Tenth Grade (Fourth Year) | St. Adrian’s High School
It started with a drawing.
Crude. Bold. Scratched in permanent ink at the back of the girls’ toilet door.
A cartoonish penis.
By lunch time, the news had exploded across St. Andrian’s High School. Girls were giggling in horror. Boys were whispering in huddles. Teachers were furious. The janitor looked like he was about to cry.
And at the center of it all—Vince Go.
“They said he was seen near the hallway earlier that day!”
“Kasama daw si Luigi? Yung Grade 9? ‘Di ba barkada niya ‘yun?”
“May anonymous survey pa raw later. Like, voting kung sino may highest chance na gumawa. Tapos siya yung top suspect!”
Stella heard it all. Every whisper, every stupid rumor, every half-truth twisted into drama. She sat stiffly at her lunch table, barely touching her adobo rice.
“Girl, as in a drawing? Like, why?” Julia whispered beside her, half-shocked, half-amused. “Grabe, ang tanga lang. Who would have dared to do that in the girls’ school toilet?”
“High school pa ba ‘to or balik grade school lang ang peg?” muttered Isha, rolling her eyes.
Stella forced a laugh, but her stomach twisted. She hadn’t seen Vince that day. Not since their last petty argument about him replacing her water bottle label with “TEARS OF A PRINCESS.”
Still, this didn’t sound like him.
Yes, Vince was annoying. Yes, he was immature. But vandalizing a girl’s toilet with a penis?
That was low, even for him.
After class, Stella found him in the usual hiding spot—the old music room that no one used except for storage. He was sitting on top of a dusty drum case, biting his nails.
“I didn’t do it,” was the first thing he said when he saw her.
“I know,” she crossed her arms. “Then why is it you’re one of the top suspects?”
Vince scoffed. “Kasi I was with Luigi that time. Siya yung gumawa.”
Stella blinked. “Si Luigi?”
“Yeah.” Vince exhaled, shifting his weight like the truth weighed heavier now. “I didn’t expect him to do it. We were just hanging out by the toilet. We thought him going inside the girls’ toilet was just a joke and nothing else. Then the next thing we knew he already did when he came out minutes later. ”
“You just… let him?” Her voice wasn’t angry—it was quieter than that. Disappointed. The kind that made Vince’s stomach twist.
He looked away. “We were stupid, Stella. If I had known he would do that, I would have stopped him.”
“No, Vince,” she said, more sharply now. “He knew exactly what he was doing. And you—” her voice cracked, “—you let it happen. You didn’t report it directly when that happened. You didn't tell anyone.”
“I froze, okay?” Vince snapped. Then quickly lowered his tone again. “I didn’t know how to handle it. And by the time I thought about stepping in, the rumors had already started and—” He clenched his jaw and ruffled his already messy hair. “—and it’s a bro code, Stella! I mean—ugh, never mind.”
“And now you’re the one getting blamed.”
Vince shrugged, but his eyes betrayed him. They were glassy. He looked like he hadn’t eaten all day.
“They’re calling my parents tomorrow. The discipline head said I should write a statement, but they don’t care. They already made up their minds. Everyone voted.”
Stella hesitated. “You should tell them the truth.”
“No one’s gonna believe I didn’t draw that!” Vince snapped. “Not when Luigi’s mom is a school donor and I’m just… me.”
Stella bit her lip. “You’re not just… you.”
Vince laughed dryly. “Wow. Deep.”
“I mean it. You’re annoying and stupid sometimes, yes. But you’re not a creep.”
That made him look up.
“I don’t think you’d ever do something like that,” she said more softly. “You tease people, but you don’t humiliate them.”
Vince was quiet for a moment. “Thanks.”
She nodded. “So… what now?”
“They said if I don’t confess, they’ll ‘escalate the consequences.’ That probably means expulsion. If I do confess, it’ll just be suspension. Either way, luge ako.”
Stella clenched her fists. “That’s not fair. This is a religious institution, they should stick to their name.”
Vince chuckled bitterly. “Life isn’t. Especially if you’re the class clown with no one to defend you.”
He stood up and grabbed his bag. “Anyway. Thanks for checking.”
“Wait,” she said quickly. “What if I tell them?”
“What?”
“I can… I dunno. Write something. Say I overheard you scolding Luigi.”
He gave her a flat look. “And get dragged into this mess? No way.”
“I don’t care.”
“Well, I do,” Vince said sharply. “You’re not getting dragged down because of my stupid decisions.”
“You didn’t even do anything wrong!”
“Exactly! And look what happened.”
For a moment, they stared at each other—awkward, silent. The bell rang outside, signaling dismissal. Vince adjusted the strap of his bag.
“I guess this is goodbye,” he said with a half-smile.
Stella’s heart thudded. “Wait, you’re leaving?”
He didn’t answer, just turned and walked out of the room.
She didn’t follow.
Not because she didn’t want to—but because she didn’t know how to fix a system that never gave him a chance.
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