'Di Makatulog

• Epilogue •

"MVP!" the crowd cheered and chanted as I was accepting the medal that was for me. I never played basketball for the awards nor the fame. It was my passion. The awards that I've got? The fame? The fans? They were all just the bonus parts. Basketball was my passion since I was a young boy, to play in an arena was my dream ever since. To play and show people what I've got and my love for the said sport was my goal.

After I showered, I checked my phone out for messages. Congrats, MVP! the persistent girl messaged. I smiled at her message. She watched our game huh.

"Ooooh, text mate?"

I blew air off at Alesso's face. "Nah."

"Then, why are you smiling like a creep there?" he asked. He smiled maliciously at me. "Is there someone special na ba? Do you have a girl already?"

I shook my head. "Di. Wala ah."

"Care to share the name of the girl?"

Umiling ulit ako. "It's no one..." I told him. Which was a bit true, she was just a girl I think, that keeps on sending me messages every night. Every midnight, when she can't sleep.

"Hmm, share mo na lang kapag hindi ka na torpe," he said then he ran away from me. Wait, what? What does he mean by that? What is torpe?

"Bastardo!" my father shouted as he punched me. "Isa kang bastardo!"

I was kneeling right in front of him. Tumungo ako. I didn't fight back, because how could I? When he was right. I was a bastard. I wasn't a Gatchalian. I was a nobody. Ni hindi ko kilala ang tunay kong ama. Kanino nga ba akong anak?

"Basta—" he was about to punch me again when my mother stopped him from doing so. Isa akong anak sa ibang lalaki ng nanay ko. That was why my father was fuming mad, because he didn't know that my mother cheated on him and that all this time, I was the fruit of my mother's infidelity. I was the fruit of their mistake. I am just a mistake.

"I'm sorry..." my mother hugged me. My father walked out on us. Para akong namamanhid. Hindi ko alam ang dapat kong maramdaman. I hugged her back. "I'm sorry, anak... you're not a bastard. You are my son. I am your mother..." she sobbed.

"You're a bastard!"

I punched Paul hard on the face. I thought he was my friend. I told him and Alesso everything that has been happening to me, but then, what did he do? He was the one to spread the rumor. That I wasn't a Gatchalian. That I wasn't my father's son. I wasn't the real heir of Gatchalian Estates.

I never knew that my friend could betray me like that. I never knew that he could. That Paul could.

My family... wasn't my real family.

My friend... he stabbed me on the back.

I was incomplete. I was a broken person. I badly needed somebody to fix me. Everything was falling apart, everything was crashing down. I wanted to just die. I wanted to just be gone from this world, but then... she came into my life.

Persistent Girl: It's just a bad day, a bad week, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad life.

It somehow made my day better. That even though things may not be getting any better, she's still there for me. She stayed and never broke her streak. She believes in me.