Falling, Fallen

Chapter One

ONE

"Happy birthday, Danna!"

Nagbeso ako kay Danna at binigay sa kaniya 'yung gift ko. I was late because of the goddamn traffic. I knew I was going to be late na 'cause I dropped by Shang pa to buy gift, but not this late! The dinner party was 7PM but I arrived 8 fucking 30. Now I'm gonna have to eat alone.

"Saan ka pa ba galing?" Mom asked as she handed me my food. I hugged and kissed her, it has been 2 weeks since I last saw her.

"I just bought a gift for Danna," I said defensively, knowing full well what's going on in her mind right now.

"Nako, Sapphiana Avery all you have to do is ask." Nasamid ako sa sinabi niya. The fuck? Didn't I just tell her I bought a gift?

"Ask who?"

"Ask me for my permission if you can entertain that guy," sabi niya. "Ipakilala mo muna sa 'kin," dagdag niya pa na parang mayroon talaga siyang tinutukoy.

"Mom, did you eat already? Ayun o, get some lechon," I told her before I joined my cousins. First of all, I had two boyfriends way back in High School and without having her permission at that. Not that I'm proud of it, it's just... you know, High School. Everybody goes through that phase.

"Nice to see you here," I greeted Ate Alianna. She looked like she wasn't in the mood to have my annoying presence around so I went to my little nieces instead.

We just took family pictures after dinner before the elders went home, finally allowing us to enjoy rest of the stay. As far as I know, the room was booked for 2 nights. That means we have enough time to actually bond without the boomers questioning our way of "having fun."

"Dude! I didn't know your boobs are that flat!" Sigaw sa 'kin ni Tyrese pagdating ko sa pool area.

Aba't! I flipped her the finger and splashed some water to her direction. "Who the fuck cares, Tyrese! Your mouth is so wide it can fit a whole fucking plate!" I shouted back, full offense. She was so used to my attitude that she only laughed it off.

This family isn't for the weak hearted.

I got myself a glass of wine before I joined them in the pool. I was so glad we are all girls here. In a woman-dominated family, we sure do have a lot of misogynistic relatives. I remember receiving so much backlash from them the first time I posted a YouTube video specifically about toxic relatives. Oh, I remember so many people.

Sad to say, they're never getting rid of me and my contents. They can roast me all they want, but I don't want to hear how disrespectful I am if I had to prove my point.

"Ate Fianna, you have a call!"

"Can you answer it for me?" I told Lallaina while I swam my way back to the poolside. Who the fuck is calling now? It's the first time in a while I actually have room to breathe. Hay. I should've put my phone on airplane mode.

"She says she's Ciara!"

Ciara? That's very unlikely of her. She almost never calls me and we rarely text also. I thanked Lallei when I took the phone from her. Indeed, it was Ciara.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Wow, kalma ah? Done ka na sa plate?" I recalled every plate I passed last week. As far as I know, I'm complete with my plates already.

"Yeah, I'm done. Unless I forgot something, which I'm sure I didn't," I sing-sang, confident that I'm not missing any requirement. I made sure I'm done with all my school works when I came here, 'no! I'm not a lousy student naman and my grades are important to me.