Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Author: Back To High School: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Beep. Beep. The sound of the monitors was all that was heard in the white walled room where the woman lay on the bed. Her eyes were closed. Red, spider-like blood vessels on her yellowed and bruised skin, and a tube stuck inside her throat helping her breathe. By the bedside sat a man, holding her swollen hand, bringing it to his lips as he said a prayer with his dark eyes closed. ‘Please don’t leave..’ He wasn’t sure if he was heard, all he could do was hope. A tear slid down her face. Then suddenly, all the alarms in all monitors attached to her body blared. “NURSE! NURSE! 

“Dawn? You’re up?” A woman’s voice pierced the silence.   She jolted. Her neck whipped as she turned to see the woman dressed in sleeping attire.   She searched the girl’s memories. Anita Flores. The family’s house helper. Maid.   Although she had grown up in a biracial family in the past, she has never experienced being waited on by a maid. Back then, her mom managed the household and assigned chores to her and her siblings. At 18 years old, she was able to move out and rent her own apartment. Their family is of the middle-class but as her dad had always reiterated, why would they need to hire a maid if they could do it themselves.  

“I’m ready~Let’s go, lola?” Dawn took her grandmother’s bag and wore it on her shoulder.   “Okay..Estela! We’re leaving now.” Isidora called out to her daughter.   “Ma, I’ll be back right away..”   “Okay! Hold your grandmother, alright?”   “Yup!”  

“Please be seated..” The woman spoke to the microphone from the choir’s seating area.   Sounds of movement resounded in the walls of the church.   Every minute sound was magnified tenfold.   The cup the priest was holding was clanking each time it was bumping against another item.   Several kneelers slammed against its front pews.   A few babies cried. A toddler threw a tantrum. A baby was mesmerized by his voice echoing, testing it every so often. A person sneezed so hard, one would think his nose would fall off. A person having a fit of cough. Another yawned, followed b

The two wordlessly walked all the way to the bus stop. They didn’t know what to talk about. It got even more awkward when the neighbors saw them walking together.   “Giancarlo! Where are you off to?”   “Uh.. Nowhere. I’ll be back in a bit.”   “Oh.. wait, you’re with Dawn?”   Dawn glanced at another teenage boy. She nodded at him stiffly.   “It’s okay, I can g