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The next day. Consolacion Highschool.
It is once again lunch time. Which means it's also time to invite Rheyna to eat together at the canteen. With that, I get up from my seat and approach Rheyna next to me. "Rhey-" but before I could finish, she suddenly stood up. "Let's eat?" Rheyna asks, holding up her lunchbox in one hand.
'Heh- She's gotten used to it, huh?' a smile tugs at my lips. "Mhm! Let's go before they run out of tables." I say, grabbing her hand. I've held Rheyna's hand so many times that it's habitual at this point. There are even moments where it feels like I'm missing something if I'm not holding her hand.
Moving to the door, I soon exit the classroom, but I immediately came face to face with a familiar figure. My eyes widening in recognition. "Bea!? What are you doing here??" I asked, shocked that my cousin is here at my school instead of hers.
Bea:1
"Because I transferred here, kuya Mark." she replied with a wide smile that reaches her eyes. Those same eyes staring deep into mine, reflecting me in the center.2"kuya" is essentially "big brother" in English. It's used to refer to guys who are a few years older than yourself, regardless if they're family or a stranger.
"Transferred? But you live far from here, how could you transfer here? And not to mention we're in our midterms right now. I thought transfers couldn't happen past prelim." I questioned my cousin's presence. Utterly confused why and how she's here.
"Mark? Do you know her?" Rheyna asked from behind me. I turn to face her. "Yeah. This is Bea. She's my cousin." I explained.
"Second cousin." Bea added immediately after. "... Yeah..." I mutter in response. I turn back around to Bea, but instead of meeting eyes, Bea is looking downward. Tracing her gaze, I noticed she's looking at my hand holding Rheyna's. An emotionless frown on her face, as if she's looking at a bug. "Bea-"
"Who is she?" Bea asked, contained emotion in her voice. "She's my friend. Her name is Rheyna."
"Heh... She's definitely a 'Rheyna' alright..." she sarcastically muttered to herself.3"Rheyna" sounds exactly the same as the Filipino word "Reyna" which means "Queen."
Bea then looked back up to meet my gaze, her lips curling back into a small smile. "So, where are you two going?" she asked.
"Uh, to the canteen. Me and Rheyna are gonna eat lunch together." I respond, holding up my lunchbox. Bea glanced at Rheyna for a moment before turning back to me. "Alright. I'll join you two." she says with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.
I was slightly taken aback by her declaration. I almost instinctively said no, but on second thought, why would I do that? It's just my cousin tagging along with me and my friend to eat lunch at the school canteen.
I look over my shoulder at Rheyna. "Is this okay with you, Rheyna?" I ask. Rheyna glanced at Bea then back at me. She then nods once. "Sure. But we have to hurry, the lines at the canteen can get pretty long." she replied.
"There's no need. I brought my own lunch." Bea replied, pointing at her backpack behind her. "Alright. Let's go then."
With that, we make our way to the canteen. 'Wait... Bea still hasn't answered why she transferred here.' I realized mid-step. 'I'll just ask her later, I guess.'
And another thing worth noting is that Bea kept glancing back at us, her gaze lingering at my empty right side.4She wants to take his right hand ehe 'Should I ask her about it?' I wondered. "Bea, look at where you're going, you could bump into someone." I advised. Bea's eyes widened slightly, looked at me, then looked forward. "Sure." she replied. Just one word. 'Is it just because Bea transferred here, or has she been acting strange since the start?'
.
.
Canteen.
After finding a vacant table, I sat down on one side while Rheyna sat opposite of me. I expected Bea to sit next to Rheyna, but without hesitation, Bea casually sat next to me, short of our arms touching. When she visits with her parents, we've always sat together, but never this close.
I part my lips, about to tell her to move, but I closed them instead. 'I'll just move a bit.' instead of telling her to move, I decided it's better that I create some distance instead. So I lifted my butt and sat a comfortable distance away from my cousin. I glance back to check the distance, but that's when I noticed Bea looking at me. Her expression looked complicated. Like she wants to say something, but decided against it.
"So, Bea, why did you transfer here? Your old school is much closer to your house, right? But from home to here, the commute is almost an hour." I ask, starting a conversation as I unpack my lunch. The two girls were also unpacking their lunches. "The college I have in mind is near here, so I convinced my parents to transfer me to a nearby highschool , so I can get used to the area. And since your highschool fits the bill, they transferred me here." Bea explained, not returning my gaze, but instead looking at her lunch.
"That doesn't really explain the distance and commute question, though..." I reply. As I await her response, I take off the lid of my lunchbox and reveal the contents. Today's lunch is a tuna omelette and rice. This morning, I heated up the leftover adobo soup from last night's dinner and poured it over my rice. It's a simple lunch, but I'm proud of it.
Out of sight, Bea's lips curled into a cheeky grin. "You don't need to worry about my commute. It's already been solved." she says, a hint of cheekiness in her tone.
"Which school did you go to, Bea?" Rheyna asked right before taking a bite of her lunch. Bea glanced across the table, staring at Rheyna for a couple seconds, crafting a response. She then turned back to her meal. "Santa Maria Academy." she replies, her tone neutral. "And what strand are you in?" Rheyna asked, continuing the conversation.
"... HUMMS." Bea replied, keeping her responses short and straight to the point. "Ooo. Then what course are you taking for you to transfer to a school far from home?" Rheyna continued, not minding the way Bea responds. Or perhaps she isn't catching on that she doesn't like her. "Criminology." Bea replied, taking a bite of her hotdog.
Rheyna's eyes widened at her response. "So a police officer? Hmm... You sure do look like a future police officer." she says, a look of admiration on her face as she looks at Bea. However, Bea didn't respond nor meet her gaze. If she wasn't asked, then she wouldn't talk to Rheyna. Simple as that.
And for several breaths, none of us talked, just ate our lunch. "... Since we're on the topic, which course are you taking, Rheyna?" I ask, reviving the conversation. "Oh, civil engineering. Just like my mom." Rheyna replied easily. Didn't need to think about her answer. "Engineering, huh? That's a tough one." I comment before eating a spoonful of my omelette and rice.
"How about you, Mark? What course are you taking after graduating from STEM?" Rheyna asked. I part my lips to answer. "I-"
"Kuya Mark is taking hospitality management in college." Bea answered for me. A small, but prideful smirk on her lips while she glanced at Rheyna. "STEM to HM?? Why didn't you take HUMMS or TVL instead??" Rheyna asked. And her question is perfectly valid. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) is probably the furthest removed from HM (Hospitality Management). Even though I'm a reincarnator from another world, my choice is still confusing. But I have a reasonable explanation for it.
I thought something might happen that could make me change my mind. And there's a certain perk for STEM students that allows them to choose any college course after graduation. It's the same as in my old world, too. If I choose HUMMS or TVL, my options would be limited. And besides, I was a STEM student in my past life, too, so it's not that hard to go a second time.
"When I was enrolling, I still wasn't sure which strand to take. So my dad told me to take STEM since I can choose any course I wanted after graduation. I only decided on HM a month into my first year." I replied. It's the same thing that happened in my past life, I just replicated it here.
"Oh, alright. Makes sense." Rheyna comments. And not long after that, all three of us finished our meals. So we packed our stuff and headed back to our classrooms.
"Let's part here. My classroom is on the 4th floor." Bea gestured to the stairs. "Okay. Bye, Bea." I waved. "Bye, Bea. See you around." Rheyna waved too.
Bea glanced at Rheyna for a second before looking back at me. "See you later, kuya Mark." she waved before turning around and going down the stairs. 'See you later? Do our classes end at the same time?' I wondered. The answer to my question will remain a mysterious until I see Bea again, or unless I message her after school.
,
,
And that time came sooner than I thought. "Kuya Mark, let's go home together." Bea says, a smile on her face as she stands outside the main gate.
"Together?? You don't mean..." Bea nods. "Starting today, I'll be living with you under the same roof with tita5auntie and tito6uncle." she replied.
The revelation had me raising my palm to my forehead. 'If she's staying at my place, then she doesn't need to commute for school and after she graduates, she'll have an easy time commuting to that college she talked about.' everything clicked with just that one sentence.
"So..." Bea trailed off, her gaze traveling to Rheyna behind me. "Let's go home now. Your... friend here can take care of herself." she says with a smile that almost looks like a smirk.
"Uh, yeah." I turn to Rheyna. "Message ya later, Rheyna. Get home safe." I waved to my only female friend. "Mhm. Take care, Mark, Bea." she waved back. Soon after that, Bea grabbed my hand and pulled me to her side. "Now that you said goodbye, let's go home, kuya Mark." Bea says as she starts dragging me away from Rheyna.
Meanwhile, Rheyna stood there. Watching Mark's figure get smaller and smaller. Even if Bea is in the picture now, she's still checking to see that Mark is heading home safe.
After deciding it's enough, she turns around and heads for the tricycle terminal.
Grab!
That is, until a familiar arm pulled her against her will again. "Oi Rheyna!" Maryan appeared, having pulled Rheyna to her. "What is it this time, Maryan?" a sigh escaped Rheyna. Unhappy with what Maryan is doing.
"What's that reaction? Aren't you jealous that Mark is being stolen from you?" the taller girl raised a brow. "Why would I be jealous? They're cousins." Rheyna replied while trying to escape Maryan's hold. "Cousins..." Maryan muttered, yet her hold on Rheyna didn't loosen up at all.
"... Do they have the same grandparents?" Maryan asked, a seriousness to her expression and voice that she rarely displayed. "Huh? How would I know that?" Rheyna asked, still trying to escape. "Did any of them mention if they're first or second cousins?" Maryan asked, bringing her face closer. "They're second cousins, so what?"
And as soon as Maryan heard that, her expression took a turn. "Shit... That girl wants to fuck her cousin." Maryan says, shock evident in her face. Hearing that, Rheyna went stiff. She snapped to look at Maryan in the eye. "What?! What are you talking about?!"
Maryan meets Rheyna's gaze with an intensity different from her usual one. "Rheyna, second cousins can legally marry in the Philippines."
Rheyna's eyes blew wide open. "What? Why- Wait, why do you even know that??" Rheyna asked, confusion flooding her mind. "Oh, the telenovela papa watches had a subplot about second cousins hiding their relationship from their family." her tone shifted back to a familiar, casual one. However, Rheyna's mind is still in turmoil from what Maryan said.
'Bea... she sees Mark that way..?' Rheyna looked back on the memories she had of the girl named Bea. 'I just thought she was a friendly relative of Mark, but the way she looked at him, how she acted, and how she reacted to me next to Mark, it's not farfetched...' with the facts listed down, Rheyna couldn't deny the possibility that Mark's second cousin has feelings for him.
'She would be insane to be in love with Mark! Their families would never accept them! Does she really want to put Mark through that?!' Rheyna yelled internally. 'No. Rather than Bea, I'd rather be the one to...' she trailed off, yet, she knows what the rest of that thought contained.
And inside her backpack, in her phone, the hypnosis app whispered to Rheyna once more.
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