Our PE class was our very last subject for the day. For the first week, all we did was do some lecture on some fitness shenanigans and whatever they could mean. It was nice and all but PEs are made to be more on the practical applications than endless textbooks about the human regulatory system. Or was it respiratory?

  Anyways, I was glad that this kind of mindset finally slipped into our teacher's mind.

  We are now at the campus' swimming pool. A swimming lesson on the very second week of the school year isn't something I really expect but who am I to complain? Well, it's more of a leisure task than a swimming lesson actually. Our teacher isn't teaching us anything and was just standing-by.

  "Hoy, Zero. Sama ka, race!" I stepped away from the side of the pool when Jacob suddenly splashed water in my direction. I'm wearing my PE uniform—white T-shirt and blue shorts (there is the jogging pants but this feels more comfortable)—but still. I'd prefer staying dry.

  "Skip. I want to sit down for a bit." I looked for the nearest bench while waving at them. He was with the other boys—and of course—including the other two of the trio. I'm surprised they are not near any of the girls right now. Well, that may be also because of how modest the design of our uniforms are.

  Besides, you wouldn't want to target someone you'll spend the next two years with, do you?

  I watched the group intently. Most of them were actually close now. Each girl having their own circles they belong to, some boys were just on the side playing with their phone. The semi-athletic groups were having a race right now, not minding if they bumped into someone on their path. And last but not the least, there is the other outcast of the room at the opposite side of the pool reading a book. Who brings a book in a PE class, especially in a swimming pool?

  "May I sit with you?" I looked up to my right when I heard a voice. Our PE teacher, Mr. Ben-Hur Romano, looked at me with a smile on his face.

  I moved slightly to the left to give him space. He immediately sat down as soon as the space allowed.

  "You want one?" From his coat pocket, Mr. Ben-Hur retrieved two sticks. No, two lollipops, the type you would buy for a peso on a sari-sari store. Well, used to be. Now it's in some combo package of four lollipops-five pesos.

  "No, thank you." I politely decline. Is this man a smoker? He actually doesn't look like one. He actually looks like a healthy man in his 40s, faded hair and a bit of wrinkles here and there. Maybe his Italian blood is a factor?

  Also, I've noticed his knuckles were scrapped. Perhaps from a fight?

  "Crestborne students really are odd, huh? The first thing teenagers do when I give them a lollipop is ask if I smoke."

  No, I think it's just because you're talking to me.

  The man took off the plastic of one of the lollipops and put it in his mouth while tucking away the other.

  "Irene looked very mad when she entered the faculty room after her first subject. She kept repeating the words 'that little vermin.' What did your class do?"

  Uhh...

  "I feel bad for her. She was so enthusiastic for the past week. Especially when that beautiful box arrived. I don't know what use she had of it but she immediately tossed it back to her bag when she stormed in. Anong ginawa niyo?"

  Okay, now I also feel bad.

  "That's extremely out of character, y'know? She once drove one group into obedience back in high school. Her weapon? A warning and a touch of guilt. Turns out she warned the group they will fail if they didn't follow her, and when they did, she offered a plan for success. The group referred only to her for guidance ever since." The man looked towards the people in the pool. "Did someone have beaten her mind games, finally?"

  "As much as I want to fill you in on the details, sir," I started. "I just don't think it would be a good thing to tell internal matters to other sections." The teacher immediately laughed at my response. Did I say something wrong?

  "You're a really odd person, Heiden. First, the zero thingy, and now this." At the end of the day, it all comes back to that zero, huh? "Why don't you transfer to Class 1-B?"

  Anyways, it would just be a few minutes of talk and I can ditch—wait... ha?

  "Sorry, sir. Pwede po paulit?" I asked him to repeat his words. Did I hear it right?

  "Well, Zyrus himself wanted Iona to be the one to transfer, but I think fishing you would be a risk I'm willing to take." The man then looked straight at me. His eyes were a mix of boredom and intimidation. "It is not frequent that someone gets a zero in Crestborne, after all. So, what do you say?"

  I matched his stares with mine. I can't read his eyes, they looked too clouded to show any real intent.

  "How did you make Zyrus obedient to you, sir?" I asked. For the first time, the man's eyes showed amusement.

  "Well," the man looked at his fist, "i don't think it will be a good thing to tell internal matters to other sections." The man then gave me a sly smile.

  So he did tame that beast, huh? Or is he messing with my mind?

  We remain in that staring contest for a while. No one is talking, no one is initiating. Just a pure intimidation game to mess with each other's mind.

  "Oh, well. Think about the offer, Heiden." The man averted his gaze and stared at the pool. He cracked his neck a bit before standing up. "Let me just give you a piece of warning."

  The man stared at me again, his lips smiling yet his eyes weren't. The lollipop he had a while ago was now gone and thrown somewhere.

  "Don't fight Zyrus."

  And then the man left, going back to his usual routine of surveying the whole room. I was left there, questioning what had just occurred.

  First, Miss Irene, and now this? I can't do this all day, not without my coffee.

  I took a deep sigh and stood from the bench. I walked towards the side of the pool and touched the water with my toes. Slowly, I let the water swallow me as I felt the coldness of the water. Inside, I can feel my heart racing, my breath becoming uneven.

  I looked towards the four boys who were doing a race. There was cheering now, probably since Vincent was among them. Our class was composed of a 2:3 ratio of boys to girls.

  I watched them intently. I waited for them to reach the middle of the pool. The moment Vincent went beyond the imaginary line, I submerged my head and kicked the pool's wall. I let the water flow through my system as I went for a stride.

  More...

  I let the adrenaline rush flow through my blood as I let myself be free beneath the waves.

  More...

  I closed my eyes, letting the darkness consume my thoughts. I listened to the muffled silence, not aware of how much time has flown. The cooling sensation of the water is now entering my thoughts.

  Cold... it's cold...

  The goose bumps... they are becoming uncomfortable...

  Cold...

  I snapped my eyes open. The tiled-wall of the pool now in front of me. I stopped myself before my head smashed into pieces. My heart was hot and racing against the coldness of my surroundings. The adrenaline slowly leaves my system.

  Wait, I forgot something. I wonder... ohh.

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  I immediately swam up and gasped for mouthfuls of air as soon as I broke free of the water's surface.

  Damn, I forgot to breathe... I really need that coffee so bad.

  "Yo, Heiden... wow. That's... actually fast." I looked up to Vincent as he stared at me from the side of the pool. It seems he made it to the opposite side before I did. "You overtook almost everyone."

  I diverted my eyes to the rest of the swimmers who had just touched the ledge of the pool. Well... I think I overdid it. Even the girls now have their eyes pinned on me.

  "Are you a swimmer?" I looked back at Vincent. His eyes were both of amazement and intrigue.

  "I rode a bike when I was a kid, a lot." I lifted myself out of the water as I answered his question, putting emphasis on the last part. I know he wants to pry more but I immediately walked away.

  I looked at my palm as I was walking to one of the benches. It is shaking uncontrollably.

  Now, I'm wet. Sucks.

  "Don't you dare wet my book," Iona warned as I sat on the empty seat next to her.

  Gone Girl? Does this girl like that kind of story?

  My shirt feels so heavy with all its water dripping down to the chair. This feels so uncomfortable.

  "You're not joining them?"

  "What do you want?" I was immediately silenced a bit when she snapped back at my question. Does this girl not know how to have an actual small talk?

  I shifted my gaze towards the PE teacher. He was now talking with some of the boys playing with their phones with a smile on his face. So friendly of a smile that I almost forgot that this man gave a pseudo-death-threat a while ago.

  "Vincent wants you to join the study group."

  "I don't care."

  Well, as expected.

  "Can't you consider it a bit?" I asked her again. "You're president now, are you—"

  I stopped talking when I heard her shut her book.

  "So you're gonna manipulate me now to approval? Like how you switched our balls?" Yikes, she's mad.

  "I don't know what you're saying."

  "Oh, for peace's sake, Heiden. I know that the ball you handed to me was yours."

  I shifted my gaze to her. I can feel her eyes giving me the glare even with just her side-eye.

  "Why would I do that?" I asked her, trying to pry as to what she has on her mind.

  "Who knows? You're a guy who wanted zero, it wouldn't be a surprise if you wanted the lowest position." Well, fair enough. That's quite reasonable.

  "Let's say that's the case, then why would I switch our balls?" She opened her mouth to answer, but immediately closed them again when my question finally registered. She turned her head, now fully looking at me. I spoke the rest of the statement. "Assuming that the balls are random, why would I switch for the ball you picked?"

  From that point on the girl was silent. Or rather, she got busy in her own thoughts to the point that she looked down at her palm muttering like she was deducting a crime scene.

  "Why? Why, indeed? If the balls were random, then not doing the switch would let the odds remain the same. Then why?" I could almost hear her thoughts. Would she connect it?

  Show me, Iona.

  "Assuming that the balls were random, the switch was unnecessary. If so then, what is... what..." Then the girl's eyes widened as she looked up at me. "Wait, assuming that the balls were random, you don't need the switch since even you don't know what is inside."

  I nod? I mean, that's basically the point?

  "However," she looked more intense into my eyes, "if we drop that assumption, and instead establish the opposite—which is you knowing the content of it—then the whole switch makes sense."

  "And how would I even know what it holds? I didn't crack it open, Iona. You can't say it's instinct."

  "Why are you asking me? Weren't you the one who's supposed to know how?"

  Well, that's a valid point.

  I shrug at her, which made her groan in return.

  "Argh! There's something you're not telling me, Heiden."

  Excuse me, am I supposed to tell you my life? We're just seatmates.

  "What did the inside of the box look like to you, Iona?"

  "Huh?" She looked at me with utter confusion.

  "Yung box na dala ni Ma'am Irene. What did you see inside the box?"

  "Nothing, of course. It's painted black with only the white balls visible. Why are you asking stupid questions?" She answered, not forgetting to give her own question at the end.

  I sighed. I guess it's helpless from this point onwards, after all.

  "However, I found one thing odd about it." Iona lifted her right hand. "The back of my hand brushed on its wall. And it's oddly designed with a slanted wall. In fact, the volume inside didn't feel proportional to its exterior."

  "Inclined wall?" I asked almost immediately that my question almost felt exaggerated. She looked at me with more confusion in return. "There was not an inclined wall when I picked. But there was an inclined base."

  "Eh? The box was flat on its base. What do you—" and then her eyes lit up again. "Wait."

  She stopped staring at me and stared at the floor instead.

  "Wait, let me think." Not like I was planning to speak but okay. "Incline... slope... wall... base. That didn't make sense. How can the box change? Wait... think... a smash, no... that still doesn't explain the balls... there were five balls... but that means... wait... wait..."

  To be honest, seeing someone do this kind of self-muttering while trying to figure out something is kinda cute. And amusing, especially that click of 'aha!' at the end.

  Iona looked back at me, her eyes now brighter than ever.

  "There were nine balls, isn't it?"

  "That's ridiculous."

  "Don't play with me, Heiden. I finally—actually, wait." She looked around, trying to find something. Eventually, she reached for her book. She presented it in front of her, opening the book midway and making its halves perpendicular to each other. She then took some pages from the bottom batch and lifted it about 20°. The actions caused the book to act like a box, with the lifted pages making an inclined platform.

  "Your box looked like this, didn't it?" She looked at me, waiting for an answer.

  "Um... I didn't really see it since it was in black paint but yes. It felt like that to me."

  The girl smiled as soon as I gave my answer.

  "Figures. There are actually nine balls."

  In what way does that mini-diagram of the box proved the nine balls theory?

  "I'm not following you, Iona." The girl groaned again, as if annoyed.

  "Listen." the girl widened the angle of the lifted pages to almost 70°. "This is how the box looked to me, and for everyone else. The base was flat, but the wall was slanted."

  She then lowered it back to the previous position.

  "This is how it looked to you." The girl lifted the pages again to the 70°, then back to the 30°, then back to the 70°, as if making a point. "Don't you see it?"

  "Yes, I perfectly see that it doesn't make sense and that you are harassing the book."

  Kidding, no book was harmed in the demonstration.

  "Okay, let's play your game, then." Iona just responded in annoyance. She put her book back on her lap, probably to rest her hands. "Miss Irene presented us with five balls, right? She said that they contained the five positions. But we never really see what is inside, right?"

  Is this girl explaining or asking questions? Well, better stay quiet, just in case.

  "That's because the five balls didn't contain the five positions. Each of them contained the presidential position. The rest of the choices"—Iona lifted the book again, maintaining the 30° diagram—"were beneath the inclined base you felt."

  She looked straight at me again.

  "What Miss Irene dropped above the inclined base were the five presidential balls, while the four other positions were hidden beneath, hidden from your view. Miss Irene tricked you with the illusion of randomness, when you were actually picking a presidential position a hundred percent. Well, of course you know that, otherwise you wouldn't have switched our balls."

  Well, that's a great explanation. I can imagine what she narrated happening in the book. I wonder how she would explain the slanted wall.

  "Now after you picked one ball, all that remained is the four ball above and four ball beneath. She cannot have me pick the presidential position too, so she had to make the other four balls appear."

  Iona started rotating the book inward, that way the previous base becomes the side.

  "So, she flipped the box to its side and then"—she simulated the act of lifting the book and smashing it in the air—"making it hit with the table hard enough that the platform detaches."

  She lowered the angled pages down.

  "Since it was inclined, the platform falls naturally. The lightweight balls also bounce and move out of the way, and with the right force—maybe some magnet—physics would do its thing."

  She rotated the book outward, doing so makes the structure of the box have a slanted wall.

  "The presidential balls now hidden behind the slanted wall. The rest of the balls with the other positions now presented to me and to everyone else." She then looked at me, her eyes looking for confirmation. I looked at the book she was holding again.

  "That's some voodoo-magician's trick. I like your headcanon."

  "I said don't play with me, Heiden. This is the only explanation that makes sense." She closed the book and put it to her side. She looked at me again, now more intense than before. "And you knew all that, that's why you switched our balls, giving me that presidential role—but that isn't the issue. In the first place... why would she force the presidential position to you?"

  She squinted her eyes, I gave her the usual indifferent stare.

  "That also explains the phase one of the officer selection. The vote for the least favored student to join the class officer... it wasn't there to discriminate, it was there to put you in the top five." She paused again, letting the silence sip through the intensifying tension. "Who are you, Heiden? What's so special about you that she forces that position to you? And what's your actual aim for refusing?"

  I can feel her probing through our interactions so far. Her mind is trying to make sense of the events of the past days.

  I looked away from her and back to the pool.

  "I am just here to ask you to join Vincent's study group."

  Silence erupted from the already silent tension. The sound of splashing water and distant chatters is the only thing filling up the atmosphere.

  And then there came the bell. Classes were done for the day.

  "Hah! Classic Heiden. Why did I even expect a definite answer?" The girl scoffed beside me. I watched her stand up, expecting another word from her. But it never came, she just walked away, letting the silence cling in the air.

  Ibreathe in the silence that followed after her footsteps. In my own act of meditation, I can feel the corners of my lips rising slightly.

  Man, I really souldn't have jumped in the water.

  - - -

  The classroom has this quiet eerie area as people slowly leave it empty. The silence would eventually be deafening after a while as distant chatters die one by one. I read once that there is a term for this: liminal space. It's when a familiar place that people are used to being populated becomes empty. It's not solitude that remains in the room—it's melancholy.

  I took my bag from my seat as I prepared to leave the place. There isn't anyone here anymore—except for Iona who's erasing the writings on the board. I expected to be alone, actually. Since I took my time changing back to my uniform.

  I watched her silently wipe the board as I made my way to the door. My mind was contemplating whether to stay and wait for her or just leave her alone. But based on our conversation a while ago, I think the latter was the better choice.

  "Mauuna na ako." Still, I bid farewell just for formality. I entered the abandoned hallway and slowly made my way to the stairs. There is not a sign of students here, probably because it is actually beyond twilight now, and our section was the last to leave since we still had that 'swimming lesson' or whatever.

  But my expectations failed me when I thought that it would actually be me alone. As I arrived on the top of the stairs, I saw a familiar figure leaning at the lower floor. I ignored her, and just proceeded to walk down. My steps marking the silence of the halls.

  "You did very well during the officer selection, Heiden. You have emerged above my expectations once again." I looked up to meet her eyes when she spoke. I could feel the deadly warning in those retinas. "Did you know that box alone cost me a thousand? And perfecting the trick of the slanted platform alone cost me the whole weekend?"

  Then you shouldn't have chosen to do that, in the first place.

  "You are starting to become a foil to my plans, Heiden." The teacher stepped away from the wall she was leaning into and faced me. "Why are you trying so much to avoid your fate?"

  "A rigged system to force me isn't fate, Miss Irene."

  "Oh, but your intellect is, Heiden." She crossed her arms and gave me a smug grin. "No student can pull off a stunt like that. No average student can."

  "Then your reasoning must be flawed, Miss Irene. Practice can pull off almost anything."

  The teacher scoffed. Too sarcastic that it almost feels like an annoyance rather than amusement.

  "You really are an admirable one," the teacher spoke as her lips turned into that sly smile once again. "Oh well. It is what it is. I'll let you off for now. Besides—"Miss Irene diverted her gaze to something behind me"—someone else seems to want to talk to you."

  I turned around. There on top of the stairs, Iona was standing with her breath unevenly. Did she run?

  "Heiden!" Iona called me, her eyes switching between me and Miss Irene.

  "I'll be taking my leave," Miss Irene whispered to my ears.

  I diverted my attention back to Iona when Miss Irene finally left.

  "I've thought things through." The girls started walking down the stairs. "I'm agreeing to the study group."

  Ohh, it's about this, huh? Wait, that felt so off.

  "I'll be helping Vincent in his cause." The girl kept walking down until eventually, we are finally just a few inches from each other. "In exchange for two things."

  Yeah, figures. She's not the type to give something for free.

  "My first condition is that you help the class. Go study or pretend to study or whatever else you wanna dom Basta tumulong ka. Help us elevate our status."

  "I think that's pretty much my intention—"

  "My second condition." The girl immediately cut me off before I could even answer. "Fight me."

  "..."

  "I know you're more than just meet the eye. And I've realized it now more than ever. I don't care about your secrets or your cause, I just ask this. Give me one fight where we shall give all that we got."

  I blinked, taking in her words. Is this girl serious?

  "You can decide when that will be. Just... fight me with equal effort." She stepped aside and started to walk away. "You can go tell Vincent that I'll join the study group."

  And then, I was left there once again. Her words are still trying to find their way into my ears. In my mind, two distinct voices repeating nonstop saying the same phrase over and over again. One a bit older, one recent.

  Fight me...

  'Fight me.'

  I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. This is unprecedented. Man, I would really make myself a cup of coffee the moment I reach my dorm.

  - o - o -