Diamond in the Rough

“So have you found a tutor?” Ms. Santos asked Ella. They were back at the classroom, when most of her classmates had gone home.Ella nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I found someone who agreed.”Her teacher’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow. That was fast. I thought I had to give you time to find one.” Ms. Santos narrowed her eyes at her and asked curiously. “Who did you get by the way?”Ella had to smile in chagrin. Ms. Santos was not going to beli

It was a Saturday, so there were few people in the city library; there were only three other people beside Ella and Jasmine, not counting the librarian. The agreed time was one in the afternoon, and the two cousins left their home at around 12:45 PM. Their house was only a few blocks away from the venue they chose, although Patrick messaged Ella earlier that he was probably going to be a bit late because his dad sent him on an errand for a bit. That didn’t bother the two cousins much. After all, Filipino time was never on the dot.They arrived five minutes after one. Ella and Jasmine chose the table that was right in front of the door. Since they had to wait for Patrick first, Ella brought out her phone to listen to some music while Jas

It was so bright, and he could feel the sun’s rays streaming against his face. His sleep disturbed, Patrick had no choice but to slowly open his eyes. When he did, he was greeted with a white ceiling... that did not look the least bit familiar with the one in his room or in their clinic for that matter. He tried to turn his head to the window on his right, but his head felt strangely heavy, so with his one hand that was not connected to the dextrose machine, he lifted it up to touch his head gingerly, but was stopped by someone’s voice.“Hey, don’t do that. You’re gonna mess up your bandage,” the familiar voice said.

The bell had finally rung. It was lunch break and the Math teacher who had been lecturing for more than an hour wrapped his things before leaving the room. When Ella saw Mr. De Jesus’s figure disappear completely, that was when she was able to heave a big sigh of relief.Damn, that man definitely had it for her. Throughout the whole class, it seemed like he was paying too much attention in Ella, calling her up in front to solve some of the equations he wrote on the board. It almost felt like he was purposely testing her! Fortunately, Patrick had discussed those equations during their tutorial lessons before, so she was able to answer the equations correctly… But the teacher did not stop there. Just before the bell sounded, he rem

“Alright class, don’t forget the homework you have for tomorrow. Good luck and goodbye.” Sir Kenneth De Jesus stood up carrying his laptop and other things and all the students stood up as well to go out and have lunch.Ella did as well, with her lunchbox in her hands and the school rooftop in her mind. She did not have money to buy food at the cafeteria right now so she just planned to hide in there to eat her humble lunch of rice, fried fish, and eggs. However, she was stopped in her tracks when she was in the doorway when she felt someone brush upon her and whisper to her ears.“To the facult