Chapter 1 - Grandma's House

I hate being poor! Now, the fact that we don’t have money seems to have slapped me. We don’t have our own house. We are just tenants. And now it's gone. Mama and papa rented a truck to take our things home (which we don't have a home now). I took my laptop and other things in my packbag and Maggie, mama and I were going to board the bus (papa went with the truck).

The flight to Alegria takes nine hours. We would change buses three times before getting there. Maggie and I have only been there three times. The last time we went was when I was only in grade six so I can't remember what it was like there. As far as I know, my grandmother and grandfather's house was there. Only auntie Precy lives there, dad’s only sister. She has no children (unmarried).

"Are you okay?" I asked my sister Maggie.

She had been crying a lot as he looked out of the bus window, she had been like this for three hours. I turned to mama before speaking (mama is asleep so it's okay).

“Just leave James alone. He will understand that too. ” I said.

James is Maggie's boyfriend. They were only five months old and the guy was dead set on her. I must say, dead dead really! Maggie is always being driven and picked up to the university she was attending and sometimes even went home to bring her food. Maggie turned down James twice because she didn't like the handsome and rich guys, but James was really persistent.

"Annoying! Were so poor! ” She said almost in a whisper. "We can move to a cheaper house, the 3 thousand a month, James and I were even looking for it…"

Even though Maggie was upset, she couldn't tell that to my parents because she didn't want to hurt them.

“James told me he would visit me next week but I did not consent it! He might use his car, 9 hours sis, 9 hours! Imagine ?! Maybe something else will happen to him in the middle of the trip. ” Gosh, shes so overdramatic!!

"Magg… Just tell him to take the bus so you don't have to worry about that." duh!

Nine hours later, we arrived at Alegria!

The hilllllls are alive with the sound of musiiiic! Grrrr! Annoying! I just want to run and roll in the mountains that I can see. Pure green and without even a single building. You can see a house but it's almost gone!

But it's crazy, there is a 'town' in the distance where Grandma's House stands. When we arrived in the center of Alegria, I saw a variety of old houses, churches, playgrounds or parks (with dates), houses that the owner seemed capable of living, and the HOUSE OF GRANDMA.

“Adele! come in! ” Auntie Precy said to mama as papa pointed inside.

Dad arrived first. Of course because there is no stop over for the rented truck. Boxes with our names on them are already laid out. Maggie was there and waved and excitedly entered the house.

You don't seem to be crying before, do you?

“Oh my godd! Margaret and Roseanne are already so big! ” Auntie Precy hugged me.

I removed my earphones and immediately looked at my blackberry cellphone. Thank you Auntie Precy and don't mispronounce my name. I prefer to be called ‘Rosie’, because people tend make a mistake when using Roseanne. Sometimes Rose-Anne, sometimes Roseen, sometimes Rosyan, but the real pronunciation of it is Ro-shan! I sighed.

omo! There is a signal here! We are not far from civilization !!! Maggie was there and saw me looking at the cellphone so she grabbed her cellphone and immediately called James.

“Roseanne, Margaret! Come and Help me in the kitchen! ” Said Auntie Precy.

BAHAY NI LOLA has a few cobwebs. Auntie Precy repaired it when I was in grade six, the column at the bottom was cemented, but the one at the top is still wood. The windows are French windows but the old version. The decoration is small even though BAHAY NI LOLA is really big. Just a cabinet with only books, sofa and table, TV, frame with a picture of grandma and grandpa, that's it!

The kitchen, on the other hand, has an old sink, cupboard and refrigerator.

"There's electricity here!" I said after entering the kitchen.

Maggie smiled. “Sis, did you know? He's going here! It looks like he's going to take a bus. He said that he would come here after 2 weeks so that I can have the time to explain to mama and papa that I already have a boyfriend. ”

Gosh! Sis is Enjoying her lovelife while here I am? single is life. My ghaadd!!!

Fortunately, I'm here in the-hills-are-alive!

"Rosie, Maggie and you will be sharing a room okay?."Mom said. "If you want to get dressed, just go there." At the same time he pointed upwards.

IS THERE NO GHOST HERE? It looks scary!

"Don't let Rosie help you there, Precy. It would be a disaster! She almost burned down the house last Christmas when she tried to bake a cake!!”

"Come on mom, it not my fault that the stove's fire suddenly turn up!!"

"So no the stove has hands and mind on their own Rosie??"

Hmmppp..I just shook my head and went to the bedroom. Dad was in the other room so it was okay, no ghosts!

There is a double deck bed in the bedroom and there is also a study table and cabinets for Maggie and I.

I sat in the bottom-bunk and looked out the big window and stared outside.

The sun is going down. I can’t believe I’m in this place! It's like I'm working on Manila buildings, traffic, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, now, it's like I want to throw away my laptop. No use here… Tsk tsk tsk.

This is good too. Away from Lloyd.

It's only been a month since I started school again and I'm in my 6th year, do you think he'll realize I'm missing? I don’t have any friends so I did not told anyone. Maggie, on the other hand, seems to have only told James. Poor Maggie, we stopped going to college because of our the-hills-are-alive adventure. Can we still return to Manila? Gooshh!!

The most important question is… is there a school here? Alegria Elementary School? LOL!

I shook myself.

"Its not bad." Maggie said suddenly as she entered the room. “The only bad thing about what happened today is that James and I will be apart. That's all. As for you, it's good that you and Lloyd break up because he's a freak… Forget hi- “

"My ghad Maggie! How can I forget him when you are always mentioning him??" I said and grinned. “BTW, that’s the first good thing you ever told me. You’re always like, ‘maybe he has reasons to leave you’, ‘maybe he’s bitter because he still loves you’… ”I shook my head again.

Maggie is so kind she thinks that everyone is kind. She did not know that there were others out there that are hypocrites and users.

Maggie suddenly hugged me.

“We can do this sis… You are going to study at your new school! I'm excited for you! ” She grinned and when I saw it, my eyebrows meet. "Cheer up!"

"Is there a private school here?" I ask.

“Silly girl! This is not Manila. There is no private school here. But lucky you, you will get to experience going in to a public school, hehehhehe” she winked.

Translations:

BAHAY NI LOLA -. Grandmother's House

SINGLE IS LIFE - Being single is what we call life.

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