"Three months, Rondo! Three months!"
The landlord's voice was super loud. His face was all red, eyes bulging right at Rondo.
"O-okay, sir. I'll try to pay this week..."
The landlord slammed the door shut, it made a really loud sound. Rondo hurried to the room to see his mom, who was still lying there, helpless. He held her fingers, they were so small and looked like she wasn't getting enough to eat.
"What's gonna happen to us, mom? I just don't know how else to get money," Rondo said to his mom, his voice all sad. His eyes started to get glassy. Slowly, tears started rolling down his face.
Rondo's mom stroked his head real gentle. A smile slowly grew on her face, she said, "Be patient, son. You'll find a way. I'm sorry... I'm sorry for being such a burden on you."
"But where? Where's dad when we're like this? Does he even know how hard our life is?" Rondo said, he was so pissed.
His mom just smiled at him.
"Try opening that little drawer, son," his mom asked, pointing at the small drawer near her.
Rondo got up and walked over to the drawer. He opened it slowly. Inside, there was this old photo, all dusty. Rondo picked it up and blew the dust off so he could see it better. He handed the photo to his mom.
"This is our wedding photo, son. Me and your dad's. We got married right after school. Your dad... he was so close to becoming a principal. Just one step away. But, funny thing is, he chose to marry me instead. He just loved me that much." His mom smiled softy looking at the picture.
Rondo looked at the photo too. But his dad's face wasn't clear, most of the picture was ruined.
"I've never even seen dad's face. Not since I was little. What was he like, mom? Why did he leave us? Just the two of us, all this time?" Rondo asked his mom. The anger he felt for his dad started to fade a little.
"Back when you were still in my tummy, your dad and I... we were doing okay. We had enough. But while I was pregnant... your dad got hit by a mass layoff," his mom explained, her eyes getting watery.
Rondo was just quiet. After a moment, he said, "So I've been making things hard for you guys... since the very beginning, huh?"
His mom shook her head, real slow.
"No, son, it wasn't you. You weren't the problem. It just happened to be a bad time for us financially. Even though your dad still hasn't come back... I'm sure one day he will. Your dad... he'll come home. Someday," his mom said, her eyes glassy. Tears started to roll down her face.
Rondo saw her crying and just pulled her into a hug to calm her down. While he hugged her, he rubbed her hand gently.
"Son... do you miss school?" she asked.
"Yeah, mom. Sometimes I do. But... I get it. With things like this, school is just... hard for us, you know?" Rondo answered.
His mom smiled.
"If we have money someday, would you wanna go back to school?"
"Yeah, mom. For sure. I want to be super successful, high as the sky, and we can live in a better place."
"Oh yeah, son. I just remembered, there are some old books in the storage room. Can you go get them?"
"Sure, mom. Wait here a sec."
Rondo walked to the storage room. When he got there, the door was stuck—he had to struggle a bit to get it open. He looked around for the books his mom mentioned. After a few minutes, he finally found them. The book was just sitting on a small table.
Rondo opened it. On the first page, he saw a title written real big: 'Our Wedding Diary'. He kinda laughed a little. His eyes got stuck on something written on the very last page.
We promise to keep this house until it's paid off.
- April 4, 2068
Rondo closed the book. He looked around the room again. There was something covered with a curtain... it made him curious. He put the book back on the table, then walked over to the covered thing. When he got close, he pulled the curtain off. An old monitor, with a keyboard and mouse and everything.
He was kinda amazed. On top of the monitor, there was a little note. Rondo picked it up.
For our child, someday.
-Barnie and Faye
Below the note, there was a little smiley face emoji. Rondo smiled too. Lucky, there was a power strip right under it with a long cord. Rondo hit the on/off switch. It lit up. Rondo plugged the computer's power cord in, then hit the power button on the computer.
The computer booted up perfectly. After start-up, it looked normal. Rondo saw some games on the home screen: Titan Board, Battle Mirror Stream, Dungeon dash, Stock War, and Duelist. Rondo was about to click Dungeon Dash, but then an email notification in the status bar caught his eye. Rondo clicked the email.
[Congratulations! You have been selected as a student for Nexhile School, for free. Please fill out the personal data form below completely.]
"Personal data form?"
Rondo scrolled down. He started filling out the forms.
[Name: Rondo Ernias
Age: 15 years old
Origin: Exion City
Parent/Guardian Name: Faye Ernias
Is all this correct? [Yes] [No] ]
Rondo hit 'Yes' without even thinking.
[Thank you for filling out the form. Tomorrow morning, our staff will come to pick you up. See you at Nexhile School, Rondo!]
"Nexhile... School? What is that?" Rondo said, real quiet.
Suddenly, the computer just died. The smell of burning electronics started to fill his nose. He coughed and quickly yanked the plug out of the wall. Rondo rushed out of the storage room, carrying that diary his mom asked for.
After he got out, Rondo closed the door slowly. On the way back to his room, he kept thinking about that weird email.
A student at Nexhile School. For free. Picked up tomorrow. Fill out a form. ... Wait... am I... Am I going to school for free?!
He started running, all excited, he wanted to tell his mom.
"Mom! Mom! I got into a free school!" Rondo yelled as he got close to the room. His face was just one big happy smile. He pushed the door open kinda hard. He went over to his mom... she looked like she was sleeping. Her eyes were closed, so peaceful. She had a smile on her face.
"Mom, mom. I can finally go to school! I filled out this form thing and it said I can go to school for free," Rondo explained, tapping his mom's hand.
"Mom, can you wake up? Just for a minute?"
Rondo tapped her cheek, real gentle.
"Mom?"
Rondo worked up the courage to check her wrist... to see if her pulse was still beating. He pressed it for a few seconds. Rondo's eyes went wide. He just let go of her hand. It just... fell. Limp.
"Mom..."