TEN YEARS AGO...

"ELLA!" it was Joyce's voice as she heard her running toward her. She was about to enter the large gate and was just down the tricycle on Tuesday morning.

"Why?" she asked as to when Joyce approached her. Like her, she is an only child, the only difference is that Joyce's have a better life, her family is whole. Her mother works as an office clerk while her father is a teacher at the same school where they finished their elementary.

Their friendship started when they were in the first grade where they became seatmates. And up until now, the two of them are inseparable that is why they always treat each other like siblings.

Now in their hometown's large public high school, they are both enrolled as freshman year. The San Luis National High School. Their hometown is located in the northeast and is a two-hour trip by land from Manila.

“I saw your name on the list at the gym entrance. You are only the first year of our school's who made it to the cheering squad. You are really good,” Joyce admires and exclaims.

She laughed as she rolled her eyes on what her best friend just said. "Thanks, I didn't expect that either. Thank you, by the way, if you were not my best friend, maybe I would be easily convinced," she said.

"Does Aunt Ludy know about this already?" Joyce asked as they entered the classroom.

Ella shook her head as they seated on the chairs located in front of their teacher's desk. "Not yet, I am just hoping she won't get mad at me."

"And why does on earth she will be mad at you?" Joyce asked her laughing.

Ella clicked her tongue. "As if you didn't know my Aunt Ludy. For sure she would say that I might get injured or worst fractured," and then she followed her words with an amused laugh.

"She actually has a point. And I can't blame her being protective to you because it's just you and her who are together from the start," her best friend explained.

Ella smiled bitterly of what she heard. "If only Aunt Ludy and I were rich, I don't have to worry about my college," she said as she sighs.

"Why, aren't you sure going to college?" she sensed the sympathy in Joyce's voice.

Ella shook her head. "Let us not talk about it. It will be three years from now and I just started high school," she said to end the conversation.

That night Ella decides to tell her Aunt Ludy about the cheering squad which she joined in the school. And she never did wrong of what she thought. It seems scripted because that's what her Aunt Ludy told her. But despite the fact that she knew the only reason why this was happening, Her aunt loved her as if she were her own child.

"What if something bad happened to you? Ella we are not rich, we have this small store yes but its income is just enough to provide for our everyday living," her aunt while they were having dinner.

A warm and heartfelt emotion touched Ella's heart. She may never experience how to be loved and cared for by her real mother, but with her Aunt Ludy, it seems that everything is fine. They may be empty with material things but their love and understanding for each other will never change and that no amount of money can buy.

"I promise you, Aunt Ludy, I will be okay and nothing bad will happen to me," she assured her Aunt that is really a mother for her.

That's when his aunt stared at her. In her eyes was a strange kind of emotion that she knew was beyond reproach by anyone. And that was her special love for her.

Many have said they look alike. It's like she was her daughter. And she agrees to that because that's true. "Please don't get mad on me if I am always nagging and reminding you to do such things. I know you are old enough to decide what is wrong from right. But I just can't my self to worry about you Ella," her Aunt reminder her.

She nodded consecutively and smiled. She doesn't want her aunt to think that her advice is making her irritable and mad. "I know Aunt Ludy, and I actually understand you" as she told her the truth.

"I want you to have a good life, Ella. I want you to be a successful woman someday. Please try not to be like your mother. Do not get into a situation where you can't stand on until the end," at the last, she felt anger in her aunt's voice. Well, that kind of tone is not new to Ella, and she knows that is for her mother who left her after giving birth to her.

"Yes, Aunt Ludy," she answered finishing her dinner.

"I am so tired so I am going to bed now to take a rest, please take care of the dishes, okay?" Aunt Ludy told her as she stood up.

"Yup, go on and rest. I will take care of these," she replied.

When her aunt left her, the sermons she heard from her returned to her mind.

PLEASE TRY NOT TO BE LIKE YOUR MOTHER. DO NOT GET INTO A SITUATION WHERE YOU CAN'T STAND ON UNTIL THE END.

This not the first time that she heard those words from her Aunt Ludy. But she has to admit that this time is different. It is as if those words were able to hit her into the core. And that made her feel so ashamed even though she has done nothing against her advice. It is true that she will be the one making her own life. She will decide on how her life in the future will be. She will do her best not to be on her mother's footprints. She wanted to succeed and give her Aunt Ludy the kind of life that she deserves.

She loves her very much and Ella feels the same way for her Aunt. She will strive in her life, be a working student if she has to be, only to be able for her to finish her college. She wants a happy and complete family in the future. And her future children will never experience the kind of hardships that she has been through.