Hi guys! Update is here! Yay! It's a little longer than usual (very very light lang naman sa dagdag na haba) since it's my birthday on Tuesday. Haha. Pero ayun. Sana magustuhan niyo yung update. Thank you for reading! :)

PS. May mga nagbabalik pala sa chapter na 'to. Hihi.

xxRaice

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"Bakit parang pumapayat si Kat ngayon? Pinakapakain ba siya nang maayos ni Liam?"

"Malay mo naman nagdidiet lang 'yan para kay AJ."

"Aray ko naman G! Bakit mo ako binatukan?"

"Hindi na kailangang magpaganda ng anak natin para lang sa lalaki. Maganda na si Kat simula pa noon."

"Well, you do have a point. Gwapo ako tapos maganda ka. It's obvious na magiging maganda talaga si Kat. Saka ikaw nga noon, kahit hindi ka nag-aayos, nagkagusto pa rin ako sa'yo."

"Shut up, Dwight. Huwag ka na nga masyadong maingay. You might wake her up."

If someone told me that I would wake up to the sound of my parents' voices arguing as to why I'm beautiful, I would have smacked that person's face right now. Kasi sa totoo lang, nakakaewang marinig yung mga bangayang ganyan nila mommy at daddy. Yes, most people find them really sweet and even get jealous of them pero para masaksihan ko siya at my age, nakakaewan na.

No offense to mom and dad. I mean yes, I admire their relationship. They went through hell with lola and Ninang Denise before they got their happily ever after but really. Do they have to be this mushy in front of me? Kahit na sabihin nating tulog dapat ako ngayon, it's still not appropriate di ba?

"Ma?" Mahina kong sabi.

"See? You woke her up! Ang ingay mo kasi Dwight!" Mommy said tapos sinamaan niya nang tingin si Daddy. I don't know what's with him though at parang natakot agad siya sa tingin pa lang ni Mommy.

"Sorry Kat. Don't mind us. Magpahinga ka na ulit. We just wanted to check if you're okay here."

"It's okay po. Kanina pa rin naman ako natutulog e." I answered. Mom took that as a cue that it's finally okay to sit on my bed.

"Kamusta yung biyahe mo?" She started.

"It was fine. Traffic lang po saka medyo punuan sa bus but I managed naman." Sagot ko tapos umupo na ako nang maayos.

"I thought you were going to borrow your brother's car?"

"Hindi po siya pumayag e. Apparently, may date pala siya ngayon. Si AJ pa po ang nagsabi sa akin. The nerve of him talaga! Hindi na naawa sa akin."

"Wait. Tama ba yung pagkakarinig ko? May date yung kuya mo?" Daddy asked. Uh oh. Do I get in trouble for making sumbong right now?

"From what AJ said, yes. Sabi pa nga niya kaya raw po siya pinapunta ni kuya sa bahay kasi raw po magpapatulong si kuya sa kanya." I continued. Nasimulan ko naman na ang pagsumbong kay kuya, ituloy tuloy ko na di ba? I know he said he will help me with the debut thing pero wala na e. Nasabi ko na.

"Bakit hindi siya sa akin nagpatulong?!" Sigaw ni daddy which shocked me. So 'yon pala yung ikinakagalit niya? Na hindi sa kanya humingi ng tulong si kuya para sa date niya. Oh my god. Akala ko kung bakit na!

"I'm not that sure but maybe because all you do is throw some pick-up lines and be cheesy? No offense dad. It really suits your personality and it makes your relationship with mom super duper okay but I don't think that will work with kuya. You know how he is. Iba ang takbo ng utak niya. Ako ngang kakambal niya, madalas hindi siya maintindihan and I've known him longer than you." Sagot ko kay daddy tapos nanahimik na siya. I hope he lets this topic pass na pero para makasigurado, iniba ko na agad yung topic namin.

"So, ano pong niluto niyo ngayon? Gutom na po ako e."

"Come on, princess. Niluto ko lahat ng paborito mo ngayon." Yaya sa akin ni mommy tapos naglakad na kami papuntang kusina.

From: AJ

Are you in your parents' house already?

From: AJ

Lauryn, did something happen?

From: AJ

Hey, are you okay?

From: AJ

I'm calling the bus station already.

From: AJ

Lauryn, please answer your phone.

AJ (23 missed calls)

"Shocks. Nakalimutan ko!" Sigaw ko pagtingin ko sa phone ko. Ngayon ko lang nacheck yung phone ko simula nung nagising ako kanina. We were waiting for the maids to bring in the dessert na nung naisipan kong ilabas yung phone ko. Patay ako nito.

"What's wrong princess?" Mom asked. Agad akong umiling to tell her that nothing's wrong kahit na alam kong meron.

"Excuse me lang po. I just need to call someone."

"Go ahead. Basta bumalik ka rin dito. We're not yet done eating."

"Okay po." Sagot ko tapos lumabas na ako papuntang garden. I immediately dialed AJ's number tapos isang ring pa lang, sinagot na niya yung tawag ko.

"Lauryn! Finally! What happened to you? I was so scared. I thought something bad happened to you." Dire-diretso niyang sabi. Kinailangan ko pang ilayo yung phone sa tenga ko dahil sa lakas ng boses niya.

"Ang sakit sa tenga ng boses mo." Sagot ko sa kanya tapos hindi ko napigilan ang sarili ko. Tumawa na ako nang tumawa. I know I should be assuring AJ that I'm okay pero hindi ko kasi mapigilan yung sarili ko na matawa dahil sa ginawa niya.

"Are you really okay? Pinag-alala mo ako!"

"Yes, I am okay. I'm wide awake and I'm really full right now. As of the moment, pinaghihintay ko yung dessert sa lamesa. I'm sorry I forgot to text you kanina nung dumating ako dito. Something came up kasi. Na-stress out ako kaya natulog na lang ako."

"I called you several times!"

"Nakita ko nga. Unfortunately though, I turned my phone on silent mode kanina. So ngayon ko lang talaga nakita yung messages and missed calls mo. Buti na lang 24 hours muna dapat yung lumipas bago mo ako pwedeng i-report as missing sa police." I joked.

"Lauryn..." AJ said and I knew right then na hindi siya natuwa sa joke ko.

"Sorry. I'll talk to you later okay? My dessert, I mean my parents are waiting for me na." I told him then I hear him chuckle.

"Okay. Enjoy your dessert. Say hi to tito and tita for me."

"Will do. I'll call you up when I'm free na. Hug kuya for me." Huling hirit ko bago inend yung call. Alam kong may violent reaction si AJ doon but whatever. I'll push for their bromance if I want to.

Pagbalik ko sa loob ng bahay, the mango float was the first thing that I noticed. Tumakbo agad ako papunta sa upuan ko then I sliced a big piece of it. Mom and dad were laughing with what I did pero wala akong pakialam. Na-miss ko yung gawang 'to ni mommy! Sa Manila kasi puro yung ice cream na ganitong flavor lang yung meron. Iba pa rin talaga kapag gawa ni mommy.

"Dahan dahan lang sa pagkain Kat. Marami pang ganyan sa freezer."

"Oh my god. Seryoso mommy?! Could I bring some when I go back to Manila?" I asked in between bites.

"Sure thing. If you want, gagawa na lang ulit ako bukas ng dadalhin mo. Then we could get you a cooler para doon mo na lang ilalagay yung pagkain."

"Hindi ba siya mahihirapan kapag nag-commute siya pauwi?" Tanong ni daddy.

"Who said I'm making her commute? Ihahatid natin siya papunta ng Manila Dwight. Pupunta rin naman tayo doon sa venue para sa debut niya di ba?"

"About that. Can't we just really skip the debut thing? I really don't want to do it. Hindi naman lahat ng babae gustong magkaroon ng engrandeng 18th birthday. I just want a simple celebration with you and our close friends."

"If it were up to us, okay lang naman na hindi ka mag-debut. Pero it's your lola who wants to push through with this." Sagot ni daddy tapos natahimik na ako. Kaya naman pala grabe silang maka-push sa debut na 'to. Si lola naman pala ang may gusto. From what I know, what lola wants, lola gets.

"Pero bakit si AJ po yung escort ko? Does he even have an idea about this?" Tanong ko sa kanila.

"Because he's the perfect pick. Besides, he's courting you naman princess. I'm not sure if he knows already but we talked to his parents already." Ay. Wow. Magulang pa niya ang unang nakaalam? Grabee talaga 'to debut na 'to. Pahamak ng buhay!

Hindi na ako sumagot sa sinabi ni mommy. Ipinagpatuloy ko na lang yung pagkain habang sila naman ni daddy, tuloy ang pag-uusap tungkol sa debut. Bahala na nga sila. Wala naman na akong magagawa e. Basata huwag lang nila akong pasasayawin, okay na ako.

Pagkatapos kong kumain ng sangkatutak na dessert, bumalik na ako sa kwarto ko. Lumabas ako sa balcony para makapag-isip isip nung biglang nag-ring yung phone ko. Pagtingin ko sa kung sino yung tumatawag, si AJ pala.

"Hello?"

"May alam ka ba tungkol sa debut mo?" Tanong agad niya sa akin.

"Learned about it just before I fell asleep a while ago. I'm sorry nadamay ka pa sa kalokohan ni lola. Ayaw ko namang magkaroon ng debut e." I answered him truthfully.

"Are you kidding me? I'm more than willing to be your escort for that night! The next time that we're going to be the center of attention on an event as big as that, it would be our wedding already."

"SHUT UP! WEDDING MO MUKHA MO!" Sigaw ko sa kanya tapos narinig ko yung tawa niya. Kainis 'to. Nagawa pa akong pagtripan. Namomoblema na nga ako dito e.

"Chill Lauryn. I'm just messing with you."

"E kung basagin ko kaya 'yang mukha mo? Kainis ka naman e!"

"Wag! Mawawalan ka ng gwapong escort niyan."

"Ugh. You're unbelievable! Para ka na talagang si daddy! Buti na lang 'yan ang hindi namana ni kuya sa kanya." Sagot ko kay AJ. Totoo naman kasi e. Dumarami talaga yung similarities ni daddy at ni AJ when it comes to the art of pambobola at pambabara. Minsan nga, feeling ko, mas papasa pa siyang anak ni daddy kaysa kay kuya e.

"Speaking of your brother. Did you know that he's dating your friend Nicole?" Wait. What? Tama ba yung naringi ko?!