![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(This isn’t a fanfic or anything. Actually it’s more of a rant. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t believe in Filipino time, or arriving 2 or 3 hours after the fixed meeting time. I always try come on time as I believe that time is gold. It is very disrespectful towards someone who arrives on time but have to wait for you because it is an inconvenience. There is a fixed time schedule because other people have plans to and the fact that they have things to do means things have to be done on time. To have someone wait for you for more than an hour would piss anyone off. And I’m telling you it pissed me off. There is no such thing as Filipino time. It’s all on the person if they want to value the time of others. Just because you don’t have anything to do the same day, doesn’t mean you inconvenience other people as well. Respeto lang po pag may time (give some respect whenever you see fit). So yeah. This is my rant because this happened to me today and writing is the only way that calms me down.)
She sat alone in the middle of the classroom in the midst of shuffling feet and busy buzzing noises, her eyes fixed outside the window as she watched the students and teachers enter the school gate. She reached for her bag and took out her player and scanned through the list and found the song she was looking for. She plugged in her earphones and set it to maximum volume. Her feet tapped on the ground to the beat of the drums and her lips silently sang the lyrics she knew by heart. She glanced at her watch, reading 10:59 am.
I’m a minute early. They should be here by now.
She let three more songs play as she continued to observe the people going in and out the school campus dressed gaily in their civilian outfits. She glanced again at her watch.
They’re late. It’s 11:20. They said meet up at 11.
She merely sighed. This was not something new. Even before they had graduated, her classmates have been know for going with the Philippine time, which as arriving 2 or 3 hours later than than the said meeting time. A few of her high school teachers walked past the classroom where she sat and one of them acknowledged her. She smiles and waves back in return as she stands to greet him by the classroom door.
“Ms. Vargas, welcome back!”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Jones. You’re as flashy as ever.” Mr. Alfred F. Jones, her Literature teacher during tenth grade, grinned, his glasses shining from the reflection of the sun’s rays.
“You’re looking as striking as anyone, Ms. Vargas.”
“Save the compliments for Mrs. Kirkland, Sir. She’ll be needing that more than I ever will. How is it with her, by the way?” As Mr. Jones was about to reply, a faraway voice cut off whatever else she had to say as the voice was calling out for him. He simply chuckled.
“Duty calls, Ms. Vargas. See you when I see you.” then he turned and strode after the group of faculty waiting for him by the staircase. She watched them leave, her smile never leaving her face as the last head disappeared from sight. Her smile faded and she glanced at her watch yet again.
11: 35. This is stupid.
But stupid is what she does and waits for the rest of them to come or at least a text or call. Then her phone buzzes in her bag. She jumps then anxiously reaches for her phone. The caller ID read one of her classmates’ names. She slid her phone open and checked the message.
“where you at?”
Where do you think? “take a gooood guess. I’m alone, dammit.”
It took two songs before she received the replay and she saw did not please her.
“gil’s still in the gym”
Somehow something in her snapped as she digested the message she just received. She ran through the previous night’s planning over the chatbox.
Lovina: What time tomorrow guys? So I can fit it in my schedule.
Gilbert: How ‘bout 11 am tomorrow? It’s the end of the students’ Christmas party and the nearing of the faculty party.
Toni: Good idea. We’ll meet you all there.
Lovina: Then lunch wherever the wind takes us.
Francis: Unplanned moments are the best after all.
After the conversation, she bid her goodnight and went off to playing her games the rest of the evening right after she encoded the alarm for tomorrow’s affair. The next morning, she arose even before her alarm went off. It was the normal kid of day, as if she had classes. She wasn’t excited, of course not. It’s just that it’s been a while since she’s been around her high school classmates. A lot of things happened in high school; a lot of good things and bad things. She would be lying if she said she missed her high school classmates. Truth be told, the only reason she was going was because one of their companions was a member of her group of friends, the rest didn’t matter that much. Unfair as it may seem, she was never the kind of person who was close to her classmates. In their first year, she kept to herself, always indulging herself in books and in her studies. She was bullied for being able to speak English better than the rest as well as a bunch of other languages, particularly her native tongue, Italian. So to say she missed her classmates would be a big lie more than any exaggeration.
But they were in college now. And no matter how bad a company they were to her from her point of view, they had some good points to them that made her high school experience somewhat, though briefly enjoyable. And besides...
They must’ve changed one way or another.
Or at least I have.
Back to the present, her gaze remained fixed on the small screen where there flashed a few letters that sent her blood curling. She wanted to reply in a sarcastic tone; a tone so sarcastic, it’ll make her classmates come running if they didn’t want the world to end there and then. She would begin typing, but would delete it when she felt guilt surface.
What’s wrong with you, Lovi? You shouldn’t be hesitating like this. Speak up! You are an embarrassment to your degree.
But something told her to save the sarcasm for later for when she really got pissed, so she sent something a little more cutesy (but she made sure to still add that sarcastic touch).
“haha lol okay. I’ll run home for a bit and grab me some lunch. They end at 12:30 and faculty party is at 2. Text me, seriously, i don’t want to be MIA again.”
She closed her phone in frustration and strode out the gate taking the first tricycle. Her earphones plugged in her ears playing a band song. Usually she would be tapping her feet to the beat of the drums, but the anger, thought little was still there. She could feel tears wanting to flow down the contours of her face, but something was stopping them. She was no longer the kind of person to cry in front of others, not even in front of her own family, not after what happened during the first years in high school. Now she absolutely despises any show of weakness and immaturity and would only show them if she was in solitude. But she was alone now with the sound of the tricycle to mask her loud sniffing.
But they remained trapped within her.
Once she got home, she quickly opened her laptop and started playing computer games. However something was different this time around. She was losing here and there. Quite unlike her who won a game after three tries or less. She was starting to lose patience. Add that to the frustration she felt just this morning. Once she lost at a very easy round, she finally had enough and she quickly exited her game and closed her PC. Simultaneously her phone buzzed, causing the table to vibrate. She picked it up and slid open to reveal her classmate, Gil messaged her.
“see you at the faculty.”
But she was unstoppable now. She turned off her phone and took off her clothes, changing them into house clothes then she turned on her pocket internet and started tweeting. She tweeted and tweeted until she could not say anymore and then she felt the ghost of sleep visit her. She fell asleep with her phone by her side.
In her dreams, there, she cried her tears.
She sat alone in the middle of the classroom in the midst of shuffling feet and busy buzzing noises, her eyes fixed outside the window as she watched the students and teachers enter the school gate. She reached for her bag and took out her player and scanned through the list and found the song she was looking for. She plugged in her earphones and set it to maximum volume. Her feet tapped on the ground to the beat of the drums and her lips silently sang the lyrics she knew by heart. She glanced at her watch, reading 10:59 am.
I’m a minute early. They should be here by now.
She let three more songs play as she continued to observe the people going in and out the school campus dressed gaily in their civilian outfits. She glanced again at her watch.
They’re late. It’s 11:20. They said meet up at 11.
She merely sighed. This was not something new. Even before they had graduated, her classmates have been know for going with the Philippine time, which as arriving 2 or 3 hours later than than the said meeting time. A few of her high school teachers walked past the classroom where she sat and one of them acknowledged her. She smiles and waves back in return as she stands to greet him by the classroom door.
“Ms. Vargas, welcome back!”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Jones. You’re as flashy as ever.” Mr. Alfred F. Jones, her Literature teacher during tenth grade, grinned, his glasses shining from the reflection of the sun’s rays.
“You’re looking as striking as anyone, Ms. Vargas.”
“Save the compliments for Mrs. Kirkland, Sir. She’ll be needing that more than I ever will. How is it with her, by the way?” As Mr. Jones was about to reply, a faraway voice cut off whatever else she had to say as the voice was calling out for him. He simply chuckled.
“Duty calls, Ms. Vargas. See you when I see you.” then he turned and strode after the group of faculty waiting for him by the staircase. She watched them leave, her smile never leaving her face as the last head disappeared from sight. Her smile faded and she glanced at her watch yet again.
11: 35. This is stupid.
But stupid is what she does and waits for the rest of them to come or at least a text or call. Then her phone buzzes in her bag. She jumps then anxiously reaches for her phone. The caller ID read one of her classmates’ names. She slid her phone open and checked the message.
“where you at?”
Where do you think? “take a gooood guess. I’m alone, dammit.”
It took two songs before she received the replay and she saw did not please her.
“gil’s still in the gym”
Somehow something in her snapped as she digested the message she just received. She ran through the previous night’s planning over the chatbox.
Lovina: What time tomorrow guys? So I can fit it in my schedule.
Gilbert: How ‘bout 11 am tomorrow? It’s the end of the students’ Christmas party and the nearing of the faculty party.
Toni: Good idea. We’ll meet you all there.
Lovina: Then lunch wherever the wind takes us.
Francis: Unplanned moments are the best after all.
After the conversation, she bid her goodnight and went off to playing her games the rest of the evening right after she encoded the alarm for tomorrow’s affair. The next morning, she arose even before her alarm went off. It was the normal kid of day, as if she had classes. She wasn’t excited, of course not. It’s just that it’s been a while since she’s been around her high school classmates. A lot of things happened in high school; a lot of good things and bad things. She would be lying if she said she missed her high school classmates. Truth be told, the only reason she was going was because one of their companions was a member of her group of friends, the rest didn’t matter that much. Unfair as it may seem, she was never the kind of person who was close to her classmates. In their first year, she kept to herself, always indulging herself in books and in her studies. She was bullied for being able to speak English better than the rest as well as a bunch of other languages, particularly her native tongue, Italian. So to say she missed her classmates would be a big lie more than any exaggeration.
But they were in college now. And no matter how bad a company they were to her from her point of view, they had some good points to them that made her high school experience somewhat, though briefly enjoyable. And besides...
They must’ve changed one way or another.
Or at least I have.
Back to the present, her gaze remained fixed on the small screen where there flashed a few letters that sent her blood curling. She wanted to reply in a sarcastic tone; a tone so sarcastic, it’ll make her classmates come running if they didn’t want the world to end there and then. She would begin typing, but would delete it when she felt guilt surface.
What’s wrong with you, Lovi? You shouldn’t be hesitating like this. Speak up! You are an embarrassment to your degree.
But something told her to save the sarcasm for later for when she really got pissed, so she sent something a little more cutesy (but she made sure to still add that sarcastic touch).
“haha lol okay. I’ll run home for a bit and grab me some lunch. They end at 12:30 and faculty party is at 2. Text me, seriously, i don’t want to be MIA again.”
She closed her phone in frustration and strode out the gate taking the first tricycle. Her earphones plugged in her ears playing a band song. Usually she would be tapping her feet to the beat of the drums, but the anger, thought little was still there. She could feel tears wanting to flow down the contours of her face, but something was stopping them. She was no longer the kind of person to cry in front of others, not even in front of her own family, not after what happened during the first years in high school. Now she absolutely despises any show of weakness and immaturity and would only show them if she was in solitude. But she was alone now with the sound of the tricycle to mask her loud sniffing.
But they remained trapped within her.
Once she got home, she quickly opened her laptop and started playing computer games. However something was different this time around. She was losing here and there. Quite unlike her who won a game after three tries or less. She was starting to lose patience. Add that to the frustration she felt just this morning. Once she lost at a very easy round, she finally had enough and she quickly exited her game and closed her PC. Simultaneously her phone buzzed, causing the table to vibrate. She picked it up and slid open to reveal her classmate, Gil messaged her.
“see you at the faculty.”
But she was unstoppable now. She turned off her phone and took off her clothes, changing them into house clothes then she turned on her pocket internet and started tweeting. She tweeted and tweeted until she could not say anymore and then she felt the ghost of sleep visit her. She fell asleep with her phone by her side.
In her dreams, there, she cried her tears.
