Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Mover: Episode II

            Ava—the daughter of the man who dared to expose the corrupt officials in the city, practically everybody knew who she was and what her father did. Her father was an idealistic lawyer, he worked hard and long to find ways to nail down those lowlife third-generation thieves. Though he successfully rounded up a few of them, he was found dead a few days later in his office. There was no evidence of murder and the cause of death was undisclosed, but he was still dubbed as a patriot and left a legacy that has been remembered since.
The instructor introduced herself as one Mrs. Enriquez. She then told the class to introduce their names and say something interesting about themselves.
When Ava was called in, it was not surprising to Ian when she said, “Hi! My name is Ava. Something interesting about me would be—that I want to marry a man like my father.”
Mrs. Enriquez smiled and declared, “Your father was a very brave man dear.”
Ava smiled back and replied, “I know.”
She always said the same thing whenever they were asked to introduce themselves in class, even back in high school. Ian thought that it may be the very reason why people thought that they didn’t stood a chance of getting her. He was not sure about it though, but as usual, he didn’t really care. The thought of exerting effort in order to make Ava think that he was as good as her father didn’t even cross his mind. He was not that desperate, but he has always felt protective whenever she was around. He would take on anybody who tried to hurt her—hell, he would even jump in front of a bullet for her. But apparently, none of those things have actually happened.
After all of the students were done introducing themselves, Mrs. Enriquez then announced early that they would have a project that was to be done by pair. Henry immediately signaled his hand to Ian as if to ensure that they would be partners. He then replied with a hesitant nod.
“But,” she added, “I will take the liberty of choosing your partner for you.” After she said that, the whole class immediately rebelled against the idea, whining and whining as if the world was going to end. But her decision was final and she began to announce who was partnered with whom.
Ian saw Henry praying and knew exactly what was on his mind. He knew that he was not asking God to have a partner that could do all of the work, his mind was too creative for that, but instead, he knew that he was praying to be partnered with that hot girl wearing a short skirt sitting at the back. Wishes granted, he gestured in utter amazement of his good fortune and then gave Ian a two-thumbs-up with a very wide smile.
She then continued, “Ian will be partnered with,” she flipped a page on her class record and frowned her eyes as if having a hard time reading that part. And as fate would have it, she finally announced, “Ava.”
His heart suddenly raced as he cut his breath short. His eyes widened in disbelief. He never even expected this to happen, the odds were just—too low. Out of all the forty-four classmates that he had, it was her. He saw her turn around and wave at him as if she was excited. He tried to wave back, but he didn’t remember whether or not he actually did. He then turned to Henry and saw him holding out his notebook that had a message saying good luck in capital letters. He knew the bastard was being sarcastic.

It turned out that Ian and Ava had the same schedule, so they were pretty much classmates in all their subjects. Henry on the other hand had a few different classes because he was enrolled in a different course. Ian would look forward to these periods wherein Henry wasn’t around, so he could stare at Ava without Henry teasing him or something. Though Ian may seem passive in class sometimes, he’s actually very smart. Every time a teacher calls his attention to answer a question, most of the time he knows the answer. But Ian was not the kind of person who was always studying; he actually studies only just before an exam, sometimes even just minutes before. A typical college student one might say.
Finally, the first day of school was over. Ian felt a little tired from transferring room to room. Also because he played a bit of Frisbee with Henry and a few other friends after their classes were over. Anyway, when he got home, he went straight for the couch. He saw specks of dust flying around because the maid was cleaning the furniture and windows behind it. But it didn’t really bother him, he just made himself comfortable. Suddenly his mind wandered to the fact that he was partnered with Ava for the project. He thought about the things that could make him feel embarrassed whenever she was around. He was suddenly nervous, nervous because of the uncertainty that was to happen. He couldn’t stand the idea of making a fool of himself in front of that goddess.
He covered his face with his hands then slowly wiped it down as if to literally wipe the thought out of his head. He closed his eyes and realized how really tired he was. Suddenly, his mind turned blank and just wanted to turn on the television. He tried reaching for the remote without looking but could not feel it anywhere. He looked at where his hand had been searching but it was nowhere to be found. Tired and growing frustrated, he decided to lie back on the couch. He sighed and out of just pure boredom and laziness; extended his arm as if trying to reach for the television which was roughly four meters away. Like a child experimenting whether or not he had powers or something; he imagined the television to turn on by its own. With eyes closed, he concentrated as if he was serious. A few seconds later, he heard static.


The Mover Episodes


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