CHAPTER 4

Napa finger snap naman ako ng maalala na ngayon nga pala ako uuwi.

Pagbaba ko sakto na may luto na, naks handa na talaga aking paalisin ng lalaki na 'to.

"Thanks for the breakfast." Sabi ko at naupo na. Hindi naman n'ya ako sinagot.

"So, anong atin?" Tanong ko habang nagsasalin ng gatas.

"Lahat 'yan atin, bukod na lang kung may pagbibigyan ka." Saad n'ya napataas naman ang kilay ko.

Agad n'yang tinuro ang labas. Napakunot ang noo at sumilip. Halos mabuga ko ang gatas na iniinom ko. Shet! Bakit nandito si kuya? Ano ba 'yan ang kj!

Dali-dali akong lumabas sakto naman na nakababa ang windshield ng koyse n'ya.

"There you are my princess. Kumusta rito masaya ba?" Nakangisi n'yang tanong inirapan ko naman s'ya.

"Bakit ba sinundo mo pa ako kaya ko namang umuwi mag-isa." Saad ko at muling napairap.

"Ayaw naman kitang umuwi mag-isa. Isa pa hindi mo naman sinabi na nandito ka pala sa bahay ni Mr. Saigon nakatira." Halata sa boses n'ya ang pang-aasar.

"Okay?"

"Come on, let's go home now." Saad n'ya at lumabas para buksan ang pinto ng kotse. Nakain nito.

"Because?" Pangbabara ko.

"They are waiting for you." Kaswal na sagot n'ya. Saka pinaandar ang kotse. Shocks! Hindi pa ako nakakapagpaalam kay Zachary!

"Kuya wait! Ihinto mo lang saglit magpapaalam lang ako kay Zachary!" Sabi ko at hinampas-hampas pa ang braso n'ya. Inis naman n'ya akong tiningnan pero bumaba pa rin ako at tumakbo pabalik sa bahay.

Nung nasa gate na ako dire-diretso akong pumasok naabutan ko na kumakain si Zachary mukhang lutang.

"Zach! Alis na ako ha bye! Effort ko bumalik pa ako para magpaalam." Saad ko at tumakbo na ulit. Lakas naman ng trip ko sa buhay.

"Ewan ko kung nasisiraan ka na ng bait pero parang ganon na nga." Sabi ni kuya pagkasakay ko sa kotse.

"Wala kang pake atleast effort ako. Oh ano? Palag?" Pagmamayabang ko. Aba hindi man lang ako pinansin.

"Nak ang tagal mo namang hindi umuwi nag-aalala na kaya kami buti na lang sinabi nung mga inutusan namin na magbantay sa 'yo na okay ka lang at nasa bahay ka nina Mr. Saigon." Sabi ni mommy habang sinusuklayan ako. Sino 'yung mga nagsumbong? Tatanggalan ko nang trabaho. Char

"Mom naman alam kong alam mo na ang hirap ng palaging sa bahay at walang magawa kasi gano'n ka rin kaya ayon gusto ko ng mapagka-kaabalahan nag-apply ako bilang yaya." Pagpapaliwanang ko.

"Yaya? Marunong ka ba ng gawaing bahay?" Takang tanong n'ya hinarap ko naman s'ya.

"Mom para namang nagdu-duda ka sa akin ah? Of course marunong akong maghugas ng pinagkainan 'no." Proud kong sabi.

Si kuya epal hinihintay daw nila kami e si mom lang naman nandito.

'Sige nga anong unang uunahin kapag naghuhugas ng pinagkainan?" Tanong n'ya.

"Plato syempre." Proud ko pa rin na sagot.

Hinampas naman n'ya ako ng suklay.

"Baso 'nak! Baso muna ang dapat unahin akala ko pa naman marunong ka na!" Sabi n'ya natawa nalang ako.

"Joke lang mom, hindi talaga ako gumagawa ron, si Zachary talaga." Pagmamayabang ko kita ko naman sa salamin na nanlaki ang mata n'ya. Gulat 'yan bhie?

"Akala ko yaya ka?" Takang tanong n'ya at naupo sa katabing upuan ko.

"Opo nga pero hindi ibig sabihin gagawa ako." Nakita ko na medyo natatawa na s'ya pero pinipigilan n'ya lang.

"Nahiya ka pa mom itawa mo na kesa i-utot mo pa." Sarkastikong saad ko na naging hudyat para tumawa s'ya. Babaw naman ng kaligayahan.

"Alam mo nak ang ganda mo kaso may pagka-baliw ka lang talaga." Sabi n'ya habang tumatawa pa rin. Haha funny

"Mom naman alam kong maganda ako pero 'wag n'yong ipagkakalat ha." Sagot ko at tumayo na.

"Oo na sige, halika na kain na tayo." Saad n'ya saka binuksan na ang pinto nakita ko pa na medyo natatawa pa rin s'ya. Luh si mommy feeling close.

"Mom, mommy!!" Sigaw ko habang pababa ng hagdan.

"Oh, ano? Bakit?" Sunod-sunod n'yang tanong at halatang kinakabahan napatingin naman sina kuya at daddy sa akin sabay tayo.

"Wala lang, lalabas sana ako ulit ngayon." Ngiti ko saka naupo. Napailing-iling naman si daddy at kuya.

"Lalabas pero ang uwi sa isang linggo na." Bulong ni kuya.

"Ikaw nga e kunyare nagtra-trabaho pero ang totoo nang chi-chicks lang, yucks." Saad ko at umakto pa na nandidiri.

"Hay nako ayan na naman kayo, bonding n'yo talaga ang mag away." Ani ni mommy. Saka napailing-iling.

"Hayaan mo na hon, siguro ganiyan talaga sila kapag may mga naiibigan na." Pang-aasar ni daddy. Gulat naman kaming napatingin ni kuya sa isa't-isa bago kay daddy.

"Alam n'yo na po?!" Sabay naming tanong ni kuya lalo namang nanlaki ang mata ni mommy.

"May makakaligtas ba sa akin kapag sa inyong dalawa na ang usapan." Naiiling na sagot n'ya.

"Dad si kuya pa lang meron si Samantha na maarte akala mo naman maganda." Inis kong sabi, sinamaan naman ako ng tingin ni kuya.

"Mabait naman si Sam saka maganda rin." Pagtatanggol naman ni kuya.

"Maganda raw saka mabait uror! Narinig ko nga na pinag-uusapan nila ako noon doon sa may basketball court napakaarte hindi pa naniwala na kapatid mo ako." Pagsagot ko narinig ko naman na napatawa s'ya ng mahina.

"Hindi raw kasi kayo magkamukha mas maganda ka kaysa sa kuya mo." Natatawang sabi ni papa.

"Syempre dad lalaki ako e kaya dapat g'wapo." Sagot naman ni kuya at tumaas-taas pa ang kilay natawa nalang sina mom at dad.

"Ikaw kasi lumaki sa ibang bansa pero ang ilong nakadapa." Pang-aasar ni kuya pagkapasok namin sa kotse. Babalik na ulit ako kay Zachary.

"Pakialam ko atleast mas paborito ako ni mom and dad."

"E ano naman ako naman ang susunod na kukuha ng kompanya sabi ni dad inaasikaso na n'ya 'yon para sa 'kin." Proud n'yang sabi.

"Whatever, hindi mo ba alam na anak ako ng mafia boss?"

"K, anak na rin pala ako ng mafia boss." Hindi ko na lang s'ya pinansin at tinuon ang pansin sa bintana habang s'ya kwento ng kwento tungkol sa girlfriend n'yang napaka-arte.

"Thank you!" I said after getting out of the car and closing the door then ran into Zachary's house.

"Zachary myloves so sweet~" I sang as I went upstairs. He's not here anymore, I look downstairs.

"Zachary babes myloves I'm here. Did you miss me?!" I shouted while still looking for him. I heard someone talking in the kitchen and immediately went there.

"Bab--" I couldn't finish what I was going to say because there were men smiling at me. Shocks.

I saw Zachary shaking his head but smiling.

"Hi?" I said shyly and waved a little.

"Is it really just a maid?" It was obvious in the voice of the one guy was teasing Zachary.

"She's just my maid." Said the one who's wearing a white polo shirt. Parang ginagaya n'ya ang boses ni Zach.

Tatlo sila rito. 'yung isang nakaputi. Yung isa naka red at 'yung isa na naka brown.

"Hi miss, I'm Jaxon." He introduced himself with a smile. Saka inabot ang kamay n'ya

"I'm Bell--" I was about to introduce myself but I saw that Zachary was looking at me evilly. Kaya hindi ko na naabot ang kamay n'ya para sa shake hands.

"Bell pepper!" I said and snap my finger then laughed awkwardly. It was obvious to the two that they were laughing. While the other still giving me his hand for the hand shake.

"What did you say again earlier? Zachary myloves so sweet." Zachary's teasing, inis naman akong tumingin sa kan'ya.

"Ano ba, ganon talaga ako diba?" I defended myself but he just laughed at me.

"Na maganda? Oo." Saad nung naka red.

"By the way, I'm just going to introduce ourselves. Because Zachary look like doesn't want to introduce us." Sabi n'ya saka tumawa.

"I'm Keizler, His Aidan, and of course Jaxon is the one who introduced himself." He said with a smile. I smiled too.

"Hi, nice to meet you. Uhm, have you eaten?" I ask. I already introduced myself earlier. Soooo that's fine.

"Not yet, si Zachary kasi 'di man lang kami binigyan o inalok ng pagkain." Jaxon said. I laughed awkwardly. I don't know how to cook paano 'yon.

"Alright, get some food there and then just cook, or you can just order and then ask Zach to pay, I'm already tired. Hehe" I said and quickly went up to the room and immediately jumped on the bed.

Omg!! Anong ka-gaga-han ang ginawa mo Amara! "Go get some food there and then just cook, or you can just order and then ask Zach to pay, I'm already tired. hehe. Aaaaaargh!"

"I should be nice, but why? What's so annoying, there's nothing to be ashamed of!" Sigaw ko habang nakatakip ang bibig. I look like a worm covered with a salt.

I took a deep breath before going down again. I peek at them in the kitchen but they were gone.

"Hey, my loves so sweet who are you looking for?" Suddenly, Zachary appeared.

"Where are your friends?" I asked and pretend to be looking for something to eat in the fridge.

"Here baby!" Answer by...... I immediately closed the fridge due to panic.

"I'm sorry, gan'yan talaga si Jaxon. Napaka-pasikat." Sabi ni Keizler saka tumawa. Sinamaan naman s'ya ng tingin ni Jaxon.

"Did you know Zachary's birthday is tomorrow?" Aidan asked, I looked at Zach in surprise. Is it his birthday tomorrow?

"You didn't inform her?" Jaxon ask and Zach shook his head.

"There we go! That's why Zach doesn't want to join us at the bar tomorrow, you don't really know?" Jaxon said with a smile while Zach looked at him.

"Why do I need to know before he go to the bar? Am I his mother?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ask Zach what he thinks of you." Keizler said and meaningfully look at Zachary and I also look at him.

"There's nothing, don't mind them. They're just hungry. Let's order food." Zach said and left us in the kitchen. We simultaneously shrugged and follow him.

"What do you want?" He asked us.

"Mine, pizza!" Sabi ko at itinaas ang kamay ko.

"Call me my loves first. So you can have a pizza." Zach teased me again.

"You're stupid. If you don't want to, then don't." I said and scold him and was about to turn away from talking to him.

"It's just a joke. My loves. Para ka namang iba." He said so I turned around and smile.

Nakarinig naman ako ng mga mahinang tumawa. Kaya hinanap ko. Agad naman silang nagtakbuhan.

I went back to the kitchen to drink water, because I wanted to.

Dumating din si Zachary para sunduin ako at sabihin na dumating na ang pagkain namin.

We ate in the garden because we wanted to, it's our trip, guys.

There is pizza, spaghetti, fries, sundae, coke, fried chicken at marami pang iba.

Keizler is next to me. We were whispering. Kung anu-ano lang din naman pinag-uusapan namin. Napapatingin tuloy sa amin si Zachary.

They said that the three of them will sleep here so that before 12:00 am. All the suprise are ready. Of course Zachary didn't know. Suprise nga para sa birthday nya e.

It was already 10:00 pm. We went to Aidan's car to get the party hats. Maybe they thought we're kids. There are more balloons and confetti too.

At yung mga LED letter lights naman ay nasa kotse ni Keizler. Saka ayos lang naman dahil sakto lang din ang sukat.

Zach, on the other hand, was forced by the three to go to bed early. Habang si Jaxon naman. Ayon, tulog na rin.

They also said that their other friends would come later to help.

We were already putting air on the balloons when their other friends arrived. May mga babae rin, syempre.

Ang gaganda ng suot nila. Some are wearing dresses, later. I'll go wear a gown.

They also helped to fix it. Keizler and I are here by the swimming pool because we are fixing what need to be fixed here. We also fixed the LED letter lights. Saying "HBD ZACH" of course that's how we do an effort.

Nakalagay sa iisang lugar yung mga regalo. Para sabay sabay na rin mabuksan ni Zach.

"Amara?"

"Oh?" I answered while arranging the gifts. Tinakpan ko naman ang bibig ko ng maalala na hindi nga pala Amara ang ginagamit kong pangalan ngayon.

I immediately look at him and he was smiling.

"No one will know that you are Amara. Don't worry." He said and smile. I was nervous. How did he know?

I immediately approached him and look around to see if there were other people, alam kong busy silang lahat sa loob pero mabuti na ang sigurado.

"How did you know?" I whispered and he laugh softly.

"I'm a friend of your brother, i mean. Oo, kaibigan. Tapos lagi kaming pumupunta sa bahay n'yo." Paliwanag n'ya.

"I didn't grow up in the Philippines." I said.

I only learned to speak Tagalog because of mommy and daddy, daddy said that he was here in the Philippines when he was a child and this is also where he met mommy.

"No really, your brother just introduced you, I asked who's the girl in your family picture was. He said it was you, Amara, the youngest of the two of you. Ayon 'yung sabi n'ya nung highschool kami. Palagi kaming nakatambay sa inyo dati. Magkahiwalay lang kamu nung college kasi sa Newyork na s'ya mag-aaral." Dadag n'ya sa paliwanag n'ya. Okay, medyo nalilinawan na ako.

"That's good, you still remember a little, you're not getting old." When I joked and then he laugh.

Suddenly, Jaxon came to us carrying two party hats.

"It's 11:58, let's go inside." He said, I immediately nodded and follow him.

We went straight upstairs kung nasaan si Zach.

Others were also there with confetti and wearing birthday hats.

Ten

Nine

You're handsome even when you're asleep, Zach

Eight

Seven

Wake up, it's your birthday.

Six

Five

You have so many beautiful friends.

Four

Three

Nagising ka rin kasi kung hindi, kakaiba ka.

Two

One

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!" They shout at the same time as the confetti.

Zach smiled but also complain nung nakita n'ya na sobrang aga pa. Wow, Zach. Thank you ha. Grabe ka.

He look at me and smiled, it was his birthday so I secretly raised my middle finger and laugh softly. He frowned.

We are here today in the garden, there are people cooking, grilling, talking and there are others who are simply eating and there are also others who are in the swimming pool in the morning, it's still a bit cold.

Sabi nila ay hindi pa raw sila nakakapaligo. Kaya sa swimming pool na lang sila naligo dahilan kung bakit sumigaw 'yung iba ng "Disgursting shet" na line ni Lee Min Ho sa LOTBS.

While Keizler and I were still together sitting here next to each other watching what they were doing.

"Let's get back to our conversation earlier." Panimula ko. Timingin naman s'ya sa akin.

"Where are we now?" He asked.

"At Zach's house." Pangbabara ko saka tumingin. Ngumiwi naman s'ya. Oo na, corny na nga.

"Uh, as far as i remember andoon na tayo sa umalis si kuya para mag aral sa New York." I said. He nodded.

"That's right. He went to New York and studied there. Kaya ko nakilala si Zachary." He said. Napakunot naman ang noo ko.

"Isn't my Zachary is older than you?" Tanong ko. Tumingin naman s'ya sa akin.

"No, parehas din kami ng edad." He said, it made me even more confused.

"No, isn't Zach only 23?" Taning ko. Tumawa naman sya saka umiling.

"He's 27, it's just not obvious." He said while still laughing. I punched him in the arm to make him stop but it didn't work so I turned his face to mine. He stop and look away before speaking.

"Nice, so sweet." Suddenly, Jaxon appeared in front. Napatingin naman kaming parehas sa kan'ya.

He was also with Zach and Aidan.

"Just talking about something." Paliwanag ko at tumayo. Ganon din si Keizler.

"What are you talking about?" Panunukso ni Aidan.