Chapter 1: The Beginning

KASEY'S POV

"Kasey gising na were already here." sambit ni lolo habang bahagya nyang niyuyugyog ang balikat ko.

Dahan dahan ko namang iminulat ang aking mga mata, at sa pag mulat ko ang berdeng kapaligiran ang una kong natanaw mula sa bintana ng eroplano.

Naka lapag na pala kami.

"gising na po ako lolo" I said habang kinukusot ang mga mata kong antok pa mula sa byahe.

By the way let me introduce myself i am Kasey Okamoto seventeen years old the only daughter of one of the best and well known Restaurant owner in Japan, I have an older brother and he was five years older at ngayon nasa Japan sya, he was staying there due to his job and he told us that he was the one who will took care of our business with our relatives while my father was in America managing the branches of our restaurants there habang nandito kami ni Lolo sa Pilipinas, bibisitahin na lang daw nya kami from time to time.

I am a half Japanese I grew up in Korea then we moved to Japan five years ago so I can speak four languages already; English, Japanase, Korean and Filipino since my mom was a Filipina.

My mom died three years ago, she had a cancer and there's only a little chance for her to be cured since it was at stage four when they diagnosed it. And that was another and different story to tell, it doesn't matter now because we already accepted that fact.

And now we're here at Airport, me and my grandfather are staying here in Philippines for the meantime , because he was planning on putting up anther branch of our business here , which means I am transferring to a new school, at first I insist na maiiwan na lang ako sa Japan kasama ang kuya ko but I failed to convince him.

Besides I already thought that it might be a good way for me to forget and ease all of my pain , and my grandparents from my mother's side are here and he say that they wanted to see me, that's why I am looking forward in staying here in the Philippines, I'm excited to see what waits me here.

New environment and people.

People?, I wonder if I could manage to socialize once again.

"Kasey tara na" lolo called for me kaya naman I just nod and then follow him as we walk through the airport.

I was just listening to my favorite song while on our way to the house kung saan kami titira, my dad told me na ang bahay na titirahan namin ni lolo ay ang bahay na sila mismo ni mama ang nag design, he say that, that was their dream house they built it and stayed there for a year before they move to Korea and that time that they move to Korea was the time that my mom was pregnant at me because my grandparents want them to stay with them.

Sana lang maging maganda ang pag stay namin dito, at sana talaga maging maayos ang lahat.

I really hope and wish for it.

NICE'S POV

"hmmp" ungot ko habang naka ub-ob pa rin sa desk ko.

Sino ba naman kasi itong bwisit na sundot ng sundot sa braso ko?.

Narinig kong bumuntong hininga ang katabi ko, sa wakas titigil na rin ito kaka dutdot sa braso ko.

"Nice, tinatawag ka na ni Ma'am" bulong ni James sa akin, na syang kanina pang sundot ng sundot sa braso ko.

Napa ayos naman ako ng upo ng marinig ko ang sinabi nya.

"Mr.Tolentino how many times do i have to tell you that i don't want my students to sleep during my class, right?!."sigaw sa akin ng English teacher namin na halatang inis na inis na dahil halos maging isnag linya na lamang ang kanyang kilay.

"I'm sorry ma'am" mahina kong sambit habang inaayos ang polo kong nagusot na.

A few minutes later, fifteen minutes of boring at nakaka antok na lecture ay natapos na din ang klase.

"hey Nice, let's hangout to Vincent's place today, after school" Hanz told me as soon as ma'am leave our classroom.

"Hey!, why are you deciding all of a sudden without asking my permission, you moron!" Vincent scold Hanz as he heard what he say.

Isang malawak na ngiti naman ang kanyang isinagot dito.

"Why?, let's just celebrate this day dahil sinagot na si Kris ni Cherry" he told us happily, tsk naka isang boteng energy drink ata tong mokong na to, parang sya pa ang sinagot ni Cherry.

"ok fine, tsk" Vincent say after he sigh.

Then it's settled, we are going to throw a party for Kris today. Walang alam si Kris sa mga pinaplano namin, hindi din naman nya kami naririnig dahil malayo sya sa samin, sila ni Claude ang magkatabi sa bandang unahan, samantalang ito namang si James, the mister smart of the gang stay silent, tsk ang in love nga naman.

By the way I am Nice Tolentino, son of a hotel owner here in Philippines, I am 18 years old, a senior year high school (grade 12) student, most popular guy in school, what can I do, I was born like this, I was born to be handsome, everyone thought that I was a snob pero hindi naman, well on the other side may pagka snob nga ako lalo na sa mga feeling close at sa mga di ko kakilala. Ang gulo ko di ba?

KASEY'S POV

"ANNYEONGHASEYO, OHAYOU GOZAIMAS, TIME TO WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD, HEY!, OY KASEY!!!!"

"Hmmp.. You're so noisy my alarm version of Oni-chan, ahh. I still want to sleep just give me 10 minutes more" I told myself and to my alarm habang kinakapa ko ang side table ko para pahintuin at patayin ang maingay na alarm clock ko.

This is me every morning, every time I woke up.

The voice in my alarm clock was my older brother's voice, he gave it to me bago kami ni lolo pumunta dito sa Pinas, para daw di ko sya mamiss. Kuya's girl ako after all, and he was my forever knight.

(Oni-chan means older brother in Japanese)

10 minutes....... 20 minutes... 30 minutes had past..

Naghihkab pa man at antok ang mga mata ay tiningna ko na agad ang oras sa alarm clock as I sat up to stretch my arms. And the time says that it was already 6:30 and the school time was 7:30 !!

"HUWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I'm gonna be late for my first day in school.. Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!" I shouted hysterically, habang halos magkanda tumba-tumba at gumulong na ako sa sahig sa pagka taranta at pag mamadali.

"ppali, ppali, .. I need to hurry.. Ppali ppali Kasey" I told to myself while I was in a rush.

I took a very short bath then I wear my uniform, comb my hair then I'm off to go, di na ako nag ayos pa ng sarili ko coz there's no need, i don't care on how do i look anyway!.

After 20 minutes of preparing as fast as I could. I run towards the dinning table were my grandpa is having his breakfast just like what he did everyday.

"Oh dear, you seem to be in a hurry. Join me here, here eat your breakfast you need energy so that you can focus on your studies."

He told me as he saw me running in our stairs, panic was visible in my face as I go down towards the dinning table.

"Annyeonghaseyo lolo!, sorry but I'm on a hurry 'm gonna be late, sandwich will do, jal ga yo!" nagmamadali kong sambit matapos kong mag mano sa kanya. It was what our parents told us ever since we are young, ang mag mano at igalang ang mga naka tatanda.

(translation : AnnyeongHaseyo - good morning/Hello ; jal ga yo! - good bye )

Then like a lightning I leave the house, I told our family driver to drive as fast as it can be, so that I wont be late, dahil ayokong ma-late ngayon pa na unang araw ko sa bago kong school.