For the rest of the day, classes went on as usual for the rest of the day. We had our Language class and English in the first half of the morning. Then we had our usual fifteen minute recess. This was the time where we usually eat some snacks to regain our energy or else make some frantic last minute attempt to finish the assignment Sir Albert gave us, like Kevin was doing. I on the other hand just ate the hotdog I bought from the cafeteria. During that time some of our classmates tried to talk to Amy but she excused herself to go to the restroom and didn't return until class began again.

After that it was one of our most terrible subjects: World History.

I know most people would wonder why we would think this way, usually it would Algebra or any math-related class but I guess it depends on the teacher because Ma'am Luz is not only the Homeroom teacher but also the Algebra teacher. She's nice and helps us out when we have difficulties in class and won't move on to the next lesson until we all get the formula right.

World History on the other hand was taught by the school's most feared teacher: Sir Albert. He would rush from one lesson to the next. He would also pile us with so much research homework that I thought we could make a whole book if we bind the assignments together. As soon as he got into the room, he demanded that we submit our assignments. Some of my classmates looked sick as they passed theirs on. Kevin was no different, he still wasn't sure if the assignment I made was passable.

Surprisingly, Amy also approached the teacher's table with her head low as though she wanted her hair to cover face. I thought she wanted to excuse herself but then I saw she submitted an assignment!

How did she have assignment when she just got into class?

"Oh? A new student in class, Ms.-?"

"It's Kawaii. Amy Kawaii, sir." She whispered.

"And you are submitting an assignment? You weren't here when I assigned this to the class."

She fidgeted a little, "Before I transferred here, I was given all the assignment tasks that needed to be passed on my first day. I did them before I got here."

Sir Albert looked at her assignment and scanned it all. "My, my, and you even got all of this correct! It's a perfect score!"

She got all of them correct?

I never got a perfect score in a single test in Sir Albert's class! And I usually got the best scores!

"Did you already tackle this topic in your previous school?"

Amy shook her head franticly, "Not exactly, I hadn't reached that particular topic yet so I had to do some research on the lessons and double checked until I got it right."

"That's very good! Listen up all of you!" Sir Albert called the attention of everyone in class, but Amy. You should all take a leaf out of your new classmate's book! Keep up the good work, Ms. Kawaii."

To everyone's shock, he smiled at her. Sir Albert was known throughout the school with a constant frown and that he gave an impression of a gorilla that will rip you to shreds if you get the dates of the French Revolution wrong.

Everyone in class was both stunned and impressed.

Not only did Amy just submit an assignment of Sir Albert (which I have to point out is extremely difficult) she was able to approach him with ease, which in itself, was both very strange and amazing. She just talked to the most unapproachable teacher in school while cringing away to the rest of the friendlier students in class. Was she more comfortable with teachers rather than her own classmates and peers?

After a gruelling lesson on the Civil Wars, we proceeded to our next class which was Physical Education.

This was the one subject Kevin shone the best...and where I am most pathetic at.

However, we weren't having basketball today but instead we were having another ball game: soccer.

The school had soccer field with a track field surrounding it. The sky was clear and sunny but not too hot that it would give anybody a heatstroke. It was perfect day for any outdoor activity. There I was in my gym uniform, sitting cross-legged on the grass along with whole class. We listened to our instructor, Coach Gilas. Already a large man, he was sporting large set of muscles befitting that of a professional body builder. People say he has his own gym equipment at home and lifts hundred pound barbells a hundred times every day. In his class, we have fifteen minutes of lecture before proceeding to the actual practice for the rest of the period.

"Alright kids and that's the basics, any questions?" he asked us after a discussion on the history of the sport, the different player positions, scoring, fouls and rules.

Nobody raised a question. Truth be told, most of us are already familiar of the sport so we know how to play.

"No? Well then, let's proceed to practice! Since we have an even number of girls and boys now, we can divide all you kids into equal teams!" he says cheerfully.

The thought never did cross my mind. Before Amy came along we had about twelve boys and seven girls but with Amy Kawaii added to the ranks it now makes now girls, huh?

"Boys, divide into two teams of six and girls into two teams of four! We'll practice on a half court. Hurry up, we haven't got all period!"

The good thing about having a sport that involves the team spreading out throughout the field is that you can just stay along the sides and not participate in the actual game.

Let me tell you, I'm not good at sports in general.

Plus every time I take the front lines of any game I always mess up and wind up like a total loser on the playing field. There was our previous lesson where we played volleyball and an opposing team member spiked a ball into my face and wound up with a nosebleed. And there was the lesson before that, which was sepak takraw. I tried to kick that small ball but wound up spinning in a pirouette and toppled down with the whole class laughing at me for a week. And then there was the baseball lesson we had before that...actually I'm not going to go into details about that anymore.

Kevin was serving as the goal keeper of the opposing team while I was a forward in our team. I simply walked along the sides and watched the whole team played their game on. My teammate, Michael Adis kicked the ball towards the goal but Kevin manages to catch it. His team cheered.

"Nice try, Mike! But you can't get passed me!" He throws the ball back into the field.

"Shoot! You always block me!" Michael kicks the grass in annoyance.

"That's the team captain for you!"

I chuckled with a silent cheer for my old pal. Suddenly there was a loud squeals from over at the girls side of the court.

Bianca and the Sosies had teamed up together against the rest of the girls. It's a four again four after all. You have to admit there was pretty interesting scenes over there.

One of the girls kicked a soccer ball toward the goal and Bianca being the goalkeeper was supposed to catch it. But like the drama queen that she is, she screamed as it went flying towards her and she had to crouch down to avoid it, allowing it to go into the goal and earning the opposing team a point.

"That's not fair! You nearly kicked that ball into my face!"

"I'm sorry, Bianca!" Reyna Padilla apologised. "I didn't mean to! Honest!"

"Didn't 'mean' to? Do you know how my daddy will react if I come home with a bruise?"

Like I said, a total drama queen....

As Coach Gilas had to break up that little soap drama, I turned my attention to the girl standing along the sidelines like me: Amy Kawaii. She had her hair tied up into a ponytail. She looked a little nervous as though she didn't feel like doing gym class either. Yet I could tell from her expression that there was a strange sense of wistful sadness.

I was thinking of talking to her when I felt something tap my legs. I looked down and to my dismay I saw that the soccer ball had rolled towards my direction!

"Oh no..."

I could tell from the expressions from both my teammates and the opposing teams that were dreading the situation.

"Oh great, it's Castillo..." groaned Michael.

"Somebody got the medical kit on the ready?" says Louie.

"I got a camera! Maybe we can get this and post it in YouTube!"

Kevin clapped his hands loudly, "Okay, guys give him a break, will you?"

"But Castillo always screws up!"

That really hurts you know. It's one thing for you to know about it yourself but another when someone points it out for you.

Kevin called out to me, "Hey, Ricky-boy! Just pass us the ball will you?

I kicked the ball lightly in their direction and it rolled a few feet.

"What kind of pass is that?"

I jumped a foot! I looked and saw Coach Gilas coming up to me!

"You call that a pass? That was pathetic! Castillo, get in there and pass the ball properly!"

"B-but...what if I mess up again?" I stuttered.

"Don't be such a wimp! You're a man, right? Now get in there and play!"

Yeah right...

He's only saying that because every time I slipped up in class Coach Gilas always had his back turned or was busy talking to a passing teacher."

With hesitation, I kicked the ball a few feet and another few feet. When I reached Michael he was blocking my path. Michael was supposed to be on my team so why was he stopping me?

"Let's get this over with Castillo...pass the ball to me!"

He said it as though he were saying you're just gonna screw up so give me the ball and get out of here before you make an idiot of yourself.

"What are you waiting for? Pass me the ball, loser!"

I repeated the word in my mind, "Loser?"

For some reason, I felt a twinge of annoyance and swerve passed Michael and continued on.

Michael was stunned that I just ignored him, "What the-? Castillo! Where're you going? Hey! Stop him!"

The rest of the team tried to block my path. But I dodged the ball around them.

"Castillo, what are you doing?"

"We're on the same team! Pass us the ball!"

"Pass us the ball, you idiot!"

But I spun around each player and kicked the ball out of their reach. I managed to catch up to the ball before any of them could and kicked it further in. I continued towards the defence. When our opponent team just realized that I was approaching they tried gather around and block me.

I didn't know what happened but I felt a rush of adrenaline as I dodged and swerved around my opponents.

"Whoa!"

"When did he get past-?"

"How did Castillo get this good?"

Coach Gilas was applauding, "That's it, Castillo! Keep it up!"

Honestly, I don't know how. But it felt good that my legs were twisting around like that! I managed to get pass the defence and was heading right at goal.

"Oh yeah, Ricky!" cheered Kevin, "Aim for the goal!"

"Kevin, you're the goal! You idiot!" snaps one of his teammates.

"Oh right!" Kevin then braces himself as I approached.

I was coming at him at full speed.

"Here I go, Kevin!"

"Bring it on!"

I launched a kick at the ball and it soared over, heading straight towards the goal! It was going in! It was going in!

At least I thought it was until...

BANG!

The ball ricocheted right off the top of the goal post and it flew high into the sky before falling back down to earth.

My team groaned in dismay and so did everybody else.

"I knew it..."

"That was anti-climatic..."

I was albeit disappointed and greatly embarrassed...

I thought for once I was actually doing well in P.E. and that I was actually cool! I watch the ball fly down and that the soccer ball was flying towards....Amy!

She was just standing there spacing out and not realizing the ball was heading towards her!

"AMY, LOOK OUT!" I yelled at the top of my voice.

Amy only just registered surprise when the ball smacked her right on the head!

She fell to the ground and didn't stir.

***

"Well...that's one sure way to get her attention, Ricky-boy!" laughs Kevin.

"I didn't mean or it to happen..." I said glumly.

We were sitting at our usual lunch spot: the boat dock. The school was built along the shores of a small lake. Rather than eating at the cafeteria, a lot of the students eat their lunches here by the lakeside. Kevin and I had been eating at the boat dock since our first day in school.

Kevin was eating his usual fried chicken. Every day he always has some kind of chicken dish for lunch. His dad, who runs a gym, keeps complaining that this isn't a healthy diet. But his mom who is a nutritionist says otherwise that compared to pork or beef, chicken is way healthier. Well, it's mainly because her parent's own a poultry farm right outside of town so they have an unlimited supply of chicken. Despite that Kevin never seems to get tired of eating chicken.

As for my lunch, Mom as usual, went out of her way to prepare a hefty lunch box for me. It was pork adobo and margarine rice with a couple of rolled egg omelettes on the side. It's actually one of my favourite meals and I would usually happily eat it. But right now I wasn't feeling all that hungry. Well, would you if you just K.O. your new classmate with a projectile soccer ball?

After Amy got hit by the ball it was complete mayhem. There were screams from the girls and a lot of accusations from the guys. Michael Velasco actually punched me for that. He called me a big-headed idiot for trying to act all cool and being a show-off. Kevin came to my defence saying there was no way I could've known that ball would fly off towards Amy. In the end, Coach Gilas told us all to knock it off as he brought Amy to the infirmary.

So here I am, eating lunch and wallowing in my shame.

"Hey man, it wasn't your fault! It was an accident!"

"You heard what Michael said! If I didn't get all cocky none of this would've happened."

"Huh? I thought you of all people know how big Michael's own head was. That jerk...he always likes to milk the situation just so he can act cool."

"You're only saying that because Michael got a one up on you on the last basketball game."

Kevin looked offended, "You had to bring that up? I'm saying this because I'm your pal!"

You have to give Kevin credit where it's due. I'm lucky to have a best friend like him.

"And besides I think the real reason is because he's jealous."

"Jealous? Quit joking..."

"Seriously, Ricky-Boy!" says Kevin as he elbowed me, "You've got some smooth moves! The way you managed to dodge their every step and kicked the ball into the goal...well almost...was awesome! It's no wonder Michael was jealous."

"How can he be jealous?"

"Well, he's always been talking big about his skills in soccer but he was more interested in basketball. I always thought it was just crap and big talk. I'm guessing seeing someone like you who's the most unlikely to be a soccer player and, as you say, getting one up on him must've bruised his ego."

"I doubt it...and I'm not a soccer player..."

"I bet with practice you can be a star player! You can probably join the school soccer team!"

"Kevin... Thanks for the support but there's no way I'm joining the soccer team. Besides sports isn't my thing."

And probably never will be...

Kevin sighed in disappointment, "You know...you really have to break out of your comfort zone."

"So how's Amy? Did you hear what happened to her?" I asked trying to change the subject and also because I was concerned for my unwitting victim.

"Oh, she'll be fine. In fact, she already came to. The coach said that she was simply knocked out but she'll recover. For now she'll stay in the infirmary. Her dad and uncle just arrived to pick her up."

"Oh, that's good. But hey, if her dad is here so her parents are still together then?"

"Think so, since I did see him. He's clearly Japanese but I think her uncle must be from her mom's side because he obviously isn't one. Although, I have to admit her uncle looked pretty scary."

"Scary?"

"He's huge plus he looked like one of those guys from the Mafia? I mean who wears a tuxedo and a pair of sunglasses?"

"Maybe he just got off from work?"

"And what kind of work would that be?"

"Maybe he's a club bouncer? Isn't that they look like?"

"At this time of the day?" says Kevin doubtfully.

"Well, maybe he works at the casino bars at Uptown?"

"I don't know...but even though he's scary looking he did sound concerned about Amy. They wanted to bring her home and have a doctor check if she was indeed okay. But school nurse said all she needed was rest."

"Well, that's a relief...at least she can go home to rest."

"Why are you so concerned her?"

"Isn't it natural to feel guilty and concern for someone you've hurt accidentally?" I put a spoon of margarine rice in my mouth.

"Yeah, but the way you've been acting you do look like you have some interest in her? Do you like her?" Kevin then smiles at me in a rather sneaky way.

I choked on my rice, "Cough* Huh? What?"

"You got a thing for her? Huh? Huh? I told you she was a cutie!"

"Don't be silly! I'm just worried since I did knock her out!"

"Aw, come on! What do you think of her? Doesn't she look cute? I mean with flowing shiny hair, soft skin and a pretty face accentuated by her glasses! Not to mention she's got assets in chest area! Ow!"

I had to bop him in the head. I made sure this was hard...

It's no wonder she's afraid. I thought she gave the impression of a rabbit caught in lion's den. More like a wolves' den. And the Big Bad Wolf was sitting right beside me!

"Is her physical features the only thing what attracts you?"

Kevin rubbed the top of his head, "Well, what is your impression of her?"

I looked at the lake and saw a pair of ducks swimming long the water.

"I can't say that I can describe her completely...since I don't know her all that well. She has that grace and beauty...but it's like she's hiding behind veil."

"That sounds like a love song...ugh..." Kevin cringed.

"To be honest we don't know her all that well...I think it may have been wrong for us to make an assumptions of her based on rumours. We should get to know her better!"

"Yeah, I'd like to know her three sizes!"

I know Kevin was just pulling my leg at that time but I couldn't resist the urge to bop him again.