"Julie—is that you?" my mother asks
without turning around.
"Yeah, don't worry." I was hoping to sneak
the box right by her. I'm not in the mood to
have a talk about what's inside. "what are
you looking at?"
"It's Dave again," she whispers, peering
through the blinds. "I've been watching him
set up new security cameras outside his
house."
"Oh?"
"it's exactly like I expected."
Dave is our neighbor who moved in six
months ago. For some reason, my mother
thinks he was sent to watch us. She's been
paranoid ever since she received a letter
from the government a few years back, the
contents of which she refuses to share
with me. "It's better if you don't know," she
said when I asked. I think it has something
to do with a lecture she gave at her old job
that incited protests. Her students went
around campus smashing clocks on every
wall. What were they protesting? The
concept of time. To be fair on her part, she
said her students " didn't get it." But the
university decided her teaching style was
too radical and let her go. She is convinced
they reported her to the government. " The
same thing happened to Hemingway," She
explained to me. "But no one listened to
him. Fascinating story. You should
google it."
" I heard someone broke into his garage
the other week," I say to relax her.
" That's probably the reason for the
cameras"
" How convenient," my mother says.
" we've lived here for almost what, three
years now? No one has taken as much as
a lawn gnome."
I readjust the box to that's starting to
feel heavy. " Mom—we've never owned a
lawn gnome," I say. *Thankfully*.
" And we also don't collect vintage sports
cars."
" Whose side are you on again?"
" Ours," I assure her " Just tell me our
plan to take him out."
My mother releases the blinds and sighs.
"I get it ... I'm being paranoid." He takes a
deep breath, released it like her yoga
instructor taught her, and looks at me.
" Anyway, I'm glad you're up," she says.Her
eyes flash to the clock above the fridge.
" I was about to head out, but I can't make
you something if you're hungry. Eggs?" she
slides towards the stove.
The electric kettle begins to boil. A bag of
coffee sits near the sink beside a teaspoon.
" No— I'm fine."
" Are you sure?" my mother insists. her hand hovering over the handle of a clean pan. " I can make you something else. Let me think.... " She seems more rushed than usual. I glance down the counter and see a stack of ungraded papers. They recently finished midterms at the university in town where my mother works. She's is asn assistant professor in their philosophy department . It was one of the few places that interviewed her after the incident. Thankfully, one of her old colleagues is tenured there and put his name on the line .
One mistake and they both could lose their jobs
" Actually I'm on my way out" I keep glancing at the clock, trying to appear to be in a hurry. The longer I linger around, the more questions she can throw at me.
" Out of the house?" my mother asks. she shuts off the electric kettle and wipes her hands with a dish towel.
" Just for a walk"
"Oh... Okay. I mean, that's good." For the past week my mother's have been bringing meals up my room and checking in several times a day. So I'm not suprised to hear the note of concern in her voice.
" And I'm meeting a friend."
" fantastic." My mother nods. " you could use the fresh air, get some decent coffee. And it's good to see your friends. That reminds me, have you talked to Mr. Lee at the bookstore?"
" Not yet..." I haven't really spoken to anyone.
" you should check in with him if you can. At least let him know you're okay. He's left a few messages."
" I know—"
" Some of your teachers, too."
I grab my bag from a hook on the wall. " Don't worry, Mom, I'll talk to them tomorrow."
" You mean, you're going back to school?"
" I have to," I say. " If i miss another week they won't let me graduate."
Not to mention I'm behind on all my schoolwork, which keeps piling up. I really need to focus again, and pull myself together, because what else am I supposed to do? The world keeps moving, no matter what happens to you.
" Julie, don't you worry about any of that, " my mother says. " they'll understand if you need more time. In fact" —she holds a finger— " let me make a call." She turns in a circle, looking around. " Where is that thing ... "
A/N- dito sa chapter 1 page 3 medyo mahaba haba sya but in the next page is balik naman sya sa maliit or kayo pili kayo kung anong mas maganda yung mahaba or yung maliit just comment kung anong piliin nyo.....