Why Does Love Hurt?

Mariely called Rodel today to ask about Shaina's condition, as Mariely heard her student lived nearby. 

Mariely sighed first before asking the person in front of her. "Rodel, I heard you live close to Shaina's house. Tell me, is she okay?" Mariely asked, no longer hesitating with her questions.

She heard Rodel also sigh before answering. "Yes, I can't explain to you if she has a problem."

Mariely noticed that he took something else, a pen and paper, and Rodel wrote something there.

"Shaina's address is... If you don't know that address, I can accompany you anytime on Saturday or Sunday." Rodel says this while handing Mariely the piece of paper containing Shaina's address.

Mariely just nodded. "Okay, I'll call you when I'm on my way to your place."

Rodel just nodded. "You can go back now. Thank you." She smiled faintly at her student.

It just quietly came out. 

Mariely just sighed and rubbed her forehead. She has a review tomorrow, so she can't go to where Shaina lives now. She also couldn't call her parents because it was always outside her coverage area.

Is that child making fun of me? She couldn't help but ask herself. She just sighed again. 

In the afternoon, her brother picked her up.

"What happened?" Nathan noticed that wary face of hers.

She just shook her head in response to her brother's question now. "You're thinking deeply, huh?" Nathan was teasing her, and she even heard him chuckle softly.

She then turned to his brother; she still didn't tell him that Frank had driven her home last week, fearing that her brother would scold her.

"Young people are so lucky these days, aren't they, brother?" she suddenly blurted out.

"Why?" Mariely noticed that Nathan looked confused and curious about what she was saying at that moment.

"You see, the government is the one paying for their education now, because the government has a scholarship program." Mariely starts to explain it to her brother, who is listening to her attentively. 

"I'll guess your students are not serious about their education, do they?" Nathan tried to guess the problem.

"No, brother, I'm just wondering why the child's absence isn't clear, and besides, the parents keep giving the same reason about an emergency and no one to leave the siblings with." She just sighed and shook her head.

"Maybe they have a problem we don't know about; that's why they're like that. What happens when a child is always absent?" He asked her more curiously.

"That student may lose the scholarship. I just can't find the parents of that child. They have a phone number, but they don't answer; it just keeps ringing." Mariely just scratches her head when she thinks about those things.

"You know, you're stressed, you need to rest, and you still have to review tomorrow." Nathan reminds her about the review.

They made it home. "Mom, Dad." Mariely showed respect to her parents when they arrived at their home. 

"Rest for a while." Her brother messed up her hair even more. 

"Thank you, brother." She just sighed.

Nathan just smiled at her. She immediately entered the room. Mariely just sat down, wondering what good she could do for the students under her care.

Someone suddenly knocked on her door. Mariely immediately opened it. Her mother immediately appeared, carrying a bag.

"What's that, Mom?" She asked curiously.

"Here's the uniform you had tailored." Her mother gave that bag to her.

"Eh? Is this it?" Mariely just said it; she suddenly got excited now. She just smiled. "Thank you, Mom. Did Auntie send these uniforms?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, it's a good thing her sewing shop isn't too busy," her mother answered her. "Try to measure it so that if there are any adjustments, she can adjust it right away." Her mother also said.

She just nodded immediately. She resembles a student eager to try on her uniform. 

XXX

"Why didn't you tell your teacher the truth, Shaina?" Rodel's mom asked her.

Shaina is at Rodel's house right now. She knows lying to her advisor is wrong, but this was the only way to excuse it. She didn't say anything and looked at Rodel.

"Does Ma'am know the truth?" She asked Rodel.

Rodel shook his head at her. "I didn't say it, but maybe Ma'am Celestial will visit here tomorrow or on Sunday." It finally said something.

"A—Are you kidding?" She couldn't help but ask about it.

"I'm not kidding. Would you consider taking steps to clarify your current situation? Will you accept those?" Rodel asked her again that question that she had already heard many times. 

"Shaina, it's preferable to be honest; what's the harm?" Rodel said. "Also, I know she's not the other advisor we knew before." She heard Rodel say it and only shook his head.

She didn't speak anymore. 

Rodel's mother is kind to her; she welcomes her into their home and feeds her. 

"Shaina, you must tell your advisor, or you may lose the scholarship you need to graduate." Rodel's mother was also worried while looking at her.

"It's not bad to work, Shaina, but also consider that you are still a student and studying." Rodel just sighed at her.

She only looked at her younger siblings. Shaina can't abandon her siblings. She needed to make a decision; she didn't want her little siblings to starve either.

Rodel patted her on the back and nodded to her, indicating that everything would be alright. 

While she was doing laundry, it was Sunday, and she needed to earn money, and she was absent again tomorrow. Before she went to work on Tuesday, she would make sure they had food first. 

Shaina's at home now and was about to get ready. She heard Rodel calling her, so she went out immediately.

She saw that Rodel had company. Shaina was surprised that their advisor actually visited. She was no longer able to speak, and their eyes met. 

"Shaina." The advisor just smiled gently at her.

Even though she was embarrassed, she let their teacher into their humble home.

"S - Sorry, Ma'am." Shaina just scratched her head.

Mariely just shook her head at her. "Where are your parents, Shaina?" She asked her in turn.

Shaina was still hesitant to answer; Rodel was just listening to them now. 

"Ma'am, I'll leave you for a while." Rodel is saying goodbye to them.

"Thank you, Rodel." Her teacher smiled while saying it.

Mariely sat down, and Shaina remained silent. "I—I don't have any parents anymore, Ma'am. My siblings and I are now completely orphaned." Shaina said she couldn't look her teacher in the eyes because she was really embarrassed about what she was doing.

Mariely's eyebrows furrowed. "I just made up the letter I'm writing, and the number I gave you is also mine." She admitted it.

Shaina even showed her broken phone. Her teacher didn't answer and just looked at her; instead of being frustrated with her, she felt pity.

"Aren't the rumors true that you have a child and are living together?" She asked her.

"N—No, Ma'am, I'm taking care of my younger siblings, and besides, I'm working as a laundrywoman, so sometimes they think I have a live-in partner or a child." She immediately shook her head there.

She just nodded at her when she understood. "I'm absent because I need to earn money before I go to school on Tuesday; I don't want my siblings to go hungry." Shaina was able to explain her situation.

"Don't worry about your scholarship; I spoke to the principal first before deciding to remove you from your scholarship because I still need to find out the root cause of your absences." Mariely also said something reassuring to her about her scholarship.

"Also, we'll find a way to solve your problem." Mariely even smiled at her. "What's your suggestion?" she asked her in turn.

"I—I just wanted to be a working student, b—but I don't know who to approach for my w—working student application." Shaina expresses her idea to her teacher.

"Working student," Shaina saw, and Mariely thought deeply. "Let's assist you in securing a job that suits your needs and protects you from abuse. Also, I'll talk to Ma'am about your situation, okay? Once we've resolved the issue, please concentrate on your studies." Mariely said it to her and smiled at her.

"Thank you very much, Ma'am." Suddenly, tears just started flowing down her face.

"It's okay, I'm glad you told me; it's never too late, Shaina." She feels that her teacher patted her back gently.

She sobbed into her palm and then had someone to talk to about the problem she was carrying. 

"It's okay, it's okay." Her adviser speaks to her calmly. 

After Shaina spoke with Miss Celestial, she left as well, even giving her money for her and her siblings to eat. It was embarrassing, but she accepted it. 

"Good thing you told the truth." She heard a voice.

Shaina just nodded at Rodel, who was carrying another dish that she would eat for dinner.