47 "Baby Girl"

October 14, 2011 Friday, 2PM – Northwestern University, East Ouigab – Engineering Department Faculty.

"Thank you guys. It's rare for me to receive finished projects before the last minute." Our professor in Differential Calculus smiled at me and the guys after we handed our term paper in the professor's faculty office. "A friend taught me it's better to finish my school work as early as I possible." I replied and the guys also smiled knowingly.

"Miss uhhh… Agmat, is this friend of yours by any chance, named Tayaw?" The professor asked me after he looked at my school ID. His question surprised not only me but the guys as well. "How did you know, professor?" I asked.

"I was actually Mr. Dagem's professor in Trigonometry last year. Mr. Dagem made quite an impression to me when he submitted term papers that included very realistic practical applications of the subjects we tackled. I saw you with him a few times in the school cafeteria." The professor explained which cleared our surprise.

From what the professor said, it sounded just like Tayaw to write such papers. 'Practical application', something that Tayaw teach us to prevent us from getting bored with our subjects. "How is he by the way? I never saw him since last February. He also didn't enroll in my Advanced Algebra class last semester." The professor asked.

I looked at Inson for help on how to answer. "Professor, he uhh… actually quit school." Inson answered. "Oh. Looks like it's not only Miss Agmat here who is friends with Mr. Dagem." The professor said, probably noticing from our body language that us five knew of Tayaw. "Anyway. I thought he transferred. What happened? He was such a good student. Is he having financial difficulties?" The professor asked again.

I know that Tayaw values his privacy so I felt it's not right to tell the professor about his affairs. Even us who are living with him for a few months now felt like he's still hiding secrets. I cannot lie about Tayaw's affairs either, as we were caught unprepared, the professor will definitely tell if I lied. I was about to answer when Ramil beat me to it.

"Quite the opposite professor. Let's just say that Tayaw doesn't need to go to school anymore. He's set for life." Ramil revealed. I gave him a look saying 'Isn't that too much?' which he responded with a shrug.

"Really? Well that's good news! Did he win the lottery or something?" The professor asked, joy can be heard in his voice. We were stumped again until Hoon elbowed my shoulder showing me his phone. In it is Tayaw's text message "Let me talk to him." It turned out that Hoon quickly texted Tayaw shortly after the professor began asking about Tayaw's affairs.

A few moments later, Hoon's phone rang. Hoon picked it up and answered. He then passed his phone to the professor. "Hello Mr. Dagem! I was just talking to your friends. It looks like you've made great friends; they were shifty and were covering for you." The professor asked jovially. This made us laugh awkwardly.

"Ah. I see. It looks like I underestimated you... Uhuh, uhuh. I was disappointed when I didn't see you, but this is great as well… Oh! It's me who wished to have had an entrepreneurial spirit like you do… Good, good. Are you sure you want to do it for free? Alright, I'll drop my car by sometime… Ah! No wonder! They are good students as well? Impressive… Of course! I'll be there if my friends at NIE are available, you know it's uncomfortable for me to hang out with younger people… Yes. Well thank you then, call me when you have time." After a few minutes of talking with Tayaw, the professor finally passed the phone back to Hoon.

"Why didn't you all tell me that you were all in a band? I didn't expect that not only are you kids good students, you're musicians too." The professor complimented us. I don't know what Tayaw told the professor, but knowing him, he probably didn't tell the entire truth to the professor. Still, I'm glad it's cleared. "We're still rookies, sir, but we're progressing well." Ramil said.

"That's good. I used to play the guitar too when I was younger. Just like what I told Tayaw over the phone, I might go watch your performance later if my friends at NIE are free today. I live on the outskirts of West Ouigab so it's on the way too." The professor said. "We've prepared something good professor; we hope you'll be there." I said.

"Well then. Tayaw said that you will still have to prepare for your performance, so you guys go ahead." The professor gestured us to the door.

A few minutes later we arrived at the school parking lot, Ike already waiting for us by Tayaw's van. While on the ride back to Ironstone, I couldn't help but think of Tayaw after that small situation back in the professor's office.

I met Tayaw during the first day of College Algebra last year. At first, I actually felt inferior of how smart Tayaw is, not only in Algebra. He's like the perfect student and don't indulge in joys that people our age engage in.

Thankfully, that inferior feeling didn't evolve into a complex once Tayaw started to ask me for favors in cutting classes. What evolved instead are the things he exchanges for the favors. It started with a cup of coffee and got more expensive like a pair of genuine Converse sneakers last January.

It also confused me as to why of all the students in the class, he only chose to make friends with me. I thought he was interested in me romantically and that assumption was strengthened when he started calling me "baby girl".

As we spent more time together however, I felt like he treats me like a little sister instead. Because of our size difference and his maturity that isn't found in guys his age, I started treating him like an older brother I never had. It was awkward however when I found out that he's actually younger than me by a few months. Still, it didn't make any difference in our friendship after a while and I have grown to like the 'baby girl' nickname Tayaw calls me.

Last March, I finally found out more about Tayaw. His excuses about cutting classes to play around? Saving up for his truck's down payment from his gigs? They're all bullsh*t. He cut classes to re-arrange and compose songs, practice for his gigs, or write a famous f*cking book. He didn't pay a down payment for his truck, but straight up bought it from his earnings as a famous author.

Despite my trust in him, I still can't believe entirely what he says sometimes because of his habit of telling half-truths. Anyway, since then, I gave up comparing myself to Tayaw. He reads our textbooks faster than we do and teaches us in advance. He also re-arranged a LOT, like hundreds of songs and on top of that composed his own songs. He's a genius; there's no point comparing anyone of our age to him.

We arrived soon in Ironstone and Ramil pulled up the van to the driveway of Tayaw's house. I still can't believe I'm actually living in such a big beautiful house. I know that Tayaw is very rich, but I still cannot believe his generosity towards the band. Why did he choose us? I asked Tayaw before but he just answered "Gut feeling."

Entering my room, I immediately went to my closet to pick out what to wear for the performance later. After a few minutes of picking and choosing, I finally decided on a simple peach colored long sleeve sweat shirt, a pair of blue skinny jeans, and the sneakers Tayaw gave me.

I chose them to appear casual to prevent looking like a poser. If I wasn't performing with the band, I would have chosen to wear something bright. After the first few gigs with the band, I learned that wearing bright colors would make me stand out and it felt burdensome.

I have not changed my clothes yet and I went down to the basement instead for a last minute practice. Over the past five months, under Tayaw's guidance, I actually improved my violin skills tremendously. I now have the skills I never knew I could reach before I joined the band.

I've realized how pitchy my playing was and that I never stepped out of the parts of the violin I got used to playing. After learning how to arrange songs a little and learned how the other members use scales, I finally can figure out why I should play a series of notes instead of just blindly copying notes by ear.

Aside from my violin skills, I also improved my singing, which I never thought of improving before. I actually want to sing as the main vocalist in some of the songs but my vocal techniques are not that good and that my range isn't that wide yet so I'm satisfied supporting Tayaw's voice for now. Speaking of Tayaw's voice,

I think it's very beautiful especially when he hits the high notes during the climax of a song and mix in subtle vocal runs. I don't know if Tayaw realized but over the past few months, I've noticed that Tayaw's speaking voice and singing voice are starting to sound the same. His speaking intonation also became more complex and expressive, as if he's reading a poem or song lyrics when talking. It's never boring to listen to him talk even if what he's talking about is actually less than mundane.

I finally felt it was enough after practicing for an hour and I put my violin in its case and brought it to the van. The others also packed up and loaded their instruments in the van a few minutes ago. Tayaw was in charge of the speakers and other stuff and loaded them in his truck. Looking at all the instruments and equipment jammed in the vehicles, I felt my anxiety become more apparent.

Unlike the ROH factory where the customers are prepared to listen, the park where we will be performing tonight might have a crowd with different mindset. I felt like they will be more difficult to impress. Whatever, it's not like my band mates are incompetent. We'll be fine.

4:30 soon came and we arrived at West Ouigab's Monna Park. I noticed while we carried our instruments to the middle of the park that there are already around thirty people gathered beside the lake in the bottom of the park. I thought there's another event in the park until I saw Tayaw, who went ahead of us, walk in front of the people gathered and started setting up the speakers.

"Wait, did Tayaw invite all those people?" I asked the group, confused as to why there are already people waiting. "He probably did. Or maybe those people were here when Tayaw busked last week." Inson replied. It made sense. Tayaw probably informed his audience last week that he will come again today with us. Inson's guess proved true because after we joined Tayaw and set up our instruments, we saw Tayaw start chatting with some of the people in the crowd.

While testing the sound system, we all noticed the crowds slowly grow. I also spotted our Calculus professor join the crowd with three men his age with him. The professor waved at us and gestured that we shouldn't mind him as he started chatting with his friends.

The time finally came and Tayaw also leaned forward to his microphone. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I see some new faces, and also familiar ones. Thank you for coming. We are the Percussive Corrections, a bunch of musicians who wish to give you all a lovely Friday night."