Chapter Text
By the time Thursday rolled around, I should've been a bundle of nerves. Geometry quizzes were the bane of my ABM existence — postulates and theorems swimming in my head until they looked more like random scribbles than math.
But not today.
For once, I was ready. Confident, even.
Sir Cruz strode into the room, quiz papers in hand, his voice booming like always. "Get one, pass!"
Sheets fluttered down the rows. Pens clicked. The room fell into that dreadful silence of timed tests.
I looked down at the first problem — a triangle, congruent sides marked, angle measures waiting to be solved.
And instead of panic, my brain supplied a voice.
Wrong formula.
Sa mukha mo pa lang, mali na agad iniisip mo.
Julianne's smirk. Her maddening tone.
I bit back a laugh, shaking my head, but my pencil moved with certainty. Congruence postulates. Side-Angle-Side. Done.
Next problem. Another triangle. Another theorem. The memory of her hand tapping the page.
Hindi Pythagoras. Hindi lahat ng triangle pwede 'yon. Focus, VP.
I breezed through it.
One by one, the problems fell into place. Proofs, postulates, congruence — all the things that used to blur now lined up neatly, like the numbers themselves had chosen to behave for once.
When I finished, I leaned back in my chair, staring at the page full of clean answers. No doodles. No crossed-out mess. Just confidence.
It felt strange. Almost dangerous.
But as Sir Cruz called for papers, I realized — I wasn't second-guessing myself for the first time in months.
I had answered everything. And I knew I'd gotten them right.
As soon as he turned to his desk, the room erupted. Chairs screeched, sighs bounced off the walls, and pens were flung onto tables like fallen soldiers.
"Grabe," Celine groaned dramatically, slumping against her chair. "That was torture. Torture. Sino bang nagimbento ng congruence postulates? Dapat ipakulong."
MJ slammed her iced tea tumbler onto the desk with a loud thunk.
"Hindi talaga para sa atin 'to, besh. Setter ako, hindi mathematician. Give me a volleyball, kaya kong magpaikot ng buong court. Pero triangle? Ano 'yan, pamato sa piko?"
I giggled as MJ ruffled her hair in mock despair. "Kung hindi ako maging varsity scholar, goodbye college. Baka magtinda na lang ako ng kwek-kwek."
Celine whined louder. "Magkakasama tayo sa bangketa, MJ. Ako 'yung magbebenta ng palamig."
The two of them slumped like tragic protagonists in some poverty-stricken teleserye, earning a chorus of chuckles from the rest of the class.
Meanwhile, I sat quietly, tucking my pencil back into its case, hiding the twitch of a smile behind my hand.
Because unlike them, I wasn't spiraling.
For once, I wasn't panicking.
The problems had made sense. Every single one.
And as MJ groaned about her doomed athletic career and Celine muttered about selling palamig, all I could hear was Julianne's voice in my head, steady and smug: "Congruence postulates na tayo, Andy."
I wanted to roll my eyes. But instead, I found myself smiling into my reviewer.
~•~•~
By the time the bell rang, Sir Cruz had already finished checking our quizzes. The stack of papers sat neatly on his desk, red ink flashing like little landmines.
The class groaned in unison when he stood up. "Alright. Overall, not bad. Some of you still need to review your theorems, but —" He adjusted his glasses, flipping through the pile. "— may isa dito na surprisingly got the highest score."
That word — surprisingly — made everyone sit up straighter.
Sir Cruz cleared his throat. "Arceta. Top score."
For a split second, silence. Then —
"ANO?!" MJ half-stood from her seat, eyes wide. She jabbed a finger in my direction. "VP?! Top?! As in highest?!"
Celine's jaw dropped like she'd just witnessed the apocalypse. "Hindi pwede. Imposible. Sino nag-recheck? Ako dapat second opinion!"
I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as the class chuckled, whispers bouncing around like ping-pong balls. I tried to keep my face neutral, tried to look like it wasn't a big deal, but my hands betrayed me, gripping my reviewer too tight.
MJ wasn't done. She whipped toward me, scandalized. "Arceta, mag-salita ka!"
I shrugged, forcing nonchalance. "Nag-aral lang."
"'Nag-aral lang,' daw!" MJ mimicked my voice with exaggerated drama, earning laughter from half the class. "Kahapon lang during lunch, sabi mo sa'kin wala kang alam! You liar!"
A goofy, innocent smile plastered on my face. "In my defense, wala talaga akong alam during lunch time."
Which is true.
"During dismissal lang talaga ako nag-aral, guys," I explained.
Which is also true.
MJ threw her hands in the air like she'd just lost the championship game. "This is betrayal! Absolute betrayal!"
"Hoy, bakit betrayal?" I said, laughing nervously.
"Because!" She clutched her chest, staggering back like she'd been stabbed. "Akala ko pareho tayong kawawa sa Geometry. United in suffering! Tapos ngayon?! Iniwan mo 'ko sa ere!"
The class roared with laughter. Even Sir Cruz had to clear his throat loudly to stop himself from smiling.
Celine slammed her palm on the desk for emphasis. "Hindi lang iniwan — nilampasan! VP, magtapat ka nga." She narrowed her eyes, suspicious. "Sino tutor mo?"
"I told you, self-study," I said, raising both hands like a criminal surrendering.
"Self-study daw!" MJ repeated in mockery. "Next sabihin mo, ikaw rin gumawa ng Pythagorean theorem."
The back row started chanting. "Tutor! Tutor! Tutor!"
I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole.
"Wala nga!" I insisted, but the grin tugging at my lips gave me away.
MJ squinted at me like she was solving a murder mystery. Then her eyes widened dramatically. "Baka STEM girl!"
"STEM girl?!" someone in the back echoed, and suddenly the entire room was alive with the theory.
In our school, STEM kids weren't just smart.
They were untouchable.
They were the ones who breezed through Physics while the rest of us nearly cried over supply and demand curves. They carried calculators like fashion accessories, scribbled formulas on the margins of their notebooks for fun, and somehow, even when they said "di ako nag-aral," they'd still come out on top.
"Mga taga-STEM" was shorthand for genius.
Everyone knew it.
Like Sabrina, our secretary. She'd once solved a calculus warm-up in front of the Math Club by accident — just doodling during a meeting — and the solution turned out cleaner than the teacher's. She swore it was "nothing," but the story spread so fast that first years still whispered about it in the canteen like it was school folklore.
Or Sam, our Grade 11 batch rep. She laughed her way through exams, barely opened her reviewer, and still ranked top 5 every quarter. Last grading, she even tutored two of her classmates the night before their Chem long test, and both of them scored higher than the class average.
So when MJ jabbed at me with this assumption, the whole class ate it up.
"Confirmed!" someone from the back shouted, banging their desk for emphasis.
"STEM girl and VP!" another chimed in, already laughing like it was the juiciest tsismis of the quarter.
I groaned, burying my face in my reviewer. "Wala nga!"
"Hindi kami naniniwala," Celine said smugly, twirling her pen like a microphone. "Kung hindi taga-STEM, explain bakit bigla kang naging top scorer?"
"Character development," I deadpanned.
MJ nearly fell off her chair laughing. "Character development daw! Hoy, this isn't Wattpad."
The chants started again. "STEM girl! STEM girl! STEM girl!"
Even Sir Cruz, of all people, had to raise his hand to calm them down — but the twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed him. "Okay, enough. Save your theories for Gossip Club. But Arceta—" his gaze landed squarely on me, glasses sliding down his nose. "Make sure to say 'thank you' kay STEM Girl."
The class ooohed like I'd just been proposed to.
I wanted to melt into the floor. "Sir Cruz naman!"
~•~•~
By lunch, it had spiraled out of control.
Once I sat down at our table, Sam cleared her throat and steepled her fingers, grinning like a cat.
"So, Ate VP," she started with a raised brow. "Sino si STEM girl?"
Heat consumed every part of my body. Great. Now everyone knows.
"Pati naman ikaw!? There's no STEM girl!" I protested, clutching my tray like a shield.
"Hoy," MJ cut in between cackles, stabbing her fork dramatically in my direction. "Confess na. Is she from Robotics?"
Misha slapped the table. "Or baka taga-Mathletes! Imagine — tutorial with matching free calculator pa."
"No," Sabrina said, pretending to gasp. "What if it's ... Chem Club? Lab goggles, sparks flying — literal!"
The chaos doubled when Sam started humming a wedding march and MJ pretended to throw a bouquet across the canteen. A group from another table even looked over, curious.
Meanwhile, I was sinking into my chair, face on fire, heart pounding far louder than it had any right to.
Because somewhere in the SC office, probably hunched over her endless folders and checklists, was the actual STEM girl they were all talking about.
And no matter how many jokes my friends cracked, no matter how much I wished for the ground to swallow me whole, I couldn't shake the memory of her voice guiding me through every problem set — steady, smug, and maddeningly patient.
Julianne Robles.
The STEM girl I'd never, ever admit to.
~•~•~
The SC office smelled like permanent marker and instant coffee, the usual cocktail of exhaustion and deadlines. Folders lined the long conference table, pages of budget requests spread out like we were preparing for war. Highlighters and sticky notes littered the surface.
Julianne sat at the head, posture perfect, reading through the Theatre Clubs's request with that infuriating calm. "₱5,000 for set design, costumes, and props.”
She passed the folder down. Gianna nodded, scribbling neat notes in the margins. Sabrina tapped her planner, already calculating where to trim.
On the surface, it was business as usual.
But under the table — chaos.
MJ leaned sideways in her chair, nudging Celine with her elbow and whispering way too loudly, "Sigurado akong STEM girl yung nag-coach kay VP."
Celine stifled a laugh behind her notebook. "Oo nga. Hindi mo makukuha overnight ang congruence postulates. Kahit si Sir Cruz natatawa dun."
I tightened my grip on my pen. "Naririnig ko kayo."
Sam, sitting across from me, grinned like a fox and popped a Piattos in her mouth. "Relax, VP. We're just ... investigating."
"Investigating what?!" I hissed, voice low.
"Your miraculous 50/50," Sam sing-songed. "Courtesy of ... STEM girl."
Paolo and Jeanne, our batch reps at the far end, tried to look serious but were clearly listening in, their shoulders shaking with barely contained laughter. Even John Paul, ever the stoic, kept stealing glances like he was dying to know the tea.
Julianne, oblivious (thank God), kept flipping through pages. "We'll trim this by ₱500. Robotics doesn't need branded wiring. May utang pa nga sila sa’kin sa Robot Panel Sensors nila from Shopee.”
But then Sabrina, of all people, tilted her head slightly and murmured without looking up from her planner, "Andy, statistically speaking ... overnight improvement like that is improbable without external factors."
"EXTERNAL FACTORS!" MJ whispered-shouted, clutching her chest like she'd cracked the case. “Code name for STEM girl.”
I thunked my forehead against the table. "Lord, kunin Niyo na ako."
The laughter rippled louder, little nudges and side-eyes bouncing around the table.
And that's when Julianne finally looked up.
Her pen stilled mid-tap. Her gaze swept across the room — at MJ shaking with laughter, Celine covering her mouth, Sam pretending innocence, Sabrina arching a brow.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Ano bang nakakatawa?"
The room went dead silent, like the teacher had just caught the class mid-chismis.
MJ froze, her laugh strangled in her throat. Celine snapped her notebook shut so fast the sound echoed. Sam casually reached for another Piattos, pretending she hadn't just been stirring chaos five seconds ago.
Julianne's gaze lingered, sharp and deliberate, scanning each face like she was solving an equation.
Her eyes landed on me last.
I straightened instinctively, pen gripped so tight it could've snapped in half.
"Nothing," I blurted. "Walang nakakatawa."
The corner of her lips twitched. Dangerous.
"Walang nakakatawa?" she repeated, her tone slow, testing.
"Mm-hmm," I nodded furiously.
And then — betrayal.
Sam cleared her throat, leaning forward with a grin too wide. "Ano kasi, Juls ... si Ate VP may secret tutor daw. Topnotcher kasi sa Geometry quiz kanina."
Julianne stilled.
Her pen stopped twirling mid-air, caught between her fingers. For a beat, she just blinked, processing Sam's words. Then her gaze flicked — first to MJ, who was biting her knuckles to keep from laughing, then to Celine, who was already red in the face, shoulders shaking. Finally, her eyes landed on me.
And something clicked.
I saw it happen — the slight widening of her eyes, the faint twitch of her lips, the way her brows lifted for just a fraction of a second.
Oh my God.
She knows now.
The corner of her mouth curved, so subtle it might've been my imagination. But no — the smug glint in her eyes told me I wasn't imagining anything.
Julianne Robles.
My actual tutor.
The real, living, breathing STEM girl they'd been tormenting me about all day.
And now she knew she'd been the subject of their entire teleserye.
I watched as Julianne opened her mouth, waiting for her to deny it.
But to my dismay, all she said was:
”Oh?” Then her eyes peered my way with that usual mischievous glint. “Surprising …”
MJ broke the silence with a loud slap on the table. "Anong ‘surprising’? Anong klaseng reaksyon ‘yan? She knows something!"
Celine leaned forward, practically vibrating. "Juls, kilala mo ba? Sino? Spill! May kakilala ka bang STEM girl na nagtu-tutor?"
Julianne didn't flinch under their stares. She set her pen down neatly on the folder, then leaned back in her chair, arms crossing as her gaze swept the room. Calm. Measured. Infuriating.
"Secret tutor?" she repeated, tilting her head slightly. "So sure kayo na STEM?"
MJ nodded like a bobblehead. "DUH. Sino pa ba? Hindi 'yan magic, Juls."
Celine jabbed her pen in my direction. "Kahit anong deny ni Andy, imposible 'yon without help. STEM girl talaga."
Julianne's lips curved, faint but deliberate, as her eyes flicked to me. I stiffened in my seat, clutching my pen like a lifeline.
And then she spoke again.
"Malay niyo," she said lightly, "baka HUMSS or GAS ang tutor niya. ‘Di ba may mga matatalino rin dun?"
The table erupted.
"HUY, NO WAY!" MJ practically jumped in her seat, eyes wide. "Mga taga-STEM lang ang masters ng Math.”
Celine slapped her palm on the table, laughing. "Bakit parang may tinatago ka, Pres?"
Sam was wheezing now, pointing between the two of us.
And Julianne?
She simply leaned back further, pen twirling lazily between her fingers again, her lips twitching like she was seconds away from laughing.
She raised her index finger, automatically silencing everyone else.
“Guys, ‘wag na natin asarin si VP,” Julianne said, voice steady, smooth — the kind of tone that didn’t need to be loud to command the room. And then she shrugged nonchalantly. “If anything, let’s congratulate her kasi topnotcher siya, ’di ba? Tapos Geometry pa — which is difficult for most people.”
A chorus of groans broke out instantly.
“Boo. Buzzkill,” MJ muttered, slumping against the table.
“Grabe, Juls,” Sam said, shaking her head dramatically. “Ikaw na talaga KJ.”
Julianne didn’t respond right away. Her gaze flicked to me — quick, sharp, like a spark she tried to hide but didn’t quite manage.
”And besides,” she continued, and suddenly everyone’s holding their breaths again. With one last look my way, she said, “If may tutor nga talaga si VP, wouldn’t that be … efficient?”
My heart somersaulted straight into my stomach.
The words hung in the air like a dropped pin.
Silence.
Everyone froze.
Sabrina's pen hovered mid-stroke. Sam's hand paused halfway to her Piattos. Even Celine, who had been two seconds away from bursting into giggles, clamped her mouth shut.
And then —
"ANAK NG —" MJ practically shot out of her chair, pointing at Julianne like she'd just uncovered a government conspiracy. "SI JULS ANG STEM GIRL NI ANDY!"
The room exploded. I buried my head against my hands, wishing this humiliation would just end as soon as possible.
Julianne Robles just had to throw herself under the bus.
"WHAT?!" Celine shrieked, nearly knocking over her water. Then she grabbed her phone from the table, aggressively tapping on the screen. "Wait! Sabihan ko si Mish!"
My eyes narrowed between my fingers as I peeked through them. "Don't you dare —"
But Celine was already doing it. "Babe. Si. Pres. Ang. STEM girl. Ni. Andy."
"CONFIRMED! CONFIRMED!" Sam banged the table with both hands, cackling.
Paolo and Jeanne were whispering, eyes wide. John Paul actually dropped his pen.
Sabrina pointed her finger at me. "Andrea Arceta! Bise Presidente ng Aurora — dumada-moves!"
Meanwhile, I wanted to crawl under the table and never resurface. My entire face was on fire.
And then there’s Julianne — all smug and teasing smiles.
But her eyes twinkled with something akin to pride.
She didn’t have to say it.
I know she’s proud of me.