AMBROSE I’m pretty much aware of the blatant disrespect that I’ve done to my brother’s grave but wherever he is right now, I don’t think he’s aware of the hell that he has been bringing to my life. I never truly met him in the flesh. All I know is he died when I was still a baby, at least that’s what my mother had told me. I blessed his grave with one last spit before eventually trudging away. I fished the house key from my pocket and entered at the backdoor instead of wasting what’s left of my energy by walking around the house. I turned the lights on and the hollowness of the house welcomed me with open arms. I immediately walked towards the fridge still hoping to see anything to snack on but there’s basically nothing left. There are five eggs, a few stalks of celery, three carrots, fruit juices and the rest are just sauces and condiments. I just poured myself a glass of cold water before dec

AUGUST  Nothing much happened during lunch except for the reality that my name was still hot and fresh on everybody’s lips. I’m pretty much aware of the underlying fact that this kind of attention will eventually cool down anytime soon. That’s definitely another reason why I need to hang out with the popular kids. Mary and the gang are obviously okay with me making some connections with the popular kids that they loathed and envied at the same time. I sat right beside Mary, and as usual, her mouth kept spitting sentence after sentence. She kept on making some allusions about our secret plan, however, I was consistent at shrugging it off of my shoulder. I pretended as if I don't have a single idea about what she was saying. I guess she’s just thrilled that I’m going to hang out with her crush. I secretly wanted to have a simple conversation about her having a crush on Rachel but the existence of Rock and Gustav prevented

AUGUST “So did you kiss her or not?!” Mary sounded agitated over the phone and there’s only one reason why she’s acting like that. It was only eight-thirty in the morning when she called me just to gather some updates about what happened last night. I feel like I need more sleep but Mary can’t seem to wait until the afternoon to reach out to me. My head is banging and I’m pretty sure this is caused by the vodka that we had last night. We only had one bottle of vodka and that was enough to make us tipsy and frenzy. That’s the only second time that I’ve had alcohol but it’s the first time that I really felt the numbing sensation that people loved about it. I tried moving a little and I already feel like I’m going to die out of dehydration. “Hold on, Mary. Cut me some slack and let me get something to drink first.” I spat over the phone.“O

AUGUST  Our first break finally came and the first thing I did was to go to the usual spot where I found Mary, Rock, and Gustav all huddled up. They were all wearing their Monday faces which isn’t that much of a surprise. I would describe it as grumpy and tired. I’m getting confused as to why they look like they are so over this thing called high school life when they clearly don’t have anything to worry about. I am the one who has a lot of things to worry about. I guess I should be the one wearing those long and saggy expressions. “Hey guys,” I put on my cheerful face as I sat down right beside Gustav who was busy having his snack. “How was….” I was about to ask how did their weekends went but Rock cut me off.“So how was it?” Rock asked eagerly, his saggy expression changed to a better one.“How was what?” I asked just having a hint of what

AUGUST  I was more than bewildered to find Ambrose and his group waiting for me right at the moment that I was least expecting them. I may have relied upon and became too complacent about the protection that I’m getting from hanging out with Rachel. They were all blocking my path towards Rachel’s car and I can see Rachel, Victoria, and Nicole behind them. Just like me, the three of them looked like they’re shocked and bewildered about what’s going on. I am dumbfounded in every single way. I didn’t have the time to process all these things up and it looks like I’m going to die in the next few hours. My heart jumps out into panic mode. “W-what’s going on?” I tried speaking up but my voice is already cracking up in total distress.“What’s going on?” Phil tried repeating my query. “I think you know what’s going on.”“No, I d