"Go to your room and study," Mom said as she shut the door. I panted, taking off my slippers and placing them on the shoe rack. Mom took her red slippers from the shelf and gave me my pink slippers. "It's ten thirty. Enya should go to sleep," Dad said from the kitchen. His hair looked like he had woken up, and he wore a white sleeveless shirt that showed his belly. Dad sipped the beer in his hand. "You are not working late today, are you?" Mom asked as she twisted her dry, over-brushed hair. She took out her pocket mirror, plastering her youthful face with makeup. "Not today. We are watching K-dramas for our date night," Dad said, fixing his messy white hair. "I already prepared the popcorn." "Enya, do your homework," he said, glancing at me. I read a research article saying kids are supposed to have more free time than adults. What happened to that? I tried to roll my eyes but failed, so I stared at the wall in front of me instead. A giant family portrait hung on the wall, facing the dining table. Every member of the family was there except me. The grandparents stood, facing their grandchildren with fake pride. Guama's children—my mother and her four siblings—wore white coats and stethoscopes. The youngest son, past his adolescence, had severe acne breakouts no layer of photoshop could remove. The eldest son had wide, red eyes like a vampire. As for the younger daughter, everyone knew what had happened to her. Their plastic smiles failed to hide their misery. Someday, if they like me, I will be in the picture too. I carried my backpack to my room with my remaining energy, then plopped my butt on the chair and spread my homework on the desk: ten pages of word problems, an essay due the next day, twenty pages of assigned reading for history, thirty linear equations for advanced math, and two worksheets for music theory. Meanwhile, the teens outside shook their butts in the middle of the road. I closed the window to avoid distractions. "Hey," Mom said, barging into the room. She carried an envelope in her left hand. "We need to talk about your grades." "Yes?" My heart pounded as fast as rap music—except it was not catchy. Mom slapped the envelope in her hand with a face that wanted to kill me. Not this again... "You did not get good grades this quarter, did you?" "I thought you were watching K-dramas with Dad." I closed my eyes, wishing and waiting. A river of tears was about to overflow, but I kept it inside because I was not a baby. Crying is no way to be a responsible, achieving grown-up. Mom opened the window to let fresh air into the room. Then she sat on the bed beside my desk and opened the envelope. "You got a ninety-five in Filipino." Her dismal voice cracked. I peeked through the window to calm myself. A group of teens my age played with their phone flashlights, dancing and drinking soda. They had the entire road to themselves as no vehicle passed by. A couple of boys hysterically laughed while rolling on the ground. "Who are those?" Mom asked, walking towards the window. Her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of teenagers. "Those pesky adolescents. No wonder you are always distracted, Enya." She rolled her eyes. "Go home and study, or I will call your mothers," she tells the teens. "Party pooper!" A boy retorted with a voice similar to one of my classmates. The street light shone at him as he stuck his tongue out. "You never let your daughter smile," a girl told Mom from outside. Mom growled like a tiger. The teenagers shook as they heard it, hiding behind a bush before Mom could throw a slipper at them. My eyebrows furrowed. The kids did nothing wrong, nor did they mind our business. "So annoying," she told me as she shook her head. I clasped my lips and bowed my head. "If you don't get good grades next time, then you will be like those distractions—" "Mom, that's enough. They are not distractions. You are." How did I say that? Picture Credits: Image">https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/portrait-brunette-asian-student-writing-something-her-exercise-book-drinking-delicious-cup-tea-coffee-library_22966906.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=1&uuid=a91ad5a0-79fe-443d-8941-e78ce0fd96c4">Image by LipikStockMedia on Freepik