After the rain stopped, Ezekiel and Clara decided to part ways, but not before exchanging numbers. Clara waved good bye at Ezekiel before riding a jeepney. Ezekiel waved back and continued his way back to New Manila High School. They actually went the opposite direction of Ezekiel's apartment, but in his mind it was all worth it. The fact that they didn't see the boys pass that alley proved they went the other direction, too.

"Oh? You're still here, Ezekiel?" Hara, who was just leaving the school grounds, greeted Ezekiel. She knows her advisory class is dismissed by 3 p.m., so seeing Ezekiel outside the main entrance at 5 p.m. is rather doubtful. "You didn't go around causing trouble now, did you?" Hara teased.
Ezekiel almost forgot that he's not here to act all friendly, and upon remembering all he did is clicked his tongue and continued walking. "Playing bad, I see." Hara said, walking beside Ezekiel.
Ezekiel stopped, "what are you doing?" Questioning why Hara is walking with him.
"Hm? My boarding house is this way.. Ohhh, you think I'm following you, no?" Hara smirked at Ezekiel.
"There he is!" A familiar voice shouted from the distance. Ezekiel turned to his back, and there he saw Jonas and the two boys all wet and exhausted running towards him. "Y-You! Finally, we found you! Hah.. Hah..," Jonas stated with as much pride as he could muster, despite the fact that he's also catching his breath.
"What do we have here? Hara asked, crossing her arms.
"A-Ah! Miss Hara, you were here?" Jonas asked. Apparently, seeing Ezekiel made him forget his surroundings. "Yes, and what business do you have with one of the students of my advisory class?" Hara glared at the boys, low-key hinting that if they want trouble she'll give them trouble.
"N-Nothing at all, miss Hara! W-We were just worried that the rain caught up to him, too! Right, Eze?" Jonas lied, placing his arm over Ezekiel's shoulders.
"Get the hell off me," Ezekiel bluntly said, shoving off his arm. "It seems grumpy Eze needs a lesson from me. You may go now, boys."
"B-But..," Jonas cried. "No buts," Hara strongly ordered, glaring devilishly at Jonas.
"...fine. Let's go home, boys," Jonas reluctantly said before leaving.

"I didn't need you to save me," Ezekiel groaned. In reality, he did need the save. Deep inside he was thankful that Hara was there to prevent the issue from going physical. It's not like Ezekiel was going to run away from a 1v3 fight, but the fact that he's going to be deployed in the military once he gets kicked out again is still a scary thought for him.
"You're welcome," Hara smiled, ignoring what Ezekiel said. Awkwardly, they somehow started walking at the same time and at the same pace. But the only one who seem bothered about it was Ezekiel. Hara just smiled and turned her eyes to Ezekiel from time to time, giggling sometimes every time she sees Ezekiel showing awkward facial expressions. "You know, you don't have to act all tough around me," Hara hinted. Hoping that it was vivid enough for Ezekiel to realize that Hara knows his mask.
"What?" Ezekiel asked.
"Your 'oh look at me, I'm rude and obnoxious' mask," Hara teased. Ezekiel, however, didn't find this funny. "You don't know me, Hara," Ezekiel said, avoiding Hara's eyes.
"Well, I don't mind you calling me just by my name. But make sure to call me miss Hara in class, okay?"
Ezekiel ignored this and continued walking. He only stopped when he realized Hara is no longer beside him. He turned around and there he saw Hara smiling at him like a mad woman, teasing him, "I knew you'd turn around. I live in that boarding house." Hara pointed at the cerulean-painted, 2-story house. "See you tomorrow, Ezekiel," Hara added, this time smiling at Ezekiel as if she was really happy to have been with him.
Hara waved good bye before entering the gate. Ezekiel stood there, entranced of Hara's angelic smile for like 10 more seconds before actually coming back to his senses. What the hell is up with this school's girls? Ezekiel thought while walking towards the direction of his apartment.

"I'm back, lola Agnes," Ezekiel greeted Agnes, the owner of the apartment. 'Lola' is an honorific said to grandmas in the Philippines. Ezekiel may act rude in school, but he does know how to respect his elders.
"Ohoho, I'm glad you're safe, Ezekiel." Agnes brightly smiled at Ezekiel. In her apartment, she knows every person living in it. Even people who've just moved in, like Ezekiel. She also loves staying at the apartment's front yard, rocking her rocking chair and greeting every passerby.

Ezekiel used the stairs to go up to his room's floor, which is on the 3rd floor. There's an elevator, but he prefers using the stairs since FITNESS FIRST!
He entered his room, and removed his backpack and placed it just beside the door. His room is spacious, big enough for two people to live in it, but he's living alone. One weird thing about his room is that it's connected with the other room through a secret door. He can always lock it, but the person living there is really dependable, friendly, and trusted, so he doesn't really mind it unlocked.
Ezekiel lied down on his bed and let out a huge sigh. Who would have thought his first day was this tiring. Ezekiel closed his eyes, instantly falling asleep.

"Dude..."
"..."
"Duuuude..," a mysterious man with a deep baritone voice whispered at Ezekiel's ear, rocking him left and right.
"5 more minutes, man," Ezekiel replied, turning his back on the man.
"Dude, wake up!!!"
Ezekiel surprisingly jumped off his bed like a ninja after realizing a man breached his room, "what the hell, Henry. Be thankful I didn't elbow you in the neck." Henry, his neighborhood friend, who has access to his room all the time because of the secret door, laughed it off.
"Heh, I was ready to block it. Anyway, dude, your phone kept ringing nonstop. I tried ignoring it for like 5 minutes, but I guessed that you were asleep."
"And that's why you're here right now?"
"Yeah, dude. There, see, it's ringing so loud again. I'm gonna sleep now so keep the sex talk on a low volume, okay?" Henry joked, closing the secret door between their rooms.
"Sex talk? The hell," Ezekiel said to himself before picking up the call, "hello, Ezekiel speaking."

"Ezekiel! Finally you answered!" It was Clara who called Ezekiel. She's seemingly distressed over something. "What's up, Clara?" Ezekiel curiously asked. "You, fuck, I mean we're on the headline of the unofficial NMHS student website!"
"What? Ohhh, it's like the Facebook of NMHS, right?" Ezekiel replied, setting the call on loudspeaker as he opened his laptop.
"Yeah, anyway check it out."
Ezekiel opened his browser and didn't waste any time going to the NMHS unofficial website. Upon loading, he was welcomed by a huge headline entitled, "Big Bro versus Big Boss: Who's Gonna Win the Princess?!"
"What in the world is this?" Ezekiel, dumbfounded, asked Clara. "I guess someone from the Journalist Club was there hiding when it happened. They even have a picture posted!"
"Yeah, and they got my good side too," Ezekiel joked. "This isn't the time for any jokes, you know!" Clara groaned. "Yeah, sorry. It's not like we can do anything about this anyway. Let's just see what's gonna happen tomorrow."
Ezekiel heard Clara sighing over the phone. This is obviously a big deal for Clara, and should be big for Ezekiel, too. The fact that he already gained this much attention on his first day we'll make not getting kicked out from school extremely hard. "It's gonna be fine, Clara. I won't do anything stupid," Ezekiel reassured. "Okay, I got to go finish my chores."
"See ya."

After ending the call, Ezekiel noticed that he also received a text from an unknown number.

From: 0917*******
See me tomorrow during your break.
-Miss Hara
7:23 p.m.

Ezekiel looked at the time before thinking of his next move. It's already 7:47, should he still reply, he wondered. Then, he received another text.

From: 0917*******
Attendance is a must! >.<
-Hara cutie
7:48 p.m.

Ezekiel, even though skeptical whether this is the true miss Hara or not, still couldn't resist grinning over the cute text. After a few seconds of thinking what to reply, he finally decided to text back.

To: 0917*******
K.
7:49 p.m.