“Ok, class! In our last meeting, we talked about Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon. Now, when did that happen?” Ms. Berido says.

Mark raises his hand and is called.

“He crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC.”

“Very good! Mr. Mercado. You have improved your knowledge remarkably since the start of this semester. Everybody, hand him a round of applause.”

The whole class gives him a round of applause while some holler. Mark bows slightly to his classmates with a hint of being bashful. Mark then sits down and feels that something touched him by his arm. He turns his head to see what touched him and sees his friend’s fist raised, awaiting for landing. Mark raises a fist and confirms the fist bump.

“Pshhh,” as it exploded, in a hush of their whispers.

They then focus their attention on their teacher’s lesson.

“Now when Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the Senate panicked. They fled for their lives and fled south. No general is allowed, by law, to cross the Rubicon unless they were invited by the Senate. But Caesar received no invitation, sparking a bloody civil war. The civil war lasted for four years. It was fought between Julius Caesar and? Who could give me an answer?”

Cesar raised his hand.

“Yes, Cesar. Would you please stand up?”

Cesar stands up straight.

“It was between Julius Caesar and Pompey, ma’am.”

“Very Good. Could you give him a round of applause, class?”

The entire class clapped for him while Cesar smiled at them and nodded in appreciation. Cesar then sits down after his victory.

Mark looks at Cesar, then looks at Samantha. He finds out that Samantha and Cesar are looking at each other, smiling. He corrects his posture and looks ahead.

“Yes, Mr. Mercado?”

Mark stands up straight.

“Thales, sir.”

“Good job, you’re getting better than last month Mr. Mercado. Kindly sit down.”

Mark sits down.

“Now, which Pre-Socratic Philosopher is ‘the weeping philosopher?’”

Mark, Cesar, and two others in the class raised their hands.

“Yes?” pointing to the student near the wall with the doors open.

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The student stands up.

“Heraclitus, sir.”

“Good, you’re correct. You’re paying attention to my class the same way you pay attention to basketball tactics and strategies taught by Coach Perez, my child.”

“Well, we have to feed the mind the same way we feed our bodies, sir.”

“How insightful, child. May God bless your soul.”

The student smiles and sits down.

“Well, class. Can you tell me why he’s called ‘the weeping philosopher?”

Mark and Cesar raise their hands.

“Yes, Mr. Mercado.”

“He’s called a weeping philosopher sir because everything is in flux, everything’s changing. He’ll be present today, but tomorrow he’ll be gone. Nothing is permanent in this world, there’s no stability.”

“Well thought out answer Mr. Mercado.”

“Thank you, sir,” and he sits down.

“Today I’m presenting you, Plato.”

The teacher writes the word “Plato” on the board while Samantha just sits in her chair drearily. Until she hears the bell ringing. Samantha looks to her left and right looking for Cesar. Not finding him, she tapped Mark’s shoulders in front of her. But turning to her, it was not Mark.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

Embarrassed, she looks for her friends and lover. Assessing the arrangements of her classmates, it is the last class of the day.

“Ok class, please pass your test papers to your front.”

They passed their papers to the front. While Samantha looked at her papers and was puzzled.

‘Did I just zone out? I hope I answered this test correctly. I can’t believe I zoned out. Nevertheless, I’m confident with myself that I will pass because I know this subject like the back of my hand.’

She then receives the paper from the back and put her paper on it. Finally, she passes it to the person who she mistakenly thought was Mark.

“Ok class, you’re dismissed. Have fun.”

The whole class stands up and goes towards the door. Samantha stands up too when Cesar appears from the multitude of people, walking towards her. Samantha smiles at him and he smiles back at her. When he reached her, he carried her bag and hung it on his shoulders to his front.

“Cesar, I can carry my bag.”

“No, I’ll carry it for you.”

“Don’t you have a game at this moment?”

“Nah, I’ll play tomorrow. Mark wanted me to teach him how to play basketball. So, I’ll help him. He said he’s gonna bring his ball after the last class ends. And I’ll wait for him at the court to teach him some.”

“Oh, ok. But you can’t play at the court, somebody would use that.”

“My love, we’ll use the volleyball court in the elementary because no one plays there.”

“Oh yeah. It’s good that you would use that to train him.”

The two of them went to the volleyball court in elementary and sure enough, no one is playing. They just took a seat on the concrete bench by the classrooms, with a roof barely covering them.

Samantha looks at Cesar intently, tilting her head to her side.

“Why Cesar?”

Cesar looks at her confused.

“Why what?”

“Why do you want to help him how to play basketball?”

Cesar chuckled, looked straight ahead, and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

“Well, let’s just say, I want to give back kindness what is due.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mark defended me from being beaten up by Junrey, he defended my honor from being racially disparaged by Junrey, which I greatly appreciated. So, I want to help him in whatever he wants to do. If the Lord is willing, I want to help him to be on the varsity team.”

“Really? You really want to do that for him?”

“Well, of course. It’s rare to have someone defend you when you’re down.”

“Well, thou hath spoken the truth.”

While they were talking, Justin and Mark arrived at the volleyball court. Cesar saw them and stood up. Mark dribbles the ball with his two hands, tries to dribble the ball one-handed, and tries to dribble the ball under the legs. When he tries to dribble the ball under the legs, the ball accidentally bounced towards his crotch. Pain is written all over his face. He fell on his hands and knees with Justin laughing his butt off. Cesar felt the pain from the moment of impact. He squatted towards Mark and patted his back.

“Take your time, I’m gonna teach you the basics.”

Mark looks up and smiles with a little chuckle.

“Thank you, Cesar. I truly need that right now.”