My duty is from 5:00am to 6:00am, every office days. The monetary assistance is too petty but it helps me sustain my everyday needs.

My out was my breakfast time, it is uaually the arrival of the DSA head, Sir Dizon, he had always been kind and generous enough to treat me. He had always told me that I should accompany him in breakfast since he doesn't want to eat alone, but I know that he only said that because he knew that I wouldn't want him to treat me, and by saying that he needs company. I wouldn't be able to decline.

After breakfast I headed to my classroom. As usual I was early for my class. It has always been a 15-30 minute wait before the 7am class. I was alone for a couple of minutes when finally another classmate came. My head was titled while reading my notes. I didn't know who came but I saw the lower part of the body and it was a female. I sensed her moving and sat at the corner chair at the back. I lifted my head to see. I usually nod or give a gesture of recognition, but when I looked at her she automatically looked away. It was Via. Via decided to look outside the window. It was uneasy for her so I decided to pretend like it was nothing.

I just remembered we are classmatesin this subject. She's graduating and shouldn't have a minor subject anymore but I heard that she unofficially dropped a minor subject before which is a prerequisite of another minor subject that she needed to re-enroll it and now she needs to make up with her other minor subjects which has been left behind. I know that she's intelligent that is why I wonder what happened. She's pretty laid back at class, not participating if not asked to. But so far her recitations were good, her quizzes were good and her exams were good. Anyway, we hardly talk at class, there were times that we talked out of discussion. There was a time I asked her something because we were both leaders for an activity. I also remembered asking her stand about the liberarting the minds of the youth. Well all those conversations were always related to this subject, Ethics, so I've come to wonder, is being my classmate the reason why she started to like me?

At 5:30pm, I was able to see Via again. Again, I wouldn't have noticed if it didn't happen--the keychain thing. We meet twice a week for daily meetings. The College Peer Facilitators, the College Publication, the College Student Government and the College Performing Arts/Visual Arts, organizes the College Foundation Day Event Annually every first semester of the school year. The meetings does take place too to talk about other events in the college. Via happens to be the literary editor of the Publication and a visual arts member and I am the college treasurer and part of the college peer facilitators. Via is slightly different from the Via at Ethics and Via in the College Orgs. I theorize that its' maybe bacause she is more comfortable since she has her friends around her. At the Org, she tends to be more chatty and lively. She still is bounded by an invisible wall for those she's not close to. But she's less restricted this time.

Sometimes I'd see her look at me but then she turns away. Its just fascinating how someone I wasn't really familiar with becomes an object of my observation. The meeting ended just fine and Via and I need not to talk.

The day was genuinely pleasant until Ceci's appearance. She waited outside the office and now she's asking me to talk to her. It has been three months, three months that we hadn't seen eachother.

. . . . .

After the conversation that we had, everything at work seem passing. I'm pretty tired but I still have to go to my part-time job here at a local small chicken fastfood near the campus. Everyday I come to work from 7 to 10. My mind has been floating. I am no longer sure what I feel. I got destructed though when I noticed a group of girls passing by. Via and the rest of the gang. I looked at them and they seem to have decided to eat here. But Via seem hesitant about it. They were pushing her to go inside but she tried to resist. I've always seen them here, they have been a regular costumer, but I guess Via no longer wants to.

Krys noticed that I was looking at them and told the other girls. They waved and "hi" except Via, who just gave a nod and hurriedly ran away.