JA was looking inside her dress cabinet, thinking on what to wear tomorrow on her first day of school, when her phone rang.
It was her mom Mercedez.
It's been a few days already that they haven't talked over the phone. That's because they're not that closed like she and her daddy were used to. She miss her mom of course, but since the time her mom decided to live in Korea with her husband, she used to her not being by her side.
"Hello dear, orinmanae, gwaenchana?", her mom speaking in Korean saying it's been a while and asking her if she's okay.
"Ne, gwaenchana eomma. But I guess, Jareed already told you about quitting my work in the company and doing what I wanted to do".
Her mom was silent for a while. Maybe, her mom could not believe she's giving up her job in the company just to work as a teacher and psychological counselor in school.
Two minutes of dead air.
Until her mom spoke again trying to change the topic.
"Ahm, Jungwon is sending his regards to you dear", she uttered.
She's referring to her step-son whom JA and Jareed met when they attended their mom's wedding in Korea.
Jungwon is 28 years old son of her mother's second husband. Jungwon's mother died five years ago, so his father got married to JA's mom.
"I think that guy likes you dear. He kept on asking me about you. Did he not talk to you dear?"
JA just responded a 'no' answer since it doesn't matter to her at all.
"Well, I told him about your break-up with Ace", she added.
She was just listening to her mom's talking since it's obvious, that her mother likes Jungwon for her.
She admits he is handsome because he has similarities with her Korean actor crush Park Hyung Sik but still, she doesn't like him. He is too gentle, kind, and caring to her that she found him boring.
After 30 minutes of conversation, she bid goodbye to her mom.
JA continued looking for a dress to wear until she found a navy blue ¾ sleeve blouse and a black fitted above the knee skirt.
She tried to face at the mirror if it's okay to look at. She smiled and hanged again the clothes in the closet.
Suddenly, her brother was knocking at the door.
"Sweetie, can I get inside?"
"Yes, come in boo."
Her brother stepped inside and sat on the bed.
"The employees would like to throw a despedida party for you sweetie. That will be in the office tomorrow at seven in the evening", her brother said.
JA was totally surprised when she heard it, because she did not expect to have such party.
"There's no need to do that boo. Most employees there didn't like me, especially females.",
Jareed looked at her quite perplexed.
"And what makes you think they didn't like you," her brother asked.
She was thinking for a moment on what to answer to her brother.
"Hmm.I don't know", she whispered shrugging her shoulder.
Jareed just smiled and messed up her hair.
"By the way boo, do you know the older brother of Nikko? Have you met each other already?", she asked.
"You mean Lester?"
She nodded and looked at him.
"He is the school's director who interviewed me this morning. He asked me if how am I related to you. And I told him you're my brother"
"Oh I see, that's why he hires you, because you're an Arcelo", her brother jested.
"Of course not! He said it's not because of that", JA pouted her lips.
"Of course, sweetie, it's not because you're an Arcelo, but because...", her brother intentionally left his sentence hanging.
"Because of what boo?", she asked seriously.
"Because he likes you", her bother said forming naughty smile on his lips.
"He likes me? How could you say that?"
"Well, Nikko told me. His brother kept asking him about you. Remember when we attended Nikko's birthday party? His brother kept on staring at you, like he was being stunned by your irresistible charm.", he winked at her.
"Hmph! I don't care! I don't like him.", she said started to get annoyed.
Jareed just laughed and pinched her cheek.
"It's true sweetie", he jested again.
"Enough boo. I'm not happy anymore", JA responded and rolled her eyes.
"Okay. I'll go out. So you can have your beauty rest for the party tomorrow and for your first day of work.", Jareed said as he stepped out.
"Good night sweetie"
"Good night boo", she responded.
Beep. beep
Message received.
JA tried to reach out her phone placed on the drawer.
"Good morning sweetie. Goodluck on your first day of work", her brother texted her. She was sure her brother already left for work because it's past eight already.
She smiled upon reading her brother's message. He is always been supportive to her and JA was so lucky to have a brother like him. He loves her and cares for her so much and he is always very patient to her even if she was hard headed sometimes.
For JA, her brother is her ideal man.
Same goes with other women too. Plenty of them wanted to get his attention but no one has ever won his heart.
"Maybe, because of me", she said to herself.
She know how much he sacrificed everything for her, for her own happiness. He stood as a father and brother to her since their daddy was gone. And for that, JA was so grateful to him that he deserves the best woman in the world.
"But not now, not yet", she whispered.
She tried to forget about it so she scrolled over her phone until she opened the Facebook app. Someone there has caught her attention. A certain post from Zacky to a certain page. She commented on that post hoping that Zacky would reply to her comment.
She never expected that was the beginning...
******
JA was pre-occupied with thoughts that today would be her first day of work. Her first day of dealing with those ten kids.
She hope everything will gonna be okay.
She went downstairs to eat her breakfast. Nanny was washing the dishes and doing other household chores.
Her phone rang. It was a call from an unknown number.
"Hello"
"Hello, is this Miss Jannah?", she heard a man's baritone voice from the other line.
"Yes, May I know who is this please?"
"Good morning Miss Jannah, this is Lester Mendoza of Bannister Academy."
JA was silent for a while, thinking how did this man get her number.
Then she remembered she put her contact number in the application she sent to them.
But why, he's calling at this hour?
"Ahm, JA, May I remind you that this afternoon is your first acquaintance with the kids. Please come before the time.", he muttered.
Obviously, not the real reason why he called her. Reminding her about her first day of work, when she's so excited about it that it never slipped off her mind even a little bit.
"Okay sir, thank you for reminding me.", she responded just to be formal to him. After all, he is the school's director.
After few minutes of chatting, they said goodbye to each other.
Hours have passed and it's already noon time.
After JA took her lunch, she changed her clothes. She didn't want to be late on her first day of school. She knew there would be a heavy traffic at this hour so she had to leave her house two hours before her class schedule.
As planned, she was wearing a blue ¾ sleeve blouse and black fitted above the knee skirt. She put a slight make up, a face powder and a lip tint. She just let hair fall out, but she was wearing a pin for it not to cover her face.
For her footwear, she was wearing a black closed-toe heels with straps.
After fixing everything on the mirror, she grabbed her shoulder bag and went out her room.
Nanny was there, sitting on the sofa bed, watching noon time shows.
"Nanny, I have to go now, there might be heavy traffic in EDSA, I don't want to be late in school.", she said.
"Yes darling, take care. Goodluck", said Nanny.
She started driving her car passing through the EDSA. Unfortunately, she was caught by a one-hour heavy traffic. So, she had no choice but to wait.
She arrived at Bannister Academy at 2:00 o' clock in the afternoon. She still have one hour to prepare the lesson. Anyway, she'll only be teaching three major subjects; English, Math and Science.
Her scheduled time has come. She was instructed by Mrs. Santos that her classroom was on the second floor, first room going to the right. She hurriedly went out her way and looked for Class Section A.
She took a deep sigh before she entered.
"This is it"
She opened the door and looked around. The classroom was well-painted with an Ivory color and it was well- ventilated. It was a medium-sized room but it was well-furnished with classroom structuring. There were two green boards at the front and ten seats were arranged a meter away from each other. At the center, there were teacher's table and a wooden chair.
The kids were already there, sitting one meter away from each other, each seat has a glass partition following the safety protocols.
They just kept silent, as JA stood in the front. She began to introduce herself.
"Hi kids, how are you? My name is JA, your teacher in this class. You can call me "Ate", because I am older than you", she said quite nervous.
No one responded. They just looked at her, no words spoken, no emotions were shown.
"Oh my God, please help me!", she whispered in prayer.
"Ahm, kids, do you want me to sing for you? or tell a story for you?", JA continued, hoping anyone of them would at least interact with her.
Still no one responded. She looked at them and tried to figure out what they are feeling right now. She removed her mask for them to clearly see her.
She sat down and closed her eyes. She began singing the piece of her soul.
"One day in your life, you remember a place. Someone touching your face. You'll come back and you look around, you. One day in your life, you'll remember the love you found here. You'll remember me somehow, though you don't need me now, I will stay in your heart and when things fall apart, you'll remember one day", she was singing the song with all her emotions, and she noticed she was already shedding tears.
She looked at the kids, and they were all staring at her. They started to cry, and later they're already sobbing.
She stopped singing.
"Why are you crying kids?", she asked. Still nobody responded. They continued crying. JA decided to sing the last line of the song.
"Just call my name, and I'll be there"
The kids cried even more.
There was a moment of silence. She wiped her tears and the kids already stopped crying.
She was about to write something on the board, when someone had spoken.
"Teacher, you have such a lovely voice", she looked around to see who's talking.
It was a boy, with quite a wavy hair, having a fair complexion. She couldn't entirely see his face because he was wearing a mask.
"Why you're so sad, did someone break your heart teacher?", the boy added.
Another kid butted in.
"We don't want to call you "Ate" because you are our teacher," that was a voice coming from a girl.
Then the boy in the front said.
"I like your song teacher"
Another boy had spoken.
"Is it your favorite song cher? I like it. You have an angelic voice as well",
She smiled upon hearing all those compliments from them.
The kids started removing their mask, because they wanted her to recognize their faces.
She felt so happy upon looking at them. They're all so cute and adorable. She smiled at them and they smiled at her too.
That was JA's memorable first day of work because she was sure enough that the kids like her and she likes them too.
"Well, no wonder I am also a kid", she said to herself.