MY BUTT felt numb. I had been sitting in our van for more than four hours, watching people walk by, rows of houses, and the endless road ahead. The trip was only supposed to take two hours, but because of the traffic in Calamba earlier, the travel time doubled.
I was overjoyed when we finally arrived at our new house. I couldn't even remember how many times we had moved already. I thought our previous house would be the last, but here we were again, carrying boxes and unloading our things.
As far as I could remember, we were in Quezon City last month, then we moved to Pasay, and now we had somehow ended up in Laguna. I didn’t know whether I should feel happy that Dad kept getting reassigned. Honestly, it was exhausting.
My jaw dropped the moment I saw our new house. It was bigger than the previous one. It had a wide gate painted in a combination of gray and white, and you could already tell a huge house was hidden behind it. When I stepped inside, I was greeted by a two-storey building with a balcony, built with cultured stones and balusters. Beneath the balcony was a small garage, and there was even enough space on the side for a garden. I couldn’t stop myself from wondering out loud, “Is this for good, Ma, Pa?”
The moment I saw them smile, I already knew the answer. “Yes, Edoy.”
My forehead twitched when I heard that nickname. “It’s Aedrian, Ma, just so you know.” They only laughed.
“Ma, stop calling him Edoy already. He’s grown up now. He’s already in Senior High,” my father said teasingly. I just shook my head. They never got tired of making fun of me. But then an idea suddenly came to mind.
“Pa, speaking of Senior High… where am I transferring?” I asked.
“That depends on where you want to go.”
“Which school is nearby?” Again, they laughed, as if every word coming out of my mouth was a joke. I could only sigh and shake my head.
I started taking our things out of the van and carrying them inside one by one. The last thing I grabbed was a huge suitcase stuffed with all my clothes. There weren’t that many anyway since we moved all the time. It was such a hassle.
I looked around the entire house.
“Our rooms are upstairs, Edoy.” Dad pointed at the staircase.
There were three doors upstairs. I chose the room at the very end and started arranging my things there. Afterward, I opened the window to let some fresh air in before lying down on the bed. I was exhausted and felt like taking a nap.
“EDOY!”
I heard Mom shout, so I immediately got up and rushed downstairs. Her scream startled me so much that I thought something terrible had happened.
But it seemed I was right.
I saw a deep sadness mixed with worry on Mom’s face. I only saw that expression once every year. I already knew why. I checked my watch, and I was right. Today was that day.
“P-Pa, give Edoy some money first. I-I’ll just go to the room.” I watched Mom walk upstairs. I already knew what she was going to do there. It wasn’t her fault that she forgot what day it was. Even I had forgotten because we’d been too busy moving into the new house. Kuya would probably understand our reason.
“Oh, just ask around where you can buy flowers. I’ll take care of your mother.”
I took the money Dad handed me. The happiness on their faces from earlier had completely disappeared, replaced by sadness. I watched Dad walk upstairs before I took a deep breath and headed outside. I got on my bike and started looking for someone I could ask for directions.
It was my first time in Laguna, so I didn’t know the place yet—and it seemed like I was already lost. I had biked pretty far and no longer knew the way back.
I passed by a playground. I couldn’t help but feel envious of the children happily playing there. I didn’t know if I had ever experienced that kind of childhood myself. I couldn’t remember. I couldn’t even remember having friends back then aside from Kuya. Maybe it had simply been too long ago.
A group of children suddenly caught my attention. It looked like they were crowding around something—or someone.
“Why are you staring at me like that? I’ll gouge your eyes out!” I heard a shrill voice shout, making me flinch.
“What did she even do to you, girl?” another girl asked curiously.
“She kept staring at me earlier like she wanted to kill me! What? Aren’t you even going to say anything? You’re getting insulting already!”
I don’t know if I was just naturally nosy, but I peeked to see what was happening. A girl was sitting in the middle of the crowd, looking completely unbothered by the person yelling at her. She had long black hair, fair skin, and a healthy figure. She almost seemed deaf because she wasn’t responding to any of the angry girl’s questions.
But I knew she could hear because her eyes moved whenever the other girl spoke. I also noticed her brows furrow every time the girl in front of her talked, yet it was as if she deliberately chose not to respond. Pride?
“You’re so annoying for a girl! You still won’t talk? Fine! I’ll force you to!” The furious girl grabbed her by the neck, trying to make her say something. “What? You still won’t speak? Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Some people tried to stop the girl choking her, but it seemed like most of them just wanted to watch the other girl get hurt—as if they were waiting for a show to end so they could see who would win and lose.
But still, the girl didn’t give a damn.
The choking didn’t seem to bother her at all. She didn’t even look shaken—only mildly irritated, judging by the furrow of her brows. Her uncanniness caught my attention. I got off my bike and walked into the middle of the crowd. I grabbed the bully’s wrist and pulled her hand away.
“No one dies from a stare, just so you know,” I told the girl, hinting that she was making a big deal out of something petty. So what if someone looked at her badly? It wasn’t going to kill her. She glared at me before storming off, muttering, “Tsk. Such a busybody.”
The others began leaving too, like an audience exiting a movie theater after the show ended, disappointed that the entertainment was cut short. I turned my attention back to the girl in front of me—only to realize she had already started walking away.
I quickly grabbed my bike and chased after her.
“Wait, miss!”
I stopped in front of her, intending to ask something. But the moment I looked directly into her eyes, I was caught off guard.