Chapter 13

New Year passed like a storm. Rowie managed to help her Mom with the expenses, but it was not enough. She would visit her father in jail to chat with him. They were still awkward but she was getting a little hang of it. She started cooking for him, too. In that way, maybe, they would become closer.

Janice was elated to know that her husband changed after what happened but she was still bothered about her husband's situation. She's happy that her family was starting to be whole but she couldn't be ecstatic now that Raven's leukemia was getting worse.

"You should go back to school, Rowie. Vacation's already over. We'll be fine here." Janice told her daughter.

Rowie sighed in defeat. "Okay. Take care, okay? I'll go home to get change." She wanted to stay longer but she's aware that her Mom's right. She needed to attend school after all what's happened.

"Take care." She kissed Rowie on her cheek before letting her go.

Still hesitating, Rowie went home for her uniform.

"Good thing you're here. We heard what happened to Raven. We'll make time to visit her one of these days." Pearl, an old lady and her neighbor, approached her.

"She's fine now, Pearl. It'll be great if you bring Patty, too." She pertained to the old woman's granddaughter.

"I will, of course."

"Thanks for looking out for our house but I need to attend school." Rowie said as she started walking away. She wanted to chat with her more but she would be late. It's a New Year and she wanted to finish this quickly.

"Okay. Take care of yourself, dear."

Rowie started walking her way to school. She was still in daze as she entered the campus. She's not yet in the mood to come back to school but she's an athlete. She needed to at least inform Patricia what happened and why she didn't made it at the camp.

Charlotte and Jennica called for her attention when they were in the gate, but she was too focused on walking. They couldn't help but furrowed their eyebrows in confusion. They're sure that their voices were loud enough for her to hear.

When Rowie was inside the room, she sat quietly at her desk. She wanted to finish the class already so that she could work and visit her little sister. She wanted to come with her Mom visit her father but she's worried about Raven. With too many thoughts clouding her mind, she didn't notice her two friends sat beside her.

"Hey, Jerg!" Charlotte almost shouted.

Rowie seemed to notice them just now and smiled. "Hey, Jerg. What's up?" She tried to be jolly but her friends knew better. She was not hard to read. She's just too obvious right now, seriously.

Rowie sighed and looked outside the window. She didn't want to involve her friends with her problem but she knew how bothersome and irritating they could be. Like her, they could also do anything and everything if they were curious about something.

"What's the matter?" Jennica asked.

"Please. Not now, guys. I don't want you to be involved. I can handle this. Let's just talk some other time," demanded Rowie.

Charlotte and Jennica exchanged glances. "You know we're just here if you need someone, right?" the two of them asked.

Rowie could only give them a smile and a nod before looking outside the window again. After class, she needed to continue working at the convenient store. Then, her next destination would be the police station before finally staying at the hospital. That would be her schedule until Raven gets better. She needed to talk to Patricia, too.

When the bell rang for break time, Rowie rushed outside to look for Patricia. She didn't have a hard time because her senior was already at the canteen looking hungry. Her captain could already tell that she had a problem. She wouldn't skip the camp just because she didn't want to.

"What's the matter?" she asked when they reached the back of the gymnasium. They both sat at the benches quietly and looked from afar. They didn't bother the leaves from falling on their shoulders.

"Raven is in the hospital." She started. "We needed money for her. I couldn't tell you immediately because I don't want you to worry too much. I just needed to help my Mom find money."

Patricia remained quiet but listened. "Raven has Leukemia." She shook her head to remove her tears from her eyes. "We don't know where to get the money. The only choice I had was to look for work. And then there's my father. He needed to stay inside the jail until the police catch the real culprit. I'm really sorry."

"You don't have to say sorry, silly. I understand what you're going through. It's just that; don't hide it from me – from us. We'll only get more worried if you won't say anything, you know."

Rowie looked down – feeling guilty all of a sudden. She remembered Charlotte and Jennica. She didn't even told her friends that she's meeting with the captain and just rushed outside the room. What a bad friend she was.

"Just tell them before they discovered it from other people's mouth!" Patricia said, encouraging her junior.

She smiled at her and stood. "I will. Thank you, captain." She even saluted at her before jogging to the canteen to find her friends.

It didn't surprise her to see the gloomy table with her two friends. A smile couldn't stop from showing on her face. Her two friends really were adorable even though they were frowning.

"Hey!" She greeted them, but none of them greeted back. Rowie frowned at the two of them. "I'm sorry. It looks like you don't want to hear me explain so I'll be leaving – "

"Speak!" They both shouted. She couldn't help but smile while looking at her friends' frown faces.

There she told the two about what happened with her vacation. It was like a heavy metal was lifted off her chest after telling them the whole story. Charlotte even smacked her friend's head while Jennica faked a tear.