Author's Note: Okay, so I know it's been a long time since I last updated this. And I perfectly understand if you're pissed (lol, I'm pissed at myself too). 2019 had so many to offer, and I accepted them all. First off, I resigned at my previous job because it felt like I wasn't growing anymore, and I wasn't happy doing what I was doing there. Entered Google - so they offered me a job and now I'm working under their Ads team. So this is the reason why it' been a hectic year for me. I've been focusing on this job because trust me, Google has a lot to fucking offer. But now that I have a lot of free time to do whatever I want, I chose to write!
So if you wish to follow my life, you can always hit me up on Twitter and IG (@jmsenar), or you can always check my Facebook and stalk me. FYI, I rarely open my Wattpad Inbox, so if you want to message me, make sure you reach out to me on my social media accounts! I'm always free to talk with.
Yours truly,
Mike
After that volleyball try-outs, I want more than nothing but to drink a lot of water and sit down. I'm sweating everywhere, the clothes that I'm wearing are clinging onto my skin - a feeling that I sort of miss when I was the team captain of the volleyball team of the school back in the Philippines. It's a nice touch that I'm feeling this again as I've been missing home, my real home, so much. I wonder how everyone is doing back at home.
Dylan catches up with me and takes a seat beside me with a huge grin plastered on his face. He offers his hand for a high-five and lets out a smirk, and I gladly offer my hand and he slaps it with his.
"That's a nice play you got there," Dylan states as he looks back at the game going on, which is for a basketball try-out. "Consider already that you're part of the team, because I'm sure as hell Coach Evans wouldn't let you go. You're already their star player."
"That's nice," I let out a chuckle while shaking my head as I look forward and see my step-brother stepping his game up. He looks so serious. His eyes are basically on fire, sweat is starting to form and slide across his chiseled jaw, his legs slightly parted. He looks so ready and competitive. "I was a team captain of the school's volleyball team back in the Philippines. Lost that title to my best friend when I came here. But I'm happy."
"Yeah?" Dylan chuckles and pats my knee and I nod my head.
My step-brother, Isaiah, turns to look at our direction and he momentarily freezes. He gets sidestepped by a junior that's when he regains his focus. He immediately launches at him with sheer determination that it baffles me how competitive this guy is. He runs as fast as he can and snatches the ball from his opponent's clutch until he's dribbling, doing those tricks I keep seeing where they pass the ball front and back within their legs, until he runs faster and side-steps his opponent until he jumps high and shoots the ball. The ball bounces back, but Isaiah jumps again and does a slam-dunk. His teammates cheer, clapping their hands as they whistle.
"He's pretty good at that," I say to no one in particular as I stare at my step-brother, watching his every move. He smiles widely at his teammates, or friends, and high-fives a blonde guy.
"Well, yeah," Dylan states with irritation that makes me turn my head to look at him. I find him glaring daggers at Isaiah. Jeez, this guy hates my step-brother so much. I wonder, aside from the girlfriend issue, if they have done something more - kind of like fist fighting. "He's the team captain of the basketball team, so he's pretty good. He's the star player, always getting the trophy for the team. But he's an asshole, too. What a complete prick, that he is."
"He really has done something wrong with you, huh?"
"Damn right, he has." Dylan grits his teeth but regains his composure after breathing in and out. He shuts his eyes for a moment until his breathing relaxes. I wonder why these guys haven't fixed their relationship - I mean, they could have been great friends for all we know. "Enough of him. It makes me sick just seeing him, let alone talking about him. I still hate him for stealing my girlfriend."
"Is that the only reason?" I ask him with pure curiosity.
"Oh no, there's a lot of reasons why we hate each other," he chuckles humorlessly while rolling his eyes. "And I don't see that changing anytime soon. Anyways, I need to relax. Good thing I have a mini vacation this weekend. Gonna hit the road and just travel wherever my car brings me to."
My ears perk up at that. It's been a long time since my last travel, and I want to travel again. The last place I've been to was Bataan in the Philippines. Nice touch of nature, and it's very relaxing. With my permission of my mother and father, they allow me to travel with my friends without being supervised since they know we can handle our own but the catch is, we always have to update them of what's going on - like where we are, what type of vehicle we are riding on, the food we taste. So basically, all of what's happening while we're in the trip.
We did have fun there. We took pictures, lots of them; we ate native and exotic foods. We hiked up a mountain. We rented a place through AirBnB where we could hang out and chill and sleep. It's a nice feeling. It was such an awesome experience.
I wish that would happen again. Oh, the things that I would do just to make it happen again. I'm totally missing my friends back home so much that it affects how I function. I know that this is where my life is now, and that I should give this life a new chance. But how could I when I'm experiencing home-sickness? It's such an awful feeling that makes me want to vomit. But I can't be a baby. For God's sake, I'm already old enough to make my own decisions that would make my mother question everything she decided for her life.
Sighing out loud while reminiscing the old life I had, Dylan's eyes meet mine and he raises a brow at me, probably thinking what the hell my problem is. I can't blame him, though. I look like a kid who has lost his life.
"I miss travelling," I tell him, hanging my head down low. I don't want him to see how miserable I am for being here and how it's affecting me. I'm new to this school, and I can't just go letting everyone see how vulnerable I can be. "I used to travel a lot with my friends, back in the Philippines. And I miss them so much. I wish I could travel with them again, but that would be nearly impossible since my life is here now. Unless I decided to go back to the Philippines alone, and my mom wouldn't let me. Asian kids are glued to their parents. All the freaking time."
Dylan genuinely laughs, shaking his head as he stares at me with amusement in his eyes.
"Seriously, if you miss travelling that much, then you should come with me." Dylan offers his hand and I take it into consideration. To be honest, the offer is tempting, but I can't just go accepting someone's offer. We just met today. Who knows, he could be a killer, or a drug addict! I'm not risking my life for this. I deserve to live and I have yet to achieve my dreams. "Well?"
"Okay, then." It got the best of me. The offer is tempting, and I succumb. "I'll just have to tell my mother. I'm sure she'll be okay with it. She'll just need your contacts and all, and we have to update them every now and then regarding our trip."
"Then it's settled, then. Saturday, it is. We travel."
We shake hands before the try-outs for the basketball end. Isaiah looks our way again and he has this annoyed expression plastered on his face. I battle internally whether I should call him to say hi and introduce myself properly, or just ignore him since he doesn't really want to meet me. Yes, I know if a person likes me and clearly, Isaiah doesn't want to. If he has, then he should have already approached me. But I can't see that happening anytime soon. I wasn't born yesterday for me to notice that. Regarding what his deal is, that I don't know.
"Do you have plans in mind?"
"I feel like hiking since it's been a long time since my last hike, but whichever comes to mind first, then that's it." He tells me and laughs at his own self.
"Okay, then. Saturday, it is."
Once the school is done, I feel exhausted. Not because of the school work, but because of meeting new people. I've been introduced to so many people that it made my head spin. Most of them I forgot the names already. I didn't bother that much since I know we have the entire year of getting to know each other, and soon enough, we'd be calling out names across the hallway with a huge grin.
When I get home, the smell of menudo that my mom has cooked is so appetising that I just throw my bag on the couch and head straight to the kitchen. My mom smiles at me and grabs me a plate and I take a seat immediately.
"Kamu - how was school?" She's about to ask me in our native language, but Bill comes barging in with a huge smile tugged on his lips. He gives my mom a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat and greeting me. I grab two cups of rice and put a bunch of menudo sauce on top of the rice - a Filipino thing. My mom eyes me and smiles, sensing that my mood is not in jeopardy.
"It was okay. Met new people. They're nice." I answer before digging into my food.
My mom chuckles, shaking her head as she gets Bill a plate. Bill smiles lovingly at his newfound love, and honestly, I couldn't ask for a better man for my mother.
A gentle slam of the door cuts my eating and I turn to look at the doorway through the kitchen when my step-brother, Isaiah, comes barging in with a tired look. His eyes meet mine for a second - and there's something I can't quite pinpoint about his eyes, but it's kind of like hard and vibrant and gentle - before he focuses his gaze on my mom. Isaiah walks forward and kisses my mom's cheek and greets his dad. But he hasn't thrown any greetings my way. Fine by me.
"How was school?" Bill asks his son and Isaiah just shrugs, giving his dad a thumbs up.
Without having said another word, Isaiah takes a seat across from me and completely ignores me as if I'm nothing. I'm now rethinking of what Dylan said, and I'm agreeing with him. This guy is a complete prick. A hi or hello would have been enough to greet me, or just a short nod of his head for acknowledgement that I'm here.
"Mom," I begin to say, and Isaiah looks at me blankly. Mom takes a seat beside her man and smiles brightly. Everyone awaits of what I'm going to say, and I feel like this is going to be a big deal. I mean, I know mom would let me reason it out, but for Bill? I'm thinking that he's strict. "So I met a new friend, and we're going tripping this Saturday. Need your approval on that."
"With whom? What's his name?" Mom lets her motherly side take over. "I need to get all of his contacts, then. I mean, we're in America right now. Culture is different so..."
"Mom, I'm going to be alright." I let out a chuckle. Bill and Isaiah remain silent. "His name is Dylan. He's a good guy. He's an adventurer."
"Wait, what? Dylan?" Isaiah suddenly speaks up, no longer interested at what he's eating. "You mean the Dylan of our school? That asshole?"
"Language, son." Bill glowers at his son and Isaiah only rolls his eyes but keeps his mouth shut. He focuses his attention on me, then to my mom. "Isn't he too young to be travelling? I mean, I let Isaiah do whatever he wants, but travelling? Where?"
"Oh, I really don't know," I tell them honestly. Isaiah is still pissed. "We could go hiking somewhere, or just hit the road."
"You can go," Mom says as she touches Bill's hand affectionately. "Trust me, Chad is a traveler. He's been to a lot of places back in the Philippines, and travelling is kind of like part of his life now. He takes care of himself, and true to his word, he provides updates. Every now and then." Mom laughs at that, rolling her eyes playfully.
"Wait, you can't possibly let him join that asshole." Isaiah greets his teeth as he stares down at me hard, his eyes practically on flames. "I've been telling you about him, dad. He's that guy in the school who constantly pisses me off, and trust me, he's been in countless fights that I don't quite fathom why he hasn't been expelled yet."
"He seems like a good guy to me."
"Well, bad news, he isn't. He's been a bitch to me."
"If you haven't seduced his girlfriend, then maybe, he wouldn't have this great hatred towards you." I counter. Isaiah shuts up and groans, putting his face in his hands. His face is beet red, and his fists are clenched. "Sounds like a good reason why he should be mad at you."
"That was a long time ago!" Isaiah bursts, standing up. Bill and mom try to calm him down, but Isaiah is having none of it. It honestly makes me scared of him. Now I'm really considering that Isaiah is a bad guy here. "But even before that, he's been bitching me and throwing attitude my way. Because you know why? Because he's fucking jealous of what I have! And you shouldn't mingle with him. Because he's a piece of shit, and he's bad news."
"And so are you," I shot back.
Bill and mom, for some unknown reason, don't stop us. In fact, what they are doing is they are just staring at us and with such interest that I have to snap my fingers on them for them to stop watching the show that has been happening in front of them.
Isaiah lets out a loud sigh and shakes his head, and then he ignores me again. We are all quiet, and mom has been throwing me glances that I keep catching. I raise my brow at her and she jerks her head towards Isaiah. Knowing what my mom wants, I roll my eyes and calm myself. Mom has always been like that. She wants me to apologise for something I didn't start. But for now, I don't feel like apologizing. I just made a new friend, and I shouldn't bother listening to my idiot of a step-brother.
From the start, he's been an ass to me. I get it, he's been an only child. His dad's attention has always been directed at him, but now my mom and I are part of the family now, then Bill has a reason to divide his attention. I mean, I don't know if that's the real reason why Isaiah has been such an ass to me. Never have I met a person who is literally so rude and childish. If he's scared of his father turning his full attention on me, well, he doesn't need to feel threatened and jealous because I'm not planning on taking his father's attention. I've got enough of that from my mother.
I'm re-organising my stuff when a knock on the door startles me. I'm ready to scold my mother for scaring me, but when I turn my head, my idiot of a step-brother is standing there with a blank face. He purses his lips and I turn my back on him, continuing to clean my mess.
"Sorry for being such a prick back there when we were having dinner," Isaiah says. I turn to look at him. He has his eyes fixed on me, and I suddenly feel uncomfortable looking at him. He massages the back of his neck, a light pinkish color appearing on his cheeks. "I don't know what has gotten into me. But I swear, you need to be careful with Dylan."
"Why do I need to be careful with him?" I ask, annoyed.
He sighs deeply, shaking his head. "Look, I don't know where to start. But Dylan... I wouldn't say he's evil, but he's notorious for getting into fights and all that shit. And his target has always been me."
I'm about to say that's probably because he seduced his girlfriend when he glares at me.
"And don't throw me that "it's because you stole his girlfriend" shit." He rolls his eyes. "I told you, even before that, he's been fucking with me. I don't even know where it all started. That guy seriously hates my guts. For some unknown reason. What a fucking bitch."
What response do I have for that? Nothing. I don't know what history they have, or what started it all. But they sure have a lot of talking to do. My mother always tells me that if you have a good talk with the person who hates you, then the world will be a better place. But I doubt this idiot and Dylan would talk it out. They'd probably tear each other's throat out. In seconds.
"I believe I haven't introduced myself properly," he tells me.
"No shit, is this the time you're going to tell me your name?"
"Are you always this sarcastic, or it's been a while since you became like this?"
"Probably the latter," that brings a smile on his face. And it's actually nice to see it for once. Even for a short time that I met him, I'm sure Isaiah would go back to his cold self. Not going to be surprised. I literally just met this guy today, but I can tell already that living here with him is going to be a lot painful. "I'm Chad de Guzman, 17 years old, from the Philippines."
"Well, I'm Isaiah Parlin, but you can call me Nate or Isaiah."
He offers his hand to me and I take a good look at it. For someone who is as just as old as me, he sure has pretty big hands. And it looks like one of those hands in commercials, hands that are being dipped or smothered with milk lotion. I wonder how it would feel if I run the tips of my fingers across his skin. Would it be good? Shaking the thought out of my head, I take his hand firmly and shake.
Once we've introduced ourselves properly, Isaiah gives me a small smile but refuses to let go of my hand. My eyes flicker on our intertwined hands, then to his face. Our eyes meet for a second before he lets go of my hands and we stand there, staring at each other rather awkwardly.
"So... school tomorrow," he breaks the silence.
"Yep," I realize I have abruptly stopped cleaning my stuff up when he came to talk to me about Dylan. I put my notebooks, pens, and alcohol on the side before standing and facing my step-brother. I put my hands in my pocket, shrugging.
"I can give you a ride tomorrow," he says coolly. "Sarah said that you always wake up early so you can go to school early."
"That's me."
"Okay then. Good night."
"Good night," I mumble, barely a whisper. But he has heard it. Isaiah turns to look at me one more time before giving a half-hearted smile before disappearing as he gets out of my room. "This is a one weird night, isn't?" I tell myself, shaking my head.