Casa Del Unificado

Prologue The boy woke up from a neat bed of a quiet clinic, his eyelids saggy, as if he had just recently cried. He appeared to be tired and restless, but despite being in an unfamiliar place, he dared not speak any word, nor showed any hint of curiosity in his thoughts. Just plain quiet and tranquil, as a gentleman entered the silent room. The man wore long white sleeves and a pair of black trousers, his eyes painted with dark circles around them. He appeared to be restless too. “Hello, son.” The man said to him, as he sat at the side of the boy’s bed. The boy’s mind was foggy, but he managed to reply to the man. “Hello, father.” Part I “What is your name?” It was the first thing Hugo heard from the girl. Hugo was a late transferee. The girl looked at him with a posed smile, awaiting Hugo’s response. “Uh, Hugo,” he managed to say. “Hugo Guevarra.” “Hello there,” the girl greeted. “I am a student councilor and your tour guide for the school. We, the community, welcome you to Casa Del Unificado, where we all live in sync.” She continued. Hugo was a late transferee. His gaze looked around the surroundings of the school. And there was a place that caught his attention. The plain, empty lot of the school felt like there has been a fire activity recently, the ashes seen scattered about the lot, as if taking dominion of the emptiness the lot contained; without anyone daring enough to clean the dirt that has stained its ground. How strange, Hugo thought.  “There was a retreat,” the student councilor said, as if answering Hugo’s wandering thoughts. “It’s kind of our thing here,” she winked. “Let’s head to the campus, shall we?” As they headed into the campus, a strange yet exciting scent welcomed them. Its fragrance tended to keep the aesthetic of the school alive and enthusiastic. Students, all in their Casa uniforms, were seen standing in the corridor, their faces seemed cheerful and welcoming. Some of the students in the corridor greeted him with hello and welcome. The community inside the hall made Hugo feel more comfortable and at ease.  The student councilor's calm gestures in the tour made Hugo assume that people must have looked up to her. As they passed by students, they greeted her with a smile. The impression she made to him was elegant and wise. He wished that people could look up at him like that too. For years he had been suffering from anxiety, he could only wish for one thing. It was the sense of belonging. “We do hope that you have properly kissed your parents a farewell.” The student councilor said, turning her head to Hugo’s direction. “Here in the Casa, students are to stay in their dormitories until the end of the school year.” “I wish I could, but they're both dead,” he responded. “I reside with my Lola.” “I’m sorry to hear that,” the girl said. “Here in the Casa, we treat each other like family, so now you don’t have to feel alone.” The girl continued on with the school tour, giving details along the way. They passed by the classrooms, laboratories, canteens and other facilities a sufficient school could have. As the tour neared its end, the girl escorted him to the principal’s office. She knocked, entered, and made a gesture for him to come. “This is our new transferee for this school year,” she said. “This is our schoolmaster,” she continued as she looked in my direction. “Welcome, welcome,” the man said. Tall and formal, the schoolmaster stood up from his wide desk and extended a hand for him to shake. “Please sit down.” The schoolmaster then proceeded in giving out details about the school. It’s core values, etiquettes and other factors that built up the school’s reputation. Then they proceeded in handing out the Casa uniform. The student thought that these were things he needed to remember in order to be part of this school’s family. Live in sync with them, he thought. “We’re sorry about your parents, my child,” the schoolmaster said. Soon, he immediately brushed off the topic as if it were some dust in his jacket. “It’s fine,” he managed to reply. His Lola had Alzheimer's disease and couldn’t even remember his name. But living with her was the only thing he had close to a family. Though he tried to set aside his family matters, keeping it silenced manifested in the way he saw his life. It was a bland one. His insecurities grew and before he knew it, he seeked something a poor child could ever dreamed of. Family. “You needn't hide from us,” the schoolmaster continued. “We are together in this, don’t hesitate to knock on my door, my child.” he felt relief in his kind words. After a long talk of agendas that the late enrollee needed to catch up to, he was handed an information sheet to write down his personal information. As soon as he was done, the schoolmaster smiled and shook his hand firmly.