On a cold, lonely night, on the street filled with silence, a girl stood firmly right beside a rusty lamppost, unmoved. A soft wind blew her pale cheeks, some hair strands danced with its calm beat, she loosened the tight grip of her hands as a tear escaped, which she wiped violently.
A silent fury was suffocating her, the cold breeze of the wind had nothing to aid her aching lungs. As she held her balled fist into a firm grip, her nails dug into her palm. When a sound of a vehicle entered her ears, she slid both of her hands inside the pocket of her jacket, hadn’t paid attention to how red it was. And took a huge breath to calm down her horses.
She raised her right hand three o'clock angle and a bus stopped, someone went down. Too distracted with her flooded emotion to the point that she forgot she was actually at a bus stop. She hurriedly slid her hand in again and disregarded her burning cheeks. She was embarrassed and bit her inner cheek.
She silently took the only vacant seat between a pregnant woman and an old man. The old man was snoring irritatingly while the pregnant woman was looking at her intently. Soon the man right beside the window reached his destination and she took his seat at once.
As she zoned out, a strong thunder startled everyone except her. She seemed hypnotized by the multiple drops of rain sliding down the window glass. All her attention was on the single drop of rain that was slowly tracing its path down as her tears slowly ran down her cheeks. No one noticed it since everyone was half asleep. Soon the rain stopped falling, she immediately wiped her tears.
The next stop was an unknown place to her, yet she decided to go down after paying. A girl with a slender body in a denim jacket was carrying bags. Her theory was, that girl with baggage would rent a new apartment. She took a vehicle with three wheels, so as she is.
She silently followed her, secretly praying that her theory was right. Fortunately, her theory came into being possible. They stopped in front of a small building. A three-story building with three rooms for rent on each floor. Painted with dirty white with a red roof.
"Good evening, madame. I didn't expect to be this late heavy traffic caught me. I deeply apologize, " the girl spoke.
"Not a problem, my dear. Here's your key, number five. Peter will help you out with that baggage." She lively answered and handed her the key. 'She must be the landlady', she thought. Before the landlady could get in, she hurriedly approached her. "Excuse me, madame." Her voice broke since her throat was awfully dry.
"Yes, my dear." Answered by the landlady with a full smile on her lips, revealing her perfect teeth.
"Do you still have....uhm a vacant apartment?"
"Lucky you! Of course, come on in. Let's talk about it in my office,” she exclaimed. And held her duster to lift it a bit so she could take a huge step. "Sorry for this, we'll fix this as soon as we can." Pertaining to the broken bricks of their stair. As they entered her room the landlady started talking about everything.
"It's obvious that my apartment wasn't big or ideal for families so I only accept alone tenants as much as possible. For a small town, my Apartment was barely rented, not until now. You got the last vacant." She offered her water and a chair, and the girl gratefully accept the water. Then hesitantly took the green plastic chair, it was uncomfortably cold.
"Thank you.” Yet she thanked her while checking the whole place, she almost jump off when her eyes fell on the lady’s curious face.
"I've never seen you before, are you moving for good?" Asked the lady and she put her glasses on. She nodded shortly and looked away.
"Can I see your ID?" She asked while flipping the pages of her book, she lift her gaze to the girl when she didn't hear any response. The timid girl shook her head and her smile immediately faded. "And why is that?"
"I don't have an ID with me." She looked down at her black hooded jacket and her denim jeans.
"How about tomorrow, can you bring it tomorrow? I'm sorry dear, I don't just accept random tenants. I hope you understand."
The girl took a few blinks and slid her hand into her pocket. "I need the apartment now, I hope you can give this to me. Here's my down payment." She placed the thick blue cash on the table.
The lady eyed them like a hawk, grabbed and counted them. "Well, we can talk about it." She carefully slid the fifteen thousand pesos inside her pocket. "What's your name, may I ask, honey?" Her sweet smile and graceful movement instantly lift the tension.
"Fera Luzares."
"What a pleasant name, sounds like Pera a Tagalog(Filipino Language) word that means money. " The landlady spoke. "And how old are you?"
”Sixteen,”
”Such a fine young lady-” she was cut off by Fera's loud yawn. “Your sleepy and tired, I presume."
"Pardon me."
"No worries, here's your key. But never forget to drop your ID next time, alright?"
"Thank you so much."
"Ahm, I forgot something."
Chapter 1: Drowning in Loneliness She easily found her apartment since the bold number 9 was written above the door. She stuck her key and twisted the doorknob. Grunted in displeasure as the inside view came into her sight. And slammed her door; emphatically closed her eyes and harshly let some air go. After a long tiring trip and greeted by multiple shirts on the floor, empty bottles of alcohol, and the center table covered with junk food wrappers. While dust had taken over the whole place, switching the lights on would be more disappointing. "Uhm, I forgot something." "I haven't cleaned the room." Those words rang in her ears, which she hadn't paid attention to. Though, what other choice does she have? She softly massaged her neck and let out a heavy sigh. The former owner didn't bother packing his things, it was flooding with shirts and trousers, literally. "Knock! Knock!" Fera raised her eyebrow in confusion, who would knock on my door this late? She thought as she
Chapter 2: Phone Call THE NEXT DAY was another day of cleaning. Her hair was tied into a messy bond, in her new nighties, she roamed around to plan everything. Haven't changed into her daylight clothes, when she stood in her leaving room with a huge smile on her face, feeling proud of her cozy leaving room or should I say corner. "Kringgggg! Kringgggg!" A loud ring resounded, oddly the sound came from the couch, but there were none. Then eventually a black rectangular object lying on the floor came into her view. "Ops, poor you." She spoke as she bent down to pick it up. It was around ten, when she saw the unknown number, she instantly knew who it was, but choose to place her cellphone in her pocket. She continued to wander around her house and mentally listed all she needed. It’d be new curtains, paint, couch, center table- "Kriinnngg!" She mentally hissed in annoyance and snatched her phone out from her pocket. It was the same number, but she was not ready to answer it
Chapter 3: Uninvited Visitor IT WAS a fine morning when she woke up. Everyone is awake, unlike in the city, people usually function at ten in the morning. But here, you can already hear your neighbor sweeping their backyard. She placed her new paintings on her wall. She ordered a few pieces of furniture and it was continuously arriving. She heard a loud knock so she went open it. When she saw who it was, she attempted to slam it back. But he use the huge box to stop it. She unwillingly opened her door and let him in. Before someone spotted him there. "Are you dying?" Fera retorted, didn’t bother to greet her visitor. "You're father just died, you can't handle so much pain." His solid rebut affects her more than it seems. Her dead expression was still in place and she manage to maintain her cool. "What do you want?" "Don't be so sensitive, I was just catching up with you." He place the huge box on the floor and perused every inch of her place. "What a gigantic place,"
Chapter 4: Perfect Crime Gone Wrong "In her brassier,” she spoke. While the best friend smiled widely, then harshly unbuttoned one button of her uniform. She defiantly eyed her and Fera bravely mirrored her confidence. "Go ahead and check it." The police or maybe the detective stayed silent and watched every student in the room closely. Entrusting everything to his gut that he must trust the student named Fera. He just thought that she won’t make any false story. He could conclude that the girl named April was quite unstable. While Fera was cool and no hint of nervousness or hesitation. Fera looked straight at her face with a dead expression. While the best friend was smiling confidently. Everyone fell in silence. "Alright, to end this all. I'll go check it to clear my girlfriend's name." The boyfriend volunteered. Fera looked at him in disgust. But his girlfriend hurriedly stepped back. She was eyeing him with a grim expression. The officers were not dumb not to underst
Chapter 5: Good Cook “Well, I am hungry, obviously,” she said. As an attempt of saving her pride. While Nick nodded with an amused smile. He was having a good time, watching her in that situation. “If you hadn’t burned your sausage, you must have eaten by now.” He said with a wide grin on his face. And Fera was bitting her inner cheek in annoyance. “Whatever.” She was about to shoo him away but he started cleaning the pan and opened her fridge. He got the rice cooker and put rice and water on it. “What are you doing?” “Saving your stomach too,” he answered while busy doing those cooking things. He gathered two eggs, some leafy vegetables, and other seasonings. “You don’t need to do that, you know?” she softly spoke. She was somewhat speechless of his patience. Despite her sharp tongue, he was still here. “I know.” He answered. “I’m no pro but I can cook.” She lost her words, he still spoke kind and had no hint of irritation. Can’t find the right word to tell, and just
Chapter 6: Solve PuzzleLooking straight on her way and walking alone to school while feeling down wasn’t cool at all. Fera was walking like dead and a bit unstable because of her wounded foot. She didn’t seem bothered by her neighbor’s stares.She dropped her ID in Mama Tes’ office before heading to school. Mama Tes was giving her an unusual stare, especially at her foot and the way she walked. Good thing she asked none. Since Fera was not in the mood to explain any.When she got there, the school was in chaos. The canteen server was being escorted by authorities to their mobile, and her schoolmates were there watching the scene. The mobile left and gossipers were shamelessly talking about it. She somewhat felt proud of Nick’s heroism. She was not against helping others, all her concern was, that maybe he’d get farther and cross someone’s privacy. As well as he might cross with dangerous people.Their class started and Fera felt good already. Because, when she saw Nick,
Chapter 7: Motor Ride She unconsciously took a huge gulp and sat in the most proper as she can. "Do you have something to share, Miss and Mister?" she asked. The teacher was eyeing them both with a serious expression. Her huge thick-lensed glasses failed to hide the annoyed look in her eyes."Nothing, ma'am. We're sorry," Fera answered in her low voice. "You sure?" the teacher asked in monotone causing the tension to elevate more than it had been. She wasn't pleased with all, her wrinkled face was more than evident. "Yes ma'am." They answered in unison.As the teacher proceeded to the topic, Fera somewhat lose a huge problem or survived a fatal battle. After class, she found herself walking home alone on the roadside. A bicycle and a few motorcycles passed her. Some with spacious vehicles offered a ride but Fera gladly declined. She was pleased with their generosity but she just couldn't trust anyone. She wasn't the one who trust easily. Nick on the other ha
Chapter 8: An Issue The warmth of the Golden hour was calming but that calmness was bothering her. She never saw Nick the whole day but found his motor by morning and then it was now nowhere to be found.She was one hundred percent sure that he attended none even a single class. Her foot had gotten better causing her to walk swiftly. Once she got home, she faced her newly set up computer. While I was booting she dialed her trusted friend. "9811145674,"'1012387762, yes Miss?'"Can you track down someone?"'Depending on the person, please state his name,' Lora answered."Nick Kingston Hernandez," she murmured while scanning her computer. She checked her device if it was well set upped.'Give me a sec,'"Sure," after a few minutes Fera received an email from Lora. 'Sent, Miss.' "Thank you," and she immediately opened it. Horrific info was written in it and her brain somewhat refused to process it. "Wait, Lora. Am I reading this right?"'Nick Hernandez, h