The Mover: Episode III

            He took a deep breath and held it. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw the television turned on to a static channel. He exhaled—his heart was suddenly beating fast, he felt goose bumps running across the surface of his arms. He swallowed his throat and began to breathe a little faster than normal. His palms began to sweat as he lay on the couch bewildered and scared at the same time.

His mind was racing—trying to find a logical explanation for it. It couldn’t have actually been him—that would be ridiculous, he thought. A poltergeist maybe—but he was the kind of person who doesn’t believe in ghosts. Finally, it struck him. He looked behind—the maid was still cleaning—and like an oasis in the middle of a desert, he saw the remote on one of the wooden stools near where the maid was standing.

He sighed a breath of relief. He never expected the maid to play a joke like that. But he did find it a bit funny actually, considering his reaction.

He stood up to get the remote. He smiled at her and she of course smiled back. Then went back to the couch and changed the channel.

A few days have already passed since his first encounter with college life and it turned out to be very similar to his experience in high school. It was not what he had in mind. He thought that college would be more interesting, but he was wrong. It was the same thing, just with new subjects and a more flexible schedule scheme. Classes were still done the same way they were in high school, only with different lessons. Then it came to him that it was a bad idea to have expected so much about college. He was just frustrated that it would be another four dull years waiting ahead of him. And to top that, he still had to take another four years of medicine before becoming a physician. He thought that he had to do something about it, but didn’t know what.

He sighed while Mrs. Enriquez was discussing about anesthetics. He turned his sight to Ava—then his mind suddenly floated around the classroom. But he still heard every single word that Mrs. Enriquez said. She noticed that he looked passive and called his attention.

“Ian, have you been listening to what I’ve been saying?” she asked as if she expected him to stumble in creating excuses.

He stood up and answered, “Yes ma’am, you were just discussing about how anesthetics work.”

“How does it work exactly?” she interrogated.

“Ma’am, anesthetics work by impairing specific parts of the brain, depending on the kind of anesthetic you are using. Some anesthetics impair part of the brain which senses pain, some impair part of the brain which deals with movement, and some impair part of the brain which deals with the consciousness of an individual rendering that individual to sleep.”

She was dumbfounded by his answer, for a second she didn’t know what to say. She mustered up what pride she still had left in her and said, “I guess you are listening to me, I thought your mind was someplace else.”

“I apologize for that ma’am.” He said and sat down.

He saw Ava turn her head and flashed a curious look. He showed a shy face and let his eyes fall down to his notebook. There was nothing written. He then began to pretend as if he was copying what Mrs. Enriquez was writing on the board. A moment later, he briefly checked to see if Ava was still looking at him and found that she had her attention on Mrs. Enriquez. He stopped pretending to write and heard Henry quietly chuckle.

Ian moved his eyes and glared at him for a second. Finally he decided to ignore him and paid serious attention to Mrs. Enriquez.

“Now class, about your project,” Mrs. Enriquez announced. “I hope that you have been meeting up with your partner. It’s not something that you can just do in the last minute.”

After she finished her statement, Ava turned again to Ian. Let’s meet up later—she whispered from afar.  He nodded and then she gave him a soft smile.

That beautiful smile; it was something that can leave him mesmerized just remembering about it. It was perfect—in every perspective, in every aspect, in every way. He wanted to do anything just to see that smile in every dejected moment, but he could not find the courage to confess, nor was it ever in his interest to do so. All of a sudden, he was just confused; he thought that this kind of thinking would never cross his mind. But he realized—there was more to Ava than just an object to stare upon and admire.

Ava wore her smile while she was walking with Ian. They were heading to the school library to do some research. Ian was nervous; he didn’t know whether or not to look at her in the eye or at her lips whenever they initiated small talk. But she didn’t look edgy at all, unlike him.

When they finally settled on a spot in the library, Ian tried to keep his mind on the work and not on Ava. She was going about finding books that would help them for the project while he took notes on relevant statements on each book. Sometimes he would pause in writing and stare again at Ava while she was looking for books on the shelves. He would go on gazing at her long brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail. Everything about her is just—stunningly beautiful, he thought. He blinked his eyes as if he had snapped out of his hypnotic state and continued taking notes.

After a couple of hours of researching, they finally called it a day and decided to continue their work tomorrow. As they moved out of the library, Ava’s friends we’re already waiting for her.

“Bye Ian, see you tomorrow!” she said cheerfully as she waved her hand.

“Bye.” he replied with a nervous voice.

She went on to her friends and they hurriedly walked towards the exit of the campus. Ian ended up walking in the same direction as them. He walked sluggishly so as not to catch up, looking at his feet while doing so.

The school was directly beside a very busy highway that leaded towards another big city in the east. When they got outside, Ava and her friends gathered up and had a little friendly group chat. Ian stood at a distance, waiting for Henry to show up so they could go home together since their houses weren’t that far apart.

He looked at Ava and her friends having so much fun. Ava always seemed happiest when she was with her friends. She would giggle and laugh making her look even more beautiful than ever. Ava’s friends were all girls and they all looked pretty—but to Ian, she was the one who stood out from the rest. It wasn’t just because of her divine looks that attracted him, it was also her character. She was strong-willed like her father and wasn’t the kind of person that would easily be carried away by emotions. She had something in her that set her apart from the rest of the other girls. She had integrity.

But Ian noticed something; something wrong—very wrong. He sprinted towards Ava without hesitation. She was too preoccupied talking with her friends and didn’t notice she was already straying a little too far on the road while a fast moving vehicle driving on the lane nearest to the sidewalk was bound to hit her. Ian didn’t take any chances that the vehicle would stop on time; his instincts told him that it wouldn’t. Ava turned her head and for a short instant, she saw the driver was talking to a passenger at the backseat. She immediately knew that the moment the driver would see her, it would already be too late. So she closed her eyes for what seemed the inevitable.

Ian’s heart was pounding and the adrenaline was kicking in. He ran as fast as he could, hoping to save her. Finally he reached Ava and pushed her back to the sidewalk. He lifted his arms as if to protect himself, but he knew it was useless, he knew there was nothing he could do. He was just content that Ava was safe and out of harm’s way. But still, he couldn’t help but wish he could still have the chance to see her again, to see her face, to see her smile. He just wished that he could push the brakes of that vehicle and encase himself in an invisible cocoon so that he may have the chance to continue to live. All of that thought happened in a split second before the world suddenly disappeared.

The Mover Episodes

Preview

Episode I

Episode II

Episode III

Episode IV

Episode V

Episode VI

Episode VII

Episode VIII

Episode IX

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