Chapter 2: The Plan, the Audacity and the Meeting

It's the night before the grand exit to mundane life and into the unknown - The unfolding of my grand escape! Once tomorrow's sun has risen, I'd like to think that it will greet me with a light of novelty and then envelope me with new experiences. Hmm, perhaps I should write a diary? An electronic diary of course. I mean, I consider myself as an organized and technological person, or at least I'd like to think so. My little sister, Louise Delmonte, however, doesn't seem to agree.

Currently, My sister and I are in my room. It's actually pretty late right now and I'm trying my best to stop her from being too loud and disturbing the neighbors. She's always been loud but she was extra loud today.

The reason being?

I told her I was going to quit school.

And.

My room is uhmm... a bit disorganized...

I mean, I was packing. Of course it would be a bit disorganized... right?

"Kuya! Just look at the mess you've made! Why are your clothes all over the place? And you're quitting school too?! What exactly are you planning?"

Louise said as she knelt down and started folding my clothes.

As for those who don't speak my language, kuya means "older brother."

"Stop yelling! Mom might hear you!"

"Come on! I'm serious! Why are you doing this?"

I could tell that my sister really was concerned about me.

But I really don't have anything convincing to say. I just said what I felt.

"Uhmm... ehh..."

Yes.

Exactly nothing since my feelings are all jumbled up.

Seeing me troubled, my sister let out a sigh of disappointment.

I can kind of understand her. I'd honestly do the same when someone I care about suddenly says they will quit school. In hindsight, I'm actually doing something stupid, aren't I?

But for some reason, I don't feel stupid at all!

"Kuya, at least tell me you have a plan or something..."

Recognizing that this might be a chance to regain my big brother standing, I flexed my right arm, held my right biceps with my left hand and smiled at her as confident as my face can allow me.

"Leave it to me!"

But for some reason, this gave the opposite effect. She sank even more into depression and worry.

Suddenly, I remember a certain youthful man telling her little sister, "Leave it to me!" and that he can ride a bike and not to worry about getting hit by a car or something. Only in this case, it was not a car that hit that certain young man, but instead a stationary signpost that said the words, "Drive safely."

And ultimately sprained his leg on the process.

That was not a good day for that certain young man. He had to use a walking stick for at least two weeks while getting teased by his childhood friend named, Ric-

Richelle!

That's right!

You thought it was me?

You're wrong...

That was three years ago. Who cares about that anymore, right?

I realized my faux pas and tried to recover.

"What I meant to say was I planned it a little..."

Her eyes narrowed as if trying to see if I was lying.

"Ehhh..."

Her eyes narrowed even more. It felt like daggers this time. It was enough to make me swallow my saliva!

"Yeah, I don't have any plan..."

As if she had won a contest of endurance, she gave a satisfied smile as she crossed her arms.

For some reason, everything became a contest when it comes to my little sister. Even simple things like reading a book. She would always challenge me on who can finish the book faster.

Jeez, what a brat.

"Telling the truth doesn't hurt, right?"

"Yes..."

She started laughing softly, which made me laugh a bit too.

Wait, are the roles being reversed? Aren't I supposed to be the adult?

Whatever. I don't hate this kind of thing though.

The atmosphere suddenly felt warm as if it was Christmas again with all the family sitting by the Christmas tree.

Our soft laughs were the only sound at that moment.

Gradually, my sister spoke.

"Kuya, you're confused, right? I can tell..."

I looked at her and just smiled and stroke the back of my neck.

I didn't answer.

"Look, I won't pretend that I understand what you're going through right now."

At this point, my sister had already folded at least 86% of my clothes. She took another one and began folding again. Only this time, she put the folded clothes inside the suitcase I prepared.

"How many days will you be gone?" she asked as she focused on my suitcase and pressed her lips with her index finger.

"I don't know."

She gave off the vibe of a person deep in thought. After doing so, she took some of the clothes she folded and put at least half of them inside my suitcase.

"I'll just put in half. At least half of you is still here, right? This is your home after all."

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After saying that, she left as if her mind has made up what was going through her brain and she was satisfied about something.

She looked back again.

"And don't worry. I won't tell mom."

The look she made gave me reassurance that she will someday become a great adult.

I followed her example and seriously planned what I needed to do.

✩✩✩✩

A sound of a ringing alarm.

I slowly opened my eyes. I noticed a hint of dried saliva on my mouth and my ruffled hair from the mirror across my room. I closed my eyes again and rubbed them softly as I released a yawn. I rose to a sitting position.

I slowly opened my eyes again.

My eyes weren't used to this view.

Damn, since when did I stop waking up early?

The rays of a still-rising sun peeked between the gaps of my curtains - as if calling me - as if a new world was waiting for me there and I'd get there if I was just to open the curtains. I was entranced. I followed suit and slowly slid the curtain rings to the side.

My room was on the second floor of my house so everything was exposed.

What unfolded in front of my eyes was pure harmony, beauty and bliss.

I wouldn't oppose if there was an eighth wonder of the world.

The rising sun, still shy from the rest of the world, was accompanied by yesterday's skies, creating a tinge of red, orange and purple. Buildings were a perfect silhouette created by the billion-year old Sun. Stubborn sunlights, however, made their way to the sides of the building and stroke the man-made pond on the park - it dazzled as if it was a piano playing a melody. An airplane was streaking far out the sky and traced the hiding moon perfectly in one of its tangents. Royal poinciana with the color of red, blue, white and violet swayed left and right as a wind blew. I noticed the park manager sweeping the pavement walks of the park. The undiscriminating wind also blew off his hat as he struggled to keep it on his head. The day was still young so there wasn't any intruding sounds from the business of life.

Woah...

After a moment, I regained my senses. I looked at the clock and decided it was time to move.

I woke up earlier than what I usually do. I did everything a person who's going to go out would do and then grabbed my suitcase. I didn't have much money but I knew it was enough to buy a train ticket to grandma and grandpa's place.

Don't tell anyone, but I secretly told my grandma about the plan.

Great. It's time!

DO YOU BEST WORLD!!! I'LL COME STRAIGHT TOWARDS YOU!!!

But then, the siopao yesterday took its revenge...

There was no new flavor...

✩✩✩✩

"So why are you here?" Rick asked as he saw me enter the classroom.

"He-he... I lied..."

I looked down in sadness.

For some reason, he wasn't surprised but he wasn't convinced too. As if he was already used to my idiocy, which I don't have, he leaned his right arm on the back of his chair as if he was a teacher lecturing a troublesome student.

"What is it this time?" he asked.

"Eh-he-he-he... You remember that siopao the other day? Turns out there wasn't any new flavor..."

He sighed.

Seriously, how is this guy still alive? If sighing really does remove 15 minutes of a person's life, how is this guy alive then? And will I be convicted for murder?

"I guess that's that, huh." he commented as he fixed himself to a proper sitting position and opened a book.

"No! No! I'm serious! I really will go out on an adventure!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He said as he flipped to a new page. Obviously, he wasn't taking me seriously.

"Fine, I'll just start with something simple. Travelling is perhaps too early for me... He-He... Besides, I don't have the money for it yet..."

"Uh-huh, Something simple? And what is that?"

"He-he, I'll use the web for that."

"Great, great."

I got a bit pissed. He wasn't listening at all!

As much as I wanted to steal his book and hide it somewhere, I only settled with talking.

"Heh. You don't think I can do it?"

"Nah. You'll just come up with something stupid again."

Without batting an eye, he replied.

THE AUDACITY!

But he wasn't finished. He still wanted to do a combo hit!

"And cause people trouble."

He flipped on the next page.

"Remember that time you tried ice skating?"

Next page.

"You nearly died."

Next page.

"Remember that time you tried horse riding?

Next page.

"I've never seen anyone ride a horse like that."

Next page.

"Remember that time you tried riding a bike?"

Next page.

"You sprained your ankl-"

"Enough already... I get it..."

At this point, I felt my soul left my body. My head has completely lost all traces of life on it and has rested on my armchair. My lips unconsciously made the sounds of a defeated warrior.

"There's still 20 pages here, you know."

"What? Anyways, stop talking for a bit..."

Huh. I guess this is how Napoleon felt after Waterloo.

As I sulked, our teacher finally entered the classroom.

School was the last thing on my mind that time.

✩✩✩✩

Class is continuing like it usually does.

The teacher in front of the class.

Sound of chalks grinding on blackboards.

Questions and answers.

Occasional whispers and gossips of classmates.

It was just another normal day.

However, I'd like to believe that I had escape normalcy, or at least I'm trying to.

A little fact about me: I believe I'm extremely good at stealth games. I remember playing the "All Ghillied Up" mission of a certain shooter game and I'm very good at it. Heck, I even tried speedrunning it like one of those live streamers and I did well, I think? I can't really remember. It was fun though.

But yeah. I'm good at being stealthy.

I think.

With my well-founded, but not so much, confidence on my stealth skills, obviously I was gonna use it. It's a sin itself to not use your talent.

So I did what a normal talented person would do.

I opened my book and let it stand in a way to cover up what I'm actually doing. I took my phone and connected to the school wifi. Of course, I leaned in a bit to conceal what I'm doing even more. I even added a little layer of protection by covering most of what I've been doing with my left hand and acting as if I'm reading that book in front of me.

Heh. I'm such a genius.

Anyways, our History teacher continued with her lecture - completely oblivious to what I was doing.

I took this chance to search online.

[How not to waste your youth]

To be honest, it was a bit hard typing the words with only one hand.

Eh, all I'm seeing are tips.

[7 Ways to avoid wasting your youth...]

[28 Signs you're wasting your youth...]

These are all useless! I'm not a dummy!

Let's try a different approach.

[What do high schoolers do?]

"Can anyone continue readin-"

Oooohh, this is pretty good!

[5 things you need to do before highschool ends]

I clicked it.

[1. Keep a diary.]

Let's see, Let's see. Uhmm...

[Keep a diary. This will be a memento you can look back with your friends.]

What else?

"Good job, please continue from where Mr. Ramon stopp-"

[2. Don't think about the opposite sex just yet. It can wait.]

Obviously.

[Middle school/ High school Romance is pointless.]

Check. What's next?

[3. Make friends.]

"Can you read the next line, Mr. Ric-?"

[High school friends sticks throughout your life. Make at least 3 friends.]

Hmm. Makes sense.

"The Liberation of Manila happened whe-"

[4. Don't talk about doing stuff. Do it.]

Duh.

Why am I being so critical about this? I should be thankful for this site.

I'm sorry...

[The world is full of so many talkers, and so few doers.]

...

Suddenly, I hear a whisper coming from Rick's side. It was a whisper filled with a sense of urgency, worry and a bit of selfless anger.

Why is he in such a hurry?

I was too busy to completely understand what he was saying though.

"Hey...! Diko...! It's yo-"

[5. Go out there.]

As soon as I read that, I felt my eyes widen and my throat dry. I swallowed a bit of my saliva.

It was as if the Universe was exactly telling me to go out there. As if it was telling me to go search for something. What exactly is it that I'm searching for?

To be honest, it scared me a bit - No, not a bit. It shook me to my core.

Yes, this is it.

This is exactly it.

I'm sure what comes next will exactly be what I'm looking for. The next few words under these three words will become the anchor to something in my life... in my youth... I felt it... This is it!

"Okay. Mr. Justin, please read from where Mr. Rick stopped."

Before I knew it, I stood up so quickly that all the blood from my brain instantly dropped down to the rest of my lower body. I'm not sure why but my mind was clear - not a hint of confusion. Maybe it was because of standing abruptly or realizing the thing I should do at the moment.

Who knows. Could be both.

My chair shook from the force of my standing up. The book that was covering my front has already hit the floor before I knew it and made a loud sound. The sound was enough to capture the attention of my classmates and my seemingly shocked history teacher who didn't know what was up. I can feel all the eyes in the room..

The sleepy student on my right was completely awake as he looked at me, shocked.

The whispers and gossips stopped.

No, it's more precise to say that all the sound disappeared into thin air, as if I was the only human left in the world.

I proudly lifted up my phone and read as loud as my lungs allow.

"THE WORLD IS BIG! GET OUT THERE!"

✩✩✩✩

"Uhmm, You're Halley, right? May I ask why you are in detention?" I asked as timidly as I could - given the reputation the guy I asked has. The awkwardness was killing me so I decided to initiate a conversation.

"Don't talk to me."

Shrugged shoulders and dagger-like eyes.

It made me flinch so much so that I instinctively corrected my posture because of it.

I never would have imagine in my whole life that that meeting we had at that closed tiny room would lead to opening up my closed tiny life into the infinite cosmos.