CHAPTER 1Home, school, and work. In the few years that I have lived in this world, my life revolves around these three things. It may be tiring and boring, but I have no choice because this is the life that God has given me.Even as a child, I was aware of the truth that I had no parents and that I needed to work hard if I wanted to have food to eat and survive in this world. At a young age, work was already a part of my life. I had to work to live.At a young age, my parents should have been the ones working for me and for our family, to provide for our daily needs and, most importantly, to send me to school.But unfortunately, I didn't have that. I didn't have parents whom I could rely on whenever I needed support. I didn't have parents who would send me to school and take care of me, so I had to work doubly hard to earn money for my education and our daily needs, together with my grandmother.At a very young age, I never had the chance to meet my father, and as for my mother? They
CHAPTER 2I have asthma, but it did not stop me from pursuing my job. In fact, I have two jobs - one in the morning and another at night after my classes.While others focus on preparing for school as soon as they wake up, I prepare for work. And while others rest and do school assignments at night, I work at a fast food chain.I know, I know that what I am doing can make me sick, especially with my asthma. But I don't have a choice. How can I provide for my daily needs if I don't work? How can I study if I don't work hard? How can we survive in this world if I don't work hard? I am the only one providing for my grandmother and myself, and I have to work doubly hard, especially since my grandmother needs maintenance medication. I work so hard that I sometimes forget to take care of myself.Life is so cruel to me. Those are the only words I can describe my life. Life or destiny is so cruel to me that at a young age, I already have to work hard. This made me think about how it feels to
CHAPTER 3The students who were eating in the canteen stopped because of the echoing question. I swallowed hard and felt how their attention was fixated on me. At that moment, I felt extreme embarrassment that I never thought I would experience in my life. It was so intense that I would rather disappear like a bubble than stay in my current position.I released an awkward smile to hide my embarrassment from Madam's expression. I saw her raise an eyebrow because of my smile, as if she wasn't pleased with my action.Then, she gestured to me, inviting me to approach her. Although I was scared of what she might do to me, I forced myself to step closer, so as not to increase her anger towards me.I knew she would be more furious if I didn't follow her command. So, even though I was afraid of what she could do, I still approached her with my head bowed to conceal my embarrassment.I felt the stares following me with every step I took, and I didn't have to lift my head to know who they were
CHAPTER 4"Are you trying to kill yourself? You saw that there was a motorcycle coming, but you still crossed," the owner of the motorcycle yelled at me as soon as he got off his bike.My eyes widened at his words and anger surged through my heart. This guy is such an idiot! He blamed me when he should be the one to blame for not driving carefully despite the presence of a pedestrian lane. Doesn't he know the rules of the road? I wanted to teach him a lesson."Hey mister, whoever you are, how dare you blame me? You should be the one to blame here because you almost hit me! Don't you know the law—"I couldn't finish what I wanted to say as I was stunned to see how the guy slowly removed his helmet. I never expected that my surprise would double when I saw his perfect face.He had a pointed nose, heart-shaped lips, thick eyebrows, perfect jawline, messy curly hair, and intimidating eyes. These were the qualities of a perfect character that I usually read in novels. I never thought that
CHAPTER 5The room immediately fell silent and my classmates quickly returned to their seats as soon as we saw Prof Buenaventura enter the room. I also sat up straight as soon as I saw her."Good morning class," Prof Buenaventura said with her strict voice as she placed her belongings on the desk."Good morning, Prof," we greeted her back.Prof raised an eyebrow as she scanned the entire classroom, and eventually, her gaze landed on us, her students. It seemed like she was scrutinizing each one of us, and when her eyes caught sight of me, she immediately called out my name."Miss Marra."I flinched, "Yes, Prof?""Clean the mess on the board," she ordered, which relieved me a bit. I thought I did something wrong again because she called my name using her so-called strict voice. That's just how she is, especially when she's angry. She tends to intimidate people, especially when she's upset.I nodded in agreement to her command, indicating that I would do as she instructed. Well, I reall
I thought I could study peacefully because Candice, my number one distraction when it comes to studying, wasn't here. She talks too much, so you really get distracted when you're with her. I thought I could study peacefully because the entire room was quiet and I was the only one here, but I was wrong. I was so wrong when I saw him, the campus crush who always had a smirk on his lips every time he saw me."It's different when you're smart, isn't it?"I stopped reading when I heard those words. I didn't need to look up to know who said them because obviously, he was the only one with that voice. A voice that always had a sarcastic tone and ridicule, which is why many people get annoyed with him and at the same time look up to him.I ignored what he said and focused my attention on what I was reading. I didn't have time to talk to him because I needed to concentrate on my studies to pass my exam later."Don't you even acknowledge me, baby girl?" I heard him say, realizing I probably had
CHAPTER 7What's even more tragic is that they both turned into ashes when the crime scene exploded. There were no bodies found in the crime scene, which indicated that everyone who died in the tragedy turned into ashes. The kidnapper is now in a mental hospital, having gone insane after realizing all the wrongs they committed in their life. The mastermind behind the crime, Sir Carson's mother's accomplice, escaped and is still being sought after by the police.Other accomplices are now under police custody, which is good because there is some justice for the death of the two. However, with their passing, I also lost my scholarship, and once again, I experienced the hardships of life. Life has been cruel to me. Just when my life was starting to get better, God took away the good people who helped me, causing me to suffer once again.I released a deep sigh before refocusing my attention on reading, even though I could barely understand due to the loud noise my classmates were making. T
CHAPTER 8Although unsure of my answer, I still handed over my professor’s pen after answering the question on the board. I couldn’t remember the last equation to use for this problem. I studied it last night, but I just couldn’t recall the last equation I needed. I had too much on my plate last night and lacked sleep, that’s why I probably forgot which one to use.Ma'am accepted the pen I gave her, and then looked at the board to check if my answer was correct. I didn’t expect to feel so nervous when I saw her squinting and furrowing her brow, a sign that maybe I solved the problem incorrectly and she didn’t get it.That thought made me really nervous, and even more so when I saw her approach the table to grab a book. She looked back and forth between the board and the book before finally releasing it from her hand."How did you do this?" she asked me, referring to what I solved on the board."Sorry?" I asked, still perplexed."I said, how did you get this equation?"I became nervous