Crabapples and sauce.
Do you know what I just happen to remember as I stand infront of the enemy and the enemy's siblings? I'll give you a guess. What did I have the pleasure of taking off a few minutes ago?
Yes, my bra. My beloved, padded sports bra.
I subtly cross my arms across my chest, and try my best to act normal. Although at this point, I'm ready to do an Olympic style sprint out of my house. I don't run at all, which is saying something.
The enemy gives me a strange look, probably sensing my uncomfortableness. It's probably coming off me like smoke on hot food. I do my best to avoid eye contact and focus my attention to his other siblings. The invasion has begun. Why do I not own anything in camouflage?
"Hey Ate Lara!" Gabe chimes. He's the friendly and polite one. He's the one that looks most like Tita Gia with his tanned skin and eye shape. Unlike Gabe, the other two boys have fair skin that they've inherited from Tito Danny. I don't know how such a nice boy deserves the torture of being related to James.
"Hey! Come in guys." I blurt out.
His siblings are all younger. There's Gabe, who is the same age as Illa and Seb (Sebastian) who is 6 years old.
Seb rushes up to me and gives me a hug. I love Seb so much. Illa and I are only 3 years apart, so I can't really treat her like a baby. But Seb is so adorable, with his 2 dimples and his cute little smile. He looks alot like a miniature version of James, especially with the identical dimples on their cheeks. Both are more English-looking, since they look like Tito Danny, who is from London. Of course, Seb looks much cuter than James. But to be honest, If I didn't know them, I wouldn't be able to tell that they had filipino blood. I carry him up, then let him back down to scurry into the room.
Once he is gone, I cross my arms over my chest and face James. I throw him my own version of an evil glare.
"I hate you." I state.
"I know. The feeling's half mutual." he responds with the same tone.
"Great. Since we hate each other, we should avoid each other. Shall we cancel the tutoring?" I tell him, trying not to punch him in his annoying face.
"Haha, very funny." he laughs sarcastically. "I said, the feeling's half mutual. I don't fully hate you."
"Wow. What a pleasure it is to only be partially hated." I respond, the sarcasm getting stronger in each syllable.
"Plus, I never denied needing your help."
I narrow my eyes at him. He puts his hands in the pockets of his jeans and takes a few steps towards the kitchen. Before he takes another step, he stops beside me.
"Oh yeah, before I forget, what's with the intensely crossed arms?" he comments.
"None of your business." I retort back.
"No need to keep them crossed. Nothing much under there anyways." He says, as if that meant nothing and was only a mere fact. He walks past me, hitting my shoulder and leaves me here, dumbfounded.
It takes me a few seconds to wrap my mind around the words that just came out of that jerk's mouth. My jaw drops open and then I close it, gritting my teeth together from my anger. That jerk! How dare he insult my flat-ish chest like that! I already know that my boobs are basically non-existent, no need to say it out loud! I hope that idiot falls off a cliff. Honestly, who does he think he is?
It's not my fault that I am a part of the "itty-bitty-titty-committee"! I'm not flat-flat chested, my boobs are just small. Erm, I mean, low-fat. Apparently, while my boobs are being all low-fat and ish, the rest of my body didn't get the memo! Oh body, putting the layers on all the other places instead.
But I ain't trying to be a model anyways. Too lazy for that! Plus, I get enough of health and workout from being sister's with the twins. I don't really know why they force us to do their intense workouts as "family bonding" or as to why my parents agree to it. Something about avoiding cholesterol or wait...high blood pressure? Seems important enough for me.
I decide that I shall keep my distance from the idiot, in order to keep my sanity. I step on the first step of the staircase on my way up to my room, when my mom yells, "Ara! Come here!"
I stop. I sigh. I contemplate about my life. Should I go or should I just run upstairs and pretend that I'm feeling extremely nauseous?
Both options lead to my despairing death. If I go, surely my brain cells will deteriorate during my James encounter. But if I run, my mom will beat the crabapples out of me. Well, not literally of course.
"Okay, I just need to get something from upstairs!" I shout back.
Obviously that thing is a bra.
After, I drag myself to the kitchen, still furious at James. When I enter, I give James a harsh glare then look at everyone else with a kind smile. How I hate him. "Yes, mother." I acknowledge, my voice prim and proper. If I watched myself I'd have laughed at my false politeness.
"Sit at the table with us. Tita Gia wants to talk to you." mom says.
I sit at our round kitchen table and look from my mom to Tita Gia. Then, I turn to the boys who are sitting quietly on the couch in the family room. Our house has an open concept so there isn't a wall separating the kitchen and family room.
Tita Gia speaks up. "Lara, Hon, thank you so much for volunteering to help James in his studies. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it." She rests her hand on mine.
Volunteer? Ha! I was blackmailed and forced! This is me crying internally.
As much as I hate James, I can't bear to tell Tita Gia about the truth. She's always been like a second mother to me. Maybe it's because she and mom have been friends since University. I swear, they must've planned their pregnancies so that their children could be best friends. I guess it didn't go as planned.
"No worries." I manage to say. Although on the inside, every cell in my body is having a panic attack.
Mom and Tita Gia continue their conversation and Seb calls me over. I place myself on the couch, wedged between Seb and Gabe.
"Hey bud! What's up?" I ask Seb, ruffling his shaggy dark hair.
"Can you play with me?" he says in his cute little voice, looking at me with puppy eyes. How can I say no to that face?
"Sure!" I exclaim. "Wanna play soccer in the backyard?"
We have a soccer net set up in the backyard since the twins love playing that sport as well. Our backyard is pretty big, so it's fun to play in.
"Yay!" he yells.
The sound of footsteps descending from the stairs fills the room. Illa comes running into the kitchen and she pulls a package of microwave popcorn from the cupboards. She turns around and notices our visitors.
She waves at Gabe. "Hey Gabe!"
Gabe gets up from the couch and walks towards Illa. The height gene runs well in the family since he towers over her. But why am I surprised? Tito Danny is the same height as James. Gabe is almost 6 feet, which is amazing for a thirteen year-old.
"How are you doing?" he asks her. I mean, most people just say what's up. The kid is just too formal! It's too adorable!
"I'm great!" Illa responds energetically. "I was just about to watch a movie upstairs. Want to come watch it with me?"
"Sure." he smiles, as Illa pops the popcorn into the microwave.
I decide to stop watching the two as if their conversation were a movie scene and I get up from the couch to go open the backyard door. Seb follows me. I slide the door open, put my sneakers on and go out.
"Wait a minute! I'm gonna get my shoes!" Seb realizes, and he goes to the front to grab his shoes.
Outside, I run to the fence and grab the soccerball. I kick it around as I wait for Seb. I suck at soccer. The ball always tries to find a way towards my face. But the kid doesn't need to know about my lack of skill.
Seb comes running out, but right behind him (walking lazily like a zombie) is his older brother. Ugh. Couldn't he stay inside and facetime one of his girlfriends instead? I mean, he has our wifi password anyways.
I know, I was forced to share the wifi.
James runs to Seb, lifts him from the ground and places him on his broad shoulders.
"Ate Lara! Ate Lara! Look at me!" Seb shouts from James' shoulders. I smile at him. He's just too cute! James places him back on the ground and he runs to me, trying to steal the ball from my hands.
"Bud, ready to play with De la Cruz?" James says. Again, why is he calling me by my last name?
"De la Cruz?" Seb says, confused.
"I meant, your Ate Lara." James corrects.
"Yeah!" Seb answers.
"Wanna make Lara the goalie?" James suggests to Seb. No, no, no. I cannot be goalie! I'm freaking scared of ball! In soccer, it's either I'm forward or nothing. I can't defend to save my life.
"No than-" I start, but Seb interrupts me.
"Yes! Ate Lara you can be goalie!" Seb agrees. I look at James and that smirk returns to his face. He's enjoying this.
I can't say no to the little guy so I go to the net.
"I'll teach you how to shoot." James declares. I think I might pee my pants. James is a star hockey player. The captain of the hockey team. That's his sport that he's known for. But he's on all the sports teams! So yes, he can kill me with a soccer ball too.
I stand infront of the net as James backs up. He runs to the ball and kicks it. Hard. It zooms just past my cheek and hits the net. I stand there wide-eyed, staring at him. I want to go up to him and start beating the crabapples out of him, but I can't do it since Seb is standing right there.
The next hour goes by with James almost beheading me every two minutes. I swear, the ball misses my head only by a millimetre! We play with Seb, running around and around. See, this is how much I love the kid. I am willing to do physical activity!
Finally the kid gets tired and I lie down on one of our lawn chairs, my breathing still heavy. James comes and flicks my forehead.
I glare at him. "What do you want?"
"Nothing." he states simply.
"Hmm...I thought you wanted to send me to the hospital with a skull fracture." I grumble.
"Please, I couldn't bear to see you hurt." he says softly, his voice almost inaudible, sounding like the complete opposite of the loud, arrogant boy that I know.
Please, I'd believe him if he didn't try to kill me twice today. Okay, maybe I can be a bit rough towards him too, but he's usually the one starting everything! This is obviously another one of his jokes.
I try to hold in a laugh, but fail. "Totally. Because you never, ever try to trip me and shoot soccer balls at me face." I reply sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
He just shrugs, flicks my forehead again, then wipes the sweat off of his forehead.
"Go inside and get a drink of water before I get blamed for your death by dehydration!" I shout at him, annoyed. I flick my wrist in a gesture telling him to go away.
"Aww," he gushes, putting a hand on his chest. "You really care about me!"
I chuckle. "As if! Nevermind what I said before. You can just perish from lack of water."
He rolls his eyes then proceeds to go back into the house. That damn idiot, always putting words in my mouth.
Seb comes up to me with the soccer ball and I push his dark hair away from his face. "Did you have fun?"
He smiles, showing his dimples. "Yes!" He sits beside me on the lawn chair. He gestures for me to come closer and cups his hands to my ear.
"Ate Lara, can you come over next time to play with me. Gabe never plays with me." he whispers.
"Why not?" I ask.
He shrugs. "He's always doing homework."
Well, that sounds alot like Gabe. That kid is basically a child genius! He's always studying! He and Illa are classmates, but I always have to force Illa to do her homework.
"How about James?"
His eyes light up. "He plays with me all the time, but he's not as fun as you."
In my head I do a nice hairflip. Obviously, this kid has taste. He might not know that his older brother is a self-absorbed womanizer, but at least he has the sense to see that I am a fun-er person than him. Self-five!
"Well don't worry, I'll be around more often since I have to tutor the idi- I mean, your Kuya James."
He lets out a happy giggle and hugs me. I give him a piggy back ride back into the house where James is sitting at our dining table, drinking a glass of water. I sit at the table and Tita Gia looks at me.
"So Lara, so when are you available to tutor James?"
"Well, I mean, Fridays are pretty goo-"
My mom interrupts me mid-sentence. "They have the same subjects anyways, why don't they just work on homework together each school day?" she suggests.
Oh good gracious. I love my mom but sometimes I wonder why she has to suggest things that I am always opposed to. Really? Everyday? Every. Single. Freaking. Day.
Tita Gia claps happily as she agrees. James smirks at me. He always loves it when I get annoyed, doesn't he? I want to slap that smirk right off of his face.
"Yay!" Seb exclaims. "You can play with me everyday!"
I smile and ruffle his hair. Oh Seb, he's the only good thing about this situation.
Hey! Did you like it? What do you think about the Bryer brothers? I fell in love with Seb cause he reminds me of my little cousin. Please don't hesitate to vote [give a little click to that star looking thingy] or comment! If you like it, share it with your friends? Tell me what you think! Thanks for the support! It means the world to me! See you next week!
LOVE YOU GUYS! :) <3 <3
-Summer