PROLOGUE

"Good Morning, Mr. Ramos!" One teacher greeted Justin as he paved the way towards the faculty. He nodded and saluted to him. The elementary students rummaged their way towards the classroom as the bell started to ring. The wind breezed through the surface of Jacob's Elementary School, and Justin felt the cold air. 

He opened the faculty office's door and walked straight towards his table. 

"Mr. Ramos, do you hear the news?" Ms. Santiago asked him. He looked towards her while putting his backpack on his chair and organizing his lesson plans for the first class. 

"What news?" Justin asked her while scanning the papers. 

"We are holding a valentine's event on February 13, this Saturday, on the Biñan Town Plaza. And you will be the host," Ms. Santiago said to him, giddy about it. Justin halted and looked at her. 

"What? Why me?" Justin asked her, surprised. 

"You are the love expert here. You know, you are the only Values Education subject teacher here that is praised by the children. They are fond of you," Ms. Santiago said while grinning. Justin furrowed his eyebrows as she explained that. 

"And look at you, you have the looks," Ms. Santiago added. Justin smiled quietly. 

Justin Ramos has tousled hair that he covers on his forehead. His hazel and lambent eyes, prominent nose, and his bold lips that are sexier than usual made the girls from the other faculty swoon over him. But Mr. Ramos is not in love. He stands about 5 feet and 8 inches, making him the tallest of the 6th-grade teachers at Jacob's Elementary School. He shaved his beard earlier in the morning, revealing his fair share of his chiseled jawline that his mother always nagged and said that it got it from his father.

"You said: 'This Saturday'?" Justin asked her. 

"Yeah. Accept it. I am begging you. Everyone will love your pieces of advice," Ms. Santiago pleaded. Justin sighed and nodded. 

"Fine, fine. Stop blabbering about that love expert thing," Justin said and looked once again in the papers. 

Ms. Santiago chuckled and said, "Okay, okay. Just show up at the event. I am going to my class. See you later." 

Ms. Santiago picked up a handful of papers and her bag. She walked towards the other door and left the office. 

Justin decided to go to his first class in a 5-minute time. He sighed and looked at his cell phone. He stood up from his seat as one teacher entered the faculty office. Justin greeted him as he made his way towards the other door. He left the office and walked a short distance to his first class. 

He peeked in the classroom's window and saw the 6th grader children talking happily to each other. Justin smiled and entered the classroom. 

"Good morning, class!" Justin said as the students stood up. 

"Good morning, Mr. Ramos!" The children said in the chorus. 

"You may now take a seat," Justin said and smiled. He picked up a chalk and started writing the letters L, O, V, and E. 

He turned around and faced the class. The children were reading the letters and stared at him. 

"So, what is, for you, the purpose of love?" Justin asked everybody in the room. Someone raised his hand, and Justin nodded at him. 

"My opinion is, the purpose of love is for family," one child said proudly. 

Justin smiled at him and said, "Correct. For family." 

He walked towards the blackboard and wrote the word 'Family.' 

"Any more answers?" 

Two children's hands shot up in the air. Justin nodded at the right corner of the room where a cute girl was seated. 

"Love for friends," she said simply. Justin nodded, his smile still plastered on his face. He wrote it again on the blackboard and pointed at the girl seated in the front. 

She stood up and said, "Love for another person." 

Justin grinned at her and wrote it on the blackboard. Everyone in the room exclaimed as she said that. Justin put the chalk on the table and walked towards the front. He half seated on it and looked at every child in the room. 

"Class, do you wanna hear a story?" 

The whole class nodded and exclaimed happily. Some children stood up straight, some of them put their chins on their hands and pay attention. 

"Once upon a time, there was a kid named Justin. He lived with her mother in a small town of Biñan, province of Laguna, in the country of the Philippines. He was born as a simple kid, but when he turned into a 3-year-old- boy, that is when problems start to revolve," Justin said to the class. 

"What happened to him?" 

"Justin became what?" 

"Ohh, I can't wait to hear the end of the story." 

Several side comments of the children erupted in the room, and a minute later, they stopped, waiting for Justin to continue the story. 

"The kid was left alone with his mother, and his father was kicked out of the house, pleaded, but was never forgiven for what he did. He never came back again after that." 

*** 

THE YEAR 2002

"Get out! Get out! Get out of this house!" Jane shouted at her husband while she was throwing the clothes outside of the street. 

"Please, Jane. Let me explain," Stan pleaded while tears were dripping in his eyes. Jane glared at her and slapped his face. Every one of their neighbors peeped out of their house and watched what was happening in the broad daylight. 

"Explain? I knew it. You are cheating on me!" Jane shouted. Justin walked towards the back of them and clutched her mother's shirt. Jane held Justin in her arms while crying. 

"Jane, please," Stan begged and kneel. 

"Get out of the house! You will never see Justin again!" Jane spat at him and held Justin tightly. 

"Jane," Stan cried. Jane wept her eyes out and dared to turn around and get inside the house. 

"Jane, Jane, please!" Stan stood up suddenly and held the gate railings tightly as she locked it. Jane hustled Justin in her arms and they locked the front door behind them. 

Jane cried silently as Justin crawled over in her lap. 

"Mommy, where is Daddy going?" Justin asked her mother. Jane wiped her tears and smiled at her child. 

"He is going to paradise, my baby. Don't worry about him, huh?" Jane said sadly to him as she stroked Justin's hair. 

"Mhm. He would bring toys again?" Justin asked with his little baby voice to his mother. Jane nodded as silent tears poured again no matter how many times she wiped it. 

"Yes, baby. Yes," Jane said as she tucked Justin in her arms and tilted her back. Justin slept peacefully as Jane wept silently, not wanting to wake him up. 

***

"That is where the story starts, class. When his father left him alone while his mother kept crying," Justin said to the children.