My Cousin
A long, awkward silence echoes through the room as soon as they sit. Georgina sits on the chair on the left side while the other two are on the right side in front of her. Giovanni is as comfortable as ever while the nerd girl fidgets and don't know where to look.
"Should I elaborate on the rules and regulations of this school again, next morning's assembly? It looks like many students forget about it in a short while." She breaks the silence.
"M-Ms. President, I-I'm sorry. Please don't report it to the guidance office..." the nerd girl said, trying to explain the situation and almost crying, but Georgina frowned.
"You should think before you act, you're doing such obscene action inside the ladies' comfort room? Didn't you have a sense of refinement or some reputation you wanted to protect? How shameless are you?" She said in an annoyed tone.
"I-I'm sorry. Forgive me." She burst out crying.
"How about you, Mr. Javier? You should be the one who takes responsibility for this, too. How can you enter a girl's comfort room without shame? Do you even regret what you did?"
She looked at him, but no words came out of his mouth. Instead, he crossed both arms.
"Argh! What the hell is wrong with you? How many times did you break the rules of St. Luke High? Don't tell me you don't know. After getting involved in the fight during lunch break, you skip classes, and now you trespass inside the ladies' comfort room and do those things? Do you plan to break all rules here and give us a headache?" She snapped, but he didn't talk again. "I'm talking to you, Mr. Javier..."
"It's my fault, okay? Just give me all the punishment, then we're quits. I have a date, so can I go?"
Georgina clenches both fists and looks down to suppress her anger. She can hear the sob of this nerd woman and the protest of Giovanni. With one more push, her brain will break down before it can. All she wanted to do was rest and calm herself. But one thing happened after another.
"Fine. Write a reflection paper, two pieces of paper back to back. Reflect on what you did and go to school tomorrow earlier than the assigned time. Since you love playing inside the comfort room, use it well." She surrenders.
"What do you mean?" Giovanni asked.
"Clean all the comfort rooms inside the St. Luke High School for an entire week. If you try to hide or skip this punishment, you leave me no choice. I'll report it to the guidance counselor and let them give you a one-month suspension."
After saying all those words, she stands up. Both of them are shocked by the words she utters but ignores them.
"You may go home. Don't forget what I said."
The next day, the sunlight from outside the window already hits Georgina's face. She doesn't want to stand up or attend school. She feels exhausted and doesn't even get a blink of sleep. Not until this 5:00 a.m. Amidst of her little sweet time in bed, she felt someone is pulling her comforter while playing a siren sound with the loudest volume beside her ear. She tries to pull the comforter towards her, but someone shrugs her arms to wake her up.
"Argh! Let me sleep." She protested and turned her back.
"Wake up. It's getting late. You need to go to school, for Pete's sake." She heard Warren's voice behind her.
"I don't want to go, my headaches so much." She reasons out, covering herself with the comforter.
"Georgina Alvarez, are you not going to wake up? Should I drag you inside the bathroom or bring a pale with water on it?" She jolted when a shout from a familiar voice came out of nowhere.
Her instinct moves on its own and sits down, staring intensely at the front door where a tall, slim body figure and medium-length hair with fair skin stand, leans on the side with cross arms. It's her cousin, Margarette Martinez, an 18 years old and a high school student. She lives with her Auntie in California, so they do not expect her presence to come. But to see her here is not a good thing for Georgina.
"I can't believe this, Gina. If I know Big Sis Marga is the only one who can wake you up. I let her in earlier." Warren said in disbelief.
"What are you doing here, Marga?" She asked, full of suspicion.
"Is this your way of greeting? You never change. Anyway, get up and fix yourself. We're getting late." She gives her a question-mark look, but Marga heaves a sigh. "I'm going to study at St. Luke High School, too."
Her face gone dour, but don't let go of the suspicious stare. There's no way she'll stay here without reason. Both Marga and the witch are a partner in crimes.
"Marga, don't tell me that the witch is here?" She asked, but Marga looked away.
"Get up. We'll be late. Let's go downstairs, Warren." Marga drags Warren outside her room.
A long silence lingers inside the room before reality hits her. 'Did the witch receive news that I met Giovanni Javier again?' Those kinds of questions keep going inside her mind. She has the guts that something awful will happen, so she stands up and fixes herself as soon as possible. The witch is the real bad news rather than Marga. There's no way she'll not turn the table again. She can't find any reason for her to become obsessed with Giovanni, but one thing is for sure, the witch doesn't want her to be happy.
After almost half an hour of preparing and eating breakfast, they went to St. Luke High School, still not talking to each other. Only Marga and Warren are the ones who catch up with each other. They reach the school after a 20-minute ride. Marga goes outside the car first and looks around the area as if checking all the details of the school building.
"It's pretty wide, not bad." She mumbles.
She ignored her opinion and went inside. Her eyes keep roaming around the area, especially in the parking lot. Some students greet her but only smile back at them.
"Hey, Gina, wait for me," Marga almost run to catch up with her.
"What the hell? You have a foot, a talkative mouth, two eyes, two hands, two ears, and a brain. Can't you use it well? Don't stick with me like glue. There's nothing for you to report," she said with irritation. "Van and I are nothing but a mere strangers,"
"W-what? I-It's not like what you think. You're a Student Council President. It's your responsibility to take care of the transferee." Georgina smirks and shrugs her head in disbelief.
"Fine, give me your schedule." A smile came out on Marga's lips before she gave her a piece of paper.
The moment she saw the schedule listed on the paper, she almost crumpled it. Both hand trembles as she gives it back to Marga with an annoyed look. Same section, 'Isn't it obvious?' She thought, massaging her temple in anger. Like what is supposed, the witch brought this woman here to watch over her since Giovanni Javier is around. Neither of them changes, sticking their nose on her own business. She knows better than anyone the witch plans to make her follow whatever she wants again through blackmail. Everything that happened before will repeat if no one tries to stop this little roundabout play. Once is enough, and repeating the same is too much.
"Did the two of you plan this? Do you want to watch and report everything to that witch until your last breath?" She mumbles with restraint in her voice.
"I-It's not like what you think, Gina."
"Don't deny the obvious. You never failed to follow the witch order, so you expect me to believe such a lie? I feel suffocated just the thought of Giovanni's presence, don't tighten the grip more for me to die." She hisses. "Tell the witch, don't meddle with my life again. I follow whatever she wants, so let me be. I'm old enough to manage myself."
After saying those words, she walks ahead, not minding if she bumps into someone. On the other side, Marga follows her through gaze-crumple the paper while biting her lower lip. It's not like she wants to do anything to ruin her life.
She tousles her hair and looks around. It's new surroundings and people. She even didn't know where the location of her room was.
"Where should I go now?" She mumbles.
"Do you have a problem, Miss? Are you a new student?" Marga jolted out when someone touched her shoulder from behind. There she saw Joshua, the Vice-President of the Student Council, who passed by.
"W-who are you?"
"I'm Joshua Rodriguez, Student Council Vice President. You look in trouble, so if you need help, ask me anything."
"I'm a transfer student, Margarette Martinez. Here, it's my schedule. Help me find my room, at least." She gives the crumpled paper to him before her gaze turns away.
"We have the same class then. Follow me."