Angela felt her grip slipping.

She tried to jump down, she has done this several times before.

Her father always told her to stop climbing the shelves in the tool shed but it was too much of a bother to look for a ladder.

Before she fell on the ground though, she felt Robert catch her in his arm.

She looked at him, surprised while he frowned back at her.

He held her with his left arm, while the other held the two buckets back from falling.

"I told you to get down!" he said, still frowning. "You really are such a stubborn girl!"

Angela blushed.

She felt her heart racing.

She struggled out of his arms and pushed him back.

"Well, who asked you anyway?" she snapped at him, her temper rising. "I could have gotten the buckets down before the shelf broke if you didn't bother me in the first place!"

"Well excuse me for worrying 'bout you!" Robert snapped back. "If you weren't such a clumsy oaf I wouldn't even be here!"

"Look who's talking? If I remember correctly, it was you who was looking for a 'scarecrow' to keep the bullies away! And now you're worried about me?!"

"Fine then, go ahead and get yourself killed! Who cares about a crazy sadistic kid like you in the first place?!"

Robert glared at Angela.

He was so angry he wanted to pound something to a pulp.

If he stayed like this, he didn't know what he might say to the crazy girl before him.

He took his arm away from the shelf and was about to leave, when one of the paint buckets fell on his head.

The red paint poured down on him, covering his head completely!

"Please tell me this is paint," he said after a short silence.

Angela looked at him, dumbfounded. "It's... paint..." she answered back and started to laugh.

"What?" said Robert, a little annoyed. "What's so funny?"

Angela couldn't speak, she was laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry..." she finally said between gasps, "really, you don't need to worry about me, I've been like this all my life," she continued as she sobered down, "this is how I've been raised up, you know."

Angels took a piece of rag from a pile of clothing and handed it to Robert.

"Sorry 'bout the paint, too," she said.

"Yeah, what ever..." replied the other, smiling in spite of himself. "C'mon, I'll wash myself back home. You got all the paint you need?"

"Yeah, guess so..." Angela said after looking at the mess on the floor.

"Then, c'mon, we've still got a room to paint."

The two went back next-door after showing Ria the mess.

The older Bartholomew called the houseboy and told them to run along.

Matt was in the kitchen when they got back. He was fixing himself a sandwich from the leftover food from breakfast. He dropped his sandwich and went to Robert with a worried expression on his face.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked wide-eyed.

"Paint bucket fell on my head," the other replied with a laugh.

"Looks more like you took a dunk in one!" Matt was laughing now.

"So how's the pool?" said Robert, changing the subject.

"Still at it. That scum's real tough to remove you know," said Matt, "but I think we'll get it out by lunch time. So you better prepare us a big feast!"

"Okay, right after I get this paint off," Robert laughed.

"See you lunch time then!" With that, Matt left through the back door and headed for the pool. 

Robert went up to the spare room and saw Angela.

She was already on her hands and knees in front of the paint buckets, busily mixing the paint.

"Hey, I'll just go clean up," he told her.

"Um," replied the other without looking up.

"Let's see now..." said Angela to herself, "this tint looks nice with gray, while this one's nice with navy..." She took down notes in a small notebook. "One pint to every tenth... that would take me... hmmm..."

There suddenly came a loud scream from outside.

Angela dropped her pen and ran out the balcony.

The boys were all climbing out of the pool, shouting, the loudest of which was Danny. He ran all the way up the stairway and into the balcony.

"What's wrong?" asked Angela.

"S-sna-sna...." stuttered a pale looking Danny.

The others merely stood around the empty pool, making howling noises.

"What's going on out there?" said Robert from behind. He was wearing a towel around his waist and his head was covered with soap sods.

Angela looked at him and blushed.

"Robert!" cried Danny, "S-sssnake!" he stuttered. He ran to his friend's side and whimpered behind him.

"Really?" said Robert excitedly, "Did you guys catch it?"

"Kill it! Kill it now!" yelled Danny.

"It's still in the pool right now," said Jon. "It can't get out."

"Yeah," Ken said snickering, "there's no need to worry, Danielle!"

"I think he wanted to take a swim," Matt said, "But we drained the water..."

"Poor snake..." said Mic.

"What poor?" Danny said behind Robert, "Kill it before it kills someone!"

"It's climbing out of the pool!" Ricky suddenly cried out.

"Ahhh! Kill it!!!" yelled Danny.

"Just kidding!" said Ricky with a grin. Danny was about to throw a box down at him when Robert grabbed his arm.

"Hey, stop that!" said Robert, taking the box away from his friend.

"So, Danny's scared of snakes, huh?" Angela said as she watched the boy shivering behind Robert.

"Not scared, petrified!" the boys laughed around the pool.

"I'm going in now," said Robert. "Danny, you can stay in my room if you like, and guys," he said facing the others. "Get rid of the snake."

With that, Robert went back to his room with Danny trailing behind him.

Angela looked at him.

'Such a nice body...'

She suddenly realized what she was thinking and started pounding herself in the head. She looked at the boys instead. They were cautiously getting down the pool.

'They're gonna get rid of that snake,' she thought to herself. 'The way Robert told them what to do... It's as if they truly respect him...'

She went down to the pool to take a look at the snake as well.

It was coiled in the middle, staying so still, it looked like a rubber toy.

"Better not get in the pool, Angè," said Ken, looking at her. "This could be dangerous."

"Yeah, better leave this to us," said Ricky.

It was Mic who reached the snake first.

He held the mop and struck the middle of the coiled snake. It started to wiggle and tried to slither away, but Mic held it down.

"Got it," said Mic.

"So, how do we get it out of the pool?" asked Jon.

"I ain't gonna touch that!" said Ricky.

"Go get a sack or something!" said Matt.

"But who's gonna put it in the sack?" said Ken. He already had a sack in hand.

Before anyone could react, Angela went down the pool and looked at the snake closely.

"H-hey, stay away from there!" said Ricky.

"It's a python," she said. "This kind doesn't bite."

She then took hold of the snake's head and lifted it up.

She looked up when she noticed that it has gone deadly quiet.

The guys were all staring at her, dumb struck.

Mic had already loosened his hold on the map, so Angela picked the snake and held it with both hands. It was thinner than her arm and a bit heavy, about the weight of a full-grown cat. It reached the floor when she stood straight, the tail making a little coil on the pool floor.

"Um..." said Angela, "Sack please."

Ken hesitated a while then approached her and opened the sack. Angela dropped the snake in it and clapped her hands together.

"You guys okay?" she asked after a while of silence.

"How did you do that?" asked Matt, "That was awsome!"

"Yeah, are you sure you're a girl?" asked Ricky.

"You sure you're all men?" Angela retorted. "It's just a snake, no big deal!"

"Danny..." Mic said, still staring at the sack, "he got bitten by a snake when we were younger. We saw it, Matt, Jon Obet and I... he was writhing in pain!"

"We had to rush him to the hospital..." said Matt.

"He was starting to hallucinate when we got there," continued Mic, "If it wasn't for Robert's quick thinking he would have been dead by now."

"Not only him..." said Jon, "We were so frightened back then that we couldn't move, if Obet didn't kill the snake, we would all be goners by now!"

Angela looked from one boy to another. She couldn't believe they were serious!

'So, that wimp isn't such a coward after all, huh?' she thought to herself.

"Anyway," said Kenny, breaking her thoughts, "it's no surprise that Robert chose you as his girlfriend," he chuckled. The others began to laugh with him.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" said Angela hotly.

"Okay, back to work!" said Ricky, ignoring her. The others took their mops and buckets and went back to brushing the pool floor.

"Hmph!" said Angela as she climbed out the pool, "Stupid wimps..."

A hand suddenly appeared in front of her.

She looked up and saw Robert standing on top of the pool. She took the hand absentmindedly, her eyes still staring at Robert as he pulled her out of the pool.

'Such strong arms...' she thought her face burning once again.

"How's the snake?" he asked with a grin.

Angela looked away.

"Right here, Obet!" said Ken, the sack still in hand. "What you wanna do with it?"

"Kill it!" Danny yelled from the balcony.

"No, of course not!" said Angela. Robert looked at her, intrigued.

"You wanna keep it?" Ken grinned.

"Yeah, guess I can give it to my sisters," she replied. "They've always wanted a pet, but my father's allergic to fur so..."

"No! Kill it!" said Danny, inching closer down the stairway.

"Stop that Danny," said Robert sounding annoyed.

"Don't worry, this snake isn't poisonous," Angela explained.

"It still s-slithers!" the other replied. He was now nearing the pool.

"Don't worry, here I'll throw it over the wall so it won't bother you any more, okay?"

With that, Angela took the sack from Ken and heaved it over the wall, where it landed in her family's property next door.

"There, all gone!" she said smiling.

She looked at the others who were all staring at her, surprised.

Later, they heard someone screaming on the other side.

"Manong Bernie!" yelled Angela facing the wall."Take care of that snake for me will 'ya?"

Angela suddenly heard laughter.

She turned around and found the boys rolling with laughter.

"What?" she asked hotly.

Robert approached her, still laughing, and started patting her head.

"You really are something else!" he said with a smile.

Angela felt herself blushing again.

"You guys okay down there?" he asked his friends in the pool. They were still rolling around the wet floor.

"Fine, Obet!" Jon answered, "We're just about finished here."

"How's your room?" he asked Angela next.

"Still mixing the paint," she replied softly.

"Okay, I'll be in the kitchen then," Robert rubbed at his eyes, a smile still lingering in his lips as he turned towards the house.

"Hey, I'll go with you!" said Danny following him.

Angela went back to her room.

The paint buckets were left open and were starting to harden on top. She covered the buckets and stretched herself on the newspaper-covered floor, looking up the gilded ceiling.

"Robert acted real cool out there," she found herself thinking. "I guess he isn't such a wimp after all..."

In the kitchen, Robert was looking around the fridge for something to cook while Danny sat by the kitchen counter, flicking mites out of the rice.

"She's really something, eh?" Danny asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Robert said absentmindedly.

"Angè..." the other replied. "She's really something else."

"Yeah, guess so..." Robert smiled. He took out some chicken and placed it in the sink to defrost.

"You really like her too, do you?" his friend asked with a grin.

"Yeah, she's a good kid. She may be a bit violent and hardheaded at times, not to mention short tempered and aggressive and..."

"No, that's not the 'like' I meant," the other cut him off, "I mean, really like her."

Robert looked at his friend. "You mean, like Belle?" he said straight out.

"Well, yeah..." Danny replied cautiously. "Like Belle."

Robert went silent.

He looked down at the chicken in the sink and sighed.

"There's no one like Belle," he replied. "I doubt if I'd ever feel anything like that about someone again."

"She told you to move on, remember?" said Danny.

Robert was silent again.

He kept staring at the chicken.

"Okay, just drop the subject." Danny approached his friend and saw his eyes brimming with tears. "Oh, c'mon, Obet, not this again!"

"Sorry..." the other said, rubbing his eyes. "Can't help it."

"It's been over a year since that accident, isn't it?" he said, patting his friend on the back.

"Yeah... and 10 since she died," Robert replied with a sniff.

"Yeah... It's still too early to say anything."

Robert looked at Danny.

He was smiling at him.

"But that girl really is something else. She's the exact opposite of your sister. Who knows what might happen?" continued his friend.

"I told you, she's just an adopted sister," Robert reminded his friend.

"It is quite ironic though," added Danny, "You fell in love with your sister and treat a complete stranger as an 'adopted sibling'."

Robert's expression darkened. He took hold of the chicken and passed it under the running faucet.

"Enough of that." he said with a frown. "Go cook the rice, I'll take care of the chicken."

Back in the spare room, Angela still lay stretched out on the floor with her eyes closed. The cool wind blew in through the opened windows. She was still relaxing herself when she felt a paw on her face and heard Yang purring.

She opened her eyes and saw the yellow cat in front of her.

"Wait a minute... Yellow?"

She sat up and looked at the cat. Yang was a mixture of yellow, green and blue! She then remembered the tints she put aside and saw the little saucers with multicolored paw marks scattered around it on the covered floor!

"Ah! Yang, you little-!" she tried to pick the kitten up, buy Yang pounced at her playfully and ran outside the room. "Come back here!"

Yang looked at her, making sure she chased after him. Then he ran down the steps, leaving paw prints of yellow white and blue.

Angela chased after it.

She couldn't help but smile as they went down the stairs and into the kitchen where the kitten went straight to Robert and jumped up to his lap.

Robert turned around just in time to catch his cat. Its green tail was swishing violently as it looked back at Angela.

"What's wrong?" Robert asked gasping Angela. Danny stood beside him, holding a frying pan.

"Ahh..." Angela looked at the paw prints on Robert's white t-shirt.

Robert saw the paw prints on the floor.

"What's that?" he asked, as he followed the path with his eyes, then saw his own shirt, and last, the colored cat in his arms. "Ah! Yang, what happened to you?" The cat meowed it him and rubbed his yellow head on his neck.

Danny was the first to laugh.

He placed the pan down and held his tummy as he pointed at Robert's cat.

Angela started laughing too.

She went to Robert and took the cat from him.

"Sorry, I guess I left door open," she said, laughing. Robert looked down at his shirt and began to laugh too.

"Silly cat!" he said, rubbing its yellow head. "You're just as crazy as your mother here!" he rubbed the paint on his hand on Angela's face.

"Hey stop that!" she said. "And who you calling crazy?" She shoved the cat back into Robert's arms, a grin in her face.

"Hey, you guys stop that," said a laughing Danny. "There's paint all over the place, Tita's gonna kill us when she comes back."

"Right, Danny," Robert slapped his friend's cheek. "Let's clean this mess up!"

"Hey quit that!" Danny said, rubbing his blue cheek.

They were still laughing when the others entered the kitchen.

"The pool's done!" shouted Mic.

"Need... Food..." said Matt.

"We left the water running," said Ricky, slumping on a chair. "It'll probably be full by evening..."

"Yeah, I'm gonna take a deep long bath later..." said Ken.

"Okay, where's the food?" said Matt.

They were too hungry to notice the paint.

"Coming!" said Danny as he took a platter of fried chicken. "Hey, you two take the rest to the table."

"Aye-aye sir!" said Robert, raising a blue hand to his head.

He looked at Angela who was now washing a struggling Yang under the faucet. She had a yellow paw mark on her cheek her forehead.

"I'll do that." He took the cat from her, their hands slightly touching.

Angela suddenly pulled away.

Robert looked down at her, and as their eyes met, she suddenly turned a deep shade of red.

"Do you like her?" Robert remembered Danny ask.

He suddenly felt his face heat up as well.

"Y-you go ahead and join the others at the table," he told Angela, looking away. "I'll finish up here."

"O-okay..." she mumbled back.

Angela stepped back a bit and rubbed her forehead to remove the paw print there.

"Missed one..." Robert rubbed the paw print on her cheek.

"You've still got paint on your neck," said Angela. She pointed at it and smiled, then turned around and headed for the dining room.

Robert followed her with his eyes. He then turned to Yang who was yowling mournfully in the sink, its fur stuck out in all directions. He smiled and took a hand towel to dry the cat off.

He was about to leave when he realized he didn't turn the faucet off.

The water had just run out.