Talin had just woken up late in the morning. He had trouble getting up. Pursing his lips, he looked grumpy as he picked up his phone to look at the time. It was already eleven in the morning.
He checked his phone for possible notifications from work or school. He received a chat from an unknown dump account. After checking, he lay down again as he could not get enough of the good sleep he had after one week of a wrecked sleeping schedule. He stared at the ceiling with a blank face before deciding to get up from his bed and put on his shirt. Then he went straight downstairs.
The one who messaged him was their class monitor Arvin Yu. He had been ignoring Arvin for a while but the guy really wanted to be his friend. Whenever Talin walks past him, he will say hi knowing Tal always responds with a cold glaze. And either it was midnight or early in the morning, Arvin always chats to him inviting him to play mobile games or maybe hang out at his place.
He would sometimes reply with a no or come up with an excuse. However, most of the time, he wouldn't reply with even a single thumbs up.
After two minutes of being blank-minded sitting on the sofa, Talin went to the kitchen. Mrs. Cuevas was there, she had to cook and prepare the table for his two sons. Tal looked at his mom from a distance. She prepared one simple dish and a hot chicken soup.
"Hi Ma good morning!" Talin greeted his mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Oh Tal good morning! the table is ready, go ahead and call your brother, it's late for breakfast" responded Mrs. Cuevas.
"Sure ma"
Talin took his steps going to his brother's room. He was almost there when he bumped into Gayo's morning face in the hallway. Gayo changed his sleepy face and slightly curled his lips and smiled when he saw his older brother.
"Let us go eat breakfast," Talin said as he walked toward his younger brother and patted his shoulder twice.
"Good morning guys! come on seat, it's late" Mama Cuevas uttered.
The two boys took their seats and put some rice and an egg with an eggplant omelet.
"By the way Gayo, when is your school's grade slip releasing? Mrs. Cuevas asked gladly, looking at her son's face. Gayo could not look in his mom's eyes because of his dropping grades.
"Is there any problem son? You seemed quiet and nervous?"
Gayo just bowed his head while eating, pretending he did not hear his mom's voice. Mrs. Cuevas stopped eating and noticed Gayo's hiding something.
"Seriously son what's the problem?" She worriedly asked.
"I-i got tentative failing grades ma" Gayo responded in a nervous tone of voice.
"If it's unconfirmed it's okay son but be sure to make up for that or you'll take summer lessons, I'm pretty sure you hate that" She replied, glancing at her son's sad face.
Gayo nodded, then continued on eating his food.
"Is that your reason why you don't want me to speak to your friends and your teachers? Lying again huh?" She said while putting some water on Gayo's glass.
"I'm sorry mom but I don't want to cause you more headaches, you've been experiencing too much" Gayo lowered his voice which made Mrs. Cuevas look at him.
The family proceeded to eat quietly.
"What's with the awkward silence? Don't you guys always argue about things like this? Mom, don't worry, I'll be the one to teach Gayo for his remedial exams." Tal assured his mom to uplift her mood.
It worked. Mrs. Cuevas' worried face vanished and changed into a proud smile that she raised her sons to be the helping hands to each other through bad times.
"I'll do good Ma and pass my exams," Gayo said as he picked up his plate and put it into the sink. He also picked up his mother's empty plate.
"I'll wash the plates we used Ma" he suggested and was about to come to pick up Talin's plate but to his shock, his brother went for another meal. Usually, his brother only goes for one meal every time he eats but now he has broken his diet. He did not bother to insist anymore and continued to wash the used plates.
After washing the dishes, he proceeded to his room to get the trigonometry and pre-calculus books. He went closer to his bag and opened it. It was the books that he borrowed from his school's library. Thankfully, the librarian was kind and she let him borrow the books for more than two days.
The usual return of borrowed books from his school only lasts for two days and if more than that, the student will pay a corresponding fee for the extra time he or she took the book after its returning hour. Despite losing his school identification card, he managed to convince the librarian to let him borrow the books.
He sighed nervously as he walked back towards his brother in the kitchen.
"I'm going to prove mom I am also like Tal. I don't want to see them worrying about me or doubting my capabilities in school" After saying these words at length, Gayo left his room.
"Gayoooo! Hurry over here. I still have a lot of things to do" Talin shouted, calling his brother for him to start their lessons. Gayo, upon hearing his older brother calling him, ran immediately to the kitchen. When he came back he saw Tal having such a full mouth eating, he wondered how his brother managed to shout having tons of rice and egg in his mouth.
"Tsk, "I still have a lot of things to do huh?" He laughed at his brother and mocked what he shouted. "Told you we should just study in my room."
Talin pointed out his index finger on the chair that was next to him and moved the chair so that his brother could sit.