Chasing Lavender

CHAPTER 1: Her

I was engrossed in my homework when my phone suddenly rang.

"Hi baby! How are you?" The voice on the other end inquired.

"As you can see, I'm still up and about, breathing. I'm still alive." I replied with a hint of attitude while having a video call with an acquaintance on Skype. We're on good terms but not exactly close friends.

"I'm just worried about your well-being, Lav. You might get hurt there. Why don't you come to New York? You can study here instead." She suggested, but I just rolled my eyes. Like my parents would ever agree to that.

"Damn it, just hold on. I just borrowed my sister's keys. Gosh. I hate all of you." I heard my sibling mutter as she slowly walked out of the door.

"I'll call you later, Kate. I have business to attend to. Bye!" I abruptly ended the call and left the room. I caught sight of my sister driving my car. It was too late to follow her, so I decided to wait for her to return.

I sat on the sofa in the living room for nearly 4 hours, waiting for my sister to come back.

"Good thing you're home. It's past 3 am, Gold." I remarked as I stared straight at her. She was taken aback when she turned to look at me, but quickly walked past me as if I needed to stop her by the arm.

"You used my car without my permission. Mom and dad will be furious if they find out you drove drunk!" I scolded, but she just rolled her eyes at me, so I let her go upstairs.

I immediately went outside to check my car and saw that it was damaged. I rushed back inside and entered her room.

"You brat! What did you do to my car? Did you hit something?" I angrily questioned her.

"Ow, shut up, Ate. You're being too dramatic, it can be fixed anyway." She retorted.

"That's not the point, Gold! Ugh! Go there and fix it. Now!" I commanded, giving her a reason to complain. She suddenly grabbed her flower vase and smashed it, then she picked up a piece of the vase and cut herself. I was shocked by her actions.

"DADDY! MOMMY! OPEN YOUR DOOR!" She shouted while banging on our parents' door. Damn it!

"Gold, it's still early morning, OMG! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?!" Mom exclaimed.

"Ate Lav asked me to join her clubbing, and then she gets mad when I got drunk. She even let me drive her car, Mom, Dad. Then she got really mad when her car bumped into the tree. Then she grabbed my vase and did this." She said, crying as if it were true. What the hell?!

"No, no, no, it's not true, Mom, Dad. She sneaked out! I didn't touch her!" I defended. But it was too late as Mom suddenly slapped me, followed by Dad speaking up.

"So you're telling us your sister did this to herself? I'm so disappointed in you, Lavender. You're the older one, you must act like it! You ruined your sister's face, you even got her drunk! She's only 14!" Dad shouted at me.

"But Dad, I'm telling you the truth! You can check our CCTV!" I replied.

"The CCTV is broken, Daddy. Why don't you let her stay at our province, Dad?" Gold suggested.

"Shut up! I'm not going anywhere! This is my house! You can't tell me to move out!" I retorted. But my younger sister continued her theatrics.

"You'll go to Davao." Mom said.

"What? No! What about my life? I can't live in the province! I'm a city girl, Mom!" I protested.

"Mommy, maybe cutting her cards will do." Gold added, which annoyed me and led me to grab her by the hair.

"Lavender! Stop it! It was wrong of Mom and me to give you everything! You're becoming spoiled! No more cards for you! You will go to Davao tomorrow!" Dad angrily said as he took her into my room. I followed and was surprised to see him break all my cards.

I turned to Gold and was about to confront her, but Dad intervened. I hate her!

In 2008, in the month of March, Dad sent me to the province to learn the ways of life. He always blamed me for being a spoiled brat. I didn't want to be spoiled; he and Mom used to give me everything I wanted until my younger sister was born. Everything changed. They neglected me, and all the attention shifted to my sister.

"LAVENDER HIJA!" I heard my aunt shouting from the hut a distance away from the main house

"LAVENDER HIJA!" I heard my aunt shout from the hut some distance away from the main house.

"Tita, stop running. You might fall on that wooden bridge. It's not sturdy, you know." I said while looking at the foundation of the bridge.

"I missed you! Oh my, my niece is all grown up! So beautiful! So sexy! Why did you come to visit here?" She said one after the other. I sighed and lowered my head.

"Dad cut all of my cards, and Mom doesn't to give me any money! I hate them!" I complained.

"Cuts? Why did your dad stop?" She asked in surprise.

"Not stopped, tita. He literally cut them! He broke all my cards!" I explained.

"What?! Did you do something wrong? Are you being disobedient?" She asked.

"Not me. It's Goldfish! Ugh! As her older sister, I was waiting for her in the living room because she sneaked out in the middle of the night with her friends, using my car! When she got home, we had an argument, and I got mad because my car was damaged. I shouted at her, and then she suddenly hit the vase and cut herself. Then she woke up Mom and Dad, and there! She made up a story that wasn't true. Mom slapped me, Dad shouted and got mad at me. And that's why I'm here! I brought my damaged car. They didn't even bother to give me any allowance! They're even processing my transfer papers so I can study here. I hate them, especially that little brat. Ugh!" I vented out.

"Don't be upset, your cheeks are turning red. Come inside, let's fix your things. I'll talk to your good old dad. How much allowance do you need?" She said, managing to make me smile.

"Since I'm here in the province, tita, I think 1k per day would be enough since there's nothing expensive to buy here." I said.

She smiled and nodded.

"I'll take care of you." She said with a smile that warmed my heart.

I'm grateful that I found an ally in my aunt, at least to some extent.