It's been 3 years since we moved out of the Philippines. I've been staying with my mom here in LA since my Lola died. My dad's mom... I could barely handle it and my dad didn't handle it well too so my mom decided to take us back home here.
"Maddy? Are you awake? Mom said you're gonna drive me to school today" Abi, my sister started banging on my door.
My mom brought her ancestry all the way from the Philippines to here in the United States of America and nobody can say anything about it. I spent half of my lifetime in the Philippines, and since my mom and my dad separated my mom just doesn't wanna say it but I feel like she gained separation anxiety.
I pushed myself up and tied my hair up, I made my bed and opened up the blinds. I went straight to my bathroom and took a quick cold shower to wake myself up.
I dressed up right away and put on a tank top some jogging pants and my favorite sneakers, I put up my hair with a hair clamp packed in my laptop in my shoulder bag, and hung my headphones on my neck.
I just put on some sunscreen and a bit of lip tint, concealer, and mascara before jogging my way downstairs.
"Ano yang suot mo Maddy? Bakit ka nakasando lang?" My mom shouted in the most annoying voice just as soon as I made myself comfortable sitting down on the dining table
"Mom, the sun is ready to cook everyone who stays for more than 10 minutes outside, it's either this tank top or death from heat stroke" I told her...
See, this is where it gets weird because my mom is a 35-year-old woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes, yet she screams like a Filipino mom... You might be curious, not only have my dad and her lived in the Philippines for most of their existence, my grandfather on my mother's side is British and my grandmother is half American and half Filipino, and on my father's side, we never knew who my grandfather was other than he's an asshole who got my lola pregnant and flew his ass somewhere that none of us really took time to know coz we just simply don't care and of course, my Lola is half Filipino and half American.
We're just a bunch of hybrid kids... We should be the cast for the vampire diaries.
My mom had me when she was 18 so you can see what kind of pleasant life it was for her, I'm not saying it because my granddad and grams hate her, I mean they are disappointed but they supported mom, it's the people around her who made her feel like she doesn't worth anything.
It might not seem evident now but my mom, was one of the most beautiful in her school before, so of course everyone who's insecure about her beauty rejoiced when they found out she was pregnant out of wedlock. My mom couldn't take the discrimination so my lola dragged him and my mom to the Philippines where my grams totally agreed to sway the spotlight from them. Then they came back here to LA when I turned 5 and we went back to the Philippines when I was 13 since I got bullied so much at school for not being able to speak Tagalog very well and of course, I look different from everyone else sporting a blonde hair and blue eyes... so we went back here in LA again, then went back to the Philippines then went back here again now.
"You look dumb" Dylan said throwing a wrapper of candy at me, so I threw a whole ass pancake in his face and rolled my eyes.
Dylan is the youngest of us, then there's Abi.
"Stop wasting food, I placed all your lunches in your bag, and I swear to god you two, if another Tupperware isn't brought home again, I will not prepare lunch for you two for the next two weeks" My mom said to them, I drank all of the coffee in my mug
"Mom I'm pretty sure that's just a nice way you'll neglect us of food for the next two weeks which is not very mother of the year of you" Abi said grabbing a pancake stacking some bacon in the middle and rolling it up like a burrito before grabbing her backpack
"You have the worst kids in the world mom, I refuse to believe I am related to any of these two" I said standing up and grabbing my car keys
I gave mom a kiss on the cheek
"Mom, go out, have some fun, I'll handle these two headaches, don't cage yourself inside this house okay?" I said smiling at her before closing the door behind me
I unlocked the car and got in the driver's seat
"Seatbelts, dummies" I reminded them before putting on my sunglasses and checking everything before I accelerated
I gave a last honk to let Mom know we were about to go and continued on our way.
"Guys seriously, can you guys try to be a less of an asshole to mom? Even just for a whole week, just one week of not being a pain in the ass" I told them with my eyes fixated on the road
"Why? Because mom and dad got divorced?" Dylan asked me as my eyes caught him looking at me through the mirror
Abi is just silent looking outside.
"There's no nice way to say it, but yes, since mom and dad got divorced. But that doesn't make them any less of our parents okay? Dad is still dad and Mom is still mom, they're just going through something and they have to do that individually.
"Are you going to leave us too?" Dylan asked and before I could even respond
"Of course not, Maddy you're not leaving us right?" Abi butted in.
"Give me one reason why I should leave you two or mom?" I asked the back "See? No reason for me to go, so I won't be going anywhere anytime soon" I reassured them
After a few minutes, we arrived at their school
"Okay, don't talk to strangers, do not cheat, and do not let anyone bully you whether it's a teacher or a student or anyone in particular, got it?" I asked them both turning my head to see them agreeing with me
"Yes!" They both said in unison
They got out of the car and I gave them a last shout "BRING HOME MOM'S TUPPERWARE BEFORE SHE SERVES OUR HEADS FOR DINNER ON THE NEXT REUNION"
I rolled up my windows and pulled up my phone to check my schedule and my group chat with my classmate
sadie: hey @maddy where u at?
aki: miss girly we're waiting for u here at the dance studio there's a new instructor so we went early
me: do I have to go there now? doesn't mean you guys r early I should be early too...
kirs: she's kinda right"
me: ofc I'm right
sadie: whatevs we'll see you later
I checked another chat box
Damon: I'll see you at the cafe near the dance studio so I can see you before you go to work
Damon: Chat me when you wake up.
Damon: Are you awake already? What time is your class today?
Sent 8:00 AM
I'm the worst girlfriend ever, He was sending me messages since 6 AM and I haven't responded to him and it's already 10:00 AM
Me: hey, I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to you right away I was taking care of abi and dylan its the first day of school
Damon: it's ok totally understandable I'll see you at the cafe
Damon: iloveyou
Me: I'll see you iloveyoutoo...
I drove off and went straight to the cafe near the dance studio I work at
I am in college but I need some side hustle so I work at a dance studio a few blocks away from my uni, as a choreographer, my classmates and I have a presentation to make for school, a dance presentation to be exact, that's why I invited them to come to the dance studio
I arrived at the cafe and saw Damon sitting at one of the tables at the back so I took a little jog.
"Oh my god!" I shrieked as I got drenched with hot coffee
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to- I really am sorry" A towering woman said to me and she grabbed some napkins to wipe the spill on my chest
"It's okay I wasn't looking as well" I said grabbing other napkins and looking at her, I felt so intimidated by her, like her energy, the way she speaks, and just her being there intimidated the hell out of me.
I'm just looking at her at this moment as she continues to wipe the spill on my shirt
"Wiping it more will not remove the stain you know" I said smiling at her and she smiled back and chuckled.
I really am sorry, I have a spare shirt in my car if you want" She suggested
"Hey babe, what happened?" Damon said giving me a kiss on the cheek.
She looked at her and she was looking down at him, for real she was taller than Damon and my 5'2 ass is looking up at them both
Gotta thank god for giving me this height really, couldn't be more thankful.
I can feel the tension between them and I don't even know if it's really there or if I'm just messing with myself
"I just bumped into her earlier, It was actually my fault I was just apologizing" I told Damon and he nodded his head
"You mentioned you have an extra shirt?" I asked her again
"Yeah it's in my bag right there in my bag, I'll grab it real quick I'll hand it to you at the bathroom" She said, and before I could say anything she already walked off.
"Babe it's okay I'm drenched in coffee, just go back to our table and I'll be there, I didn't bring any spare clothes with me, all my spare clothes are in the locker at the dance studio" I told Damon
"Okay, I'll wait for you here" I thanked him and gave him a kiss on the cheek
I went straight to the bathroom and removed the tank top I was wearing, then I heard a knock on the door.
I opened the door and saw the lady holding a white shirt, I bit my lip from laughing at how awkward this was but failed miserably and broke off laughing and she started laughing as well
"I'm Maddy" I said handing out my hand for a shake
"Bada, exchange student at UCLA" She shook my hand with hers smiling all the way
"Okay Bada, exchange student at UCLA, as much I want to do more chitchat I need to change" I smiled as I gently grabbed the shirt from her hand and softly closed the door
That was so weird why are my cheeks burning, and why do I feel like I'm going to vomit
I removed my bra as well and put on the shirt Bada gave me. It actually smelled really good, I know this scent I just couldn't remember where or when
I went back to my seat with Damon and started chatting with him and chilling
I ate breakfast and we watched some videos on his laptop before I told him that I had to go to the dance studio
I didn't see Bada around the area anymore so I just grabbed my bag.
Damon grabbed my hand, I looked at him as I took a huge swallow. Did I do something stupid? Did I do something bad and forget about it? Think Maddy, think.
He looks straight into my eyes
"Have fun and... don't do anything stupid" I smiled frantically and gave him a kiss.
"Of course baby" I said before I hurried out and held back my tears I pulled out a cigarette and lit it up walking to the building
After I arrived there, I threw away my cig butt went straight to the locker put on some bra, and jog my way to the dance studio.
"Hi guys I'm Rowan Bada Choi, everyone can call me Bada, I'll be a new part of your family"
There is no way.