As the days passed by, Helena and Catherine went on their ways and they only see each other in marketing and economics class, both were handled by Doctor Andrino. Helena usually hang out with her classmates in accounting and Catherine had no choice but to hang out with Niko. Her friendship with Niko has gotten stronger every day and they usually have their afternoon snacks together.

A few months later, Helena joined them again, as well as George and Johnny. Unfortunately, Niko couldn’t hang out with them anymore because of his job, so it was just the four them and their classmates assumed that she was George’s girlfriend while Johnny was dating Helena too. The rumors were absurd and they just ignored it!

Her first semester in the university was fun and exciting, however, she struggled to maintain her grades and Catherine worried that she might be dropped from the scholarship and she couldn’t let it happen. She was only relieved when her grades were available at the MIS office and she got a copy. A deep sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she read the report. Excitedly, she went home and found her Aunt Sabina, not in the mood. Sanjie’s mother was cranky when she arrived and she didn’t know what’s wrong. “Hello, Auntie.” She greeted her but Sanjie’s mother just ignored her and didn’t reply.

Catherine went upstairs to change her clothes but before she could finish with her outfit, she heard Aunt Sabina’s voice downstairs. The woman complained about the boarders in her house who doesn’t even know how to clean the house or the dishes. She didn’t go down and just listened to her aunt but Catherine was hurt by her aunt’s harsh words even if it was not said to her face. How could Aunt Sabina accused her of not helping in the house when every Sunday, she would do the laundry all day. It could be true that she couldn’t help in the household chores every day but still, she helped whenever she’s free.

That night, she needed someone to talk to, but there was no one available. Every day, she felt uncomfortable in her uncle’s place and decided to leave, but where would she get the money for board and lodging?

For two years, Catherine managed to remain in her uncle’s house despite the cold treatment she got from her aunt. She had no choice as nobody could help her! Because of the uncomfortable situation at home, Catherine preferred to spend most of her time in the school’s library. Every time, she’s alone, she could remember Niko, but he was no longer studying in the university. She didn’t ask about his reason for quitting but it must be also hard for him.

“Medina, I noticed that you’re always alone. Don’t you have friends to hang out?”

Catherine looked up to Jenelyn Ursal, her classmate in almost all subjects. “Hi Ursal, I thought you don’t know where’s the library is.” She jested. Jenelyn Ursal was usually slow in their class but she got good friends like the smartest in their class. She had help and that’s how she survived in the university without a failing grade.

Jenelyn laughed at Catherine’s joke before she sat down. “You looked poor and alone,” she said.

Catherine was not ashamed of being poor because it was true. Her weekly allowance was only a hundred pesos and after the transportation cost, there was barely enough for her food. “I am poor,” she replied.

“Me too,” Jenelyn said.

Catherine was shocked to hear the woman said that she was poor because she didn’t look like one. Her clothes were branded and everything in her looked expensive. “You’re lying,” she didn’t believe Jenelyn to be poor.

“I came from a poor family. It’s just that I found a sponsor online and he usually sends me some money every month,” she admitted. No one in their class knew about her dark secret, but with Catherine Medina, she felt the connection and she knew that she could tell her about it.

“I don’t understand, Ursal,” Catherine said but she was interested to know how she managed to find a sponsor. It could be her need for money or anything else, but she was eager to find out out more from her classmate.

“Follow me,” Jenelyn sais as she couldn’t talk freely inside the library.

Catherine followed Jenelyn outside the building and they continued to walk until they reached Orange Brutus. “I have no money for this,” she warned Jenelyn that it was a wrong idea to bring her to such a restaurant.

“It’s my treat, common.” Jenelyn chose the table at the corner of the restaurant before she went to the counter to order something to eat. “Two orders of grilled cheese and hot choco please,” she placed her orders and took out a one hundred peso bill from her wallet. Each meal would only cost around forty pesos or eighty for two persons. “Enjoy,” she said as she brought the snacks over to their table.

“Thank you, Ursal.” Catherine was grateful for the free snacks and it would save her some coins for her meals.

“No problem. You look interested when I mentioned about my sponsor,” she was a good judge in character and Medina looked desperate enough to earn some cash, and she had the means to help her.

“Am I very obvious?” Suddenly, Catherine felt uncomfortable that Ursal could read her mind and facial expressions.

“Maybe it’s because I was like you before who desperate for money.” She answered. It wasn’t easy to be in the city without financial assistance from the parents and Jenelyn even experienced being hungry for two days, and that was her eye-opener! She didn’t want to be poor anymore! As a student, her monthly allowance of five hundred dollars from her American sponsor was more than enough to afford the luxury she needed.

“I’m not comfortable to get naked in front of a man, Ursal.” She stated. It could be true that she was desperate for money but she could never use her body like that.

“Silly. Who told you to be naked? We don’t have to use our body now, but our brain.” Jenelyn tapped her head with her finger and Catherine smiled. “Do you believe I’ve got no brains because I was slow in class?”

“Yes,” Catherine answered, and it was Jenelyn’s turn to laugh.

“I like your sense of humor and I’m sure that it won’t be hard for you to find a sponsor.” There were a lot of Americans in their late forties or even late fifties who looked for a young prospect to be their girlfriend.

“Can you teach me?” She asked.