RISING PHOENIX ACT SELECT

CHAPTER 2: AIR RESISTANCE

As Marco made his way down the last flight of stairs of the SHB, he encountered Brianna heading up. “Hey Marco,” she said to him, but Marco was not in the mood to hold a conversation. He ignored her and walked past, confusing and worrying her slightly. He passed by the BLOB, which was bustling with students as it usually does at this time. He made his way up the ledge in front of the big grate and walked up to the tents of the Kalachuchi Lane, still sad about the situation with the perio papers. Soon, he sat down at one of the tables and stared off into the field.

Before he could let the feeling of sadness fully loom over him however, Darren, an old friend of his from his elementary days, suddenly appeared and began to approach his table.
"Oh…hey, Darren…! Long time no see…er, talk, actually…" Marco called out, clearly caught off-guard and not expecting his presence. He tried to make it appear as if he was doing something productive there, but he soon abandoned that notion. Darren quickly shuffled into the seat next to him, eager to talk to Marco again after so long.

"Hey, Marco…! How’s…how’s it going?" he asked nervously before quickly noticing that Marco was not in the best of moods.
“...is something wrong…?” he asked Marco in a concerned tone.
"I…I dunno. I've just been in a bad mood this whole day," he explained in a deeply sad and almost hopeless tone.
"...dahil ba yan sa flagcem...?" Darren replied. Marco softly nodded. He felt awful seeing Marco in such a sorry state. Darren felt the urge to give Marco a hug, but he quickly switched to a light couple of pats on the back.
"It's going to be fine…" he told Marco,

"Huwag kang mag-alala."

Marco felt warm inside by Darren’s reassurance, bringing a slight smile to his face.

After a few seconds, Darren felt it was getting awkward and decided to get his hand off Marco’s back, using it to reach in his own bag.
"Gusto mo bang mag-frisbee?" he asked Marco as he pulled out a bright blue frisbee, knowing that he loves playing Ultimate Frisbee. Marco's face lit up slightly and he agreed to play, although not with the same enthusiasm as usual. They made their way to the middle of the field and got into position, with Darren holding the frisbee in the forehand throw position.
"Ready?" Darren called out to Marco, who was already in position to catch the frisbee. Marco nodded and Darren threw it with moderate force, which Marco easily caught. Darren thought about using this time to catch up with each other.

"So…I've got a lot of stuff to do this quarter as usual…Res kasi…" Darren explained as Marco threw the frisbee back, which Darren nearly missed as his throw was off.
"I really wish I could hang out with you more. You're not usually this upset…is there anything else I can do?" he asked further.
"I don't think there's anything you can do…I just…bakit ito nangyari?!" Marco exclaimed as he was running over to catch Darren's frisbee.
"I'm trying to be on my best this year…last year my grades slipped, and I'm trying to rectify it…tapos ito ang nakukuha ko…!? Parang wala silang PAKE!" he exclaimed as he gripped the frisbee tightly in his hands, visibly agitated. They both stayed silent for a while as they tossed the frisbee back and forth. After Marco calmed down, he impulsively muttered something under his breath.

“...maybe someone’s behind this.”

“What?” Darren asked as he was too far away to hear what Marco said.
“...what if someone did this on purpose? I don’t think something like that can just…go missing. What if someone stole the papers...?” Marco proposed to Darren. He was slightly taken aback by this, and he thought about it for a few seconds before tossing the frisbee to Marco.
“I don’t think that’s what happened, pero…posible ‘yun. Malay mo…” he replied. Soon, they fell silent once more, with Marco still in deep thought about the possibility.

Because of this, Marco started making some very poor throws, sending the frisbee rolling on the grass near Darren.
“Ano yan, bro…” Darren said as he walked towards the frisbee.
“Look, you throw it like this…see?” he explained as he made the motions of a forehand and backhand throw.
“I know, I know…I’m just thinking…is all,” Marco explained as Darren threw the frisbee back at him. He caught it and geared up for a strong throw, energized by the thoughts coursing through his mind. He spun once, then twice, and then finally let go, sending it flying towards Darren.

Darren yelped as he ducked under the frisbee right before it hit him. The frisbee continued to cut through the air, and to the horror of Marco and Darren, it was heading towards another student walking around the oval.
“Heads! HEADS!!” Marco shouted, which caused the student to turn to his direction - but it was too late. The frisbee knocked her to the ground, sending both her and the stuff she was carrying to the asphalt path below. Marco and Darren quickly rushed to her aid and helped her gather her stuff.

“Prairie, sorry ha…” Darren said apologetically as he picked up her papers.
“Ay, ‘wag kang mag-alala. Alam ko na aksidente naman ‘yan,” Prairie assured him.
“Wait, you know this person?” Marco asked in a slightly confused tone.
“Batchmate natin ‘to, Marco, ‘di mo ba siya kilala?” he explained.
“She’s the amateur detective of this batch. Alam mo nung na-kidnap si Claws?”
“That one fluffy white cat…?” Marco asked, confused.
“Oo. Nalaman niya kung sinong kumuha sa kanya,” Darren explained enthusiastically.

“Uy, sinong tinatawag ‘mong amateur…” Prairie retorted.
“Pero tama ka. Ako yung nakahanap kay Claws.”
“Hey, you’re right!” Marco told Darren cheerfully as he flipped through one of her notebooks. “This is full of notes on…murder cases…?” he said before Darren lightly nudged him on the arm, causing him to give the notebook back to a slightly unamused Prairie.
“Pupunta sana ako sa grandstand para makatrabaho ako sa isang kasong ini-imbestigahan ko…” Prairie explained.
“May buong pamilyang pinatay sa Nevada at walang nakakaalam kung anong nangyari. Napaka-interesado, ‘di ba?”

Marco and Darren just gave her a weird stare before finally picking all her stuff off the ground.
“Okay, sure…I hope you solve whatever that is you’re working on,” Marco meekly replied to her.
“Salamat…!” Prairie said gleefully.
“By the way, have you found out anything about what happened to the perio papers? You know…that thing?” Marco asked her.
“Ay, wala ‘kong alam diyan…pero sa tingin ko…baka may kasamaan sa likod niyan. Baka may nakuha ‘yung CCTV ng Pisay, pero kailangan suriin ‘yun,” she suggested.

“Kailangan ko nang umalis…” Prairie explained as she started to head towards the grandstand.
“Paalam...!” she called out as she left the two on their own. Marco and Darren stood there awkwardly for a few seconds as they waited for Prairie to get far enough away.
“I think that’s enough frisbee for today,” Darren told Marco, breaking the silence.
“Yeah, I agree. I kind of have to go too, I gotta do something for English…” Marco told him. “I’m definitely gonna look into what happened to the papers though. I have to try,” he said. Darren nodded, understanding where Marco was coming from.
“I’m sorry I can’t meet with you more by the way…pero good luck…sa lahat,” Darren told Marco.

“Bye, Darren!”
“Ingat!”