He's in a very tough battle to stay awake when his eyes scream sleep. After class, he went to the convenience store where he works and immediately took a quick nap before his night shift.
It was already ten pm when he got home.
"Normal respiration rates for an adult at rest range from twelve to sixteen breaths per minute, breathing rates of below 12 or above 20 can mean a disruption in the normal breathing process" he coherently mumbled as he yawned again.
Of all the different jobs in the world, Talin's dream was to become a Cardiologist, he studied so hard for the scholarship examinations and he got what he wanted.
"Don't you dare attempt to go to sleep, you still can't" he reminded himself as he tried to focus on the food that he was eating.
Instead of studying earlier, he has forsaken his weekly exams and now it's starting to face him like a girlfriend finding out if he cheated. He felt so pointless that he forgot he still had fifteen topics to read to catch up for the coming exams. The exams happen after the weekend. And no girl even wants him. If his old classmates loved to bully him, so is his love life.
"Focus Tal, girls are only distractions just like your old crush." He started to open his book, silently reading, holding a spoon and fork while he was eating.
"What's with her? She acted strangely, why would she blink at me?" He murmured while pointing his fork in the air.
"Nevermind, Get a grip on yourself Tal! P-R-I-O-R-I-T-I-E-S! Focus! He stood up from the dining table and slightly slapped his face and did a shoulder stretch with some toe touch. He thought that his body and mind would cooperate after he did some movements. He went straight to his room and chose to read his books on his bed.
He chose to pursue Cardiology to enrich his knowledge and to fulfill his mom's dream for him. But he didn't expect that the career path that he chose would bring him much more stress and worsen the torments that he's already facing. But giving up was never part of his options. Ves' promise to uplift Tal's state of life.
He remembered Mr. Buenaventura's offer. It's not his first time being offered by a teacher to join a team to represent the school but his shy and introverted self obviously turned down the school principal's proposal. His mind still considers the offer and he will make sure that he will make the right decision so that he will not regret it sooner or later.
He has heard that two of his classmates, Rakel Shanaa and another girl from the class were also members of the debate team. Rakel was the undefeated debate queen since high school, he wanted to fight her and show the other students but he was a coward, he had no guts. All he could do was live inside his shell. All alone.
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath trying to focus on his study. He fixed his hair as he imagined hearing his classmates' noises. The classroom always gets noisy every passing second when a teacher leaves. It sounded like his classmates were in a wet market.
No-one stopped talking even if one classmate begged them to stop. He was already in college but it never felt like it. A new environment and a prestigious school but the same noises that a usual class makes. But this time he was no longer bullied or maybe not yet. He believed that his classmates and schoolmates were old enough to understand that bullying a person is not normal and will never be. Even the old ones get bullied for every little thing they do or an unusual feature that they have. It's either what you do or what you look like. Talin was about to fall asleep on his bed but he heard an approaching noise from the hallway.
"COME BACK HERE! You bitch! The angry Gayo shouted coming from his room. He's holding his dirty slippers as he runs to chase the rat. He almost slipped on a slightly wet floor. But the rat didn't stop running as her mouth secured a piece of a small biscuit she stole from Gayo's desk.
"Come back here! Give me back my Fita! I've been wanting to eat that throughout the day!"
The rat escaped him.
"Arck! I just want to study peacefully!" Talin shouted to Gayo, opening his door after he heard the sound of the dirty slipper that Gayo accidentally threw at his door.
"Sorry bro, peace out okay? I was just chasing the bitchy mouse that stole my precious midnight snack" Gayo apologized.
"Have you forgotten your night curfew? Why are you still awake at this late hour? Aren't you supposed to be asleep at ten? He asked his younger brother.
"I cannot sleep early this past few weeks bro, how can I sleep knowing that I'm hiding something from mom"
"Anyways, don't forget tomorrow's your day off and that means you will be my tutor" Gayo reminded his older brother while making a facial expression with a beautiful eye.
Talin told him to go back to his room. Gayo proceeded to walk to the hallway towards his room. He needs to go back as soon as possible before Mrs. Cuevas finds out he's still awake or else she'll confiscate Gayo's phone and keep it for a week. But before going back, he went to scan for food in the fridge as he heard his stomach rumble.
Gayo used to sleep late a lot when he was just 13 and got admitted into the hospital for anemia, since that experience Mrs. Cuevas got strict with Gayo's sleeping schedule. She would always go to Gayo's room after ten in the evening to check if he was asleep.
Talin after that found himself wanting to sleep and walked straight in the direction of his bed. Not far away from his room's door.