Flowing Rhythm

Prologue

"Roella, take it easy with the drinking. You might not be able to go home later," my friend Jeisha scolded me.

"Come on, we're celebrating!" I pulled her hand and danced.

We just won the debate, and we deserve to celebrate after all the hard work we've been through! Especially the torment from Sir Asuncion! I almost cursed him if he didn't let us win!

"Girl, your dad's going to scold you. For sure,e you'll go home drunk again. You might end up throwing up on each other—what is that, your bonding?" Lexi teased me while laughing.

I stopped dancing, rolled my eyes at her, and grabbed my bag from the chair.

"Do you want a ride from Johann?" Jeisha asked, referring to her brother, er, who had a crush on me.

He always bugged me—I don't know why, but ever since I went to their house, he suddenly had a crush on me. Back then, when he'd see me, he didn't even care!

"Don't even start with me," I said, not in the mood, as I put on my bag and said goodbye to them.

I rode a jeepney, and when I got off at the market, I bought something to cook for Papa. He doesn't like it when I come home without food. I just cover the cost because Papa never gives me money. After I bought everything I needed, I headed home. The market is close to our house, so it wasn't a hassle.

Good thing I wasn't too drunk or I wouldn't have been able to do anything properly. I was surprised when I opened the door and Papa was the first thing I saw.

He got home before me!

"Clean the house, Arwin's coming over tomorrow. And buy me some cigarettes too," he ordered, putting coins on the table before sitting down to watch TV.

"How many days is Tito staying over, Pa?" I asked in confusion.

Looks like I'm going to feel like going to school every day just to avoid Papa and Tito at home.

"Days? You mean months—two months!" he said with a laugh.

I fell silent and shook my head. I placed the groceries on the table and went out to buy his cigarettes. When I got back, I cooked, and after we ate, I cleaned while Papa went straight to sleep. I still had research to do later—guess I'm pulling an all-nighter.

I finished cleaning around eleven because I had a breakdown while cleaning. I took a shower and did a quick skincare routine before I messaged Lexi and Jeisha.

roellaellera:
Girl, where are you? Get on the doc so we can finish this tonight.

jeishamae:
Here already, make me an editor

Lexi.on.top:
I'm sleepy, can we just do it tomorrow at the library?

jeishamae:
Hey, this is due tomorrow

roellaellera:
I'm more tired than you, I cleaned the whole house

jeishamae:
That's what you get for drinking

Lexi.on.top:
bitch you were the one who invited us

jeishamae:
oops

We finished at 2 a.m. because we ended up singing. We all slept right after, out of exhaustion. The next morning, I woke up to the noise in the living room.

Great! Looks like Tito's home...

I just showered and got dressed quickly so I could leave right after stepping out of my room.