SANTANA (SISON IN LOVE #1)

CHAPTER XXXVIII

SANTANA has been tricked.

She had a routine; ihatid ang nga kapatid niya, work on her pieces or her commissions, at sunduin ang mga kapatid niya. That's how she was spending the rest of her term break. Repetitive and predictable. It was an ideal routine for her.

Today was a Sunday, last day ng term break at kinabukasan ay panibago nanamang term. The problem is she had to break her routine on the very last day and visit an art store because she ran out on her turpentine.

Nothing good comes out of being impulsive. To her, that is. She didn't like it. Not the risks, not the changes.

And as she sat on the Araneta's dining table, she was reminded why she disliked breaking her routine.

"Thank you for accepting our invite, Santana."

"Thank you for having me."

Ang awkward dahil si Jacob lang at magulang nito ang kasabay nilang kumain. Nag-laro daw kasi si Ayrton at Eli kasama sila Jules. Jacob was asleep kaya't hindi na ito ginising ng mga ito.

There was a noise from the front door shhr

She and Ayrton got a lot closer. She no longer feel awkward despite what had happened between them. Akala niya things would become weird because of the way she acted nuong nalasing siya—spilling her feelings to him about Claude. And him, confessing he had a crush on her back then.

She was fully set on ignoring him after they talked at the gym weeks ago. But he suddenly texted her, teasing her about his song request. It went on for days, until eventually, araw araw na silang magka-text. They talk about the most random of things.

He would text her how his day went dahil every day na silang may training. She didn't know what to reply dahil paulit ulit lang ang araw niya, and so she would send him some of the songs off her playlist. She did not expect to find Ayrton cute but she would sometimes caught herself grinning at his silly quips.

Just like yesterday when she forgot to charge her phone dahil maghapon siyang nagp-paint at kasama niya mga kapatid niya. When she finally charged her phone, there was 13 texts from Ayrton, he was sulking because she didn't reply. Nagpupustahan kasi sila kung sino yung unang makaka-score ng 10 points sa game ng Lakers sa monday.

Sinong mag aakalang magtatampo si Ayrton sa kanya? It was so unlike him and yet it was so charming to her. Who would've thought? She was still teasing him about it.

Which brings us back to why she got tricked.

You see, she was peacefully on her way to buy the turpentine and Tito Dos was on his way to buy coffee because he had a meeting nearby. It was all buy chance that they bumped into each other. Next thing she knows, iniimbita na siya nito para sa mag lunch sa kanila and she lacked the power to say no. Ilang beses na rin nitong natanggihan through Eli.

"What's for lu—San?" Gulat na sambit ni Eli pagkapasok ng dining nila. "What are you doing here?" He was pleasantly surprised. Ayrton on the other hand, was nowhere insight.

"Is that how you speak to our guest? At nasa harap ka ng hapag, Elijah." Their dad chastised. "I assume naliligo na si Tres? Shower fast then join us to eat." He shooed his son away.

Walang nagawa si Eli kundi ikunot ang noo sa gawi ni San at umakyat sa upang maligo. His eyes flickered playfully at her before completely going out of sight.

"Excuse my rude hijo, San." She snapped back to Tito Dos. She just smiled politely and nodded. Jacob looked like he was fighting a smile while Mrs. Araneta was still graciously eating, unperturbed by what had happened.