“Good Morning.”

“Morning.”

“Good day.”

“Oh, sis, listen to this. Yesterday—”

Two days had passed since Ma'am Arevalo led the self-introduction activity, and nothing much had happened since then—aside from a few minor changes, like the reorganization of circles in the classroom.

“Have you heard the new song BTS made?”

“Yeah, it's fantastic!”

“I know, right!?”

By learning each other's likes and dislikes, they formed circles of friends based on their shared interests and hobbies. There’s already a group of BTS fans within the classroom, a group for music lovers, and even one for those who enjoy games have their group. Adrian and Jose somehow got into a group similar to a circle that likes games.

The funny thing is, what they did in the introduction two days ago made them unexpectedly popular in class. Many classmates, especially the guys, started talking to them. At first, it sounded like an insult, but in the end, they're just teasing and easy to talk to. Because of this new arrangement, the classroom has become noisier than before.

“Okay, enough chattering. Everyone, return to your seats already,” Ma'am Miranda said as she entered the classroom, signaling the start of the class.

Regarding Ma'am Miranda, the day after the introduction activity with Ma'am Arevalo, she clarified that she had borrowed time from Ma'am Arevalo to discuss the seating arrangement and class officers. Since it was only one day, and still the first week. They weren’t behind schedule.

“Right, before we start, I have something to announce. I’ve already prepared the seating arrangement format, and later, I borrowed some time from Ms. Arevalo so we can assign your seats according to the arrangement I’ve made.”

Three days have passed since the discussion about their seats and class officers, and now it's finally time to assign their seats.

After making the announcement, the class continued onwards. Over the past two days, nothing new had happened. It still felt like they were in the introductory phase. Teachers kept explaining the subjects over and over with no lessons starting yet.

“Okay, that’s all for now,” Ms. Miranda said as her time concluded. “Oh, before I forget, we will have a pre-test next week,” she added before leaving the classroom.

The next subject was free time. Then, the following two periods were also vacant, as Sir Hilario and Ma'am Penaloza didn’t show up again today. This has often been happening, with some teachers occasionally skipping their classes.

They speculated that the reason might be because the actual start of classes was next week, but that was just a guess. It was far from the truth. And what they found out through connections from other sections was that those teachers normally attend their classes.

After learning the truth, It's now leaving them baffled as to why only their section is treated this way.

Despite the confusion, they were not upset about it; rather, they enjoyed the situation because it gave them extra free time to do as they wished. They can freely chat, play games, or do whatever they please. Since no one is supervising or interrupting them, they can continue having fun until a teacher arrives, or the break period begins, which would signal an end to their free time.

“Help, in mid!”

“Coming.”

“Heal me, dumb*ss!!”

One of the things the boys do during their free time is play games. They're hooked on a popular mobile game called Mobile Legends, a multiplayer online battle arena similar to League of Legends, but for mobile devices. Right now, they're playing a friendly custom 5 vs. 5 match against each other.

“Hey, they're at the lord!”

“On it.”

{YOU HAVE SLAIN THE LORD}

“Nice steal, Cabanas!”

Among them was Adrian, while Jose was on the opposing side. Since becoming well-known, they sometimes hang out with a group of boys who enjoy gaming, and today that group includes several Mobile Legends players. Adrian and Jose are veterans of the game, having played it long before its global release—essentially, they were beta testers.

“Cabanas, can I have a moment?”

As the match was still ongoing, Frias came to interrupt. She wanted to talk to Adrian, but he was busy playing.

“Wait, I'm in-game.”

“It's just only a custom match, right? You can just leave or pause the match for a bit.”

“No can do. This isn’t just your average casual game.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… we have a bet this time.”

“Huh? You guys are betting money!? That’s against school rules, you know.”

“What?! No, it’s not like that. We’re betting that the losing team treats us to lunch during break. Plus, this is the first I’ve heard of any rule like that here.”

“Even if there aren’t specific rules about it, this is a school, so it’s generally understood that gambling is prohibited.”

“Makes sense, but we’re not betting money. It’s just a simple treat.”

“... I guess you’re right; it’s just a treat. But once money talk comes into play, it could become a problem.”

“It’s not a problem if we don’t do that, right?”

Frias sighed in disappointment that her words hadn’t registered in Adrian’s mind. “Why am I even having this argument? This isn’t what I wanted to talk about,” she complained. “We need to talk now.”

“Can we just talk like this? I’m still playing.”

The friendly 5 vs. 5 match they were having hadn’t ended yet. They were at the peak of the game; with most of the turrets destroyed and everyone maxed out on levels and items. Surprisingly, Adrian managed to keep up with the game while talking to Frias—it was impressive focus.

Seeing Adrian glued to his phone and seeing his finger not stopping at all, Frias, fed up, impatiently snatched his phone and handed it to someone nearby.

“You play,” she said to the person nearby.

“Hey, why’d you do that?!”

“So that we can finally talk.”

“I said we can talk while I play.”

“No, I want your full attention on our conversation.”

“Fine, what do you want to talk about?” Adrian wanted to complain—but held back and went along with it.

“You heard what Ma'am Miranda said earlier, right?”

“You mean about the seating arrangement later?”

“Yeah, we’re finally going to have our seating arrangement. However, do you think the class officer positions will be decided later too?”

“I don’t know. Why are you asking me? Shouldn’t you have predicted that, since you’ve already once became her student?”

“Yes, she’s one of my teachers, but I’m not in her section. Didn’t I mention that when we first talked?”

“Right, maybe I forgot.”

“So, what do you think?”

“Oh, are we still talking about that? Hmm… Based on what I heard, Ma'am Miranda only mentioned the seating arrangement but didn’t bring up class officers. So I guess we won’t be doing that today.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“That's only a guess, we still can't be sure.”

Hearing what he figured she'd said to be, he let a sigh go and mumbled, “So, in the end, you disagree.” Then in a normal tone, he added, “Why even ask me?”

“I wanted to hear other opinions. And I have to say, you and that person had the same thoughts.”

“That person?”

“Oh, right, I haven’t told you yet about that. A few days ago, I recruited someone new to our group.”

“What? Who?”

“It’s a girl named Mariel Tinabet. She’s over there,” she said, pointing to a girl with glasses who was talking to someone. “She wants to be the secretary.”

“Why are you telling me this just now?”

“I meant to, but it slipped my mind since we got busy.”

“Wait, if I remember correctly, she was there when we made our plan. Don’t tell me—is that why she’s been helping us all this time?”

“That’s right.”

The free time he and Frias had wasn't wasted—as they used it as an opportunity to plan for the class officer positions. They had a small meeting during the break, which included only Adrian, Frias, and their new member, Tinabet.

“Ugh, I’m such a fool,” Adrian blurted out.

“Hmm?”

“I mean. I feel like a fool for not figuring out something so obvious.”

It was a normal comment to make in that context, but for some reason, it sounded odd. Frias suspected Adrian was hiding something; she was sure it had something to do with Tinabet. She thought about asking but decided not to, knowing there was something more important to focus on.

“Okay then,” she replied, letting it slide. “I still suspect that later on, we’ll suddenly move on to the class officer nominations.”

“If that happens, we can’t do anything other than just present ourselves as best we can.”

“That’s true. Even so, we should still prepare—stick to our plan,” she said, encouraging him to continue with their plan.

“No need to tell me,” Adrian replied.

After reaching their conclusion, Frias finally left Adrian.

The plan they are talking about was fairly simple—or, technically, it’s not even much of a plan. What they are doing is just simply interacting with their classmates in the hopes of gaining their favor.

Each of them had their approach. Adrian, for example, interacted with classmates by playing games, which opened up opportunities for conversations and making good impressions. Frias on the other hand, used her status as a repeater to take on a "big sister" role with the girls, having her join their conversation occasionally. As for Tinabet, Adrian didn’t know much about her strategy, since he barely knew her and hadn’t been paying attention to what she was doing. And as a matter of fact, he hadn’t even realized she was part of their group until Frias mentioned it.

Going back to what they were doing, Adrian got his phone back.

“So, what happened?” he asked the person who had been playing for him.

“It's a defeat.”

“Aw, man, we lost?”

“That's right, so you guys will be treating us later,” said one of the opponents.

“Why’d you even hand your phone and let him play?” his teammates complained.

“Sorry, my bad. I had a serious talk and couldn’t play,” Adrian apologized.

“So, from what we agreed, we’ll go as pairs, right?”

The arrangement was that, since it was a five-on-five match, each winner would be paired with a loser, and the loser would treat the person they paired with.

“Sorry, but, I can't go along with that,” one of the losers suddenly declared.

“What?”

“I can't comply with the terms. I’m on a budget, so I can’t treat anyone.”

“Come on, no backing out now. You joined and lost the game, and it wouldn’t be fair to your teammate if you’re the only exception.”

“That’s…”

The atmosphere is becoming a bit tense. Even though it was just some silly provocation, the person in question felt the pressure.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Adrian intervened. “Guys, listen, since I bailed on the match, let me make amends by treating the entire winning team. How does that sound?”

“Wouldn’t that be unfair to you?”

“No, I insist on doing it.”

“Well, we’re fine with it, but… I don’t know about them.”

They were referring to Adrian’s teammates, uncertain whether they felt bad about it or would take advantage of the offer. It seemed to be the former; since their reactions indicated they felt guilty.

“I think it’s a better idea if the four of us split the cost for the fifth person, instead of letting him cover it all alone,” suggested one of Adrian’s teammates.

“That’s a good idea. What do you think, Cabanas?”

“I still want to compensate, but…” Adrian paused, reconsidering the feelings of the others. He decided it was best to go along with the group. “If you guys say so, then let's do that.”

It was settled that the four of them would split the payment for the fifth person, and the one who couldn't contribute wouldn't have to worry about it. Even though everyone seemed okay with the decision, the person who couldn’t pay still felt ashamed.

“Don’t worry about it. Just repay us whenever you can,” Adrian offered, giving the person a reasonable option.

“Yeah, I will,” they replied.

With just one suggestion, the person felt less burdened. He now had plenty of time to repay them, and it wouldn’t be difficult to compensate—if it was just a treat from the canteen.

Seeing the person determined, Adrian felt relieved. It was the outcome he had hoped for. This kind of simple conversation was his way of making a good impression. Did it work? He wasn’t entirely sure, but judging by their casual expressions, it appeared to be working.

“Now that our match is done, wanna go play ranked?”

“I’m in.”

“Can’t, I’m going to take a break.”

“What about you, Cabanas?”

“Oh, I’m also taking a break,” Adrian replied.

“Same here,” Jose chimed in.

“Okay, so just the three of us are playing then.”

With that, the three who still had the energy went on to play another game, while the others wanted to take a breather.

“I know you guys won, so wipe that grin off your face,” Adrian mentioned, noticing Jose staring at him.

“Feeling annoyed, aren't you? That you guys just lost?”

“Not really. It's just a silly little game, after all.”

“Oh, is that so? Since it’s your treat, you don’t mind if I get a little demanding with my choices, then?”

Jose, being on the winning side, was paired with Adrian. He started acting like a tyrant, playfully pretending to order whatever he wanted, just to get under his skin. That’s just how their friendship worked, as had been clear since their introduction.

“If it’s within my budget, feel free to choose whatever you like,” Adrian replied calmly, making Jose's taunts ineffective.

“What if there's nothing I want from the canteen?”

“I wouldn’t mind treating you somewhere else instead,” Adrian said, keeping his calm demeanor.

Jose was surprised by Adrian’s response because they usually trash-talked each other after games. But seeing no sign of irritation, Jose decided to stop teasing him.

“Nah, I was just joking. I'm fine with canteen treats,” Jose admitted.

“Okay then. Just let me know if you change your mind.”

After taking their short break, they returned to playing, though they switched to a different game this time. Spending their free time doing nothing but gaming, they eventually reached break time.

“It’s finally time for you guys to treat us,” someone said.

“Yeah, yeah, we know.”

With the deal settled, the ten of them headed to the canteen.

Since no teachers were around to supervise, they utilized their time well and arrived early.

No other students were there yet, except for their class.

“Alright, pick what you want.”

“It's hard to choose. There are so many things I want to try.”

“Same here.”

“Please don't pick anything too expensive. We want to eat too, you know.”

Since they were the first to arrive, the canteen menu had plenty of options available compared to when it’s packed. Popular dishes like burger steak, sisig, and carbonara, among others, were freshly cooked. Furthermore, the drinks that usually sell out quickly, like milk tea, milkshakes, and smoothies—were now available too.

Despite having these many options, the victors respected the wishes of the losing team. They picked reasonably from the menu, so both sides could enjoy a meal, even though they were footing the bill. They also took into account that they were paying for the fifth person on the winning team; since one member from the losing side had stepped down. And so, thanks to their thoughtful consideration, everything worked out smoothly.

Speaking of being considerate, one person is an exception to that deed. Who else? Guess right, Jose wasn't exactly considerate toward Adrian. He took the “pick whatever you want” comment seriously, choosing everything he liked without worrying whether Adrian could afford it.

“Hey, you're picking too much,” one of Jose’s teammates remarked with concern.

“It's fine. He said I can take whatever I want,” Jose replied, emphasizing that Adrian had permitted him.

Seeing Adrian remain unfazed by Jose’s actions made it even more convincing that he had already agreed.

“Man, we should’ve let Cabanas treat us,” one of Jose’s teammates muttered enviously.

“Sorry, but that offer’s no longer available since you guys already turned it down once,” Adrian finally spoke, reminding them that the option was off the table.

“Chill, we're just kidding,” they said, brushing it off.

After deciding what to order and getting their food, they look for a table. Finding a table didn’t take long, since the canteen was empty, and none of the tables were occupied. They chose a table near the counter, trash can, and exit for easy access.

Looking at the food they got, everyone had been considerate, opting for simple dishes. Jose, however, had gone overboard. Not only did he get a main dish, but he also grabbed a side dish, an appetizer, and a smoothie.

“You seriously overdid it…” they muttered in disbelief.

But Jose wasn’t bothered and kept eating, just as Adrian didn’t seem to mind either.

As they ate and chatted, more students gradually filled the canteen. And the once quiet space gradually became lively.