Why Does Love Hurt?

Rodel was walking with his cousin Neil when he saw it, and he just sighed.

"Hey." He's calling a woman.

The girl was surprised by his call, so she even turned to look at him. Shaina washes a lot of laundry.

"Our annoying advisor was looking for you today." He sighed.

"I—I'll be coming in tomorrow." She also said to him.

"Did you really have to lie? Do you really need to forge a signature?" His cousin, Neil, couldn't help but ask.

"What am I going to tell them?" Shaina asked them again.

"Stop it, Neil; make sure your work, or what you're involved in, doesn't hinder your studies." Rodel also said here. Furthermore, Shaina, it's crucial that you speak the truth. There's a lot of fake news circulating about you." He even sighed and shook his head.

It didn't answer him. Rodel assessed the condition of his classmate.

"We'll go ahead." He's still saying goodbye to her.

It just nodded at him and continued what it was doing. 

"See you tomorrow." Neil even patted him on the back at that time.

He just nodded, and he was already in front of their home. He immediately closed the gate.

Rodel went straight to his room so he could rest. He still needs to cook now because his mother won't be home until midnight, and no one will take care of him but him.

I need to cook already. He immediately sat up and started taking care of their home. He wasn't born rich, but he ate well enough.

His mother scolds him and asks why he's always in the last section when he's capable of keeping up with the pilot section.

The only reason I am always in the last section is that I enjoy being with the people there. Well, it's our fault why our advisor is giving up on us; it's also because of the laziness we're showing.

But our new adviser is an admirable one, I have to admit, and she has a lot of patience, and we always get scolded. He just said it to himself.

I guess I need to cook more rice too. 

He could only attend a private school because of a government scholarship that covered tuition; he still had to pay for transportation, projects, and activities. The government only covers the tuition fee.

While the tuition is free and covered by the government, we must avoid being absent frequently, or we risk losing our scholarship. He was still thinking about it.

He had advised Shaina several times that she shouldn't always be absent, which is why she was scheduled to be absent every Monday and Friday because she still needed to find a way to earn money.

He understood that, especially with how difficult life is now, you really need to work hard to survive.

"Child," it called him.

He was even more surprised because his mother got home from work early today. "Mom, did you get home early?" he asked her and immediately kissed her hand.

"Ah, our boss didn't make us work overtime today, so I got home early. By the way, I brought some food for us to share." His mother happily told him the truth and placed their shared dish for today on the table.

Rodel took the plate first so they would have something to put their food on today.

"By the way, Shaina will eat here for now." His mother also said to him.

He just nodded. His mother is compassionate towards those in need of help. Shaina has two younger siblings.

He even saw that Shaina was embarrassed.

"Go ahead," he added to their guest.

"Thank you." Rodel saw Shaina carrying her little siblings.

"Mom, let's just wait because my rice isn't cooked yet; we'll eat later."

His mother suddenly hugged him. "Thank you, my child." His hair was messed up even more back then. He simply shook his head in response.

XXX

Mariely called Shaina to the faculty first because she wanted to talk to the child .

"Come on, Shaina." Mariely immediately brought her to the faculty, as they were going to the confessional room first so she could speak to the child privately.

Mariely sat down and had Shaina sit down so they could face each other. She just sighed before she started.

"You know why I called you here today, don't you?" she simply asked with her calm voice.

"Y—Yes, Ma'am, is it because I was absent?" the young woman asked her.

She just nodded and sighed. "There's a possibility you could lose your scholarship. That's why I need to talk to you now." She ended up saying this to the student.

"Do you have a problem with them? Is something bothering you? So you can be absent?" she asked her.

Shaina just shook her head. Mariely knew the student she was talking to had a problem, but she didn't want to force the child to talk because she respected their private life.

She just sighed.

"Shaina, can you give me your parents' number? So I can call them when I need something." 

Shaina was surprised by what she said. But her student just nodded at her and gave her a number. She saw that this number was different from the one in his phonebook, and she frowned.

"Is this really your mom's or dad's number?" she asked her again.

Y—Yes, ma'am. I'm really sorry for my frequent absences; I'll try not to be absent anymore." Shaina said that.

"Shaina, you're a smart child, I know that; next year I'll see you in the pilot section or at least the first section," she added to encourage the child she's facing now.

It didn't answer her, nor could it look her in the eyes. She just sighed.

"Okay, fine, go back to your class now." She said this while gently tapping Shaina's shoulder.

"Thank you, goodbye." It bowed and then went to the respective classroom.

She just nodded. The young woman, Shaina, immediately left and also sighed in relief. 

Mariely also went back to the faculty room.

"Did you have a serious talk with Shaina?" Veron just asked her.

She just shook her head. "I know that child is hiding something and doesn't want to tell the truth about what happened." She just sat down in her chair, facing Veron at that moment.

"Maybe the child is just shy, you know they're in adolescence now," she said to her.

"I know, but if it's serious, would they be embarrassed, and would we misjudge the youth for keeping secrets?" She just blurted it out.

"I hope Miss Mendez doesn't have to be absent again. You know that almost all the children here are on government scholarships and under close monitoring, so we need to find out the reason for their absences so we can provide them with a solution." Veron reminded her.

"That's right. Maybe they're still feeling awkward around me because I'm their new adviser." She could only sigh when she reflected on the situation.

They've heard the bell too. Today, Veron has a class, but she also has some free time afterwards.

"Okay, I need to go. Let's have lunch together today, okay?" Veron even said that.

"I will not wait for you; I'm eating my lunch without you." Mariely even teased Veron, and she smirked.

Veron raised her eyebrows at her without saying anything.

She just laughed, Veron. Veron was her only friend and the person she became closest to in her first job as a teacher, probably because they were both still taking the board exam and were fresh graduates, so she could keep up with her. 

Their coworkers are charming, but they are always Veron's go-to partners for all sorts of mischief. She just shook her head. 

Mariely's weekdays went smoothly until Friday; she was about to check attendance when she received another excuse letter from Shaina.

She just sighed then and accepted the excuse letter.