Chapter 40: Hazard

Kasalukuyang nagle-lecture ang terror naming guro sa Math na si Ma'am Laid. I was yawning secretly all the time. Gosh, I'm so sleepy! Truth is I want to spend my whole day sleeping in my bed at the dorm but I cannot miss school again. Nag-absent na kami kahapon at ayaw kong umabsent ngayon. When I glanced at Gray on my back, he was slouching on his seat too at panay rin ang hikab niya. Marahil ay parehas kaming napuyat dahil sa pagkagulat nang malamang ang sikat na hacker na si Apollo ay si Ryu.

"Saan kayo galing kahapon ni Gray? Parehas kayong hindi pumasok. Nag-date kayo?" pabulong na tanong ni Jeremy. His gaze was fixed on the board, marahil ay upang hindi siya mapansin ni Ma'am Laid.

Hindi agad nagsink-in sa utak ko ang sinabi niya at nang napagtanto ko iyon ay hindi ko mapigilang mapalakas ang boses.

"We're not dating!" I hissed at him. Nababaliw na ba siya? Ako at si Gray? No way! "There's no way Gray and I will be dating!"

Nagulat din sina Gray at Marion na nasa likuran lang namin at naririnig kami. "What? You're dating Amber, Gray-chan?" malakas ang boses na wika ni Marion. She even stood up from her seat.

"Ano ba ang pinagsasabi ninyo?" gulat na tanong ni Gray. Oh, now everything's messed up! Blame Jeremy for this!

"Don't date anyone or else," Marion said pouting. Napatayo naman si Gray at hinarap ito. He looks pissed. They say na magbiro na sa lasing, 'wag lang sa bagong gising. Oh well, on our case, wag magbiro sa mga kulang sa tulog. Makakatikim talaga si Jeremy at Marion sa amin.

"Or what?" Gray asked her at nagsukatan sila ng tingin. Binigyan ko rin ng deadly glare si Jeremy. He started all of this.

"Or. Just or," wika ni Marion at tiningnan ako. "Saan kasi kayo nanggaling kahapon Amber?"

I was about to answer her nang may dumapo na eraser sa mesa namin. Sabay kaming napalingon sa nagbato niyon. It was Ma'am Laid. She was standing with her arms in her waist. I can sense her angry aura. Mukhang nakalimutan namin na nasa harap pala siya.

"Kanina ko pa kayong apat tinatawag! You even stood up in the middle of my class! The four of you, GET OUT!"

Nagulat kaming lahat nang sumigaw ito. Nakayuko ang iba naming mga kaklase. Ayaw marahil nilang madamay sa galit ni Ma'am Laid.

"You didn't hear me? I SAID GET OUT! OUT NOW!" she shouted at agad kaming lumabas bago pa ito atakihin. I don't know if she had a heart disease o ano basta ayoko lang na baka ma-high blood ito at matuluyan.

"Oh, anong gagawin natin ngayon?" Gray asked nang makalabas na kami.

I hate this! This is the second time na napalabas ako sa klase ni Maam Laid. "Uuwi ako ng dorm. Matutulog ako," wika ko at akmang aalis ngunit nagsalita si Jeremy.

"You can't. Almost 20 minutes na lang ay Chem na natin at may lab tayo ngayon," he said at saka ko lang naalala. Yes, we will have our laboratory later. Mabuti na lang at malapit ng matapos ang Math period namin nang pinalabas kami.

"Kasalanan mo talaga ito Nerd!" wika ni Marion kat Jeremy.

"It's your fault Marion!" Gray said.

"No one's fault! Wag kasi kayong makikinig sa usapan ng may usapan."

"Fine! My fault. I'll treat everyone at the cafeteria," Jeremy said.

Nagpatiuna na siyang lumakad at nang napansin niyang hindi kami sumusunod ay nilingon niya kami. "Ano pa ang hinihintay ninyo? Minsan lang akong manlibre."

Minsan? Baka ngayon lang talaga. Sa ilang taon naming pagiging magkaklase, this is the first time he said those words. Teka, si Jeremy nga ba talaga ito? As I said before, gone were his thick glasses and ugly hairstyles. Lumapit ako sa kanya at pinisil ang pisngi niya. He winced in pain when I did it.

"Awww! Amber that hurts!" he said at hinawakan ang nasaktang pisngi.

I was expecting that his face will peel off kagaya ng nangyayari sa mga ginagawa ni Kaito Kid but it didn't. Baliktarin man ang mundo at ang braces nito, it was really Jeremy.

"Uy, libre daw!" Marion said at hinila kaming dalawa ni Gray. "Get ready Nerd, mamumulubi ka ngayon!"

Nang makarating kami sa cafeteria ay tama nga ang sinabi ni Marion. Mamumulubi talaga si Jeremy! She ordered food that are worth my whole week's allowance. Namigay pa ito sa mga naroon! She just screamed, "Unlimited food all on Jeremy, the nerd!"

Agad naman iyong sinunggaban ng mga estudyante! Gosh, Marion is crazy! Mababayaran ba iyon lahat ni Jeremy nang hindi nagpapalipas ng kain para sa mga susunod na araw?

"Jeremy, are you sure na kaya mong bayaran ang lahat ng iyon? Marion is out of her mind," Gray said at bahagyang sinulyapan si Marion na abala sa pamimigay. I can hardly eat the foods in our table! Baka maghunger strike na si Jeremy for the next few days!

"Don't mind her. I still can pay, lalo na't malaki na ang savings ko from my allowance," he said at bumaling ng tingin sa akin. "Amber! I love the book you lent me which is His Last Bow. In The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans he said, 'Education never ends Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last," he said trying to sound old.

Gray swallowed a large slice of pizza. "It's in the Adventure of The Red Circle and not that one," wika niya at iniwas ang tingin kay Jeremy.

"You read the book Gray?" he asked in amazement.

Gray let out a bored look. "Yeah, and I've got a complete set too, just like Amber," wika niya. He sounded so boastful. Nabawasan tuloy ang excitement sa mukha nito.

"Ah, ganon ba?" Jeremy said at muling sumigla ang mukha nito. "Please lend me another one, Amber," he said, pouting at me.

Ngumiti ako nang matamis kay Jeremy. "Yeah, su—"

Bigla na lamang sumingit si Gray. "Sa akin ka na lang humiram since mas malapit lang tayo, we're both on the boys' dorm right? Don't bother Amber."

Anong problema ni Gray? Mukhang nag-iba yata ang mood nito. Jeremy hesitated for a while. "Ayos lang ba sayo?"

"I offered you right? Kaya malamang okay lang —awww!" he groaned nang apakan ko ang paa niya sa ilalim ng mesa.

"Could you be atleast nice to Jeremy?"

Jeremy glanced at his watch. "Math class is over, tara na sa Science Lab," he said at tumayo na.

Lumapit siya sa counter at nagbayad. I don't want to know how much he paid. Panay pa rin ang pamimigay ni Marion ng pagkain.

Tumayo na rin kami ni Gray at tinawag si Marion. "Marion, let's go," I called her. She pouted when she glanced at her wristwatch.

"But I haven't eaten yet and we cannot bring food at the lab! And I'm a little bit hungry!"

"Your fault. Kung gusto mo, iiwan ka na lang namin dito," Gray said at nakapamulsang naglakad.

"Fine. I'll grab snacks later," she said at tumakbo palapit kay Gray. "Wait for me Gray-chan!"

Nasa kanya-kanyang working table kami sa laboratory. I don't know what kind of science activity ang gagawin namin, ang alam ko lang ay chemical compound ang topic namin. May mga folded papers doon at mga iba-ibang chemicals. The paper contains the instructions.

Bridle spoil their students with all the science chemical and other elements as long as maingat lang ang mga estudyante. Mrs. Sera, the laboratory in charge is a known chemist kaya maayos niyang naiga-guide ang mga estudyante.

Tiningnan ko ang naroong compound sa harap ko. Nasa loob iyon ng isang beaker. It was like a white crystal.

"It looks like Pentaerythritol tetranitrate," komento ni Gray na nasa likuran. "But of course, it isn't. Bridle wouldn't prepare such."

"Pentaewankosayo. Err, what's that?" tanong ko sa kanya. Ni hindi ko nga masabi kung ano iyon.

"It's one of the most powerful explosive materials with a relative effectiveness factor of 1.66," wika niya.

Explosive? Hindi naman siguro ito ganoon! Gray is knowledgeable about those things; he even knows how to detonate a bomb!

"Hey, you lose color, I'm sure it's not PETN," natatawang wika niya. Sino ba ang hindi mawawalan ng kulay kung ganoon?

"Ewan ko sayo," inirapan ko siya at kinuha ang beaker. I read the instructions. The element in the beaker was Barium. The piece of paper says that I have to observe the reaction of Ba(CN)2 or Barium Cyanide when mixed with water.

But wait, isn't cyanide dangerous? I hesitated for a while ngunit agad ding nawala iyon. Hindi naman siguro gagawa nang ikakapahamak ng estudyante ang skwelahan.

Kanya-kanya na sa ginagawa nila ang mga kaklase ko kaya sinimulan ko ng lagyan ng H20 ang crystal-like barium na nasa beaker. Agad iyong umusok at unti-unting nawala ang paningin ko. The last thing I remembered is that Gray ordered everyone to get out of the laboratory and he rushed to me and held me bago pa ako tuluyang bumagsak sa sahig.

***

Masama ang pakiramdam ko nang magising ako. The surrounding was all white kaya malamang ay nasa ospital ako ngayon. Nang tumingin ako sa gilid ay naroon sa tabi ko si Marion.

"Amber, mabuti naman gising ka na. Are you okay?" tanong niya sa akin.

Tumango lang ako sa kanya. Tinatamad pa akong magsalita pagkatapos ng nangyari. My head is still spinning in circles. Bumukas naman ang pinto at iniluwa niyon si Gray. His face was very serious.

"Gray-chan, gising na si Amber," Marion said to him.

Agad siyang lumapit sa akin. "Okay ka na ba? Kumusta naman ang pakiramdam mo?"

"What happened?"

Nagkatinginan silang dalawa and both of them has a worried face. Marahil nag-aalinlangan sila kung sasabihin ba nila o hindi ang nangyari sa akin.

"The compound that you mixed is Barium Cyanide. It reacts with water and carbon dioxide in air slowly, producing highly toxic hydrogen cyanide gas. I smelled the bitter scent of almond nang nag-react na sa tubig ang hinalo mo," Gray said. "It was dangerous."

"But why did Mrs. Sera instruct me to mix those? She knows that it is dangerous," I said. Iyon naman talaga ang nasa instuction sa akin and who would have thought that it was dangerous?

"She wasn't the one who wrote that instruction. Iba ang papel mo sa papel naming lahat. And at the back of that paper, there was a big X. Mayroon ding nakasulat doon, a line from Holmes. It says 'Some fumes which are not poisonous would be a welcome change," Gray said.

X. There he goes again. Ilang araw lang itong nagpahinga sa pagpapahamak sa buhay ko. I don't know what he's up to.

"Nasaan na ngayon si Mrs. Sera?"

"Kausap ng mga pulis. Amber kilala mo ba kung sino si X?"

I shook my head. "I don't know who he is but this is the third time he did something like this at palaging may ganoon, a line from Holmes but I really don't have any idea kung sino man ang nagpapadala niyon," wika ko.

X is really serious in risking my life. Whatever his motive in doing so is still a mystery to me.

"ListenAmber, the next time na makatanggap ka ng ganoon, tell me right away," Graysaid. I just nodded and hoped na tumigil na si X sa mga pinaggagawa niya.