After they are done eating, they march towards their school. When they’re inside the school, Cesar passes them by and greets Samantha with a ‘Hi’ and then walks off.

Justin says to Samantha, “That’s weird, Samantha. You two would always talk to each other incessantly while the two of us leave you guys alone.”

“Oh, it’s just nothing.”

“That nothing must be something. Please, tell us what’s going on.”

“Ok, you deserve to know. We demoted our relationship.”

“Demoted? What does that mean?”

Mark taps his arm and says, “The opposite of being promoted, dummy.”

“What? You two are officially broken up? That’s sad, you two always get along so well.” Justin says as he winks at Mark while Samantha is looking down.

“Well, my dad doesn’t want me to have a boyfriend yet. Not until I finish my studies.”

“Oh, really? That sucks.”

Mark hits Justin with his elbow.

“Ouch. What was that for?”

“For saying so carelessly.”

“Whatever, man.”

Mark looks at Samantha and says, “It’s for your own good, Samantha, that your dad wants it that way. That’s wise advice your dad is giving you.”

Samantha looks up at him, smiles, and says, “I guess so too, Mark.”

Ba dum, ba dum, ba dum.

‘What the heck? I can’t move. Why am I feeling this for Samantha now? I’m just smiling and staring at her like I’m some nutcase or something,’ Mark thought.

Justin looks at Samantha then at Mark and vice versa. He giggles but he covers his smile with his hand.

Samantha laughs then Mark laughs as well with her. And eventually, they both laughed together. With their eyes locked in, no one can break the gaze between them.

Mark broke the silence and said, “Let’s go to our class, shall we?”

She snaps out of it and says, “Of course, Mark. Let’s go.”

As Samantha walks past him, he sees Cesar standing further from him and looking at him.

‘What the heck? I’m gonna get pummeled by him. What have I done?’

Cesar walks towards him and says, “Let’s get to the classroom, Mark. History is awesome.”

‘What? Is that it? Will he at least be angry at me?’

“Cesar.”

“Yes?”

“Will you at least be angry at me for what happened?”

“Oh, no, Mark. I’m not that type of guy. You like her, I understand that. I don’t have a beef about you and all that, life’s too short to be doing that. You have a chance of having her if you ask me.”

“But-“

“It’s not a matter of but, Mark. It’s a matter of when. You two seem to be getting along lately, I don’t make a big deal out of it. You two really get along together. She’s more comfortable with you than she is with me. You have a chance with her, Mark.”

Cesar walks past him as Mark turns only to see him walking off to the classroom. Bowing his head down, he walks towards the classroom of Ms. Berido. Justin puts his hand on his shoulder as they are walking together.

“Ain’t that good news, Mark?”

“What do you mean good news? He deserves the best just for me to take her away from him. Nah, bro. ”

“Don’t pity party, that ain’t good for you, man. You have the opportunity, just take it.”

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“Yeah, you’re right, I should take the opportunity.”

“Although I reproved you in pursuing her, I change my mind on the matter since you two get along so well.”

“Cesar and Samantha get along well too. What makes me so special?”

“Don’t mind that, focus on the goal.”

“I suppose so.”

As they arrived at their classroom, they went over to their seats and sat in them. When they sat on their chairs, Ms. Berido entered the room.

With her head bowed down reading her subject textbook she said, “Good afternoon, students. Be seated.”

The whole class said, “Good afternoon, Ms. Berido.”

She looks up at them and says, “Oh, you’re already seated, very good.”

Ms. Berido writes on the board, “Civil Wars of Rome.”

“Today we’re gonna talk about the Civil Wars of Rome. Can you tell me as we’ve discussed yesterday who are the combatants?”

Cesar, Mark, and three other students raised their hands.

“Yes, Mr. Mercado.”

Mark stands up and says, “The combatants are Julius Caesar and Pompey.”

“Good, Mr. Mercado. It’s frightening how you’ve improved so much in my class. Give him a round of applause, class.”

“Thank you, men, women, and children,” Mark addressed the class.

Mark then sits down and the class resumes.

“The first battle that happened in this civil war is the Battle of Ilerda. Ilerda is in modern-day Spain, the modern name for it is Leida or Lerida. Caesar is present in this fight but Pompey is not. The Pompeians have the advantage at the outset of the battle but the Caesarians beat them to the punch by moving in an unorthodox way and positioning in a strategic advantage in the end. In short, The Pompeians surrendered to the Caesarians. The Pompeian soldiers were granted permission to go home and they complied.”

‘This is cool war stuff.’

Mark closes his eyes and opens them.

‘It’s Sunday service. I love this part of the week.’

The Sunday Service of the Be Opened Christian Fellowship starts as the worship team asks the people to praise and worship the Lord. They all stand up to worship the Lord.

Mark looks for Samantha and sees her but without Cesar with him.

‘It’s sad that they barely interact anymore. I sure hope things are different. But as it is, it’s what’s best for them. Maybe, this is an opportunity for me.’

Mark snickers and her mom hears it.

“What’s up with that?”

He looks at his mom beside him and says, “With what?”

“You snickering.”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Could you at least spit it out?”

“No, ma. It’s a private matter.”

“If it’s a private matter why hide it to the one who carried you in her womb for nine months and gave birth to you with extraordinary pain.”

“Ok, fine. I surrender.” Mark takes a deep breath, sighs, and says, “Cesar and Samantha demoted their relationship.”

“And you’re happy they broke up?”

“They didn’t break up per se. They don’t have the boyfriend/girlfriend status anymore. And they just limited their interaction. But they still love each other.”“Let me guess, parents disagree with her relationship?”

“How did you know, ma?”

“I have friends who are like that. I disagree with it though. I would say that it is an ongoing debate of what is the truth about this subject.”

‘Hmm, interesting. Not all parents want their children to be deprived of romantic relationships.’

“We don’t want any restrictions for you whatsoever, Mark. That’s against our taste in leadership and governance. Hehe.”

His father isn’t with them at this moment as he finds where to park the van.

Mark and his mom sit in the middle rows. As they sit down in their seats, his mom puts her bag on the seat beside her. They wait for the service to start when Samantha sits beside Mark.

“Hey, Mark.”

Mark turns his head to her and says, “Oh, I didn’t know it was you beside me, Samantha. You were at the other side of the room.”

“Well, it is me,” then she chuckles.

Mark takes a deep breath, looks straight to the front, and whispers to himself, “It is a mighty beautiful day today, huh.”

“What was that?”

Mark glances at her, smiles, and says, “Oh, nothing in particular.”

“Alright, then. Keep your secrets.”

Mark blushes, awkwardly laughs, and then looks to his front.

‘How did I get this close to her? I feel like my heart is about to explode in this joyous moment.’

“Have you seen Cesar lately, Mark?”

“Oh, he’s been playing basketball on the court these days more often than usual though. Didn’t you go to the court?”

“I didn’t. I don’t have the guts to be in his games."

“Oh.”

An awkward silence came upon them.

“Say, Mark.”

Mark glances at her and says, “What?”

“We’re friends, right?”

“Of course.”

‘Where is this going to lead?’

“Would you mind going to our house?”

‘What?! Why?!”

Mark’s mom looks at her suspiciously and says to her, “And why is that, young lady?”

“Oh. Um. Mark could use our basketball court in my house. Since Cesar teaches Mark and Justin basketball, it would seem to be a good idea that they could use our court.”

“Oh, ok. You don’t have any ideas when it comes to my son, do you?”

Samantha shakes her head and says, “Oh, no, ma’am. You got it all wrong. He’s my friend and I would like to give him a favor.”

“I hope that favor is good, young lady.”

Mark interjects, “Mom, she’s only my friend.”

His mom raises her hands and says, “Ok.” His mom takes a good look at her and says, “Oh, you’re Samantha!”

Samantha smiles and says, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh, you’re the one my son-“ she looks at him and sees the fear in his widened eyes while slightly shaking his head. “-talked about… You’re the transferee in the school.”

“Oh, I am, ma’am.”

Mark sighs in relief.

“He talks about you sometimes,” as she gently elbows Mark with a smile on her face.

“Oh, really? I didn’t think I’m that special to you, Mark, am I? Hehe.”

Mark chuckles and says, “You stood out in the class, that’s why.”

“In what way?” Samantha looks at him intently.

“In what way?”

“Yes.”

‘Why is she looking at me like that? And why does time seem to be slowing down? Is this love?’

His mom’s smile grew large.

Mark composes himself and says, “Well, you’re the one I li-“

“Ladies, gentlemen, and children, please stand up for our worship service.”

Mark looks at the front and sees the worship team ready to lead the people to worship.

‘I guess I can’t tell her what I feel.’

He looks at Samantha and says, “Let’s worship the Lord, then.”

She looks at him and says, “I know, Mark,” as she smiles at him.

‘I know, Mark? Does that mean-‘