8th ♬

Saturday.

Yes, at last, it was Saturday. I had been dreading about this day ever since I started working at the beach, or maybe it was a little after that. I was actually looking forward to have my day off ever since Jace had arrived at the beach premises, claiming Sam's spot and keeping me under constant surveillance all day. And then, it was finally here. The long wait was over.

Welcome, weekend!

Mason, Claire, and I had decided to have a sleepover last night, and we watched movies at Claire's house. Her mother was more than happy to have the three of us around. Mason would and always be an exception to her rule of never bringing a guy home. But of course, I should be included in the package.

Two months of being officially together, her mom was still not used to them suddenly cuddling on the sofa or Claire being extra sweet to Mason. Well, she wasn't the only one in the boat. I felt the same way, too. It was a good thing that there were the movies; those kept me busy. And also the popcorns; those kept me full and busy.

Coming home early this morning, I headed off to bed the minute I'd arrived. Sleep soon took over, and the noontime sun was the one that had awakened me. I grimaced as I fluttered my eyelids. And then, I saw that the sun was penetrating the curtains and had already made its way to my bed. Turning to the other side, I tried sleeping again. But to no avail, the uncomfortable humidity soon grasped all of my sleepiness away, and made me pull up from my bed, sweating.

Stretching my arms, my lips widened into a smile. Today would be one great and lazy day. And the good thing was, it was a Jace-free day. Opening the white curtain, I inhaled the salty scent of the ocean.

"Just got up?"

My smile instantly turned to a frown, realizing who was talking to me. Being neighbors had its disadvantages, like this for example. I saw him plucking his guitar, legs crossed and idly placed on the table that was facing my room. I ignored him, letting my hand slid off from the curtains.

'I just didn't see that,' I convinced myself.

Finding my way to our living room, I noticed Cad, who was playing with Snickers in the backyard. Dad and Mom were nowhere to be found, so I'd decided to go out and ask him about it. "Where's the two?"

He looked at me for a while with our dearest dog doing the same. I stared back in disbelief at how well coordinated they were. Then he answered, "Taking a vacation somewhere with Chad and Susan."

"Vacation?" I repeated.

"Yeah, yeah, they left a moment ago, right after you got home and went straight to bed," he informed me, holding Snicker by the head and making him fetch something.

"Why didn't they tell me a thing?" I asked. They should, at the least, inform me that they would be going out. After all, at the end of the day, that would make me Cad's babysitter, if he ever needed one.

"They did, but you were half-awake when they were talking to you," Cad replied.

"They did? I can't even remember." I peered into my memories of this morning. I did see them clutching those duffel bags in hand, but I just thought that they were only being weird again. And who would have thought that my mother would want to go on a vacation while having my unborn sibling in her stomach.

Weird.

"It happened when you were walking like a zombie with those huge baggage under your eyes," Cad explained, slightly irritated with all of my questions.

"But why did they leave us behind?" I asked him. Well, they did this a lot of times, so it shouldn't surprise me at all.

"They said that there was a storm coming along, so the trip would be rough," he told me, uncaring if we were left behind. I bet he didn't want to be apart from his precious dog.

A rough storm. Wow. My pregnant mom was going on a trip with the storm coming anytime soon. Now tell me if that didn't sound doubtful.

"As if they plan on taking us all along," I muttered.

"Right. Why do you even bother asking me if you already know the answer? Geez, what a bother," Cad disbelievingly muttered.

I also heard that there was a storm coming today. You could never be too sure with everything. The sun may be out there a while ago. But like right now, it was already starting to be dimmed by the dark clouds.

"Yo, Jace!" Cad called out, his eyes darting to where a very familiar person had emerged.

Dressed in black shorts and printed shirt, it was disheartening that he was far from being ordinary. In his right hand was a red toolbox that he lightly clutched, and on his left was his guitar that he was playing a while ago. I raised an eyebrow, questioning his stepping on our yard.

Avoiding him altogether, I asked Cad instead, "What is he doing here?"

"Mom asked him to fix the window in the second floor," Cad answered, making his way to his pal.

"Why him? I could fix it myself," I reasoned out.

"Are you kidding? You can't even hold a hammer properly without breaking your fingers," Cad laughed.

I grimaced.

Jace grabbed him by the head and messed his hair. Cad was delighted. And Snickers also wanted the same, so he asked Jace by rubbing his head on his leg. Jace then bent down and gave him his share of pat. Wow, I felt left out by the sight.

Then, looking up to meet my gaze, Jace asked me, "Want one?"

"No, thanks. What I want is you out of our house," I said, pointing to the place where he was supposed to be and not here where I was supposed to be. There was a distinction, a line that separated the end of my tolerance for him.

"What should we do? Your sister doesn't want me around," Jace said to Cad, trying to win his sympathy. I couldn't believe this. He was using my brother against me. Not only that, he was also using my own parents.

"Don't mind her. She's weird anyway. Come on, dude, you said that you'd teach me how to play the guitar. No fair," Cad complained.

"What guitar?" I asked him, slightly annoyed with what I was hearing. Guitar. Teaching. It didn't seem to be pleasing to my ears.

"You're being nosy, Reese. Do what you want to do. Jace is going to teach me how to play," Cad told me.

"You could ask her if you want. She used to be good at it," Jace suggested, his voice a little bit distant.

"I don't want to," I finally said in a rigid tone, giving up on chasing him out and going up to my room instead.

I heard they follow behind me, laughing about some TV show that they both watched last night. Not bothering to look back, I hurried my steps and locked the door of my room as soon as I got in. With my back pressed against the door, I stared at the now darkened skies outside my window. The storm must be getting closer.

Soon enough, I heard the voices of the two as they walked past my bedroom and toward the other room beside mine, where the broken window was supposedly placed. The room was unused, mostly kept for storage. Someone must have broken it a while ago, and Dad was too preoccupied with their travel, so he passed on the duties to Jace, who was surprisingly willing to help out.

He must be planning something again and would surprise attack me in my own house. I couldn't believe that he would actually go this far.

The winds coming from my window seemed to be getting stronger, so I locked it. I bet the rain would come down any minute now. Trying to be the responsible one, I went to the other room.

The plan was that I would barge in and tell them what I wanted to say. But then, something held me back. I had expected that they would be having a conversation, of course. And I probably had a rough idea that they would eventually talk about me. However, the topic was something that had caught my utmost attention.

"You two used to be good friends before. Why is she acting this way to you?" my brother asked Jace.

My curiosity took over, so I stayed silent and waited for his answer. It took Jace several seconds, before he replied, "Things had happened. It's kind of a grown up thing."

"I'm already fourteen, no need to treat me like a kid," Cad corrected him.

"Sorry, I keep on forgetting that you already got older. Then let me just say that I'd rather not talk about it now. I'm still trying to figure out the whole story myself," he replied in the most believable tone.

He was really going over the limit. He was trying to win Cad's sympathy, when in fact, he could tell the whole story himself, eyes closed.

Pathetic.

Making my way inside the room, the two who were busy doing whatever to the window both looked at me and waited. I turned my eyes to Jace. "The storm is coming. Maybe you should lock the windows at your house first."

I saw a smile slowly flash across his face. With a calm voice, he replied, "Already did that. I was just waiting for you to wake up before coming here."

"Oh, okay. I was just making sure that you didn't leave your house unattended. Cad, come on, help me close our windows," I said, a bit embarrassed to hear that Jace already did close their windows and that my concern was irrelevant.

"I'm busy," Cad answered, a screwdriver clenched tightly in his hand, as he tried to fasten a screw somewhere within the broken window.

Then I saw Jace stood up, messed with Cad's hair a bit and headed toward me. "Your brother's busy. I'll help you instead."

"I changed my mind. Stay here, and I'll close them myself," I immediately replied, taken back by his offer.

Today was supposed to be a Jace-free day. But somehow, I couldn't dust him off me. He was everywhere, and it was starting to be creepy. This was not what I had planned, what I had wanted. It was the opposite. And sadly, the other end of the pole was the one being offered to me every day.

And regardless of my attempt to shove him away, he still followed me around. He was familiar with our house and didn't bother to be shy at all. He was far from being one, anyway. Instead, he made his way inside the rooms, without even bothering to ask me for permission. I let him be; he wouldn't back off anyhow.

I locked the windows in the kitchen, before making my way back to the living room, where Jace was. Catching the sight of his back, I wondered what he was looking at on the wooden shelf. I walked to where he was, and placed myself several steps away from him, just to be safe. Looking at the photograph that he was staring at, I felt something slowly building up inside me.

In the photo that was taken more than two years ago, I saw us. Although it wasn't just us in the picture, since it was a photo of our families, there was an us in that same scenario. It was taken during one of those nights when our families had our usual dinners together. Even if no one had said a thing about it before and treated it as some kind of friendly gesture, for me, I knew what that arm that encircled my waist meant. And even if his other arm was around my brother's shoulder, you could tell that there was some kind of difference.

Maybe it was the way my head was loosely leaning on his left shoulder, or the way my right arm wrapped around him as I made a peace sign with my left hand. Probably, it could be those smiles on both of our faces, or the flicker in our eyes as the moment captured a part of the bliss that we had shared that night. Suddenly, with all the staring at the photo, I felt nostalgic.

Sweet.

I heard the voice again—the voice of the guy who used to tease me in the most endearing manner. It was his pet name to me. I found it unnecessary, but he never got tired of making fun of my name. He once called me as peanut butter cups, but he said that the pet name was way too long. So at the end of the day, he had called me as sweet instead. Just by remembering it, I felt my cheeks warmed on their own.

Sweet.

I opened my eyes that I unconsciously closed as I savored the moment a while ago. The memories of yesterday. The voice was distant and clear. This was one of the things that I didn't want to happen. I was starting to remember the things that I'd rather forget.

Taking me away from my thoughts, I heard the roaring of a far-off thunder. I flinched, uneasy. My body became stiff, and tears moistened the corner of my eyes. I started to shiver a bit, holding my breath.

Jace turned his head to me, and I avoided his gaze. Then unfastening one of the pockets of his cargo shorts, he grabbed a music player. I was still wondering what he was up to, until he untangled the earphones and tucked it to my ears. I moved back a little, thinking why. And then I saw him clicked the power button and a song played along.

Throwing him a meaningful glance, I was about to say something. But instead, he placed the music player in my hands and patted me on the head. "Just listen so you won't hear the thunders."

And after saying that, he found his way back upstairs with his hands in his pockets. I stared at him and then at his music player. He even remembered that I couldn't stand the sound of thunder. My eyes started to search for him again, catching one last glimpse of his back, as he turned around the corner when his feet reached the second floor of our house.