𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙧. 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙝𝙞𝙙

12. Her Secret

I kissed Mommy on the cheek.

"How was the trip?"

"It was okay. I'm just not used to driving for long stretches anymore."

Dad emerged from the kitchen, still wearing his apron.

"You're here, son. I'm almost done with dinner."

He returned to the kitchen, busy with the meal preparations.

"Jared is upstairs. We’re leaving in one hour."

"Where are we going?" I asked, intrigued.

"To Aunt Valerie's," he replied.

I had just arrived, and now we were leaving again. But I missed Aunt Valerie and Uncle Edward, so it was fine.

I headed upstairs to check on Jared.

I knocked on his door.

"Come in."

"Hi, little brother," I greeted as I opened the door.

The first thing that caught my eye was the huge poster on his wall.

Not just one—there were five!

"Jared, what the...?"

"What?!"

"Don’t you feel embarrassed having all those posters of Bella in your room?"

I suddenly felt annoyed. I knew Jared was a huge fan of Bella, especially since she became famous, but seeing all those posters made me irritated, and I didn’t even know why.

"What's wrong with it? I'm just proud that Bella Cruz is my sister. Stop bothering me, okay? If you're jealous, then be like me!"

I stormed out of his room, feeling frustrated. Just then, Mom came upstairs.

"Mom, seriously, what's wrong with Jared?"

"What do you mean?"

"His room is filled with Bella posters!"

"So? That’s his sister. Do you have any of your own posters in your condo?"

Ugh, they really were alike.

I went into my room and took a quick shower, my thoughts drifting to Bella.

Just three days ago, I read an article about her and that Hollywood actor.

Imagining Bella spending the night in some guy's apartment made my blood boil.

Is that why she didn’t want to come home to the Philippines? Because she was enjoying herself in New York?

Didn’t she learn her lesson when her ex-football player boyfriend cheated on her?

Was she really going to fall for another actor, knowing how notorious they could be?

Argghhh.

The cold water didn’t do anything to cool my anger.

Once I finished showering and got dressed, I went downstairs.

"Zayne, can you stop by the supermarket? I forgot to buy fresh fruits," Mom asked.

"Okay, Mom."

I grabbed the car keys and, ten minutes later, I was at the supermarket, picking out fruits when someone called my name.

"Zayne? Zayne Costales?"

I turned to see a woman calling my name, completely unsure who she was.

"Haha, it's Stella Hayan. We were in the same batch in high school."

I remembered her but couldn't place her clearly.

"Ahhh, hi."

"Are you here for the reunion?" she asked.

"Yeah, you too?"

"Yep. Is Hailey coming?"

I nodded.

Hailey had said she would attend.

"What about Bella? Is she coming?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"She's in New York, so I'm sure she won't be able to make it."

"That's too bad. I thought you two were going to end up together."

"Huh? Me and Hailey?"

"No, you and Bella."

I was taken aback.

"Me and Bella? Why would we end up together? We didn’t even have a relationship back then."

She laughed.

"Once, I accidentally read Bella's diary. Your name was in there."

Diary? What diary?

Seeing my confused reaction, she laughed again.

"Oh, you didn’t know she had a crush on you in high school?"

My heart raced at her words. Was she serious?

"What are you talking about?"

"During our first and second years, Bella and I were pretty close before she became best friends with Hailey. One time, I saw your name in her diary. A girl doesn’t just write a boy’s name in her diary if she doesn’t like him, right?"

I couldn’t believe it. But maybe she was just mistaken?

"Oh, I’m late! See you at the reunion, Zayne!" she called out as she hurried away.

I wanted to hear more about Bella's diary, but she was already rushing off.

A crush on me since high school?

Why was I only hearing this now?