CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE: GENEVIEVE

Kanina ko pa tinititigan ang view sa may window nang kotse ni Quinten, I can't believe he can afford a new car. Either that or ginamit niya nanaman ang allowance niya galling kanila papa, that's unfair. I wanna have my allowance too. Pero of course masyado nanamang strict ang mga magulang ko for that kaya wag na lang. walang katapusang complain galling sa kanila, araw-araw na lang. "may balak ka pa bang pumasok ng bahay?" narinig kong tanong ni Quinten sakin, my half-brother.

"whenever I want, so shut up." Sagot ko sa kanya. Kaya ayaw ko rin sa kanya eh, pareho silang tatlo. My dad, my stepmom and my half-brother. Kulang na lang umalis ako sa mansion na ito eh, don't worry I'll be leaving this shitty place next year and I am sure of that. "hinihintay ka na nila dad and mommy, they want to talk to you, Genevieve." He said. I rolled my eyes, he's so annoying.

"I know, you don't have to be such an annoying ass about it," I said tsaka binuksan ang pintuan nang kotse niya tsaka kinuha ang steve madden backpack ko. This steve madden bag is a one-of-a-kind kaya I always use this in school, a black limited-edition backpack from steve madden and kate spade. I love shopping for my bags, and for my jackets too.

"Miss Genevieve Dahlstedt." Ugh, my know-it-all stepmom is here, sa lahat lahat nang mga araw na bibisita siya dito, dito pa talaga? At ngayon pa? no one really cares if she visits our mansion.

"ano nanaman itong suspension na nareceive nang daddy mo sa office niya mismo? This is the millionth time na nasuspende ka since you were a freshman!" she said, throwing all the suspension letters in front of me. Hindi ko kasalanan kung masyado akong mahal ng school ko na they want me to stay at home instead.

"I mean, they love me." I said, sighing as I walk towards the staircase, "Genevieve bigyan mo naman ng kahihiyan ang sarili mong papa, kahit siya na lang ang biyan mo nang kahihiyan." She added. Napatigil ako sa paglalakad nang marealize ang sinabi niya sakin. Kahihiyan? Eh siya ba, hindi ba niya binigyan si mommy at ako ng kahihiyan? "why not give me an example about kahihiyan by leaving this damn house!" I said, giving her a glare tsaka naglakad ulet papataas to the second floor. Pagod na ako sa puro utos ng babaitang iyon. She's such a bitch! A two-faced bitch. She's tryna act nice and be that mom-figure because pinapalamon siya ni daddy, thanks to daddy naging malaking failure siguro ang business niya at di sana nakagraduate ang bait-baitang half-brother ko.

I just can't handle this. Pumasok naman agad ako sa loob nang kwarto ko. Dad is not here, and I can totally handle that bitch, so I think it's time for me to have some fun! One week of suspension is fun. Who cares about homework anyways and that school stuff? Ang importante ay makapunta ako nang party tonight, naaalala ko yung invite sakin ni Rina sakin. Rina is my bestfriend and she's the only one I can always trust. Kahit na she's known as the campus queen-bee, she still knows how to party. She's different from her queen-bee image. She's just like me pero of course, her parents will totally kill her if she starts acting out.

Agad ko siyang tinext gamit ang secret phone ko, alam ko na kukunin nanaman nila daddy ang phone ko and that is why I hid this secret phone of mine. 'anong oras tayo aalis tonight?' text ko agad sa kanya. It's my first time na makakuha nang invite for such a party. Kilala ang NEO University sa mga secret parties din nito that takes place at the football stadium. Usually only NEO college students can join and have some fun pero madami ding mga highschool students na nagrebelde at nakasulpot sa mga party. As long as may maka-invite sa amin. And thankfully, Rina is kilala sa kanyang ganda and because she is the queen bee for the seniors this year, naimbitahan agad siya. Swerte niya and naging bestfriend niya ako dahil natatakas ko siya minsan sa mga classes niya kasi it's speciality. Ditching classes.

Di pa rin ako nirereply ni Rina, siguro na nasa school pa rin siya. It's only lunch time but masyado ba siyang busy? Sus, busy si Rina? Kailan pa? She's not a fan of studying at all. Therefore, I love her, we're both comfortable with each other.

Narinig ko ang pagkatok sa aking pintuan at agad kong tinago ang secret phone ko sa ilalim nang bed ko. Umakto ako na parang may ginagawa at kinuha ang phone ko, I also grabbed my headphones so I can pretend that I'm busy checking my social media account. "Miss Genevieve, papasok po ako sa loob ng kwarto niyo po." Narinig ko yung maid namin sa mansyon at binuksan niya ang pintuan nang kwarto ko. "ang ganda niyo po ma'am, as always po!" narinig kong sabi nung maid pero of course di ko siya pinansin. Ugh I just wanna leave this damn house and have some fun with my friends! Ni hindi pa nga nagrereply si Rina sa'kin kaya nga ako nabubuset eh. I should probably message her right now!

"ma'am…" nagpretend pa rin ako na di ko siya naririnig because wala naman din akong pake sa kanya. It's just the way I am. "ma'am…." Narinig kong tawag niya sa'kin pero di ko nanaman siya ulet pinansin. Sana maitikom naman niya ang sarili niyang bibig. I can't focus! Agad kong naramdaman ko ang pagtapik niya sa'kin at agad akong tumingin sa kanya, "what? What is your problem?" I asked her in an angry voice.

"ma'am may phone po sa ilalim nang bed niyo." Sabi niya. Nanlaki agad ang dalawa kong mata, this can't happen. I can't believe this! Napatayo ako at hinila siya papatayo, "you have two options, asshole." I paused, giving her a death glare. "pagsinabi mo ito sa letseng mistress ni daddy, you know what's gonna happen to you as you can see, I'm more powerful than that woman." I said, laughing softly. "or hindi mo sasabihin sa kanya at you won't be fired, deal?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at her. Mukha naman siyang gulat at takot sa pagtitig ko sa kanya kaya tumango siya. "o-opo."

I smirked, inalis ko ang pagkakahawak ng kamay ko sa sa braso niya. "give me my phone." I asked, in a demanding voice. Napatingin ulet siya sakin, "p-po?" tanong niya na may konting nginig sa sarili niyang boses. "I said my phone, stupid?" binigay niya sa'kin ang secret phone ko agad. Nakita kong nagreply sa'kin si Rina, finally.

'nasa harap ako nang bahay mo, kanina pa kita hinihintay.' Agad kong in-erase ang message with a big smile on my face. It's finally time! Kinuha ko ang special edition kong steve madden at inayos ang buhok ko. Nagpalit din ako nang damit, from my school's trashy uniform to my black cropped shirt and paired with camouflage. Buti na lang at di-nye ko ang buhok ko into color pink, so perfect. It's stupid how the school wants me to change it into black but of course, they can't fight when my dad is one of their major investors. They can try, but they wouldn't like to try me. Mas matapang ako kaysa sa pamilya ko.

"ma'am di po kayo pwedeng umalis sa bahay nang walang permission po kay-" hindi ko pinatapos ang letseng maid na iyon at agad ko siyang tinitigan sa mata, "so siya na ang sinusundan mo ha?" I asked, smirking. "maid ka lang dito ang you know kung sino dapat sinusundan mo? Me? I'm the real Dahlstedt, dugo't laman ako and if I were you, sumunod ka na lang sa'kin, got it?" tanong ko agad sa kanya. Di na siya sumagot and do you really expect me to even wait for her response? Umalis na ako sa kwarto and thankfully, that stupid mistress is not in the living room so I can freely leave this house. Talking about my luck today.

Baka tumira ako kina Rina for a week? I've done this so many times and is it even surprising? No. exactly! As if naman papanigan ni daddy yung mistress nay un at maniniwala siya sa kanya. No one cares about her. Her and her son? Irrelevant! "hey!" ngumiti ako nang Makita si Rina na nakangiti sakin, I hugged her tightly before she pulled out the hug and ran together. Pumasok kami agad sa loob nang taxi, "sa bahay po thank you!" agad na sambit ni Rina sa driver. "can you believe it?" she said tsaka niyakap ako nang mahigpit, ito ang problema niya minsan eh. Kung makayakap parang katapusan nan ang mundo bu because she's my bestfriend, syempre tinatanggap ko ang lahat nang yakap niya.

"so, you're still not gonna wear a dress?" she asked, napasinghap na lang ako at tumitig sa kanya, "I'm more comfortable in this!" sagot ko at napatawa na lang sa kanya. Iba ang style ko kay Rina. Me and Rina are really different from each other, mas gusto kong maging comfortable. "are you serious? Ang daming mga babaeng nagpapaganda para lang makuha ang atensyon ng mga lalaki doon sa party!" kinikilig niyang sabi, huy nabuang na yata itong bestfriend ko.

"at nagpapaganda ka para kay?" tanong ko as I crossed my arms, baka naman may crush na si Rina. That will be a problem since siguardong pag-chichismisan siya about sa love life niya! "Si Alexander Cardoza!" nakangiti niyang sabi, I tilted my head. Who?

"sinong Cardoza?" tanong ko sa kanya. "si Alex, yung lalaking may natural brown hair sa school! Kaklase na'tin yun ikaw naman!" sino yun? Eh wala naman akong ka-pake pake sa mga kaklase ko except Rina and me leaving school and hopefully moving to Honolulu instead. "crush mo? Bakit, gwapo ba? Sure ka bang mas gwapo siya kay jung jaehyun?" jung jaehyun is my crush. Matagal ko na siyang crush since nung smrookie pre-debut days niya pa. kahit na di pa siya nakadebut, hinihintay ko pa rin siya kasi siya lang ang lalaking nagpatibok ng puso ko jusko!

"kasing gwapo niya, koreano nga eh!" she added. Eh. Si jung jaehyun lang para sa'kin. Ang gwapo kaya nang asawa ko at oo matagal na kaming kasal since last year huwag ako.

After ng mga thirty-minute drive ay nakarating na rin kami sa NEO Football Stadium, kilala ang school naming sa may pinakamalaking football stadium sa buong city naming dito. But overall, my school is still a trash. There was so many men inside the stadium at most girls are wearing either dresses or shorts. Medyo nandidiri ako because sobrang iksi nung mga suot nila halos handa na nilang ipakita ang mga pwet at hita nila. Thank god I wore something else that is much more comfortable. There was some tables malapit sa mga party stands kung saan pwedeng bumili nang mga pagkain at kung ano ano pa.

"there's so many people." I whispered to Rina. I admit, I'm intimidated honestly. Halos lahat ay nakikipagusap sa isa't-isa, magkahawak nang kamay and there's so much PDA going on! I kinda expected this but some people are making out and this makes me want to leave this place. Umupo kami ni Rina sa isang empty table, ang pinakahuling empty table sa party. I can smell the alcohol, cigarettes and everything. Okay maybe this is not what I expected!

"I'm never gonna attend this ever again!" sabi ko kay Rina, Rina didn't seem to hear me and mukhang may hinahanap siya kaya napataas ako nang kilay, "hey Rina!" nanlaki ang mata ko nang may makitang lalaki na tumawag kay Rina, Rina then of course smiled at him. Of course, that fake smile. "wanna hangout with us?" tanong nang lalaki kay Rina, "um.. no thanks,"sagot niya, ha basted of course!

"hey don't worry, I'm with my crew. I'm wth jane, joseph, alexa-" hindi pa natapos ang lalaki ay biglang tumayo si Rina. "sure, but you'll pay for my drink, okay?" she said, smiling widely. Iiwan niya ba ako? Hinila ko siya at tumingin lang siya sakin, I don't wanna be alone! "sorry…" she said, winking tsaka iniwan ako. Itong babaitang ito ako mismo ang magkakalbo diyan sa buhok niya! What am I supposed to do now? These people are creeps to me! Akala ko magkakaroon ako nang mga bagong kaibigan but instead they're all creeps! Parang normal ang pakikipaglampungan dito eh!

"excuse me?" oh god. No. I don't wanna hangout with anyone right now! "miss?" jusko. Siguro sana di na lang ako sumama! "y-yes?" nauutal kong sabi bigla tingin sa lalaking tumapik sa'kin sa likod. "is there anyone sitting in here?" tanong niya sa'kin. He was tall with broad shoulders and…. Blonde hair? Since when did we have a foreigner here in the school? We both are staring at each other at parang walang nangyayari kundi titigan lang. I didn't even respond to him and I guess it's because I was mesmerized by him. And from that moment, narealize ko ang mabilis na pagtibok nang puso ko.