I Wish We Met Sooner (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 3

Oliver

THE DREADFUL DAY HAS come. Emily's birthday. The only day where the house gets more annoying than it already is. As her big brother, I shouldn't be saying that. But then again, it's because I'm her big brother, I should say that.

I walk down the stairs to see confetti scattered everywhere. There were helium balloons by the railings, kitchen chairs, and doorknobs, while over thirty regular balloons were distributed around the living room. Probably the first time in a long time since I saw colors in this dull house.

Mom and dad were in the kitchen, getting Emily's cake ready before she wakes up.

"Oh good, Ollie, you're up," mom spotted me. "I need your help."

Of course she does. Why is it never "Oh, good morning, Ollie, come sit down and have some breakfast?"

As I got to the kitchen, I glimpsed dad sitting by the backyard steps, blowing more balloons with an electrical air pump. I guess that's one thing that has changed. On my sixth birthday, I remember dad blew many balloons with his mouth. I'd join in, and we would have a contest to see who could blow the biggest one. Until I grew up, I realized it was a trick contest because I always end up popping mine. I've had many balloons explode against my face that I'm used to it.

Without the electric air pump, he'd get lightheaded and pass out. Every passing day, mom and dad are reaching their golden years. I inherited their almond brown hair, but we no longer match as now they had many stripes of gray hair, especially dad. Though I still matched mom's blue eyes.

Sometimes I wonder if they'll be around by the time I turn fifty to see my own house, meet my partner, or play with the four dogs I plan to get someday.

No matter how many questions I ask about them, the main one comes to me.

Will I even make it that far?

Mom has prepared a Tiana cake on the dining table, where the gown below were made of cake frosting. It's Emily's favorite Disney Princess. Aside from that, she's also prepared a feast of spaghetti Bolognese, a bowl of fried mini sausages and chicken nuggets, garlic buttered corns, and finally, three bottles of Doctor Pepper.

Mom and dad got themselves a bottle of white wine as they're not in favor of soda.

"Can you guys even finish these foods?" I asked.

"If we can't, we'll just give some to the neighbors," mom untied her apron. "Besides, don't throw your negativity on our blessings. God gave us food, and we should be grateful, not question him."

Did I mention mom and dad are religious? They believe everything and anything is because of God. When they fall, they think God is trying to tell them something, or if someone dies, it means God wants that person back.

I stopped being religious when I turned sixteen. It just got ridiculous how every single day and night we had to pray for two hours, how I'm not allowed to wear a lion's tooth necklace because it's considered the demon's fang, or that I can't hang out with my friends. After all, they're not a good influence.

I'm out of that cycle. Unfortunately for Emily, she's just started. I would feel bad for her, but I don't.

"Sorry," I held my hands up in surrender and turned around to crash on the couch.

I pushed the balloons in the way and opened Instagram on my phone. Victor posted a picture of him and Adriana sitting behind him. They were both holding a microphone, and their faces had patches of multicolored lights radiating from the disco light. It seems like they went for karaoke without me.

I really wished they'd come over and kidnapped me so I could skip out on this god-boring day. After liking the picture, I continued scrolling through the feed mindlessly. Though, one post had caught my attention. A photo of Aaron shirtless and his girlfriend, Hannah, in a floral bikini. God knows where they are, but the beach behind them looked serene.

Hannah's my ex. We dated back in high school, but that all changed when she constantly gave her time to Aaron, our classmate. Or should I say, the smartest classmate, as he's always the first student in our class to get a perfect score on every test. He then sits on the list of the school's Top 100 best students.

I noticed our relationship slipping away when she started hanging out with him every day. There should be trust in every relationship, and I trusted her when she said they're just friends. I didn't make a big deal out of it because I thought she could use some male friends. I have some female friends, so it's only fair that she has friends of the opposite gender.

What a fool I was.

I called it quits the day after Adriana texted me a picture of them kissing in Aaron's car. Apparently, I had a spy all this time, and I didn't know about it. She told me that this wasn't the first time they kissed and how they've even done other unspeakable stuff.

Since then, I have come to appreciate Adriana's friendship even more. She's helped me even when I didn't ask for it.

I left Hannah and never told her why. I figured it's better that way.

She's been with Aaron since the day we broke up, and in every photo with him, she looked pleased. And that was more than enough to heal my broken heart. They say first relationships are always the painful ones where it'll take a long time to get over them. Well, it's been four years now, and I'm recovering.

I think.

Am I ready to be in a new relationship?

I don't know.

"Happy birthday to you," mom and dad started singing the birthday song, and I knew then that Emily's woken up.

I turn around to see her barely awake, still in her Wonder Woman pajamas, hair tangled up as if she's been in the spinning cycle. She rubbed her eyes as a yawn slipped out of her mouth, looking unimpressed, but a smile flashed across her face as her eyes landed on the cake mom was holding. With excitement, she skipped to her feet, eager to eat it.

It's going to be a long afternoon.