CH 3

It has been a few days since Zel had woken up from his long dream. He had learned his lesson when he first forgot it and decided to spend the past few days writing everything he could remember.

"That's it, I think?" Clicking on the save button on the upper left corner of his computer screen, Zel leaned back and scanned his past few days' work.

'Only three documents, yet they contain a lifetime of my knowledge and wisdom.'

A nostalgic feeling washed over Zel as he thought about what life is. Was everything he remembered worth nothing? Or was it equally important to him now?

" Ring. Ring. Ring. Hello?" Zel picked up the phone while keeping his solemn mood at bay. The answer to his question might take him a long while to find, and it was certainly not going to be today.

"Hello, may I talk to Mr. Zel Huertazuela?" A friendly male voice was on the other side.

"Yes, this is him." Zel stood up from his seat, went towards the window and opened it. He felt that being closer to fresh air would help him calm his mood. The reception here was also better.

"Good afternoon, sir Huertazuela. I am Jeff from Metropolitan Bank, we are glad to welcome you to MetroSecurities! Seeing as you are only 18 years old, we find it quite fascinating to receive your application. Do you mind if we interview you for a couple minutes? We would gladly recompense you for your time." The voice on the other side seemed to be quite ecstatic. Or desperate if you take it from another angle.

"Sure. Is it going to be right now?" Zel didn't mind accepting his offer, and he could use a bit more money.

"I will be sending you an online assessment, sir Huertazuela. It's a simple questionnaire, all you must do is rate the following from 1 to 9. 1 representing not important and 9 being very important. Afterwards, there will only be two more questions. It won't take much of your time. The compensation would be released as soon as we verify your answers." When the man finished his explanation, a buzz came from Zel's phone. Turns out he had already sent it as soon as he was done.

"Great, I'll send it back in a few minutes."

Zel who had just finished writing his journals went back to his computer to do the survey. The questions were simple, and mainly focused on one thing. How much interest does he have in the Stock Market?

When he finished with the questionnaire, he found the last two questions were supposed to be written with his own words. The first question was: 'Why did you decide to delve into the Stock Market' while the second question was: 'How did you discover the Stock Market?'

This brought Zel back to his current situation as well. If he was to follow his dream, then there were a couple companies on the back of his mind that he was sure would do well. A few of them were ones he had always kept in his portfolio back in his dream, and it was about time for some big companies in the future to release their initial offerings as well.

Without care, he merely wrote down: 'I find the Stock Market to be a means of generating income without having to sacrifice much of my time' for the first question and 'I only saw a movie that had it. It only piqued my interest.' For the second question.

Now that it was over, he was left with an answer for his troubles. One that comes naturally to him.

'I just have to wing it. If I do what I want, then that's all I need to do.' Zel had returned to his confident self. The years he spent in the dream were true to him at the time, so they were real. There was no sense in dwelling in them, but it wasn't right to treat it like it didn't happen.

"Now, I need to earn some money! Grumble . But first, I need to eat!" Zel had been constantly eating all this time. His body felt like it was tired all the time, but the high from feeling like he went back in time counteracted all that. Now that it was internally resolved, he felt the fatigue wash all over him.

He walked out of his room and found the second floor hallway empty. His younger sisters were in school while his older sister was out. He should have been in school as well, but he skipped classes for today to focus on getting his mind unscrambled, His mother should be downstairs, however, as she should be preparing dinner. While his father was overseas, he'd be back in a few months at the latest.

"Zel?! Come and eat lunch!" Zel mother seemed to have heard the door close from downstairs. Zel who had come down to eat was smiling at his mother. She was washing the dishes while her untidy hair constantly blocked her sight.

"Good afternoon, mom." Zel went close to his mother and gave her cheeks a quick peck. He brushed aside her hair so that she won't be bothered anymore which made her smile.

"You seem happy again, have you found yourself a girlfriend already? You're not even two weeks into College and my baby boy is already a hit with the ladies?"

Mel who was watching her son get a plate decided to go with his mood and teased him. Though she was expecting him to give her an affirmative answer, he only shook his head with a smile.

"Nothing like that mom, I just don't feel like being sad anymore." Zel went to get some food on the table, sitting on a chair while munching on Spaghetti Bolognese. He loved the taste of the dish but he missed Emilia's cooking.

'She made it better. Sorry, mom.'

"So, what's the rest of your day going to be?" Mel who had just finished washing the dishes was wiping her hands with a towel. She looked at her son who seemed to have less appetite than he usually had. Normally he'd already be on his second plate.

"I've got a job, mom. I'll be in my room all day. If you need something, just tell me and I'll come. Alright, mom?" Zel who had finished eating went to the kitchen sink and washed his plate.

"Let me do it." Mel was about to try and get the plate from Zel when she felt that her hand missed. Zel had put the plate out of her reach while still scrubbing it.

"I got it, mom. Go and rest, watch TV or something." Zel merely laughed off his mother's rather surprised look. He watched her back as she left the kitchen, looking unsure of what to do next.

"Hey, mom! Do you need money?" Zel had remembered about something that will happen in a few weeks after he started using the Stock Market. A problem that was due to his mother paying the bills too late.

"No, I don't think so…" Mel wasn't quite open to her son about her money problems. She opted to lie about it rather than revealing the truth. She felt that it was disgraceful to do otherwise.

"Mom! If you need money then tell me! I told you, your son has a job now. If I don't help you, then who will?" Zel who just went out of the kitchen found his mother sitting on the living room couch while holding on to a piece of paper. Her hands were visibly shaking, which made Zel nervous.

"What is it, mom?" Zel hurriedly sat beside his mother. She was looking at the paper in her hands with a tired look, and Zel decided to get a glimpse.

(Late Payment Notice:

To Mrs. Huertazuela, your due balance for the month of June is: $2200. If you do not clear your balance within three weeks after receiving this letter, we will have no choice but to repossess the mortgaged property: Fjord Feast 2018.

Metropolitan Bank)

"Mom, I got this." Zel noticed that his mother's attention turned from the notice to him when he spoke. He then held up two fingers while presenting his mother a smile. His radiant mood seemed to be affecting his mother as she felt that her son was getting reliable.

"Give me two weeks. I'll have the money by then." Zel took the letter from his mother's hand and folded it. He stood up without asking for her to trust him or anything of the sort. If he wanted to earn her trust, then he needed to show her his efforts. To give results.

"Son, you don't have to." Mel was about to tell her son that she had the situation handled, but she was sure of one thing. She had no idea what to do. It was during this moment of hesitation that she heard his son speak words that finally broke the strong façade she had been trying to keep in front of her children.

"I know, mom. I don't have to. I just want to. So leave it to your good son!" Zel who was already going upstairs once more gave his mother a genuine smile. Leaving behind his crying mother as he promised himself that he will double, no, triple his money before then. If he wants to live a life with no regrets, then he needed money as well. Doing what you want isn't easy when you have no money.

For the following week, Zel had turned his full attention on updating his knowledge on the companies listed in the Stock Market. The first step in getting a full understand of the market status.

The Stock Market is a listing of companies who wish to share ownership of their company with willing investors. The ownership is literally given by trading 'shares' of the company. The better the company's credentials and earnings are, the more value it has. The monetary value of these 'shares' would then follow. To put it simply, companies that are well managed and are profiting grandly are bound to have the value of their 'shares' rise. The opposite was true as well, if a company was suffering from poor management and was losing money, then the value of their 'shares' would sink.

That was why Zel decided to first familiarize himself with the companies currently listed in the Stock Market. He needed to remember which ones were profitable in the near future while avoiding those he recalled tanking.

'DaYum Foods Corporation – expected to rise. Buy at $1.11, Sell at $1.50'

'Beepboop Automobile, Inc. - expected to rise. Buy at $3.50, Sell at $5.22'

He listed out every company that had prospects and divided the money he has equally on each. He had been carefully watching over them, screening out any that didn't seem to be breaking out soon. Breaking out means the value of a stock would sky rocket after stagnating for a while.

Soon, he was able to continuously buy and sell at the optimal periods. Though he suffered a few losses every now and then, the gains he received heavily outweighed the loss. Looking at his bank account, he felt accomplished.

----MetroSecurities Account----

(Total Balance Remaining: $10,020.00)

----------------------------------------------------

He might have missed his updated goal, but he did reach his first one. Doubling your money in one week of actual trading with one week of research was nothing short of spectacular. Considering this an absolute win, Zel picked up his phone and called a friend.

"Hey Karl, get the gang together tonight. We're gonna have a celebration!"

"What for?" Karl was still sleepy as he had just woken up from an afternoon nap. He lied meekly on his bed but was jolted awake when he heard Zel's invitation.

"I got me some cash, bro! I'll treat everyone!" Zel was so ecstatic about his achievement that he wanted to celebrate. Having his friends with him on his good times was one of the lessons he learned from his dreams. Life was just more fun with good friends.

"Haha! Good. I'll call them up right now." Karl hanged up and so Zel leaned back on his chair. He placed his hand on his beating heart, feeling an overwhelming sense of fullness that he couldn't easily explain. He wondered if it was related to that energy he felt when he started to remember the dream.

'I'm feeling quite good right now. Maybe my body is almost full of the energy again?'

Zel felt that the energy inside him, the one that made him feel refreshed was piling up nicely. He wasn't sure when, but it might just completely fill up in a few more days. He wondered what it was, but only time can tell. All he had to do now was to do his best.