Chapter 5

Charl's Pov

Allan Thirdy Montecillo, isa sya sa mga kinakapatid ko.

He's thirteen years old now, a year older than me.

He's half Pinoy, half American.

He has a blonde hair.

Color brown eyes. Or I think a hazel eyes.

He's tall for his age, I guess, he's 5"10 feet tall.

I think I heard his mom saying that he can play piano and can sing too.

I never knew him that well because he was living and studying abroad. He's family was migrated in UK though. One or twice a year lang ata sila kung umuwi ng Pilipinas. That's so rare.

They're family business is making fancy shoes for men and women. Young and old.  Fashion designer kasi Mom nya. Businessman naman ang Dad nya. As of now, makikita sa mga sikat na magazines ang mga shoe design ni Tita Claire. And in partnership ata sila with Elle. Some shoe designs are chosen to be part of a runway. Ganoon na ka-bigtime ang shoe business nila.

School shoes nga ang gift sa akin ni Tita Claire, she sent it through shipping. As in three pairs of shoes. So expensive.

The first time I met him, it was my 7th birthday. Natapos na lang ang birthday party ko, walang Thirdy ang dumating. Though my birthday went good. I was looking forward to meet this boy pero wala. Maybe I was just had my hopes high to finally meet him that day. So I thought it's over. Nakasimangot akong pumulot ng mga kalat sa aming sala, I was helping cleaning the house.

Then I heard someone was knocking on our front door. I knew exactly who are in front of our door. Si Mama ang nagbukas ng pinto.

"Claire! Akala ko hindi na talaga kayo darating? Miguel pare. Oh little Thirdy." Ang tawag ni Mama sa kanya. Pasok kayo. Have a sit. Kumain na ba kayo?"

"Yes, we did." Sagot ni Thirdy sa Mama ko.

"Dyan muna kayo, tawagin ko lang si Vernon."

Pinagpatuloy ko lang ang ginagawa ko. Nilapitan naman ako ni Tita Claire. "Hi, you must be Charl?" Si Tita Claire.

"Opo." Magalang kong sagot.

"You're so pretty. Did you received my gifts? The shoes? Did you like it?"

"Opo. I'm gonna wear it po. Ang ganda po. Thank you po." I hug her.

"Oh, you're such a sweet little girl." She smiled. He must be Thirdy, no other than. I half smiled. Naglalaro siya sa ipad. "Come sweety," She took my hand, lumapit kami sa sofa. "Meet my son, Thirdy." Is he handsome?" He has a blonde hair. Hindi man siya lumingon sa amin ng mom nya.

"I dont know po." Nahihiyang tugon ko.

"Oh you're such an innocent girl." Ginulo nya buhok ko. "Thirdy, baby. Would you mind, have a chat with Charl? While we're with your Tita Angel and Tito Vernon?"

"Sure. But stop calling me baby, mom." Binaba nya ang ipad, pagkatapos nilapitan ako. Finally, nasilayan ko rin ang mukha nya sa personal. Oo, tama nga sabi ng mom nya, gwapo sya. Hindi na nya hinintay magsalita ang mom nya. Hinila nya ako sa isang silya, umupo kami. "Hey, Happy Birthday, Charlotte." Panimula nyang salita.

"Thank you. Thirdy right?!" Panigurado ko kahit alam ko naman. I was still wearing my birthday dress.

"Yeah, you can call me that. Sorry, I don't have any gift for you. And we're late."

"No. It's okay, Thirdy." Nakakahiya naman.

"And I heard a lot of things about you." Kwento nya.

"Really?" Ano naman kaya alam nya about me?

"Yup. Actually, you're cute." Namula ata mukha ko.

"You're turning red tomato." He smirked.

"Don't tease me please." Binaba ko mukha ko sa sobrang hiya. "But, thank you."

"Hey, I'm not teasing you." He held my chin to make me eye contact him. "I'm just telling you the truth. Don't shy about it. And next time, I'll visit here, I'll give you something, okay?"

"Sige." We smiled at each other.

"Thirdy, anak." Tawag ng mom nya. "Say goodbye to Charl now. We need to go now." Naghihintay na sila sa may pintuan. Napasarap pala ang pag-uusap namin, hindi namin napansin.

"I guess, it's goodbye for now Charlotte. See you again." Then he gave me a peck on my cheek. "Take care." Saka sya tumakbo palabas ng bahay. At iyon na siguro pinakamagandang nangyari sa kaarawan ko.

That's was my memory of Thirdy the first time I met him.

And he's here again, after so many years. Nagbibinata na sya. Mas lalo sya naging gwapo. His hair is still the same, and the color.

"We're staying here tonight. Your mom doesn't want us to leave," He said.

"Really?"

"Well, Tita Angel insisted, marami naman daw kasing empty rooms here."

"So how long will you staying here in the Philippines?" Now we're having a conversation.

"A week or two. It depends on mom's schedule." Oh.

"Sorry, I haven't greeted you on your graduation day. I don't have any contact with you, for years."

"No, it's okay. I'm living abroad.. but can you accept  me now of my friend request from your fb?"

"Wait. What? You sent a friend request?" He just nodded. "Why I didn't saw it?"

"I deactivated my fb account few years ago, so maybe that's the reason why you didn't saw it, but I did."

"Kaya pala nakita kita nagcomment sa graduation photos ko. Wait lemme check. I'll accept you."

"Sure.  But wait, let's have a selfie first." Grabe, hindi ko alam anong dapat  maramdaman. Ito na siguro ang tinatawag nilang kilig. We took couple of shots.

So, I open my fb account. Kasalukuyan kaming nakaupo sa sofa, nanonood ng netflix sa tv, we're watching Riverdale. Samantala, sila Mama at parents ni Thirdy ay naglibot sa farm kasama si Lolo Faust. Si Papa naman back to work. Then I accepted Thirdy's friend request. "There. Done."

"Cool." Sabi nya. Tahimik lang sya sa tabi ko.  Pinagpatuloy ko na lang ang papanood ng Riverdale. Ang gwapo ni Cole Sprouse. Tumunog bigla ang sounds sa notifications ng fb ko.

Notifications                                                    🔍

🔘 Angelique Brianna Love Alforque commented on a photo you're tagged in...

🔘 Erica Red Valdez commented on a post you're tagged in...

🔘 Savannah Jade Tuazon commented on a post you're tagged in...

🔘Erica Red Valdez like a post you're tagged in...

🔘 Allan Thirdy Montecillo tagged you in a post..                              

And so the notifications went on and on. "Oh my gosh! Ang gulo nila sa comment."  Tumawa lang si Thirdy sa tabi ko. "Ikaw kasi pinost mo pa photos natin." Tinawanan lang naman nya ako ulit.  Sinapak ko nga braso nya.

"Ouch, Charlotte." Hinimas nya saglit braso nya. "You're turning red tomato again. Haha"

"Tseh!" Singhal ko sa kanya.

"Hey, read the comments, it's so entertaining. Haha." He showed me his iPhone 11 phone. "Come on, we're friends. Nothing's wrong with that."

"Of course, I know. It's just that they  teasing us to death. Gosh. You're naughty."

👍 Like.  💬 Comments. ↪️Share.

50 likes.

⚪ Brian Li

Hey bro, you're in Philippines? And with Baby Charl. I missed you Baby Charl.

⚪ Enrique Bronx Alba

You didn't inform us. And you're with Baby Charl.

⚪ Savannah Jade Tuazon

Oh my gee, nasa Hacienda Casteel ka Thirdy? Ang cute nyo together.

⚪ Angelique Brianna Love Alforque

Isn't it obvious Sav, he's with our baby Charl. Dapat dyan din kami magbakasyon. We missed Hacienda Casteel, Charl.

⚪ Allan Thirdy Montecillo

Book a tickets now!

⚪ Jeane Althea Laurente

Who is he?

⚪ Erica Red Valdez

He's cute though.

⚪ Chris Patrick de Guzman

Ehem.

⚪ Elisabeth Mossen

She's cute, Al!

Kaming mga kinakapatid ko kahit hindi ko sila madalas makita o makasama we never lose contact, especially Angelique and Savannah. I have their digits and we chatted. We made a group chat, we titled it kinakapatid. Nandoon kaming lahat, well, except Thirdy. He mentioned earlier that he was deactivated his fb at kamakailan lang nagreactivate. In-add ko sya agad sa gc. Panay agad chat nila pero hindi pa ako nagrereply. Close din si Thirdy kina, Brian at Enrique. Of course, Angelique and Savannah too. Ako lang ata hindi madalas nakikita si Thirdy. Mas bata kasi ako kaysa sa kanilang lima.

"Hahaha, they're comments are out of curiosity, Charlotte. It's fun, right?"

"Ikaw lang naman nag-eenjoy, noh! Pinu-puno na nila ako ng chat oh! They've been asking about you. You're crazy! Anyways, I added you to our grpup chat, lahat tayo mga kinakapatid, are there."

Kinurot ko nga sa tagiliran. "Ouch! Stop pinching me Charlotte." We're a bit close na. One night palang kami magkasama we enjoyed each other company already. Nagkasundo kami sa isang bagay and that's computer games. Pinagalitan na nga kami kagabi kasi sobrang  maingay kami. Hindi na kasi namin napansin ang oras. Mabait si Thirdy, magalang, at sobrang soft magsalita. Nabanggit nya, naggi-,gym na daw sya, gusto nya magpalaki ng katawan.

"Charlotte, did your mom mentioned that we're going  in Bohol?"

"What? No. Maybe she forgot to tell me. Minsan kasi kapag excited yan si Mama, she forgot to tell me things like plans, just like now."

"Ah, really." He just looked at me in disbelief.

"She really is." Convincing him.

"Alright. I need to piss." Tumayo na sya at umakyat papuntang second floor.

"They look good together right?" So I heard something like that pero who are they talking about?

To be continued..

📝 Jannmr