Chapter 4

"I'm really fine, Will." I protested. He wanted me to take to the clinic.

"I know you're not, Kit. Look at yourself."

I narrowed my eyes on him. He was so sure of my situation. I didn't know this man had a special power.

Or maybe I was too obvious, I thought.

"And how do you say so?" I challenged him. He shifted to his weight and raked his fingers through his silky hair.

"Just let me take you to the clinic, Marikit. The nurse knows better than you do."

"Oh?" I mocked. "She knows my condition better than I do?"

I giggled. I was just trying to make him mad. He was so cute when he's trying to hold his temper.

He pouted and I giggled more. His crystal brown eyes dilated from clear to yellow sapphire. I was always amazed by how he did that every time he's holding his feelings.

"Okay, okay." I chuckled in resignation. He was irresistible. "After that, I'll have my next class. I'm pretty sure I'll be marked as absent."

He remained silent like he was contemplating. He was looking directly into my eyes.

"Alright," he sighed and dropped his shoulders. "I hope this won't happen again."

"O...kay?" I winced at him, still puzzled because he's acting weird.

"Let's go," he demanded. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs. I just shrugged it off, not wanting to protest.

We descended to the quadrangle. We passed by a faculty room and had to take down another stairs to reach the school ground. The CLO's office welcomed us and in front of it was a wide mirror. I checked myself and sighed because I was feeling exhausted. The pain I had in my guts consumed my energy.

We passed by in an ICT room before we finally reached the clinic. Good thing it was open and the nurse, who happened to be our Science teacher, was available.

"Yes, Willian?" Ms. Llanza approached Willian, who was still holding my hand.

"You gotta check her out, teacher. Something's wrong with her." Willian replied casually and ushered me inside the room.

"Hmm," Teacher Llanza hummed, making me feel embarrassed. "Have a seat first."

I nodded as my response. I settled on a white bed with soft pillows. The cases were inked in rose gold. I was enjoying the temperature of the room. It was cold but I can still manage.

Willian looked at me, who was leaning on the door with his firm arms crossed in front of his chest. At his age, he's already strong. He looked so powerful, especially when his eyes turned to yellow sapphire.

"So," the teacher started, stealing my attention. I was still looking at Willian. "What can I do for you, Marikit?"

"My stomach hurt, teacher," I said before I turned to her. "It was not just an ordinary pain, it was tormenting. It felt like I was going to die."

Teacher Llanza's facial expression changed. There was a hint of fear in her eyes. I turned to Willian and gave him a questioning look but he just shifted to his weight.

"Let me see your belly," the teacher demanded softly.

"Ah, o-okay." I stammered.

I unbuttoned my last two buttons. I was wearing a chocolate brown skirt which I wasn't comfortable with. It always took me sometimes to walk properly. It wasn't tight but it was suppressing me to walk freely.

As I opened my school uniform and showed them my belly, the teacher gasped and swathed her mouth.

"Why, teacher?" Willian asked, silently panicking.

The teacher stepped backward. I was curious about my belly so I checked it and to my surprise, there were foreign scars on it.

The scars were thin lines that you can only see if you look closer. They were not ordinary scars. They were like thin roots slowly making their way up to my apical site. It was a rare thing to see like these.

"What are these?" I asked. I didn't like to panic but Willian gave me reasons to.

"Scars of mate," Teacher Llanza said under her breath.

"What?" Willian asked in his furrowed brows but the teacher ignored him.

Miss Llanza turned her back to us. She mumbled something in her medicine kit, shaking like she was running from something.

Willian shifted his eyes on me. He was as puzzled as I was. Both of us had no idea what the teacher was doing but I can say I knew something wrong was happening.

The teacher sighed as she faced us again. She's holding a case of medicine. The tablets were round and colored green.

"You can take this, Marikit." Miss Llanza said and stretched the case towards me. I was having doubts if I should take it because I was pretty sure I was fine. My guts only hurt and the pain almost killed me. I was fine again.

Willian took the tablets when he noticed I didn't have a plan of getting it. He checked it, still in knitted brows. He was flipping it side by side searching for risk but found nothing.

"I don't think I need them, cher." I declared. "I'm fine now."

"Just in case, Kit." Willian protested and I turned to him with a glare. He just reached out the case towards me.

"You can take one tablet every time your guts hurt." the teacher said and I turned to her again. "Just in case."

I winced and resigned by taking the tablets with me. I had no problem keeping them. I was pretty sure what happened to me won't occur again. I hoped so.

"Only one, Kit." Miss Llanza mouthed. There was a threat in her voice. "If you take two at the same time, it would only make the situation worse."

"As if I'll take this," I murmured.

"Kit," Willian called out with a warning. I just rolled my eyes at him. He's the reason why I was here. Look, I was late in my class and definitely got marked as absent.

"Follow the instructions, Kit." teacher Llanza said and I turned to her. "One mistake may lead you to death." 

"Okay," I sighed in resignation. "You mean this will only be used when the pain in my stomach is worse?"

Like I had earlier? Will I experience that again? Oh god. I hoped not. I was between life and death at that time and I felt my guts burning and shrinking.

"Yes, Kit. And if it's not effective or you run out of it, you can ask me for another stock."

"O-Okay," I shifted my eyes to Willian who was looking at me straight. "Do you know what kind of pain I had earlier?"

"It's..." she trailed off and diverted her eyes on Willian. "It's normal."

I furrowed my brows at her. I didn't get what she was trying to say or what she was trying to hide. She can just tell it straight to me.

"Thank you, teacher," Willian said, dismissing the topic. "We have to go now. Thanks for the med."

"No worries, Will." the teacher smiled. "You can approach me anytime."

"Sure," he nodded.

I looked away and contemplated. There must be something going on here. I couldn't tell what it was but I was pretty sure it was a taboo subject.

We went back to our respective rooms as the teacher told us to do so. We weren't classmates since he took the STEM and I had my ABM. I was fond of business and marketing which I didn't know why. I just loved that kind of stuff.

"Kit!" called out by a familiar voice as I entered my room. Our teacher wasn't around which I expected 'cause she's always late. She was our guidance council and she ran different jobs. I was inspired by how responsible she was though sometimes she committed a mistake. Everyone does. No one's perfect.

I groaned at the back of my head and lazily settled on my seat which was beside Melody but since she was not around, my seatmate was Moon.

"How's your condition?" she asked as I slumped my butt on my chair.

"Good," I shrugged off. "Teacher Llanza gave me medicine."

"May I see?" she offered me her palm, telling me to place the case on it.

I scratched my ears in annoyance. Teacher Llanza didn't tell me about these tablets. She just told me what to do without telling me the main purpose of the medicine. What if there was a chemical formula here? I would die rather than heal myself.

I gave her the medicine case. It was a rectangular shape with the size of a 4×4 picture. There were ten pieces— if I wasn't mistaken; colored in an apple green.

"A-Are you sure this is the right medicine?" she asked suspiciously and I furrowed my brows at her.

"What do you mean?" I asked back. My heart was hammering inside its cage. I could smell trouble.

"N-Nevermind," she gulped once and gave the case back to me. "Are you sure you're just a normal girl?"

I fluttered my eyes at her. My mind was buffering. What kind of question was that? Was she serious?

I bursted into a laugh as soon as I found her question ridiculous. Of course, I was a normal girl. I didn't have any superpowers that made people flabbergast.

"Seriously, Moon?" I chuckled but she just scowled at me. "I may be crazy but I'm still normal for lord's sake."

"What if you're not?" She challenged me. There was a hint of playfulness in her voice.

My chuckle subsided. She was teasing my mind, playing mind-blowing games.

"All of us have dark secrets, Marikit. It was unusual to say you're normal when you know you experience strange things."

I gulped once. Her lines gave chills to my bones. I was like running in a maze and solving puzzles. I was having a hard time settling things.

My mother always told me we're normal. I once had a bruise that was healed by itself immediately. I asked mom how that happened but she just smiled at me. For sixteen years of existence, the only thing I considered as supernatural was the healing process.

"L-Like what?" I asked in furrowed brows but she just shrugged off dismissively. She looked away and shut her mouth up; scribbling something on her yellow paper.

I wandered my eyes around. My head was pounding. I was having a hard time processing what was going on.

If I wasn't normal like I usually thought, what kind of creature am I? Why do I experience things normal people don't?