“MER! We have practice tomorrow at the drama club. Maybe you can make us a snack for tomorrow? Please!” Shanaia said tenderly to Meredith while she was still clinging to her.

They had just finished lunch and decided to rest for awhile at their hangout place while waiting for their next class.
“Sure! What do you want me to make for your snack tomorrow?”
Shanaia think for a moment. “Ahm. . . Let me think.  . . Sandwiches!”
She smiled. “Okay! That’s the easiest thing to do. I can make you three kinds of sandwishes if you want.
“Really? What flavor are you going to make?"
“She’ll probably make egg sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches and chicken sandwiches!” Marylex’s answered.
She quickly shook her head. “Nah! The sandwiches you mentioned are too common so I’ll make something else since Shanaia requested it, it should be unique and special.”
“Really? What is it?” Shanaia asked excitedly with a shinning eyes.
“I will make a special clubhouse, tamago sando and monte cristo sandwiches!”
Her friend formed an O shape in their lips upon hearing those unique sandwiches.
“Wow! It sounds delicious by just hearing the names. ”
Marylex wrapped her arms on her shoulder to ask a favor too. “Can I also make a request when we have a recital?”
“Of course!”
“Yes! You really are the best, Mer!”
Marylex held her hands. “Awesome! You’re not just a girlfriend material but a wife material! I envy you. You’re not only smart and beautiful, you’re also good at baking and cooking.”
Meredith laughed and shook her head. “Girls, you’re flattering me again. Every one of us has uniqeness so embrace it. Because not everything you can do can be done by others.” 
They both hugged her. “We were so lucky to have you, Mer!”
She smiled.
“I should have three slices, okay?” Shanaia requested when she broke the hug between the three of them.
Meredith extended her hand in front of her.
“What is that?” Shanaia said maliciously.
“Well, nothing is free these days! Besides, I don’t have the budget to feed your entire club for free. It’s fine with me even if there is no commission. 
“I know! I’m just kidding! I just trying if I can slip through,” Shanaia replied, then took out her wallet. 
“Who chatted?” Marylex commented when they heard Meredith’s E-Messenger notification.
She read the message. “Our President. Asking if I could ask someone to help us paint our kitchen lab because the paint on the walls is peeling off and it’s so ugly to look at.”
There is no man in their club so they have to find someone to help them.
“Why don’t you ask your pretentious lover?”
She shook her head. “He has a try-out. And besides, I know he will refuse.”
Shanaia shrugged. “But if you can’t find anything, you can just work together on your vacancy. Because for sure, no one will agree if there is no commission.”
“And it will cost you a lot if you hire a professional painter,” Shanaia added.
She nodded. “Right! We can work it out together.”

________________________________

(1982)

“THANK YOU for coming with me here, big brother. I’m very happy!” Clayton’s youngest sister, Ditang, smiled in gratitude.
She wants to play in the nearby park because of the playground. Since it was a weekday, he allowed her to wander.
He ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry, when I get paid for my tutoring I will take you to the Mall. The playground there is bigger than here. There’s a lot of rides also. I’m sure you’ll gonna love it!”
Her eyes sparkled in excitement. “Really, Big Brother?”
“Yes! I will also buy you new clothes and shoes.”
“You promise?”
He raised his right hand. “Yes! I promise!”
Ditang jumped simultaneously in joy. “Yehey! You are really the best, Big brother! I can’t wait for that day to come!”
He smiled at her then pinched her left cheek.
“Ouch! It hurts, big brother!” she whinned and pouted.
“Sorry! I just can’t help it! You’re too cute, little princess.”
“Wow! Look! I want that ice cream, big brother!” she said when she heard the bell of the ice cream maker from a far.
“Okay!”
“Yes! I want cheese flavor, big brother!”
“You can pick whatever you want.” Then they approach the ice cream vendor.
When they finished their ice cream, he knelt in front of his sister.
“Are you full now?” She nodded.
He took the handkerchief from the back pocket of his pants and wiped her chin and the side of her lips. 
“Let’s go home?” he asked.
The little girl nodded. “Hmm!”
He stood up and took her left hand to start walking to the bus station but stopped when she pulled him back.
“I think can’t walk anymore, Brother,” she said and pouted.
He just shook his head at the cuteness of his sister who he knew was fondling him again. He felt pity for her. Maybe she’s tired of playing.
“Oh. . . You can ride on my back if you want,” he said then knelt backwards in front of her so that she can ride on his back. 
She happily wrapped her arms around his neck, carry her gently and went to the bus station.
Unbeknownst to the siblings, there was someone smiling at them from afar.

A MONTH later, Barbara’s group was back from suspension and community service. Clayton also had a quiet day that whole month. He didn’t even hear any mocking from them. They just treated him like a stranger or wind.
After their Physical Education subject, Clayton and Leendon were about to leave the gymnasium when they met Jhonny’s group in the corridors.
“Hey, Basilio! Mrs. Deviva wanted you to put this things back in the stock room!” Jhonny ordered him then pushed the basket full of balls that they used earlier in their class.
He can’t do anything when they just left it to him without waiting for his reply.
He looked at Leendon. “Alright, Don, you go first. I can do this alone. Don’t wait me.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Yes! I’ll take care of this! I’m sure your father is waiting for you.”
“Okay! I’ll go ahead then. Take care!”
“You too!”
He heard footsteps approaching the door as he was arranging the balls inside the stock room, so he quickly approached it, but it was too late because he was already locked in there alone.
“Open this door!” he yelled, but the boys just laughed at him. And he was very familiar with that voice. It’s Jhonny.
“See you tomorrow, Basillio!” Jhonny shouted.
He kicked the door. He didn’t expect that after a month of their suspension, they still wouldn’t stop bothering him. He was so sure Barbara had ordered them to do it to him again.
“Fuck! Of all days, why now?” he grumbled angrily.
His aunt ordered him to buy salbutamol and a new nebulizer for his asthma. But how can he do that if he’s locked up?
“Get me out of here!”
“Help!” he screamed but no one responded.
He clenched his hands.
“No! No! No!” he said as he kept knocking on the door.
He could lose everything he has worked for if something bad happens to his aunt.
He sat on the floor until he felt hoarse and tired. By the end of the night, his stomach was only full of biscuits and water. Fortunately, he did not consume the biscuit he had purchased earlier during their snack break. There is also no telephone, so he cannot seek assistance even at their home.

THE NEXT DAY, the school janitor opened the stock room. As soon as it was opened, Clayton dashed out, surprising the janitor, who couldn’t believe that someone was trapped inside.
Clayton has to go home to find out about his aunt’s condition. He was already in the corridor when he met Barbara and her friends.
“When something bad happens to my Aunt, I will never forgive you,” he said, glaring at her then ran away again.
While Barbara left dumbfounded, confused by what is happening.
“What happened to him?” Barbara asked her friends after Clayton glared and talked to her.
Esperanza and Letisha both shrugged at the same time.
“Morning, Campus Queen!” Jhonny greeted when they met him in the corridor.
She folded her arms. “Did you do anything to Basilio again?”
Jhonny and his companions looked at each other laughing.
“We just had fun with him yesterday, but it wasn’t that serious,” said Jhonny.
She formed her right hand into a fist. “So what did you do to him this time?”
“We just locked him in the stock room of the gym,” Jhonny answered while laughing, causing her to push him hard.
“What made you do that?!” he asked angrily.
“Why not? I’m just taking revenge for what he did to us!”
“Can you hear yourself, huh, Jhonny?! You’re just getting yourself into more trouble. We started it, so we have no right to retaliate!” Jhonny did not say anything.
“When Mr. Cristobal finds out what you did to Basilio, you will definitely expelled of BSU! And I’m sure when that happens, no university will accept you anymore!”
“Why are you suddenly concerned about him, huh?” Jhonny broked in.
She averted her gaze. “I-it’s none of your concern!” Then left.
When Clayton confronted Barbara earlier, she suddenly felt nervous when he saw the mix of anger and fear in his eyes. She was sure that Clayton thinks she’s the one who ordered Jhonny and his friends to lock him in the stock room, that’s why she decided to follow him. She also feels that even though she was not the one behind his imprisonment in the stock room, she is obligated to apologize to him.
What will happen to this studies if something bad happens to his sponsor?
When he saw Clayton enter a house, he immediately saw that he was hugging a lady and entered the big house at the same time.
She debated whether or not to come down for a few moments, but her desire to see his aunt’s condition won out. She stepped out of her car and was about to ring the doorbell on the side of the gate when it unexpectedly opened, revealing Clayton.
“W-what are you doing here?” he asked.
“I-I was just checking if how your Aunt was doing.”
He laughed at what she said. “Why? Will you make fun of me again if I say she’s fine?”
“Believe me, I have nothing to do with what happened to you. Jhonny, he is the one who did that to you, not me!” she said as she followed him outside.
“Whether you are or not, you are still in the same group!”
She didn’t say anything. She just followed him.
Clayton suddenly stopped and face her. “And why are you following me, huh?! Go back to school!”
“Why? Aren’t you going back to school?”
“Does it matter to you if I won’t go back to school?”
“If your grades drop, you will fall off in the dean’s list.”
“When did you start caring about me, huh?”
She was taken aback. When, precisely?
It all started when she heard the conversation between Clayton and Leendon in the men’s rest room. From being a tutor, to being a good son, brother and nephew. 
And she happened to see him in the park with his little sister on the same day she was suspended. She didn’t believe he hadn’t taken his little sister to the Mall because of poverty. While she was fed up. When she saw how close he was to his sister, she felt jealous. She never experienced being with his older brother at the Mall or in any gathering since his mother abandoned them.
Clayton’s dedication and dreams to provide a better future for his family impresses her. While she, doesn’t care if she passes her course or not because she knows she can live off the wealth they have even if she doesn’t study. Because of this, she realized a lot of things, especially her mistakes so since then she stopped pestering him.
“I also want to apologize to you that’s why I came here,” she sincerely apologized.
Clayton shook his head. “So, miracles do really exist, huh? I thought the word ‘sorry’ doesn’t exist in your vocabulary.”
“I know it’s hard for you to forgive, but I sincerely apologize to you now from the buttom of my heart.”
“Could you stop pretending? I know you’re just forced to apologize to me.”
She checked her watch and realized she only had a half-hour before her next class. “You decide what you want to believe. But there is one thing I wanted to assure you: I will no longer bother you.”
She averted her gaze. Her chest felt lighter in some ways because she was able to say what she needed to say to him even though he wasn’t ready to forgive.
She was about to get into her car when someone called her name.
“Barbara? Is that really you?”