SMILE

Prologue

PROLOGUE

1st Person POV: Lorenzo Olivares

"We're here." Wika ni Capitan Leo na nakaupo sa driver's seat, binuksan nito Ang katabing pinto at bumaba nang kotse.

Mula sa bintana Ng kotse ay nasilayan ko Ang

pagtakbo Niya patungo sa likod kung saan naroroon Ang trunk, dinig mula dito sa loob Ang pagbukas Niya nito.

Tiningnan ko Ang aking katabing si General Etérea na kasalukuyang tinatanaw ang malaki at makalumang bahay mula sa bintana ng kotse na kaniyang katabi.

Marahil ay naramdaman nitong pinagmamasdan ko siya dahil nilingon ako at tinapik sa balikat.

"Feel at home." Wika nito sa pinaka mahinang boses na kaya niyang sabihin.

Kasabay ng pagtulak niya sa pinto Ng kotse palabas ang pag-usbong Ng bihira at tipid niyang ngiti.

Si Heneral Etérea at Capitan Leo ay parehong nakasuot ng unipormeng pangsundalo, camouflage. Samantalang ako ay nakawhite t-shirt, denim pants, at white shoes

Why am I here when I should be in Cebu?

Sure, I miss my Lola but seriously?

This is stupid.

It doesn't matter whether I'm here or there, either way, It'd still feel f*cked up.

Sinilip ko ang manibela Ng kotse, naiwan ni Capitan Ang susi.

Naiwan Niya Ang susi, sure I'm 15 but I can drive.

I can get the hell out of here.

But that thought shut down when the driver's door opened and the Captain took the keys.

Too slow.

But before he closed the door he looked at me and grinned "I know what you're thinking kid, you can't outsmart the cunning."

Mahina pa siyang tumawa saka tuluyan nang isinara Ang pinto, tumakbo ito sa harap Ng kotse at nag-usap Sila Ng Heneral.

I winced.

That-

lucky him I don't punch.

Marahas kong tinulak Ang kotse at lumabas though I want to stay in it.

The soft comfortable red fabric of the Cadillac Celestiq owned by General Elliot Etérea is freaking amazing.

From an outside perspective it still looks cool, a little lady-ish but I can work with that---not that I'm planning to carnap it...maybe.

It'd be hard to run for it because it's silver and so attractive that one gaze at it can lead your brain to create a memory core.

"Lorenzo!" Captain Leo yelled my name. I look at him with a sharp stare.

That sly fox.

He just smiled at me and signaled his head for me to come to them.

I walk towards them glancing at the big almost Victorian house.

Who knew such a thing exists in the Philippines?

It has this iron/copper almost 10 feet decorative fences and a pair of gates---with two Lavander flowers at each gate door.

You can't enter your arms through it though because it's filled with designs and little crafty art things

The house has 2 levels I believe, its Walls are pretty detailed with touches of 3D designs making it more ancient, the window panes are a really dark red in color, the walls are dirty white almost yellowish, the roof is red, the side of the house is surrounded by flowers I don't care much of the names.

But most of all, at the upper level of the house, in the middle of two long window panels(I believed are different rooms) there's a circle window, convexed from this view.

The glass pane---yes it consists of only one pane, is transparent and you can see the bedroom's color(Lavander) and the white curtains with tiny red flowers on them.

From outside you can see the rough stone path leading to the dark brownish porch and the darker brownish wooden door with a lavender engraved on it.

The owner sure does love lavenders.

On their lawn, I can see grass---not tall, just the ones you can lay on and don't have sharp edges, they're probably just moss because there are small champak trees surrounding the place, but the hell I know, I'm just a teenager, not a scientist.

Capitan Leo presses a tiny black button stuck to one of the gate's rough stone orange-e pillars and in a blink of an eye, 2 eyes emerged from the circle window.

It's her.

A few, long minutes passed and the dark brown door opened and a girl in a big wine-red shirt and gray PJs, and brown socks appeared before our eyes, a few meters from where we stood.

Her hair is messy, she looks really sleepy, in a snap, she runs to the gate, opens it, and hugs General Etérea.

A girl one year younger than me.

Whereas the general stands there awkwardly as if he doesn't know what the next logical and possible action should be which is very unlike him because he's a soldier, the General should know the next act.

But instead, he just taps his daughter's head like a freaking puppy.

The general's body is bulky, he's tall, he's sturdy, and right now, he's stiff.

Elizabeth hugs his father so tight her eyes are shut. I can see her smile from here.

A smile, cold, but somewhat breezy and gentle, sign of ignorance.

As she opens her eyes, they met mine, and suddenly she lets go of her Daddy and fixed her stance.

"Why is he here?"

I look at her feet and right there she realizes, she's not wearing any slippers.