1 New School

At five in the morning, Aya woke up to her alarm clock. Another day to face again. She's just a normal girl who goes to a normal school ... hopefully. It was in the middle of the school year when Aya enrolled herself to her 5th school this year. Yes, Aya moved from school to school for 18 years. She is used to this setup.

She took a shower and put on her new uniform which consists of a red dress shirt, knee length black skirt and a black necktie. She also combed her long brownish hair and she's good to go.

Next she did was go to the kitchen to prepare herself a nice breakfast. Aya lives alone in her small apartment. She is the only child of the Cruzes, who owns most of the hotels, restaurants, and other businesses in Manila. They are working there in Manila while he is here in Gensan to study.

She doesn't like to study in Manila, apart from the always traffic, all of the people there knew that she was the daughter of one of the richest families in the Philippines. She decided to transfer and study in Gensan, which is one islands away from her parents because not a single soul, no one knows who she is. With so many people with the last name Cruz, they can't believe that she has a relationship to that certain rich family.

Aya is a normal girl and that's what she wants to think. If you ask her why did she transfer? She would not let you know. In fact, she keeps a secret that even her parents don't know about.

She can see ghosts.

That's right. Aya can see ghost, whether good or bad.

When Aya was young, she thought it was normal to see that, but as time passed by and the way people reacted to her, she thought she had to hide it so she wouldn't get into trouble..

It was already 6:30 when Aya left her apartment. It was a 15 minute walk from her place to her new school.

He was approaching the school gate when a girl, same uniform as her, passed by followed by an old man who is in his 60s.

A typical day to see a ghost so early in the morning.

As mentioned before, Aya is used to seeing things that a normal person cannot see. This is the major reason why she moved from school to school. When, it is exposed throughout the school that she sees a ghost, rumors will spread in a negative way and no one will make friends with her anymore. They resent or are afraid of what powers Aya has.

Aya did not utter what she saw. She didn't even call the girl.

When Aya entered the school gate, she went straight to the principal's office to know which classroom she would enter.

"Oh, you're the new student." The principal greeted her. Very tall for an old man, white hair, at may white beard.

"Yes sir." Aya replied.

"I know about your parents, why didn't you study in Manila so that you would be close to them?" the principal asked Aya.

"Personal reasons sir." Aya's simple answer.

"I see." The principal just nodded. "Well, I understand the business world is like a war zone."

Aya don't exactly know the point of what her principal said. For 18 years, she had no interest in business. She was more interested in arts. In fact, she is good in painting sceneries.

"Let's go." The principal led the way upstairs of the building. The classroom was located on the second floor.

Upstairs, they walked down long hallways with classrooms on the left side and a scenery on the right side. From the second floor, Aya could see the massive school field. At the right side of the field there are mango trees with green fruits, she can see a person standing from the tree who seems to be waiting.. She shrugged it off.

They stopped at room 312. " Here we are." Said the principal.

He opened the door and Aya could feel the cold air from the aircondition touches her face. One reason Aya chose this school is because the classrooms are air-conditioned.

"Good morning Ma'am Grace." The principal greeted to which Ma'am Grace bowed too.

The teacher then turned to the class. "Class, we have a new student."

The principal gestured Aya to go inside then he close the door and went back to his office. Aya looked at the unfamiliar classmates. Nothing peculiar until her gaze went upon a person standing at the corner of the room. The man is familiar to her, she thinks she saw him already somewhere.

Oh, she remember. The old man from earlier. Then that means, Aya scanned the room properly, there, at the 3rd row to the right, she saw the student pass by him.

"She is Aya Cruz." Aya was snapped back to reality as the teacher introduced her. "She will be a student here, please be nice to her."

Aya made a bow and went to a seat directed to her by the teacher. So far, the school was fine saved for the occasional ghosts but she thought as long as not everyone knew about it, everything may go well.

The bell rings for recess time and she was already approached by two girls.

"So, you're Aya right." a girl said brightly. " Hanna."

"Jennie." Said the second girl.

" Come on, let's go to recess together." Hanna cheered happily.

It could be a good start, Aya thought. Maybe the locals treat them differently than in Manila. They are not really rude and very open. They do not treat new students as threats in their social life, in fact, they are very friendly. Aya thinks she will love it here. She don't have trust issues, just pretty careful.

Aya went with the two girls to the school canteen. The canteen is located outside the building so they need to go downstairs to buy food.

The canteen is small but very crowded with students. Long queues in different food sections. There is section for candies and biscuits, there is also section for drinks, sections for fried food, soups, combo meals. All of that was full of students waiting in line.

They lined up in the fried food sections, they also waited about 10 minutes to buy a burger, corn dog, and a waffle. They sat down at a table and ate.

"So Aya." Hanna started the conversation. " What is your reason for moving here from Manila?"

"Personal reasons." Aya replied munching her burger. " I don't want him to elaborate further, sorry."

" It's OK. we do not insist." Jennie said.

Aya gets comfortable with her new friends. She had just arrived in the area but they were very welcoming. She happens to glance around the area when she sees her classmate and her ghost companion again. Her classmate is busy laughing and eating while the old man just stand there looking at her.

What could he want to convey? She asked herself. As far as she knows, ghosts tend to remain on earth because they have unfinished businesses that they have to finish. In the old man's case, what could that be?

She looked carefully at the ghost. An old man in his 60s, wearing a tshirt and pants with slippers. May gusto ata siyang sabihin as he kept opening and closing his mouth pero di naman ito nagsasalita. He just stared at Aya's classmate.

And little did Aya know, someone else was looking at her.

The last period in the afternoon is over and all is well, Aya thanks herself for surviving the first day of school and actually enjoyed it. She made many friends in a matter of hours. All are friendly to her and helping her cope up since it is in the middle of the school year she entered. She and her friends Hanna and Jennie are going to the locker. Her locker was quite far from theirs so she went there alone.

" We'll just catch up when we're done." Jennie assured her and they parted ways.

The school locker is light blue, typical lockers you can see in other schools especially Manila. Aya inserted her key into the keyhole, turned it, and opened the locker. She frowned when she saw a letter from it. A small white envelope. Aya wondered what was written here.

"A love letter!!!" Aya was surprised by Jennie's sudden appearance.

"OMG!!! On your first day of school?!!" Hanna added obviously thrilled.

Aya put her forefinger to her lips indicating that "shut up, someone can hear us about that" sign.

Both Jennie and Hanna cover their mouth, but they could not hide the thrill.

With Jennie and Hanna at her side, Aya reluctantly open the envelope to reveal the letter.

Aya Cruz,

You go to the rooftop this afternoon 4:00

xxx