I was woken up very early in the morning. May kanina pa yumuyugyog sa 'kin.

"What?" I grumpily said, throwing a pillow toward the offensive hand.

Late na kami nakatulog kagabi. Nakahanap kasi ng kainuman ang mga boys at sinama pa ako sa kanila.

"Gising na, ma'am." Si Kuya Onyx pala. "Ikaw na lang hinihintay." Niyugyog niya ulit ako.

Mabilis akong bumangon at pinaghahampas ang braso niya. "I wanna sleep pa, Kuya! If you wanna go out and flirt, wag n'yo na akong isama!"

Why were they awake so early in the morning anyway?

Kuya Onyx's lips curved into a crooked smile, lighting up his chinito face. Doon ko lang napansin na nakapang-alis siya.

"You awake now?" he asked, sounding amused.

I glared at him. "Where are you going? This better be good."

"Anong kami? Tayo. Old Beans daw. Tara," yaya niya. "Let's get some coffee."

I stared at him as if he'd grown another head. Okay, we're all coffee freaks. But were they crazy? I checked the clock. Halos mapamura ako nang mabasa kong alas sais pa lang.

"Natulog na ba kayo? You're all drunk!"

"Don't worry. I'm all sober, ma'am." With one swift pull, nahatak niya ako patayo at tinulak na sa shower room.

"Sa Laguna lang tayo?" tanong ko.

"Yeah, unless you wanna go to Tags?"

"Tagaytay na lang para may view."

"Sure," mabilis niyang sagot.

I yawned and stretched my limbs. "Give me a few minutes," I said and, with a frown, disappeared in the shower room. After my morning ritual, I slipped into comfortable clothes and wore my cap, inaantok pa rin.

"Tagal," Kuya Nick commented when I finally walked out of my bedroom.

I snuck a tongue out at him. Then I swept my gaze around. Iilan pa lang kaming nasa labas.

"Where are the others?"

"'Not coming," sagot niya. "Mathev and Gian sleep like a fucking log. Your brother's gone ahead with Tito kanina pa."

Oh, baka ngayon nila imi-meet ang mga kakilala ni Dad.

I heard strings of curses coming out from Kuya Jacob's room just before he stormed out, looking disheveled and massively pissed, while Kuya Onyx followed behind, laughing his ass off.

"Dude, if you're going to be grumpy with us, then go back to bed," Kuya Paul said with a laugh.

"Fuck you, assholes," Kuya Jacob cursed again and entered his car.

"No way in hell I'm letting this drunk asshole drive," sabi ni Kuya Onyx. Hinatak niya palabas si Kuya Jacob kaya napamura ulit bago lumipat sa kabilang upuan.

Napangisi ako. Guess I got that from my brother. We really weren't a morning person. Sumunod ako kay Kuya Andrei at sumakay sa kotse niya. Doon naman sa kabila, si Kuya Nick ang nag-drive. Magkatabi sa likod niya sina Kuya Paul at Kuya Chris.

We pulled out of the resort and hit the road. Para libangin ang sarili ko, binuksan ko na lang ang emails ko. I had a notification from Kuya Jacob when he tagged me to a photo.

I gasped when I saw it. The photo was none other than myself, in all my sleeping glory. Nakatagilid ako, medyo natatakpan ng buhok ang mukha, but it was me.

Sumilip sa phone ko si Kuya Andrei. "Not Jacob's idea, by the way. Kuya took that and asked him to post it."

Nakita na siguro ni Kuya Travis yung photo na in-upload ko kahapon. So this was his way of revenge? At talagang sa Facebook pa ni Kuya Jacob kung saan marami kaming mutual friends?

Imbis na mapikon, natawa na lang ako.

Tinaasan ako ng kilay ni Kuya Andrei. "What's funny?"

"We're so childish," sabi ko lang.

Jacob Ian De Villa

Certified De Villa, my sis.

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Puro mga kakilala ko ang nasa comments.

Anjelou Marie Javee? Noice!

Lhyle Fuentez Looking real smexy, baby.

Reah Rosales WTF, babe. Hahaha.

I scrolled down. I laughed even harder when I saw my brother's comment.

Carlo Perez Your sister is seriously hot, man.

Jacob Ian De Villa @Carlo Lol mana-mana lang.

I was about to close the app when a new notification popped up.

Justin Jeremy Mercedez wants to be your friend

Napatitig ako. What's wrong with this guy? He knew fully well that I couldn't add him. I declined the request.

Then I received a new message.

It was Justin.

Not going to accept my req? :(

I frowned at his message. What's he trying to play here? I didn't want to humor him so I didn't bother to reply.

Gusto ko sanang tingnan kung meron bang Facebook si Racel. Maybe I could message him there to ask saan kami magkikita. But I decided against it when I realized baka i-seenzone lang ako. Mapipikon lang ako.

While browsing my feed, I saw a blog post about the top campus heartthrobs of the different universities in Metro Manila. Nandoon ang boys kaya napabasa na 'ko.

Kung kani-kaninong pictures ang tumambad sa 'kin. Some of them were familiar. As I scrolled further down, napahinto ako sa pangalan niya.

Racel Christian Gutierez.

There was a photo there, which I didn't bother to check. Baka masilip pa ni Kuya Andrei. But I was tempted, very tempted, to read his profile though. I wanted to know a bit about him. What makes him tick. How he was around people. The damn guy freaked out because I couldn't figure him out. If we were going to work together, I wanted to arm myself so I'd have an idea what I was getting myself into.

So I'd have an idea how to act around him.

But the article wasn't very helpful. It only featured his achievements, which I wasn't very interested in.

It was freezing cold when we finally arrived and I stepped out into the brisk air.

"Upstairs?" tanong ni Kuya Paul nang makapasok kami.

"Yes, please," sagot ko.

Few curious heads turned to look at us for a second. Si Kuya Chris na ang bumili at sinamahan siya ni Kuya Nick, who was busy talking to someone on his phone.

While waiting for them, the boys fell into a comfortable topic and talked about new models of cars they wanted to have. Kuya Jacob was quiet though. He was still in a sleepy daze, leaning in the chair and watching the view. Across from him, Kuya Andrei was doing the same thing.

My phone vibrated again. There was an Instagram notification. Request.

TheMercedezJustin ✓ ✗

I sighed. Napakakulit naman talaga nitong si Justin. He seemed to be a great guy pero napakakulit. I was going to reject his request when I noticed his profile wasn't private. So I checked his posts discreetly.

As expected, he had a huge following. I kept on scrolling quickly, checking some photos briefly before moving on. Puro events at sceneries lang ang laman ng feed niya. If not that, minsan nandoon ang family niya.

I paused sa isang photo. Among the many photos of sunrise and beaches pictures, there was a group photo. Kuha 'yon sa Boracay and he was with Racel. Nakaakbay sila sa babaeng nasa gitna nila. Mm. She was familiar. If I remember correctly, siya yung babaeng nakita kong umiiyak that night in Candid.

Racel's account was tagged in the photo. So may social media pala siya. I felt the urge to check his feed but I tamped down my curiosity and closed the app.

Too dangerous.

Bumalik ako sa Facebook at nilingon si Kuya Jacob.

"When did you take this?"

"You saw it na?" he asked, letting out a lazy smirk.

"Oo. Sinabihan ka ni Kuya Travis?"

"Yeah."

"When was that?"

"When you were all fast asleep." He flashed a grin, stealing my cap from my head. "You gotta admit, sis. Ang pangit mo matulog."

"Ah, gano'n? Kayo na ni Kuya ang magkakampi ngayon?"

"Hindi sana," he said innocently, then he shrugged. "Kaso nakita kong you were drooling."

"Oy, ayos ka ha. Hindi kaya!" Sinuntok ko siya sa braso at binawi ang cap ko. Tumawa lang siya.

"You're so whipped, man. No fun," Kuya Onyx suddenly said.

"At least I have balls," sagot naman ni Kuya Paul, sabay kibit-balikat.

Umiling-iling sa kanila si Kuya Andrei, mukhang natatawa rin. Tahimik lang siya but his lips were tugged up in a quiet laugh.

I think they were talking about the girl from Pangasinan. Itatanong ko sana kung sino 'yon kaso dumating na sina Kuya Nick at Kuya Chris kasama ang orders namin.

Habang kumakain kami ng breakfast, mga lugar na sa Cebu ang pinag-uusapan ng boys. I stopped listening when I caught Kuya Chris staring at his phone, his brows furrowed in frustration.

"Si Ara?" biglang tanong ni Kuya Andrei as if reading my mind.

Kuya Chris didn't answer and shrugged as an answer. Binalik niya sa bulsa ang phone niya.

"Magkaaway pa rin kayo?" tanong ko.

Hindi kumibo si Kuya. Kung titignan mo siya, you'd think na wala siyang pakialam but It wasn't the case. I was a witness to how fiercely he loved Ate Ara. As in he was madly in love. Hindi lang siya nagsasalita pero sigurado kong may plano na siya kung paano sila mag-aayos.

Men don't talk. They act.

The male brain is hardwired for action, not conversation. Kapag galit sila o in love o masaya, hindi nila masiyadong sinasabi 'yon. Instead, they act on it and show you. Make you feel it. Some guys can be so expressive. Some can't. But one common ground is, they act more than they talk.

'Yan din ang main reason kung bakit madalas sila mapaaway. During high emotions, they have the tendency to act at minsan, nangyayari 'yon without prior thinking.

We didn't stay for long after breakfast. At around 9 a.m, bumalik na kami sa resort. Sakto, dumating na rin sina Dad kasama ang mga kaibigan niya.

By noon, nagpunta na kami sa beach. We were sailing across the beach via a raft house.

When we settled down, hinubad ko ang jacket na suot ko. That would leave me with just my bikini and see-through top.

Lumapit sa 'kin si Kuya Jacob bago pa ako makababa sa tubig. Galing siya sa loob ng kwarto ng raft. Nauna na sa 'min bumaba sina Kuya Chris at Kuya Travis.

"What's that?" tanong niya.

"What's what?"

Tinuro niya yung damit ko.

I was wearing a two-piece swimwear. I was wearing shorts naman at meron din nakapatong na top kahit see-through.

"Bikini, Kuya. Duh."

He pointed at my shorts and pouted. "Too short, sis." Hinubad niya ang t-shirt niya at inabot sa 'kin. "Wear it. Kaysa mapaaway pa kami sa 'yo. Do it, it's not a request."

"KJ mo," sabi ko pero sinuot pa rin ang shirt. "Pino-police mo 'ko."

"So?"

I rolled my eyes at him. What a red flag.

I was tying my hair into a bun when he pulled me to his side. Nakaakbay siya sa 'kin habang pababa kami ng balsa. He let out a chortle.

"Look at this crazy motherfuckers," he said, referring to the raft house near ours. Puro mga lalaki ang mga nandoon. "They actually think you're my girlfriend."

"Ang clingy mo kasi."

"Sus. Kinilig ka naman."

I made face. "Yuck. Feeling mo ba favorite kuya kita?"

"Yuck?" he repeated. "Talaga? Where's my little sis who used to ask me to marry her, huh? Yuck pala, a."

"I was four, for pete's sake!"

Tawa siya nang tawa sa reaction ko. Inunahan ko na siyang maglakad sa tubig at inabutan kong nagtatawanan ang boys sa malalim na parte ng dagat. Wala roon si Kuya Andrei.

"Nasan si Kuya Andrei?" tanong ko sa kanila.

"May kausap," sagot lang ni Gian.

"You prepare. I'mma beat you losers now," Kuya Jacob started when he caught up to us.

"Jet ski?"

"Hell yeah!"

When the jet skis arrived, we raced like kids for hours. Kahit ano pang bilis namin ni Kuya Jacob, natalo pa rin kami ni Kuya Andrei. He really was a king of water sports.

When the sun was starting to dip down, nagpahinga na kami sa raft. Now, we were playing cards. Pusoy dos. Losers take a shot.

"I don't like this shit. Fuck it," shouted Mathev, throwing his cards away.

"Pikon naman nito!" pagrereklamo ni Gian.

Mathev cursed under his breath, sashaying over to the other side. Tumulong na lang siya sa pag-iihaw. Pikon talaga.

Later on, they resorted to teasing Kuya Travis when they realized na may mga babaeng nagpapapansin sa kanya. He didn't say anything though and just drank his shot. Tahimik lang talaga si Kuya Travis. He's sweet and all that pero kahit kailan, hindi siya nakisali sa kalokohan ng ibang boys. He's not that much older from the rest but his behavior was way too mature kung ikukumpara sa iba.

Out of the blue, sumigaw si Kuya Jacob. "Stop staring at my sister, you fucking douche."

Parang nahihiya, nag-iwas ng tingin yung lalaki mula sa kabilang taft. Humingi naman ng dispensa yung kaibigan niya.

Mabilis kong hinampas sa braso ang kapatid ko. "Stop it, Kuya. Nakakahiya, ano ba?" Mabilis kong nilingon yung lalaki to mouth my apology. The group only nodded and didn't look at us again. "You really should stop being like this. It's not good."

"Ang lagkit tumingin. I don't like it."

"Kahit pa. Stop picking fights over me. I don't like it as well."

Kuya Jacob only shrugged. His lack of response to that made me frown dahil panigurado, 'di na naman niya 'ko pinakinggan.

"Tss," Mathev said, snorting. "Ano bang nagugustuhan nila dito? Amasona naman 'to. Nasuntok na ba kayo nitong si Javee?"

Nagtawanan sila. Pinaulanan ko ng suntok si Mathev. "Amasona pala, ha."

"Why? I'm saying the truth," dagdag pa ni Mathev habang tumatakbo palayo sa 'kin. "If I'm the guy, hindi ko liligawan 'to kahit kailan."

"Asa ka naman na papatulan kita. You're a pig," I fired back, making Mathev smirk and the rest of the boys laugh.

"Pero ako, a. Real talk. Kahit di kita pinsan, I won't make a move on you," Kuya Paul said, placing an arm around my shoulders. "Yung mga katulad mo, sineseryoso. Kaya 'wag kang papaloko sa gago."

"Oo, tama 'yon. Stay single," gatong pa ni Kuya Jacob. "We're not giving you up to some asshole that easily. Ano, swerte?"

I glared at all of them and crossed my arms. "Pwede ba, Kuya. Kung ayaw niyong mag-commit, wag n'yo 'kong idamay. And stop scaring potential suitors. I don't wanna grow old alone."

"Kasama mo naman kami, a?"

"Ayoko sa inyo."

"Arte! Amasona naman!" hiyaw ni Mathev na mas lalong nagpatawa sa kanila.

Nang matapos sa pag-iihaw si Kuya Nick, kumalma na rin sila at napunta sa iba ang usapan.

"Let's go to Cebu this summer," biglang aya ni Kuya Nick.

I faced him, mildly surprised. "Nando'n ka last month, right? Debut ng friend mo? How was it?"

Kuya Nick shrugged. "It sucked, man. It really, really sucked."

"What, you couldn't get laid?" asar ni Kuya Chris at pinagtulungan nilang inisin si Kuya Nick.

Tumawa si Kuya Nick. "Gago, foul. Bakit ba ako ang iniintriga n'yo? 'Yang si Jacob ang inisin n'yo. How did you get Giselle to fall for you?"

Nagkibit-balikat si Kuya at hindi sumagot. Halatang nawala siya sa mood.

"Gago mo ro'n. Hindi ka man lang nagtago," Mathev interjected. "Nahuli ka tuloy ni Marco."

With that, I perked up. Were they talking about that incident sa Candid? Who's Giselle? Yung babaeng umiiyak sa tabi ni Racel? The one in the photo with them?

"Magkita lang ulit kami, uuwing walang mukha 'yon," Kuya Jacob said in a grim voice.

"Dapat lang. Nabasag ang mukha mo, e. They got you real good, brah." Humagalpak sila sa tawa.

Kuya Jacob scowled, a telling sign that he was getting even more upset.

I interfered. "Stop it, dudes. Stop talking about feuds again. 'Di ba kayo nagsasawa? And stop poking his mad beast button too. Baka lumabas na naman si Incredible Hulk."

"Baka naman Kingkong," hirit ni Mathev.

"Ano, kahit mas gwapo ako sa 'yo?"

And they started arguing over who's got the best face again.

Near dawn, we went back to the shore para magpaalam kasi uuwi na yung college friends ni Dad. Sakto pagabi na rin kaya natigilan kami to view the sunset.

I moved a few steps back and snapped a shot of the sunset with the boys. Dahil against the light, silhouette lang nila ang kita. They were standing side by side, just watching the majestic display of nature.

I posted it on my social media.

jamieannav:
They may be everything I need. :)

Gian turned over his shoulder and called me. Sumiksik ako between him and Kuya Andrei and I felt them place their arms around me. Ang sarap sa pakiramdam.

Made me feel secured.

We watched the sunset together, breathing in the salty breeze of the beach. It was peaceful, soothing. You know that special bond, that warm feeling you get when you're with people you deeply trust? Ramdam na ramdam ko 'yon ngayon.

When the sun finally completed its descent and disappeared in the horizon, we went back to the raft to pack up. Biglang may nag-text sa 'kin.

Ahron iMessaged me.

Ahron:
You forgot to tell me something

I blinked at her message. Before I could reply, a new message came in. It was a photo.

Shit!

It was a picture taken from yesterday. Kami ni Racel. Together. Looking real intimate. It was taken at the cafe.

Hoshet. Kanino galing 'to?

"Who you texting?" Kuya Jacob suddenly asked.

Mabilis kong binaba yung phone. "Mind your own biz, Kuya."

Humalakhak lang siya.

Shit. Kumakalabog ang dibdib ko sa kaba. May iba na kayang nakakita nito?

Me:
It's not what it looks like. Let me explain.

I darted my gaze back to the boys. Okay pa sila. Nag-iinisan pa rin. Walang nakapansin sa pagbabago ng mood ko. At least, I thought so-until nakita kong nakatingin sa 'kin si Kuya Andrei. It was deep and intent. Like he noticed something.

Did he see the photo?

I schooled my features despite my anxiety. Nanlalamig ang mga palad ko pero ngumiti pa rin ako. Kuya Andrei didn't seem to buy it. He raised a brow but didn't say anything.

Geez, why did he have to be so observant?

To prove nothing was amiss, I went to help them pack up kahit na sasabog na 'ko sa kaba.