MEREDITH was woken up by the ringing of her alarm and lazily stretched her hand towards her night-stand to turned it off. Her eyes widened and rushed out of bed when she saw that she was going to be late on her first day in college.
“Oh, no! I’ll be dead if Aunt Marita finds out I’m late on my first day,” she mumbled then quickly changed, brushed her teeth, fixed her hair, and in no time, she was racing out of the room.
“Morning, Mom!” she greeted.
“Morning, Darling!”
“Here’s your food. Just eat your breakfast on the bus so that you won’t be late,” her mom said as she handed her a paper bag.
She kissed her mother on the cheek and thanked her. “Thanks for the breakfast, Mom! I’ll go ahead. Don’t worry, I’ll be home early, so I can help you close the shop.”
“Alright!” Then she went out. But her mother suddenly called her.
“Editha! Did you bring your earphones?!” Mrs. Ebelte shouted at the main door when Meredith reaches their gate.
She turned and nodded. “Yes, I did! It’s in my bag!”
Her mom waved at her. “Okay! Bye! Take care!”
Then she walked out and hailed a bus from the waiting shed.
When she got on the bus, she immediately put on her earphones and eat the sandwich made by her mom. She’s wearing earphones every time she leaves their house because she was diagnosed with Phonophobia when she was a child.
Phonophobia is defined as a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of sound. Often, these are normal environmental sounds such as traffic, kitchen sounds, doors closing, gunshot, or even loud speech. It may be caused by genetic factors. People with a family history that includes anxiety disorders may be more prone to this condition. Phonophobia may also be caused by external factors, such as a history of long-term childhood trauma, or, a single traumatic incident.
And that’s one of the things that makes them wonder because no one in their family has that kind of phobia. Besides, she didn’t have any traumatic experiences when she was young.
Her phobia doesn’t trigger when she watches action movies or dramas because she knows what will happen next. It is triggered only when there are sudden sounds or explosions that she didn’t expect to come or happen.
“WOW!” Meredith mumbled when she arrived at BSU or Beauford State University.
She was not able to explore the campus after her entrance exam a month ago because she immediately went home due to heavy rainfall. Fortunately, God blessed her with intelligence and a helpful sponsor, that's why she was given the opportunity to study at a well-known and prestigious school in the country.
Aunt Marita, her sponsor, pays for her tuition while her mom is responsible for her everyday allowances.
When she arrived in front of the room where they were examined during the entrance exam, she looked at her name on the list to know her room and section. When she saw her name, she immediately went to her designated room and sat at the back.
“Hi!” The blonde-haired girl greeted her.
She forces a smile. She didn’t expect anyone would notice her right away, because in dramas, rich people don’t make friends with poor people like her.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not rich. I’m here because my aunt sponsored my educational expenses,” she admitted.
She had better get ahead of it to avoid having a fake friend.
She’s not a social climber. She is not ashamed of being poor. What’s more embarrassing is that you will die poor.
“Whoa! I like your personality. Very bold and straightforward! Right, Marylex?” the other girl said who was also looking at her.
“Yeah, right! From now on, you‘re one of us!” The girl with black and curly hair added.
“I’m Shanaia!”
“I’m Marylex!”
They said in chorus and offer their hand for a handshake.
She looked at them curiously.
“Well. I know you are confused about the two of us. It’s just that. . .” Shanaia came a little closer to her and whispered. “We already know some of the people here and we know their personalities very well. They were all the same. They will not uplift you the way a true friend does. And you know what’s worst, they will use, or judge you easily.”
Marylex agreed with what Shanaia said. “And we think you’re the exemption. Because the moment you enter this room, you seem easy to get along with, that’s why we approach you.”
“Shanaia!”
“Marylex!”
They said in unison and offer their both right hand for a handshake again. She accepted the handshake in a criss-cross style.
“Meredith. Meredith Ebelte.”
She didn’t expect that it would be so easy for her to find new people she knew she could lean on one day. Maybe not all people are like what she thinks.
“Good morning everyone! I’m Ms. Felicidad Olipane, but I preferred Miss O, your professor for this major. And I would like to welcome you all for studying here at BSU. And since today is your first day here, I would like to inform you that you are free to go to the club of your choice for your extra curriculum. But before that, I want you to introduce yourself first.” And they all started to introduce themselves one by one.
They were about to leave after each other’s introductions when suddenly a man entered who was wearing a school uniform paired with a black hoodie.
“Oh! You must be Mr. Dacles.” The boy nodded.
“Please introduce yourself, Mister.”
“Hello everyone! I’m Randall Dacles. Nineteen years of age. I know many of you are wondering why I am two years ahead of you guys.”
“Kinda!” the boy at the back shouted.
He nodded. “This school is my third prospect on my list because I’ve been looking for a girl for a very long time. So I hope this school would be the last. I really want to see her.”
“Nice!”
“Woohh!”
The students reacted.
At that time, Meredith was just looking at the guy and for some unknown reason, she felt something in her chest. It seems that her heart has a life of its own. It’s beating so hard, making her feel that she knew that man.
She only came back to her senses when the room filled with cheer. She also noticed some of her girl classmates took out their small mirrors to impress the guy. Even Shanaia and Marylex. She looked back at the guy again and noticed that his eyes were busy searching for someone.
But before their eyes met, the pen she was playing with suddenly fell from her fingers, so fate didn’t give them a chance to lock their eyes when Meredith picked up her black-colored pen.
MEREDITH’S professor sent them out immediately to go to the club they wanted to join after their introduction. She’s now heading to the Cooking Club when she heard someone calling her nickname.“MER!” When Meredith turned around, she saw her second cousin, John Person, the son of her mother's first cousin. “Hey, cous!”Her cousin is a senior Architecture student and the MVP for four consecutive years of the Swimming Club.“Have you decided already which club you want to join?” he asked when they started walking on the pathway.“At the Cooking Club,” she answered.John Person nodded. “Then I will accompany you there so you don’t get lost.”Her mood lightens up. “Really?”“Yup!”She smiled. “Thanks, cous!”When they got there, her cousin bid his goodbye because of a sudden meeting at the Club for the try-out of freshmen.“Alright! I'll see you later,” she said while he ran away from her.Meredith greeted the people when she arrived inside the Cooking Club. “G-good morning. . .”She l
“HERE!” Meredith was surprised when Randall handed her a piece of plastic, full of medicine. They are now in the library for the research given to them by their first subject. She was alone because Shanaia and Marylex were also busy looking for books.“What’s this for?” she asked after taking what he was giving her.He sat next to her and pointed to the wound on her arm. “I noticed the blood on your wound has already dried.”She looked at her elbow and he was right. The blood had already dried there. “I can treat myself,” she said, but he took the cotton away from her.“Let me. You might not clean your wound well. I don’t want you to get infected.”There was nothing she could do so she let him. And she felt the pain only when the dried blood was removed.“It’s done,” he announced after placing the colorful band-aid on her wound.“T-thank you,” she said without looking at him.She also slightly held her chest when the familiar heartbeat hits her again.“Is there a problem?” he asked w
RANDALL quickly approached the door and forced it to open.“Come on, open!” he said annoyed.Due to the presence of her classmate, he lost his mind about the instructions given to him by his Captain.“Hey! What’s the problem?” Meredith asked as she approached him.“T-the door. . . ”“W-why! W-what’s with the door?” she frowned when she asked.“W-we’re stuck,” he announced.Her eyes widened. “What?!” then tried to open the door.She panicked. “This can’t be happening!” She even snatched the key from him when she saw that he was holding it and quickly unlock it. “That won’t work!” Randall said causing her to look at him, shocked.“W-what do you mean?”He looked down. “C-captain said, the lock on the inside is broken so you have to immediately block the chair behind the door so you don’t get trapped inside. When you are locked inside, only the person outside can open it because the key you are holding now is only for the front lock.”The girl tapped her forehead. “So, what are we going
“MEREDITH! Are you okay? What’s happening?” he worriedly asked in confusion as he approached her. Sweat started to form on Meredith’s forehead and neck, her breathing became uneven, and her chest is moving up and down. She wanted to use her earphones but it’s useless because her phone’s battery is empty. She looked at Randall and tightly held on to his uniform. “D-do you have an iPod?” she asked, trembling. Her grip on Randall’s arm tightened even more when the thunder rumbled again with lightning. “Y-yeah.” Then he immediately rummaged through his bag. Fortunately, the sudden flash of lightning gave light somehow so he quickly get what he needed. “Here.” She quickly took it and put on the earphone and play it. When she heard the calm music, she turned up the volume just enough so that she could no longer hear the thunder. Randall looked at her worriedly. “A-are you okay now?” She calmed herself first and nodded. “D-did I startled you?” she asked. Randall nodded without sayin
(1982) “WHAT are you carrying?” the girl asked the guy when they met in the canteen one morning. “You mentioned to me yesterday that you don’t use to eat breakfast so I brought you some food,” he said while showing her what was inside the lunchbox he was carrying. “But you don’t have to do this, you know?” “You have to eat, okay?” he insisted. The girl shook her head. “I still don’t want to!” He pouted his lips. And the girl frowned when she saw what he cooked. “Is that an omelet?” “Yes!” “Then why do I see something orange inside of it?” He smiled. “I put some tomatoes inside because it’s too boring if it’s just a plain egg.” The girl grimace when the bottom burns, turning brown and dehydrated, while the top remains runny. “What happened?” she commented after checking it using a fork. He was slightly disappointed by what she said so he immediately covered it up and took it away from her. “W-well, I don’t really know how to cook. I just tried to cook it for you.” The guy t
“YOU know what, Meredith? While I was looking at you and Randal earlier in the canteen, I saw a spark,” Shanaia said out of the blue. They are now under the Narra tree which has become their hangout place just behind their college building. The breeze is cold and clean, including the chirping of the birds which is nice to hear.Meredith’s cheeks suddenly blushed. “S-spark? How did you say so?”“Because the way you look at each other is different as if you’ve known each other for a long time.”“Really?” she said in disbelief.Marylex put her arms around him. “Do you like him?” she asked straightforwardly.She looked down. “I-I don’t know.”“But is it okay if I ship you two?”“S-ship?”“Hashtag, MereDall loveteam!” She even applauded in the air. “What do you think, Shan?”Shanaia rolled her eyes at what Marylex said. “You’re so corny, you know?”Marylex crossed her arms. “Me?! No way!” She narrowed her eyes at her. “Don’t tell me, you’re just jealous because you still admire Randall.”
“LET me go! What are you going to do with me?!” she screamed as she tried to break free from them.The two men held her shoulders. “Miss, stop what you’re doing because we don’t have any bad intentions towards you!” the man on her right side said.“No intentions? Then, what is this? Isn’t abduction!?”“Not the other way around,” the guy on her left side added.“This is an abduction!” she insisted.“Say whatever you want to say, Miss, but we’re just following orders.”“I said, let me go! We’re not rich! You will not get any ransom from my family!” she whined.She gasped slightly when the two men tightened their grip on her arm. “If we were really bad people, we would have gagged you and tied your hands earlier!”“And you also shouldn’t even see our faces right now,” the guy added.She stopped in her tracks. The man has a point. The men who actually abducted her did not look like goons because of their good posture and appearance. They look like secret agents in the movies she watches.
“GRANDPA!” The old man stood up when he heard that voice that echoed throughout the mansion.“Finally my guest is here. Meet my grandso–”“You?!” Meredith and Randall said in unison when they noticed each other.He frowned. “M-Meredith? W-what are you doing here?” “So, you already know each other?” the old man said in shock.“Yes! We are in the same class,” he answered while still wondering why she was in the mansion.She couldn’t believe that they were related to each other.“What about you guys, how did you meet?” Randall asked who was now looking back and forth at them.“I invited her here because I wanna thank her for saving my life when I was walking down the street the other day,” the old man said.Randall shook his head in dismay. “Grandpa, didn’t we already talk about this countless times? Why you’re so reprimanded? I told you to stay at home. But what did you do? You see, something bad almost happened to you.”“Hey! Don’t mind it. The important thing is, I’m alive and nothin