"Do you have any questions?" Kane asked us.

She just finished reporting her part in the chapter 3 of our Philippine History subject. Ms. Salazar, our history teacher who happened to be one of the strictest teachers in Eastview, was smiling at Kane. She looked pleased about Kane's presentation. That was very unusual of Ms. Salazar. Oftentimes she would point out what you missed in your presentation. I guess she was simply satisfied of Kane's presentation.

One of the things I liked about Kane was her dedication when it comes to academics. I think everyone in our circle liked that about her. She was really responsible. Whenever she made a presentation, she was thorough. She always made sure to give her best in everything she did. But she happened to be really competitive too.

That was why some of our classmates, who weren't really close to Kane, get annoyed at her every time she got mad at herself when she didn't achieve what she wanted. Our friends understood why Kane was the way she was, but our other classmates would never understand her because they weren't in her shoe, and they didn't know her well enough. I never get annoyed at her whenever she acted that way. I just wish that she wouldn't be too hard on herself.

We had been classmates since third grade after I transferred to Eastview. But we began being good friends during our fifth grade. If I'm not mistaken, it was after we became group mates for a project in Science.

I looked around and some of our classmates were just staring down on their textbooks, avoiding Kane's and Ms. Salazar's eyes, while the others were just looking at Kane, still avoiding Ms. Salazar's eyes.

Nobody raised a hand to ask a question, so Ms. Salazar told Kane to go back to her seat and called on the next reporter.

Kane went back to her seat-in between Lily and Vino.

***

I was on my way to the high school faculty room when I spotted Kane standing in front of the bulletin board. I walked towards her to see what she was looking at. It was a poster about the writing contest in school. There would be five winners who would receive a cash prize each and they would also be a part of the Eastview Gazette.

"Are you gonna join?" I asked.

"I want to..." she answered without taking her eyes off the poster. She had always been sure about everything but at the moment, she didn't sound so sure.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know if I can do it."

I tore my eyes away from the poster to look at her. She never doubted herself. Well, most of the time she didn't. "Are you serious? Of course you can do it."

"That's what the girls said," she answered, referring to Lily and Bianca. "I don't know what to write."

"I know you'll figure it out when you set your mind to join."

She pulled her eyes away from the poster and looked up at me. "You really think so?"

I smiled at her, hoping it was encouraging enough. "Yeah."

***

We were preparing foods for our cookery activity in our TLE subject. My group mates were Noah, Claire, Vino, and Kane. Since none of us could think of what to prepare, Vino came up with everything. We were preparing a mushroom patty burger, potato slices, and cucumber mango salad.

"I'll prepare the potato slices," Kane volunteered. She took the potatoes out of the bag and head over to the sink to wash it.

"I'll help her," Claire said.

Noah, Vino, and I were left on our table. We started preparing the ingredients for the mushroom patty burger. Vino instructed us on what to do for later.

Kane and Claire returned to our table, putting down the bowl of potatoes. Kane picked up a knife and placed a potato on a chopping board.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" I asked her.

"Yup," she answered.

Vino grabbed another potato and knife and said, "I'll show you how you should slice it."

He walked over to Kane's side and started slicing a potato. I watched Kane as she stared at Vino. She wasn't actually looking at his hands and how he slices. She was looking at his face, or maybe his brown hair. I wasn't really sure.

I didn't know if it was just me overanalyzing things but I had never seen her look at someone like that. I remembered I need to take pictures during our activity. I excused myself and told Noah that I would get my camera from my bag.

***

"Have you reviewed for our exams yet?" Brian asked us as we ate our lunch in the cafeteria.

"No, our exams are not until after two weeks," Lily answered before going back to devouring her meal.

Brian propped his elbows on the table and watched Kane eat, expecting her to look at him.

"Come on, please don't ask Kane," Miguel said, putting his utensils down on his plate.

"What?" Kane looked around the table, trying to look innocent. "Alright. Of course I already started reading the previous lessons."

Vino, who was sitting across from her, smiled fondly at her before taking a gulp of his orange juice.

Brian groaned. "I wish I'm as responsible as Kane."

Lily laughed. "That's very wishful thinking, Brian."

I gave a small laugh and continued eating my lunch which consisted of rice, pork chop, and vegetable egg roll.

"We can have a group study," Kane suggested. "Let's divide the subjects among each of us and make reviewers or sample tests."

"I'm in," Vino answered quickly.

"Sounds like a good idea," Bianca said.

I looked up and nodded. "Bianx is right. That's a good idea."

"Algebra is on Vino. English is on Kane. Science is on you, Jeff. History is on Bianca..." Lily started assigning subjects, and I started zoning out.

I stared at Kane as she looked eagerly at Lily. She was probably already thinking of the reviewer and sample tests that she would prepare.

I couldn't understand what was happening with me. I had never felt this whenever I stared at her before. In fact, I didn't usually stare at her before.

***

It was early in the morning, probably a quarter of an hour before the first period. I was on my way to our classroom, and I noticed a few students were huddled in front of the bulletin board. I had no idea what announcement would be posted so I walked over to see what they were looking at. It was an announcement from Eastview Gazette. They had already chosen the winners for their writing contest.

I immediately looked for a certain name. And I saw it right away: Second Place- Katherine Ramos. Kane won a cash prize and was chosen as a sports and news writer for the Eastview Gazette.

I knew she could do it.

I went straight to our classroom and found Kane's empty chair. I was one of the early birds in our class, and there were only a couple of others inside the room. But I knew Kane was arriving soon, she wasn't one to be late for a class.

"Hey, congratulations," I greeted Kane when she arrived.

"Thank you Jeff!" she said and beamed at me. "Thanks for persuading me to join too."

"I told you, you could do it."

"Wow, thanks for believing in me."

***

"Congratulations to the top 5 for this quarter. Congratulations to all the achievers too," Ms. Sanchez smiled at us. "Those of you who got an average of 89, you just need a little more push to be a part of the achievers. I'll expect that next quarter, okay?"

We were already inside our classroom, waiting for our guardians to get our report cards. Earlier, we had an awarding ceremony for all the achievers and those who got a perfect attendance for this quarter.

The top 5 students were written on the white board. Vino was the top one, and Kane was the top two. They were followed by Noah, then Elisa, and then me. Vino and Kane's average were so close, and everyone was amused about it, probably except for Kane.

I looked at her and saw her talking to Lily. Then she walked out of the room, looking upset. Yup, she wasn't amused about her grade and ranking.

"I'll just..." Vino muttered and pointed to the door.

Miguel nodded at him.

I had a feeling that he was going to follow Kane.

It was funny how easy they became friends. It took me two years before I became friends with Kane. I didn't know if it was because we were both shy kids and Vino was friendlier or Kane was more open now that we're in high school; or maybe because they became seatmates. It was easier to be close with someone when you sit beside them for seven hours a day, five days a week.

***