Page 3: A Maelstorm of Something

Chuck is taking up Mechanical Engineering at his school, T University.
Being the most popular in school, he's naturally the most popular in his
class. However, because of that popularity, teachers see him as a target:
of academic ridicule of sorts. He's not bad at studying, but he knows that
the subjects at his course increase in difficulty as he progresses. Seeing
as he is a second year, he knows that things will go worse if not
acknowledged.

"Yo, you okay, man?" asked Ramon. Ramon Librada, or simply Ramon, is one of
Chuck's classmates who hangs out with him. Though it's true that Chuck is
popular, it doesn't mean that he has a lot of friends. And aside from
Czarina, the first true friend that he made the first time he got to
college was that guy.

"Huh, oh yeah! I'm fine," replied an uninterested Chuck.

"So what got you all grumpy all of a sudden?" Ramon followed-up.

"Mon, we're in class, so ask me later, 'kay?" Chuck got a bit more
grumpier. They are currently in Physics 2 class, but there are a lot of
people in the room, so no one could notice if anyone isn't being attentive.
But Chuck seems to mind the lesson.

"E~h, you're no fun, man!" spurted Ramon.

"And you're annoying. Do something useful like **** your girlfriend in
class..." Chuck was quite annoyed. Ramon gets the mood, though, and turned
to the blackboard and smiled, "Yeah, yeah."

Chuck isn't usually like that. The normal Chuck would be quiet and just
listen to anyone around him. Although he doesn't actually listen, he just
lets his mind float away to a faraway place, or sings in his head. But this
time is different. He's getting serious at studying. Everyone even got
surprised by his one-time perfect score in a surprise quiz in Differential
Equations. Note the one-time, though.

"... ...with Czarina, right?" Ramon mumbled.

Chuck was listening to the lecture until he heard 'Czarina' somewhere
along. It took quite a while before he could register what he just heard.
After a few seconds, he looked at Ramon, confused. Ramon was surprised, and
just raised his eyebrows with a "Hmm?"

"Did you say something? About Czarina, I mean..."

"N-nah. I won't say anything again. Good thing you weren't listening,
though." Ramon replied with a shake in his voice.

Chuck looked at Ramon with a pissed-off look. "Really, it's nothing!! Don't
mind me, 'kay?"

He stared at Ramon narrow-eyed. It was like he was saying really expletive
things that can't be written properly if you're someone who doesn't like
those kinds of things. Ramon knows that all too well. But he also noticed
something. It was that there was something different about Chuck, for the
past 3 weeks. However, he has no idea as what it is.

'Better leave it as is,' Ramon thought. 'If it's bothering him this much,
it's gotta be serious.' So he stays quiet for the rest of the period.

After an hour and a half of grueling physics lessons, the duo dragged
themselves outside of the College of Sciences building, to the seats by the
trees. They sat at the same time, looked up to the tree, and then let out
a big sigh.

"I never looked at it that simple. That was way out of my expectations!"
shuddered Ramon.

"You said it, man! It was a surprise for me as well!" Chuck brightly jeered
at the still-recovering Ramon. It just happened that the physics instructor
gave a very easy insight as for how to approach problems involving
free-body diagrams.

Ramon relaxed for a bit, and leaned back against the tree, "So, next
class?" He was expectantly looking at Chuck for a reply, or something.
Knowing thus, Chuck jokingly answered, "Let's go OL!"

Ramon got surprised, then he pretended to be pissed-off. "F***, man. What
are you, frickin' high school?"

They both paused. Then, the sudden silence broke off when they both laughed
really hard. Suddenly a girl's figure came towards them.

"Hiya!!" greeted Czarina in a cheerful tone, while raising here right hand
and doing a slightly serious pose.

"Hey!! How's our favorite girl doing, huh?" Ramon responded, while doing
the same gesture as Czarina. Then he looked at Chuck, "Well, I gotta be
someplace else, OK? I'll leave the two of you alone for the MOMENT, if you
get my drift!" He looked at Chuck's eyes with such expectations.

"Not happening, man," he jested, while pushing his index finger against
Ramon's stomach.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!!" Ramon screamed. "I'm just messing with you, man! Don't
take it seriously, If you know what I mean!!" Ramon told Chuck as he pushes
Chuck's hand away from his stomach, while grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Czarina looked a bit confused. "What are you guys talking about?" she
asked.

"Nothing that involves you, 'Cza'," Chuck grunted while strangling Ramon
with a wrestling move. "Gea, gou hag ngasig to gu wigh ghis... (Yeah, you
have nothing to do with this)" struggled Ramon. Then, he suddenly gained an
upper hand in their two-man fiasco.

"Really," she exhaled. "You guys are total idiots." Czarina smiled. Then,
for some reason, Czarina and Chuck looked at each other in the eyes. There
was a brief pause, then Czarina felt that she was turning red - she was
blushing. She turned her head away from Chuck, feeling her heart skipped a
beat, beating faster than usual.

Chuck noticed this. He also knows what this means. But considering what he
thinks of her, and also thinking he will get smacked down by her, he set
himself loose from Ramon's grip. Chuck gave him a stern look to the eyes.
Then he blurted what he noticed from her reactions with a different
intention.

"Are you sick? Do you want to go home?" asked Chuck, acting concerned.

She still wasn't looking at him, but her eyes were prying glances at him.
"A-ah, no. I'm okay..." she replied in a shaky voice.

"Are you sure? I can accompany you to the clinic if you want to..." said
Chuck, still acting concerned.

"D-damn it! How much of an idiot are you, Chuck?!!?" She lost her temper
and stomped her way away from Chuck and Ramon. Chuck looked at Ramon, like
looking for an answer, but he just shook his head. Chuck looked like he was
confused, but in fact, he knew what was wrong with Czarina. He couldn't say
it, but he could feel it. It was piercing his chest like a pin, it didn't
hurt much, but it was painful.