The church was bustling with people. The adults were singing songs of praise with the choir while their children play with each other in the garden outside. Having a town named after a saint, one would think that Sta. Barbara would be a place of worship for the Christian people, but it wasn't. Most of the people in town preferred to praise and serve a different type of angels--the angels, they believed, who appeared and communicated through their preachers for decades. That was why they called their small but devoted congregation the "Church of Heavenly Angels".

"Wait! Wait for me!" Claire tried to chase after someone, but she was wobbly and losing balance as she trod on the grassy ground. It seemed to take effort for her brain to control her body. Run faster, she thought, but she maintained her slow pace. "Wait!" she shouted again.

The eight-year-old Keith Belmonte was running away from her, dashing toward the glowing entrance of the gigantic building of a church.

"No, Keith!" Don't go there! You shouldn't.

Her eyes opened. Claire was panting as she woke up. A single tear had escaped her eye and flowed down her cheek. She wiped it away with her finger and then stared at it. "Why am I crying?" It wasn't as though she dreamed a sad dream...

But it was about Keith.

And everything about the boy was a memory full of sadness and longing now. After ten long years, she still couldn't forget him. Because, from time to time, she'd been dreaming of him. As if he was etched in her soul.

Claire stood up from the bed in the beautiful room which was hers as long as she worked for the Belmontes. Without caring to wear her slippers, she strode out of her room, went down the stairs, and looked for Keith's old family portrait. Though they were just kids back then, she had strong feelings toward the boy. Maybe that was why she dreamed of him once in a while.

Claire stared at the missing boy's eyes in the portrait. "Why the hell did you just disappear, Keith?" She reached her hand toward him. "What happened to you and your family? Are you alright?" She breathed out. There should be some explanation of what occurred one night inside the home of the Belmontes. She was curious and a part of her wanted to solve the mystery but she also knew that she couldn't do much. Even the police had lost hope and stopped searching for them.

Claire looked around. A maid was cleaning the floors and the gardener, Edgar, passed by. "Good morning, Edgar," she greeted the man but he just grunted and continued walking past her.

It was another busy morning for the people of the mansion and she, too, should be busy doing what she must do. She should go back to her room to wash and get ready for school. Later, she would begin her tasks as assistant caretaker of the ancestral house.

"We were just talking about you," Linda said with a smile as Claire joined her and Jonathan Del Monte for breakfast at the mansion's patio. Like the rest of the house, it was full of white wooden furniture and designs. Birds sang heralding the start of the new day and the morning dew twinkled all around. "I'm glad you already met my son, Jonathan."

"Your son?" the girl exclaimed. She did not know that Linda had a son. Hadn't heard it during the assemblies in their town's church.

"You must be surprised." The caretaker placed her empty tea cup on the long glass table. "I hid him."

Claire was already sitting in her chair. She hid him well, she thought, because even if only one of the townspeople knew about her secret, news about Linda having a child would've circulated in their small town years ago. It was like that in their town. People stuck their noses into everyone else's business and gossipers were in every corner. Secrets could not be hidden as tongues were itching to tell them to others. But, then, why did nobody know what happened to the Belmonte family? Was it also hidden well? Claire mentally shook her head and focused on the present. She asked Linda a rhetorical question, "So nobody in town knew?"

"No." Linda shook her head.

"Why?"

Linda just sighed. "It is really complicated. Jonathan's father is married to another woman and hiding his father's identity is far harder than hiding his." The caretaker finished her statement with a casual wave of her hand. Like it was no big deal.

Claire couldn't believe it. She thought that it was a cruel thing to do. To let a child grow in isolation. She didn't know Linda Suarez could be this heartless. Suddenly, the bacon and eggs prepared for them for their breakfast didn't appear to be appetizing. "Was he educated?"

Jonathan Del Monte faked a cough. "Of course," he answered Claire with a smile.

The girl blushed a little, embarrassed after realizing that she just tried making conversation with Linda about the boy as a topic rather than talking to him directly.

Linda poured another cupful of tea into her fancy cup. "And he knows how to play the piano. One tutor even taught him archery. "

So Claire had heard. This time, she asked the boy, "What about friends? The maids and butlers surely know you."

"I have a lot of friends, but I didn't grow up here. I lived in Payapa."

Payapa? That was two hours away from Sta. Barbara. Ah. So he wasn't actually hidden from everyone else, wasn't isolated inside the large gates of Palasyo Marilag, just hidden from Sta. Barbara's people. "Your surname's Del Monte?" she asked the boy.

"You knew." A sly smile was painted on the boy's lips. Claire knew that look. It was the kind of look that appeared on the faces of narcissistic boys who believed that the rest of the human population always thought about them.

It took effort not to roll her eyes. "Of course. You told the class yesterday."

"I mean, you remembered." When Claire didn't reply and just looked at him, he continued. "It's my mother's middle name. Linda Del Monte Suarez. I'm practically listed as my grandmother's child in documents, but I still consider Linda as my real mother." His eyebrows suddenly furrowed. "What are you looking at?" He searched around him.

Threads.

A number of different-colored threads surrounded Jonathan Del Monte. Claire gasped. She was hallucinating, associating her previous dream with this boy she just knew about. Again. The image was so vivid that she couldn't take her eyes away from around the boy. "N-nothing," Claire breathed out. Then as their eyes met, the threads surrounding him pointed at her. Claire's heartbeat doubled with fright.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

Linda chuckled. "I knew it. My son's so handsome he got your attention, right Claire?"

"R-right." Claire gobbled a piece of bacon, refusing to look at the boy again. She was no psychic but something deep within her was telling her that something was odd about the mysterious Jonathan Del Monte. And it wasn't just his parentage.

She fixed her gaze on the little statues of white angels hanging from the roof of the patio. They seemed to be watching them with their lifeless eyes and, oddly enough, they reminded Claire of Jonathan Del Monte's emotionless light gray eyes.

Pretending that she was alright, she finished her breakfast and then briskly walked the path toward the black Mercedes waiting for her to drive her to the bus station. But Yulo, the driver, didn't start the engine once she was seated in the car.

Fudge.

She forgot that she would be leaving with Jonathan Del Monte. Of course, the driver wouldn't take them to the station separately. Claire almost mussed her perfectly combed long black hair. She felt like she should distance herself from the boy. The images she was seeing around him were frightening her. It was like an omen.

Why did it feel like all she'd been doing was running away from him since she met him?

Thankfully, Jonathan Del Monte entered the car without sparing a glance at her. Claire fixed her gaze outside. Suddenly, the short trip between the Belmontes' mansion and the bus station seemed like forever. Maybe... maybe, the images would not appear again. Maybe she was just overreacting and there was nothing to be scared of.

They reached the bus station. Claire got out of the car without looking at the boy. They entered the bus and got off in front of their school. With Jonathan Del Monte behind her, she doubled her pace as they walked along the hallway. She was aware of how rude she was, but she didn't have a choice. She was afraid.

Meanwhile, girls across different years giggled and smiled as they saw the handsome new student.

When the two reached the stairway and no one else was around them, the boy caught up to her and tugged her arm toward him. His lips touched her ears as he whispered, "Pretend that you don't know me at school."

Wha--

That was supposed to be her line, because she absolutely wanted to have nothing to do with Jonathan Del Monte.

She wasn't expecting that. Was he actually a snob? She remembered his sly smile during breakfast, the way he looked like everybody should be curious about who he was. Jonathan Del Monte might have felt superior to others because of his skills and looks. Despite being afraid of his presence, Claire tutted.

Well, she guessed it was better for both of them that way. She didn't know it would be this easy to distance herself from him.

"Good afternoon, Jonathan," a pimply girl with wedge brown hair had the courage to greet the handsome boy at the stairs. She hugged three thick science books near her chest too tightly, looking nervous as well as elated as she spoke to the boy.

Claire didn't know her. She concluded that the other girl must be one of the first years from another town. Their century-old school, Southeast High, was the biggest school in the province of Tala. It was also known for having a good curriculum, so the surrounding towns usually sent their young ones here to their school in Sta. Barbara to study. Claire was already in her last year of senior high but this new girl seemed too young to be a second or a third year.

Jonathan Del Monte greeted the girl back with a smile.

Claire was about to leave the two when she almost crashed with a group of girls who were hurrying down the stairs toward the other girl. "Hey, careful--"

"Hey, Tina-trollface!" The tallest of the three girls shoved the pimply girl named Tina against the wall. The other two frowning female students were beside her. The tall one pulled Tina's hair so hard the girl winced in pain. "You dare go near Jonathan with your ugly face."

Another one of the trio hit Tina's head. "Idiot. You said afternoon. Don't even know it's still morning."

Tina quietly stared at her feet. Claire didn't know whether the younger one was already crying. Being a carpenter's daughter, she was once bullied at school, too, when she was younger, so she knew how the girl was feeling. Her being bullied didn't last long though because Keith Belmonte stood up for her, telling the other kids that she was his friend and that she was under the protection of his strong family. He even told them that, Richard, his butler would take anyone who bullied Claire immediately to jail. The other kids believed him. And, when Keith went missing, Claire already had her set of friends and a place in their school. She owed it all to Keith.

This was one reason, too, why she wanted to be a teacher. She wanted little children to grow up trying not to hurt others and become good adults as much as they can.

"Talk to Jonathan again and we'll hit you harder!" The tall girl warned Tina, spitting on the floor beside her.

How unsanitary!

Claire was about to walk toward them when Jonathan Del Monte grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She looked at him then back at the three. The group already had their backs facing Tina so they didn't see that the girl stood straight and held her thick books up in the air like she was about to strike them. However, the anger painted on Tina's face disappeared as she lost her balance in the middle of the stairway and tumbled back.

Claire automatically reached for the girl's hand. Fortunately, she was able to grab it. But Tina was heavier than she looked and Claire had a very thin frame. Gravity pulled them both to the ground. A warm arm, then, enclosed Claire's waist as the scent of spicy perfume surrounded her. Claire was pulled back to safety against a warm body. It was Jonathan Del Monte, saving both the girls like he was a leading man in some crappy, sappy romantic movie.

"Thank you," Claire thanked him when they were all already safe but the boy ignored her flatly.

"Are you okay?" He was concerned with Tina. The pimply girl was smiling ear to ear, blushing hard.

The group of girls who were bullying Tina a while ago looked angrier than a bull being taunted by a matador.

Jonathan Del Monte already got this.

It seemed like she wasn't needed anymore so Claire straightened her blouse and her skirt and went to class.

Word Count: 2,263
Total Word Count: 4,328