The boy splatters the paint. Colors of red, blue, yellow, and white drip slowly on the canvas. Suddenly, my throat feels dry. Averting my eyes, I notice that it's almost evening so I turn the laptop off.

Thunk

My heart skips a beat due to the sound. A mouse suddenly bolts from the display. It seems that one of the picture frames has fallen.

The fallen frame looks like a family picture. Respectable in their clothes are the young couple as a young boy is in between the two of them. The man in the picture isn't particularly smiling, but it resembles father a lot. Maybe, the only difference is the one in the present's always straight-faced. On the other hand, the woman in the picture is dressed in a lacey dress.

"Fair skin, deep-set eyes, and a woman of classic fashion." Anne's voice resounded in my head.

Could this be my mother?

If that's so, I must be the child.

My attention goes to the picture next to it, a picture of father and Anne. Seeing him in a polo shirt and caprice is news it's starting to bug me. What's more, unlike the first picture, there is this big smile plastered on his face.

I think I understand it now. Father doesn't love my biological mother. That's why they ended in divorce.

A three-layered drawer lies under the display. I open the topmost part, but it won't budge, and so is the second one. They are locked. But I wanted to see more pictures, so I exert a great amount of force. Fortunately, the drawer opens.

No signs of dirt, dust, or cobwebs are visible. Inside, there is a picture frame with the date March 2027 written in bold at its back. I get it.

"Hmm?"

A boy with fair skin and short hair is in the picture. Wait, isn't this me? I look very young.

Sitting next to me is another boy. His hair is tapered to the side, and his eyes are almost unnoticeable. Who's this?

The back of my throat itches, and the sensation of thirst returns. I put the frame down. I go outside the library.

"Where is him?" a brusque voice asks.

Father?

"He's in his room. He must be tired from the meeting earlier."

I rush downstairs. Behind the ratan couch stands father with a fierce and manly look on his face. I offer my hand for a blessing.

"Good afternoon, father," I say.

Slap!

He brushes my hand away.

His narrowed and gnarling eyes clash with mine.

"I—"

"What are you doing?!" the voice comes from the side.

In the corner of my eyes, Anne bangs the spatula to the granite counter. "Please. Don't hurt him."

"Don't meddle with things Anne. This  talk is with this boy!"

I return to my senses. The cold feeling I'm experiencing is due to my sprawled position on the floor. My nails are dug onto the surface of the tiles.

"You're always like that. Matt is your son, but you never treated him right." she comes closer to him. "What's wrong with you?"

His expression lightens.

"I give him more than enough. I give him an education. I feed him food. I provide him with clothes. And I even let him stay in my house, even though his damn mother didn't want to take responsibility."

They're fighting because of me, right?

No.

Anne points her finger at him. "Those are just basic things. Materialistic. But do you even give him your attention?" 

"What are you saying? Of course, I do."

"Do you support his hobbies? His aspiration?"

He nods. "I want him to be a businessman because I want him to inherit the position as the CEO of the company."

I have to do something before this gets heated.

"Fool!"

"Wha—"

Rising from the floor, I prepare to shout. "Stop fighting."

Father and Anne both look at me. Father glares while Anne widens hers. In a moment, I find myself between them.

"Matt!"

"Please stop fighting," I say.

I glance at her. "I'm fine."

I return my gaze to father. "Please, I don't want to see you arguing..." because of me.

"You..."

"I'm sorry, father."

A hot sensation explodes in my face. At once, my body falls onto the cold surface, and Father's enraged expression fronts me. His clenched fist trembles. He punched me, didn't he?

"What are you do—"

Before Anne can finish, father gestures his next move. So I bring my arms to my face.

Boom!

I jolt to the loud sound. Out of nowhere, a tingling sensation creeps into my stomach. My eyes are wide open but everything is a blur, and the ground seems to be shaking like I'm on a rowboat.

"What are..."

"You..."

"H..."

Father and Anne's voices fade from my hearing.

A man and a woman are standing in front of me. The man is clean-shaven and wears long sleeves while holding a coat in his left arm. On the other hand, the woman is in a black slit dress. Strange, her face is vague.

"So you're giving him consensus for his misbehavior." the woman says, swaying the glass toward the man.

The man stands firm.

"So what if he isn't the valedictorian? Our son did his best and that's all that matters," he says. "Besides, he's the salutatorian of his batch. Aren't you happy?"

"Happy?" she chuckles. "Being a salutatorian is a trivial thing." she takes a sip. "He should've spent less time playing his dumb games if he really wanted to be valedictorian."

The face of the man becomes wrinkled.

"He hadn't come out of the library because he's reading books all day. All because you're forcing him. You know what? It's not his fault. It's yours. You're putting your frustrations him."

"How dare you?! Leave the house."

"Fine" 

He walks to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder.

"Matt... matt..."

From a distance, I can hear the faint sound of the voice. I open my eyes. The light from the ceiling outcasts the figure, but I'm able to recognize the face. It's Anne. Her face is scrunched and wrinkled, but her gaze remains soft as ever.

"Can you sit for a second?" she says.

"Yeah."

My body feels hot, and I feel like I'm floating. She gives a blue tablet. 

"Here. Drink this."

"Am I sick?"

"Yes. Drink that in order for you to get better."

"Ok."

She draws a quarter of water to my mouth, and I drink just enough to swallow the pill. Instantly, bitterness fills in my mouth. I return lying. 

"What time is it?" I ask.

"It's 8 in the morning. You should rest more."  she places a towel on my forehead. "I'll just go make food for you." 

"Wait. Where is father?"

"He's in the company as usual."

"Yesterday's not a dream, right?"

"Everything that happened is real."

Like I thought. "Do you think that my decision angered him?"

"Of course it would anger him. You saw how he reacts about your passion for art."

"But I didn't do anything wrong, right?"

Anne kneels beside my bed. Shortly, she starts caressing my head.

"No. You're only doing what you think's right, and there's nothing wrong with that. If there's anyone wrong, it's your father." she rolls her eyes. "Really, don't bother about it."

"I'm confused. Although I have amnesia, I feel this strange connection to him, and I don't want to destroy that." I look at her. "What should I do? I don't want to hurt either of you or him. I don't want to destroy your relationship."

"We can handle ourselves, Matt so think about yourself instead. Follow your heart."

"Me?" 

The answer is simple and plain. 

"I want to do art. That's... that's what I want."

"Then do it."

"But how?"

The gentle smile she'll always do takes over her face once more.

"Father isn't fond of my choice, and I don't want to make things hard for him."

"Well, it's true that you should respect him since he's your parent, but you should honor yourself too. Honor yourself by giving in to your aspiration. But in order for you to achieve that, do you remember the meeting yesterday?"

"About my departure to Vex City?"

She bobs her head.

"Are you saying I should take it?"

"Of course. When you're there, no one can hinder your love for art, most especially not your father. And wouldn't it make things easier for him? He won't be distressed about your art anymore. Although there's nothing wrong in that in the first place."

"But I've already declined their offer."

"Don't worry, I'm sure that they will be delighted when I tell them."

Bzzzt... Bzzzt...

The phone beside my bed rings.

"I'll pick it up," Anne says.

With the heat and the dizzying feeling that I'm experiencing, I close my eyes.

"Hello?"

"Ah. Yes. This is Anne. Matt's guardian. What is it?"

Who's she talking to?

"Yes."

"Uh-huh."

"Ok. I'll tell him. If he can, we'll attend the ceremony. Thank you."

I open my eyes. Anne is standing in front of the table, smiling, while holding the receiver. Maybe it's a close friend.

"Goodbye." 

 

"Who's that?" I ask.

"It's from your school."

"School?"

Bzzzzzzt bzzzzzzt

The phone resounds again.

"Who's it this time? Hello?"

"This is Ms. Perez."

Out of nowhere, the smile she has is immediately replaced by a squint. Then, she leans toward the table.

"That's terrible," she says.

"Yes. Actually, I'm about to call the office right now, but since you've already called, I should give you a reply."

"Yes. We already talked about it and Matt agreed to accept the offer."

"I know."

"Thank you. Goodbye."

The call is finished. She walks to my bed.

"So?" I ask.

"The first call is from your school. They called to inform us that the moving up ceremony will be next Friday."

"Moving up?"

"You're aware of graduation, right?"

"Yeah. Graduation is for students but moving up?"

"Moving up is the term they use for junior high school. It's exactly like a graduation ceremony minus the toga."

"Ok?"

"So do you want to attend the ceremony?"

"Sure."

"Then you have to lower your fever. And if you wanted to go to the ceremony, you must also attend the practice to know what you're going to do there."

"It's fine."

"And for your knowledge, the second call is from Malacañang."

Really? "Why did they call?"

"They found in a research that a Sken who hasn't learned how to control his ability has a greater chance of dying."

"Dying?"

"That's what they said."

"...I don't want to die just yet."

She crosses her arm. "Uh-huh. I told them about your decision and guess what?"

"They're confused?"

"They're happy. Actually, they will send the list of schools in Vex City so you can choose."

"That's great." I guess.

"True. So for that, it's a good idea to start learning about their culture while it's still your vacation."