Chapter 13

"Mother, I'll just go to our local state college to inquire about their fees and how I can transfer."

"Why?"

"You know I lost my scholarship and I need to finish my studies, so I'm thinking that my best option is to study here and maybe look for a part time job."

"No."

"What do you mean no?" Isabella was puzzled with her mother. "I'll work and study and any money more than I need, every single penny, I will give it to you."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Then what do you want me to do? I have to graduate so I can get a decent job."

"You're going back to the University."

"And then what? Suffer more than I did for the past two years? I don't understand you, Mother."

Her mother walked closer to her and held her hands tightly.

"I have a friend who is willing to support you."

Isabella became suspicious. She sort of knows what and where this is going.

"So are you selling me to a rich man who will make me a slave in order for me to study and support your family?"

"He's not going to make you a slave. He's going to make you his wife."

"Wife? Do you know what you're talking about, Mother? I am only eighteen! I have a boyfriend and I am not marrying anyone else."

"Boyfriend? Who? That Carlo? What is he going to feed you, huh? Can his love send you to school? Will you make up your mind, Isabella? You're better than that. You deserve better than him."

"You're unbelievable."

"The deal is done. You are marrying him. He will pick you up in two weeks, just enough time before the new school year starts."

"What?!" She shouted in shock and anger.

"I am your mother and I know what's best for you!"

"No, you don't! You only now what's good for you and how you'll earn money through me. You are just using me. Why don't you sell your husband so you can have something to eat?"

"That's enough Isabella! Whether you like it or not, you are marrying Franco. I won't argue about this anymore. I've known him since before and he is a good guy. He might be older than you, maybe fifteen years, but he sure will take care of you."

"I really can't believe you, Mother."

Isabella stepped out of their house and ran towards Carlo's house, crying. When she reached the gate, she opened it, calling Carlo's name as she entered. Carlo and Lucy came out in panic.

"What's wrong, my dear?" Lucy asked when she reached the balcony.

"Isabella?" he asked, hugging her to calm her down, but she could hardly talk, she's just crying hard continuously.

Lucy took a glass of water and advised Carlo to give her a seat.

"Here, child, drink this first."

Still sobbing, Isabella told them what happened to her conversation with her mother. She explained that she was about to go to the college where Carlo is studying to inquire about transferring when her mother stopped her.

"She said that I will continue in the University but she wants me to marry another man who will send me to school."

Lucy was shocked, she couldn't imagine her mother doing it to a bright child like Isabella.

Carlo became furious and anxious. He stepped down the balcony and tried to calm himself in front of the bushes. He breathed deeply and looked at the dark gray sky that threatens a big storm. He closed his fists tightly. He wants to hit something, something really hard. Something that would make him numb. He wants to hurt himself. He wants to hurt anyone that would go near him. He wants to hurt the people who always try to get Isabella away from him. It has only been a month and a half when Isabella returned to him and now, her mother is trying to get her away from him again. Why does it always have to end after summer? Why can't they just have a life together, happily? Why does it always have to have a hindrance?

"Why us?!" he shouted angrily to the sky. "Why don't you let us be happy together?" Tears started falling from his eyes. He sat down on the ground, his head on his knees, his arms wrapped around his legs.

Lucy and Isabella can hear him sobbing and crying, and cursing but they didn't dare to go near him. Isabella herself is still crying hard and couldn't compose herself. The old woman was confused, she doesn't know what to do with the two young adults.

When Carlo went back up to the balcony, Isabella told him, "Why don't we go to your province, in Bicol, and hide from my mother? Let's get married, so she can't force me to marry another guy I do not even know."

"You are both young, Isabella, what are you going to do for a living? I'm not saying that your mother is right but eloping, I don't want you two to have a hard life."

"I don't want to leave him. I've let him go once and I don't want to do it again. For the first time in my life, I am sure of what I want and that is to be with him. I know that he is the one I want to spend my life with."

Isabella decided not to go home that evening. She doesn't want to talk to her mother, she hated her. She sees her as a selfish woman who only kept her as an investment but not as a daughter. She wants to get lost, to never be found again, like a shadow lost in the darkness, to never see her mother again. But she can't do anything. She felt helpless and hopeless.

She slept with Carlo in his room but the truth is they can't find sleep.

"Do something, Carlo," she pleaded.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, frustrated.

"I don't know."

"Do you think I want to lose you again? Do you think that after almost a year, we are finally together and then in less than two months, you will be leaving again? Do you think I want that? The first time you left me, I wish I could just die but I still hoped that maybe one day you will be back. And you did, you are here, but what I didn't think about is how long you are going to stay, until when you're going to fight for us."

"I want to stay with you, I want to spend my whole life with you, Carlo."

"Are you sure about that, Isabella?"

"Are you questioning me?"

"Have you forgotten, already? You left me because you were busy pursuing your dreams and you thought that I was just a distraction. Now that you failed, you came back to me. You can't blame me if I ask how sure you are about your feelings about me."

"Oh, so you're thinking that I am just here because I have no other choice?"

"No! I think that you only see me as a rebound, your fallback. That you can leave me anytime you want and come back whenever you want because you know that I will be waiting for you."

What Carlo said hit her hard. It was only then that she realized everything that he said was true. When she was soaring high, she left him on the ground, and never looked back. But when she lost her fight, she came crashing back right to him.

"I'm sorry, Isabella, I didn't mean to say those," Carlo said in a calmer voice as he walked towards her.

"No, you were right. I was selfish I didn't even think about you. I was so focused on myself and nothing else."

"I'm sorry. How about we chase our dreams together? Without you leaving me behind?"

"I can do that, we can do that."

"Are you sure? Because that will mean that you have to give up a lot of things."

"I know."

"Are you willing to give up your family?"

"I've lived my entire life feeling that I don't really belong in their family. So that is not going to be an issue for me."

"Okay, but we both have to work and study at the same time."

"That's what we planned before," she said positively.

"Okay! Great! Then tomorrow, talk to your mother and tell her what we've talked about," Carlo told her as he held her shoulders.

"I will," she said and sealed it with a kiss.

In the middle of the night, Carlo woke up and looked outside the window. It was a full moon, there were a few clouds crawling beside it and he waited until each of them pass through the moon, making love with it for a few moments and leave again. He looked at Isabella. I hope she is not like those clouds that will only stay momentarily and then leave again. I really hope you will stay with me, Isabella.

He walked back towards the bed and lay down beside her. He wants to make love with her but he is scared that if they do, he will wake up again the next day without her. He just kissed her softly on her forehead, her eyes opened slightly and pulled him towards her. Outside, a huge cloud covered the full moon. And the once silent room was now filled with moans and hard breaths.