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"EEEEHHHH!!!!!" screamed both Czarina and Ramon in synchronous awe and
slight disgust.

"Ugh," said an irritated Chuck. He chugged down a bottle of cola, took a
bite of the burger he's holding, and chugged down his cola again. It was
lunch time at T University. Everyone was busy moving up and about almost
everywhere, preparing for their next classes, going home, or going
someplace else other than school or home.

"What's up with that reaction, people?" Chuck asked. "I sense disgust from
you, and I think you're overreacting."

"Well," answered Czarina, "you going to a library is like winning a lottery
at the very moment you wage your bet at the betting station."

Chuck did the narrow-eyed routine again, staring intensely at Czarina.
"What are you getting at?" asked the boy.

"She said it's pretty much impossible or right next to it," replied Ramon.

Chuck banged down his bottle of cola on the table, causing everyone in the
karinderya to get startled. Then they looked straight at Chuck's table.
Feeling the pressure caused by the other people, Ramon stood up and made an
excuse. "Sorry for startling you people! There's no fight happening here,
my friend is just angry at something!"

"Ugh," Chuck grumbled, holding his head down. "Talking to you people is
meaningless." He stood up, grabbed his sling bag, and went out of the
eatery. The other two followed suit. When they were out, the two tried to
coax Chuck out of his anger.

"Aww, c'mon Chuck!" Czarina said. "We're just trying to tease you, is all!"
She put her hand over Chuck's shoulder. "No need to get all hot-headed
about that, okay?"

"Tease my ass, bitch," answered an infuriated Chuck. He removed Czarina's
arm from his shoulder, and walked faster. She could only watch Chuck speed
away, thinking that she might have hurt his feelings. Czarina turned to
Ramon, "Why didn't you say something?"

Ramon shook his head. "There was nothing to say." He pulled out his
cellphone from his bag, "If he's really angry, the best thing to do is to
let him cool down," he said, while tapping his fingers on the keypad of his
phone. "I wanted to apologize, but you kept adding lighter fluid to the
forest fire."

"I wanted to apologize, too," she defended. "But..."

"But...?" Ramon was trying to pry out something like an expected answer out
of Czarina. But Czarina seemed like she did not want to continue her
defense. Most likely, she was hiding something.

"But I'm likely to say something like what I really feel..." Czarina got
surprised, with her heart suddenly racing like mad. She looked at Ramon,
because she knew it was him who imitated her way of speaking and saying
that kind of thing. She couldn't react at first (stunned), but when she
came to she held Ramon by his collar. "Damn bastard, you..." her eyes were
flaring with (fake) anger.

"Wasn't I telling the truth?" said Ramon while resting his head on his arms
raised cross behind his head. "There's no meaning in denying something that
is true, right?" There were people starting to gather around them because
they thought it was something really serious.

Czarina couldn't answer. It was true. She knew it was true. And it hurts
the more because it was the truth. She let go of her grip on Ramon slowly,
looking down to the ground like she was depressed. When she had totally let
go, Ramon turned to the crowd. "Alright people, if you want to see the
rest, pay yer f*cking admission fee!" he shouted. With different reactions,
the crowd dispersed.

When the people went away, Czarina started to walk as well. Ramon didn't
chase after her, but he looked at her while she walked away. "She's not
being honest at all," he thought to himself. "If she were a bit more true
to herself, she might have a chance with him." Ramon shook his head, then
went away to school.

<--->---<--->

"Damn bitch," Chuck thought. He was still upset at the comments Czarina and
Ramon threw at him about him going to the library. "Such wonderful friends
I have!!" he shouted, looking up to the trees as he was walking towards his
class. Spectators were surprised, thinking that Chuck had lost his head.
But Chuck felt the stinging sensation of eyes piercing through his body. He
felt embarassed, then quickly left the scene.

When he had gotten away from public scandal, he rummaged through his sling
bag and got his cellphone. He fiddled with it a bit while walking about to
his next class, opening his calendar. "Oh," he gasped. "I scheduled it
tomorrow, huh?" He was referring to his registration at the National
Library, which he planned for tomorrow. "Better get my requirements in
check before anything." He put back his phone in his sling bag and strolled
away.

Later that evening after classes, Chuck went out a few classmates including
Ramon to play a bit of DotA. They played for two hours, raving and ranting
about their gameplay afterwards. After playing, the group decided to eat,
but Chuck expressed that he wanted to go home.

"But you just live nearby, right?" asked one of his classmates.

"Yeah, but I'm really tired. I wanna call it a day now," he stressed. Chuck
stretched his arms upward, telling them that he was tired.

"You sure? C'mon, it a rare chance that we get to be with the great Chuck
Roxas, master of being the chick magnet of our humble class," exclaimed
another classmate.

"Haha," Chuck laughed with sarcasm. "There's always a next time. Don't
worry, I'll go out with you guys again sometime."

"Well," one responded. "Can't do anything about that. Right, Ramon?"

Ramon nodded. "Yeah, just leave him be for now. He's got girl problems."

"Seriously?" everyone asked in unison. They just got shocked, and Ramon
enjoyed their awed expressions.

"Can it, Mon!" Chuck shouted to Ramon. "And don't everyone get the wrong
idea!" he turned to everyone else.

"But the description fits the bill, you have problems with Cza..." Before
Ramon could finish what he was going to say, Chuck stuck a burger in
Ramon's mouth, barely enabling him to breathe. Chuck furiously ran away
from them as he hears screams of revenge from Ramon. He was smiling like a
lunatic while he made his escape.

While Chuck was running, something dropped from the compartment of his
sling bag. It was something wrapped in a plastic bag. Then, a girl with
glasses picked it up. She was curious as to what it was, and she didn't
know where it came from. So, she kept it, assuming that she will meet with
the owner of the plastic pack.

<--->---<--->

It was a sunny and humid Thursday afternoon. Chuck is walking down the
sidewalk along Kalaw Avenue. Same scenery as the last time he passed
through there. It was still nostalgic and such. As he approached the
National Library, he came through a crowd, still like last time, holding a
bunch of documents. They were still hiring. ChucK wondered if there were
people who are actually hired.

He went through the front gate of the building. "At last," he thought to
himself. "The moment of truth." He walked towards the entrance, let the
guard inspect his belongings, then entered the building. His tension
started to rise. "Damn," he thought, "I've never been this nervous before.
Is it because of the people?"

He looked around. He saw a long line of people near the entrance. "Is that
where I go?" he asked himself. He looked around some more. By his right, he
saw the baggage counter. Chuck walked towards there and prepared his
belongings. There was a girl standing by the deposit side, talking to the
clerk.

Chuck was rummaging through his stuff. Then he broke a slight sweat. "Huh?"
he asked himself, "where is it?" He rummaged through his stuff once more,
opening most of the pockets of his sling bag. When he still found nothing,
he could only mutter. "Shit..."

The girl in front of him looked towards him. She looked at Chuck, stared at
his face. He noticed the girl looking at him. He got nervous. "Wh-what is
it?" he asked in a shaky tone.

"Perhaps, you are looking for something?" the girl asked.

"Y-yeah. Something like that..." Chuck was starting to lose his composure.
He felt cold sweat running down his face, like he was constipated. He
couldn't think straight because he knows he'll lose precious time if he let
it go.

The girl reached towards her pocket and pulled out a plastic pack. Chuck
instantly recognized it and tried to grab it from her. Noticing this
movement, the girl instantly turned her side which holds the pack away from
him. "Hold it, stranger," she said, placing her palm right in front of
Chuck's face. "Before I give this to you, tell me what's inside."

"Pictures!" he answered without hesitation. "They're my pictures, four
pieces of 1 x 1 pics with red background. You can check it if you want to,
they're all me, anyway!!"

The glasses girl smiled at him. "So it is you," she sighed with relief. "I
guess I deduced correct."

Chuck dropped his head slightly to his right side. He was expressing
confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The girl fixed her glasses by slightly lifting it up with her index finger.
"It is indeed a 1 x 1 ID picture with a red background. I have decucted
that you will be using it for registration purposes."

"How come?" asked Chuck.

She gave the pack to Chuck. "It's there," she answered, pointing to the
pack. "The name of the studio on the pack is the one and only studio with
that name around this area. And it is located within the vicinity of the
library." She paused, crossing her arms before her. "My guess is that
sometime ago you went here to get a library card, but you didn't know of
the requirements so you went out to find a photo studio to get an ID
picture. And, as I said, the nearest studio is the one whose name is found
on that pack."

Chuck was amazed at her insight. "Wow," he praised, "you're really smart!"
He held his chin, "But, what if you were wrong?"

"Then you wouldn't get your pictures back," she answered.

Chuck froze up for a while. He did realize that he was very lucky. "Thank
you," he said. "But it wasn't 'sometime ago.' It was about three days ago.
And about the studio, well, I thought I should go home after getting those
pictures."

"Oh," she placed her hand under her chin, "is that so?" She turned around
and started to walk away. Then, suddenly, she turned around again towards
him. "Well, you better get in line now," she stated, pointing towards the
long queue. "Or you would rather wait until end of lunch time?"

Chuck turned his head towards the line, "Crap!" he said. He turned to the
girl and he said "Thanks! I owe you a lot!" The girl fixed her glasses
again with her index finger, "No problem," she said with a slightly devious
smile. She then turned away and walked towards the stairs. Chuck got in
line right before another person got in, but he looked at the girl who
helped him while she was climbing the stairs.

For the first time in his life, Chuck felt admiration.



>End of First Shelf<