🏆 LONGLIST - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2022
Vincent Pareja longs for the day when his family won't worry about money and his siblings can go to school without skipping a meal. With his choices limited and with the wage, however small, promises to help h...
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There's more to us than what we have on our hands.
I stuck my hands inside my pockets, hiding their clenched nature. My feet slapped against the bumpy pavement on my way out of the campus. Everywhere I looked, students dressed more or less the same as me ran about with their peers, chatting about the next clothing fad or what games would they play at each other's house during the weekend.
No such thing in my mind, though, mostly because I didn't have the same interests as them.
"Vince!" a familiar call reached my ears. I turned just in time for Jessa to catch up to me, huffing. She propped her hands on her knees and gulped lungfuls of air. Not long after, she whipped up, her dark hair flying in backwards and almost hitting me on the face. "I told you to wait for me!"
I shrugged and continued walking towards the red gate now creeping towards us. The guards had long thrown them wide open the moment a class dismissed and students flooded the school's front yard, demanding to be let out.
Jessa fell into step next to me, fingers tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear. As usual, her uniform was unbuttoned to reveal a white shirt inside. Her black, leather shoes were unbuckled, with the strap scratching the pavement with every step she took.
She told me she'd rather wear platform boots popular with the people on TV rather than her "boring" leather shoes.
I looked down at my tattered shoes with bits and pieces of charol trailing behind me. Well, at least hers were leather.
Still, I wouldn't hold it against Jessa and her complaints. There's more than what we have on our hands but, most of the time, it's hard to think of it that way because this world trained us to assign value based on our possessions. Even as it pains me to admit it, Jessa was included in the said group.
I forced my fists inside my pockets to relax. There's no use whining against Heaven's will. I was born into this family. It's in my best interest to stay in it. No matter how hard things were for us just because we didn't have enough.
Jessa stepped in front of me and waved her hand near my face. I frowned and slapped it away. "What?" I didn't fight the grumbling tone creeping into my voice.
"You spaced out. I doubt you even heard what I just said," she crossed her arms and proceeded to walk backwards just as we walked past the gates and into the bustling street where a random sedan or chevy could burst through at any time. I swear, this girl would get herself killed one of these days.
"Walk properly and maybe I'll answer that question," I brought out my hands from my pocket to grip her arm and swung her beside me so that I was the one in the edge of the pavement.
Jessa stuck her tongue out at me but remained in her place beside me as we walked away from the campus. "So what was your question?" I said while keeping my eyes out on passing cars, tricycles, and jeepneys packed with students wearing the same uniform.
