Chapter 64: Dirty Uniforms

Flora was distressed at the thought of having to return to her house to tell the bad news to her mother that she would have to stay in high school for one more year. She knew that it would greatly disappoint her mother who had worked all day and most of the nights just to get her to high school. Flora knew that it was a real threat that she would not be able to land a good job at minimum pay if she could not at least finish her high school. She would have also liked to get a college degree but knew that it would be more realistic to go to a vocational school and study cooking or domestic service.

Perlita tried to console Flora although she was also distraught at the thought of not finishing high school. Like Flora, her family was living below the poverty line. Her father was a fisherman who could not make a lot of money from the small catch that dwindled every year. She also had brothers and sisters who had to stay at home and help her parents with their work because the family only ha