"Veron, what exactly happened?" Nadia finally asked, staying by Mariely's side as she was being treated.
She checked Mariely's wound and silently thanked heaven that it wasn't severe. She guessed something hard had hit Mariely's head, which caused her to pass out. The nurse accompanying her had already bandaged it.
She had nearly panicked when she saw Mariely lying there in blood. She knew Veron still hadn't calmed down—her face was tight with fear and worry.
"I—Is she okay?" Veron finally asked instead of answering her earlier question.
Nadia gently patted her. "Yes, it's not serious. Just try to calm down, Veron. She's okay," she said, rubbing her back.
Veron could only let out a deep breath at that.
"To be sure, the doctor will come check on her in a little while."
Veron nodded silently.
"Miss Ronda, is Miss Celestial going to be alright?" Another voice asked, —Becca?. Nadia turned to her.
"Y-Yes, Ma'am Becca, she's fine," Veron replied quickly.
Becca nodded, clearly understanding the gravity of the situation. "Good evening, Ma'am Becca," Nadia greeted her politely.
"Nadia, I'm glad you're here," Becca said with visible relief.
"Please don't worry. She only lost consciousness. The bleeding has stopped," Nadia explained.
"Okay. That's good to hear," Becca nodded.
"Ma'am, w—what exactly happened to Mariely?" Nadia asked respectfully.
Becca sighed. "I don't know the exact details because I was in the office when the commotion happened. When I arrived, students from another school had attacked ours. Two of the students involved were under Miss Celestial's care," she narrated.
"When I got outside, Miss Celestial was trying to break up the fight. We immediately called the police to prevent anyone from getting hurt." Becca paused with another sigh.
"We didn't expect those kids to be carrying brass knuckles. One of the outsiders tried to punch one of our students with it, but Mariely stepped in between them to protect her students. She took the full blow. Everything happened so fast. The next thing we knew, she was on the ground, bleeding."
Gosh, Mariely. Nadia could only repeat that in her mind.
"W-Who started the fight?" she asked suddenly.
"We interviewed our students, but they didn't know who attacked them. They were just as shocked. They had no idea why they were suddenly ambushed," Becca said grimly.
"It's still under our supervision. We haven't made any decisions yet because we want to hear all sides—whether our students are lying or innocent."
Nadia leaned against the wall, overwhelmed.
Should I call Nathan? Should I tell him? she asked herself.
"How's Ely?" She suddenly heard Nathan's voice. Nadia was startled.
He was here—along with Frank.
She gave Frank a sharp look.
"What? Your boyfriend deserves to know what happened to his sister," Frank said arrogantly.
She didn't respond.
"She's okay. Just passed out. Let's wait for her to wake up. The doctor will come around soon. I was just as shocked earlier," she said, tapping Nathan on the arm.
He held her hand and squeezed it gently. "Thanks for taking care of her."
"Ma'am, thank you for the immediate response," her boyfriend added gratefully.
"Actually, it was Frank who rushed your sister to the hospital," Becca said.
Nathan nodded in Frank's direction. Thankfully, Veron was starting to calm down.
"Thanks," he said briefly.
***
"Where are we going, Rodel?" Shaina asked him.
"We need to apologize to Ma'am Celestial," he replied.
His face still ached from the punch he took from someone he didn't even know. Worse, their teacher got caught in the middle.
"We need to calm down a bit, Rodel," Neil added. "Let's give it until tomorrow. If Ma'am Celestial isn't in school, we'll visit her and apologize."
Rodel looked at his cousin. His mother had arrived to pick him up and was shocked by his condition.
"Son, how many times have I told you not to get into fights?" she said worriedly as she examined his wounds.
"Ma, I wasn't fighting. We were ambushed by students we didn't even know," he said honestly.
She sighed and pulled him into a hug, embracing Neil as well. "Let's go home. We still need to clean those wounds. Neil, you too."
They didn't say anything else. Rodel's mind was elsewhere, plagued by worry over someone who shouldn't have been involved in the first place.
God, why is this happening? he asked himself.
Neil gave him a gentle tap. They didn't tell his mother that their adviser had gotten hurt too.
The next morning, they headed to school with their bandaged wounds still visible from the day before.
"Ma'am, Celestial isn't here today. She's still at the hospital recovering," said their classmate, Richmond.
"Ma'am Veron said classes will proceed as usual," he added.
They all nodded and went to their classroom. Their adviser was supposed to handle their first subject, so they sat there quietly.
Rodel sighed.
It was time for math. The students exchanged uneasy glances as their teacher entered the room.
Mr. Natividad looked at them sharply.
"You're all such troublemakers—even your adviser got caught up in your nonsense. Your teacher defended you, and now what? She nearly died because of you," the teacher snapped.
They had no choice but to endure the harsh words.
"If we find out you lied, all of you will be suspended. And then the school will finally have some peace and quiet," he added with a smug look.
Rodel sighed. He needed a long reserve of patience—just like their teacher had shown them when she stood up for them.
He shook his head subtly at his classmates, signaling them not to cause any more trouble.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure your teacher gets justice—by having all of you suspended or expelled."
Because no one dared answer back, he stared them down.
"What a bunch of trash."
Mr. Natividad shook his head at them and walked out. Once again, they learned nothing from the class.
Time passed, and eventually, they ran into their other teacher—Ma'am Veron.
"Good afternoon, Ma'am."
"Oh, Rodel! Yes, good afternoon. What is it?" she asked kindly.
"W-We just wanted to know how Ma'am Celestial is doing," he said shyly.
She smiled warmly at them.
"You want to visit her?" she asked.
Neil and Shaina exchanged glances with Rodel, and all three of them nodded.
"Okay, I was planning to visit her too," she said.
Even though they were embarrassed to ride along with their teacher, they swallowed their pride. At the hospital, Rodel felt nervous about what they would find.
Mariely was in the semi-ward with a few other patients.
"Faith," Veron called.
"Veron," she replied with a smile.
"You have visitors."
"Huh? Who?" she asked, looking confused.
Veron gestured to the three students. They stepped forward.
"Oh, how are you?" Mariely asked them gently.
"Ma'am, we're really sorry for what happened," Rodel said, eyes fixed on the hospital floor. He stayed bowed.
A hand ruffled their hair.
"It's not your fault. I made the choice. Besides, this skull of your teacher is tough," she chuckled. "I'm okay. I might even be back on duty in a few days."
She tried to keep things light. Rodel felt a little better seeing her like that.
"We were so scared," Shaina said tearfully. "Mr. Natividad told us your life was in danger."
Mariely's brow furrowed.
"We're trying our best to behave… because we don't want to get suspended or expelled," Rodel added.
"Veron, where did these kids get this false news from?" Mariely asked suddenly.
They were all surprised by her reaction—and the look of confusion and concern that followed.