One Summer with the Sinner (Monteverde Series 5)

15

Chapter Fifteen

ALEXIANA CALLISTO

"IS HE HANDSOME? OH MY GOOOSH, DOES HE HAVE ABS?"

I had to pull one of the earpieces out, because my sister's voice reached its maximum volume. When she saw my reaction, she grinned, flashed me a peace sign, and said, "oops."

"Yes, he is, but..." I shrugged, looking away, trying to picture what Vane looked like. He has this natural blonde hair, electric blue eyes, a thin nose, and he always has this vibrant smile. Yet, whenever I think about him, those things are not the first ones that come to mind. "But, I don't really care about his looks. He's a gentleman, he's respectful, and polite, and he loves his father and grandmother so much. He's funny, he's very down to earth, he gives to people, and he cares about the kids here. He has such a good heart, and to me, that's what really matters."

"Boooooooring," she drawled. "What car does he drive? How many Rolexes does he own? Is he even googleable? Gosh, it's going to be a real bummer if he's not."

"Daze!" I looked at her in disbelief. "Why would I want to know if he has a Rolex collection?"

She raised her arms up and started laughing. For a moment, her image on the video chat suddenly flickered, but a few seconds later, the focus readjusted. She was in her room, still in pink pajamas, despite the fact that it's half past one in the afternoon.

"I was just kidding, Ate." She smiled. "It's weird to know that you're kinda sorta in a way seeing someone."

"And Dad kinda sorta in a way doesn't have to know... yet. Okay? And... we're not dating. I'm new to this. I don't know what we are, but I really enjoy being with him and talking to him and he makes me smile and laugh and feel all these fuzzy emotions..."

"That was scary." Daze put a hand to her chest and feigned a look of mild shock as she stared at me and I grinned before I plopped myself on the carpeted floor of my room. My puppy, Wayne, seemed to see this as an opportunity to play with me. He quickly ran towards my direction as fast as he puppy legs would allow and as soon as he was within reach, I scooped him up and placed him on my lap. He started whining, so I put a hand on his back and started caressing his soft fur.

"It is," I agreed. "It is scary."

"But that's alright. You mentioned he's going to Britain after summer, right?"

I bit my lip as I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, you don't have to be scared that long, then. Technically, you only get to be with him for five more weeks, and after that... POOF!" I told myself that Daze is still young, and carefree, and she doesn't understand yet the complexity of my emotions. My heart felt heavy just thinking about having to say goodbye to everyone I've accustomed to seeing, to bonding with. My heart aches at the mere thought of Vane leaving, but... I'm leaving, too, and we may never see each other again.

This summer, as brief as it is, is the only time we have.

"I want to visit you there, Ate, but Dad won't let me, because he said I'm a handful. Can you believe that? Me? A handful? How come he didn't tell that to Kuya when he was younger? He was a handful with that snobbish attitude!"

I responded with a laugh, because she can really be a handful at times. When we were younger, our parents would always tell us to look after her. She's quite stubborn herself, but beneath that tough façade is someone who's really sweet and sentimental.

"I miss you, Dazy. I promise to take you out to your favorite food parks when I get back there."

"You're going back?" She sounded unsure.