When Everything Fails (De Chavez #2)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THIS IS the day. I muttered under my breath as I trudged out of my room. Today is the foundation day of the Clark Academy and all students were so worked up for the activities and booths our school permitted us to do. Our classroom officers agreed to make a booth wherein we will be selling healthy snacks and fruity liquid beverages. Though, I will not be in charge to manage the booth since the SSG was all busy with the other activities. There is also a set of sports competitions which will be held in the gymnasium and of course, Kei will be the team captain of our batch in the boys' basketball division. Sadly, I wasn't the sporty type of student so Sue will be the captain for the girls' volleyball division.

It took me several gulps before I proceeded downstairs since excitement was taking over my entire mood. I could feel the clenching of the pit of my stomach as I ponder for the activities that we reckoned to be successful. Considering that this foundation day was the most anticipated event in our school— not included the holiday camp, some students were so agitated with the idea of it. The past SSG Administration set the expectation of the students too high so I'd paid all my attention to this one.

My movement came to a sudden halt when I saw my father, holding a bottle of scotch in hand, sulking on the couch by the six inches flat-screen TV. My chest clenched painfully as I gripped tightly onto my bag as I stared blankly at my father's glum expression. Tears have smeared all over his pretty face as he took another chug of his scotch. I dared to make a move toward him but I stopped halfway when he groaned and tears spill out of the rims of his eyes. Heat clipped into my heart as tears prickled at the back of my eyes. The wind that slipped in from the open window gusted upon my stilled body. I didn't know as to why I could not move; my eyes were all on him. The painful realization stabbed me right through my chest when my eyes flicked to the TV by his side. Bitterness and anger fused as they chased down my throat, milking out all the energy left in my body.

The headline in the news was: Dorothea Pineda, the ex-wife of the actor Marshall Angeles is engaged with her long-time partner Leo Hernandez.

"Fuck," a curse rumbled out of my throat as I saw her bright face on the screen. My voice was chapped with the bitterness that lodged in my throat. I drew a breath and I had to hold onto the table nearby for me not to collapse.

Pain, sadness, bitterness, and anger. Those are the emotions concocted together to drain every energy in my body. Tears burned the rim of my eyes as they streamed down to my cheeks. She looked so happy, I realized. The smile she casts and the glistening of her eyes told me how the idea made her so happy. The raging anger that scraping through the pit of my stomach provoked me to dash toward the TV and turned it off. My father was a masochist, I realized. When the blaring sound of the TV abruptly turned off, the attention of my father snapped to me. His eyes were glistening for another series of tears threatening to trickle down his cheeks. I chewed the back of my bottom lip to stop myself from crying. The excitement that lodged in me had instantly faded like a drop of water placed in a scorching desert.

"Oh, Aisha!" Papa's voice quivered. The sadness seeped through his voice as he tried to rise to his feet.

My expression reflected nothing but the outer surface of all this— coldness... nonchalance... anything but pain and sadness. That was the outer surface, the facade I'd always wear. But I was wondering if how long it last before this facade breaks and shows the vulnerability underneath it. I sucked in a breath, knees slightly wobbling due to the internal turmoil I was suffering. However, instead of wallowing into the chaos brought by the news flashed on the screen awhile back, I gathered all the splinters of strength that scattered on the ground beneath my feet.