Dan entered the house, soaking wet. "I'm home!" he announced, removing his shoes.
His mother rushed towards him, concern etched on her face. "Dan, why are you wet?"
Dan muttered, avoiding eye contact, "I walked..." He placed the enrollment documents aside.
His mother's eyes widened. "You walked all the way from school without an umbrella? Didn't I give you enough money?"
Dan hesitated before answering, still avoiding her gaze. "Yes…"
"Didn't I give you enough money? Where is it?"
He pulled out his wallet, handing her the untouched cash. "You need it more than me."
"You didn't use it?" She looked at him but he kept avoiding. His mother's expression softened, but Dan quickly escaped upstairs, sighing deeply in his room.
He changed into dry clothes, his mind reeling, when a knock on the door startled him.
"Come in," he said, brushing his hair back.
His mother stood in the doorway, concern in her voice. "Dan, use the money I give you next time. I'm working to secure our future."
Dan nodded, and his mother smiled, collecting his wet clothes before leaving.
He stared at the door tapping his foot on the ground, walked towards his table and opened the desk lamp , and started studying.
The phone lights up and gets a notification. He grabed his phone on the side of the table. "I forgot to turn this off…" He stared at the text from one of the loans that his mom applied for.
Pay the 20,000 at the end of the month.
Dan sighs. This is the 5th time since yesterday I got this loan… I'm sure the others will text tomorrow. He put down his phone and turned it over.
He rubbed the corner of his eyes, exhausted. "Augh…" He can't focus on his studying, he keeps going back to the loans.
He slammed his head hard on the table…
His mom rushed to his room as soon as she heared a loud bang. "Are you alright?" His mother asked full of concern.
"Yes, I'm alright…" He answered with his head still on the table.
His mother let out a sigh. "I brought the documents that you left downstairs." His mother placed the documents on the table.
"Are you sure you're alright, Dan?"
"Yes…" his mother left the room, closing the door.
He lifted his head up, gaze at the documents, grabs it and put it in the drawer. Dan holds his pen and starts writing.
. . .
"I want to become a lawyer when I grow up." Little Dan said, standing confidently.
His mother chuckled and pinched his little cheek. "You have a nice dream and I'm looking forward to it."
Dan at grade 6. He stared at his card. Line of 7 in math… I always answered correctly but how did I get this grade… He hated to see that grade. He's always got high grades but not this time all his subjects are full of 9 except this one subject. He felt disappointed in himself for the very first time after all the hard work he had done…
Dan is absolutely devastated in himself. He got all the subject lines of 7 just because he pulled out of school and didn't take the test for the 1st quarter.
Much worse is that he's 2 years older than his classmates because he stopped studying for two years due to financial struggles.