She's Older Than Me

Chapter 1: Homecoming

A jet black car crept into the driveway of a mansion. The owner of the house, Mrs. Valdez, looked out from the tinted glass and smiled. It was indeed good to be home, and she thought it was time to stay here in Cebu City for good. She and her husband, Mr. Valdez, had wanted to get back to their house in one of the affluent subdivisions in the city because they thought staying here was much better.

“Do I have to stay here, Mom?” their son, Justin, drawled out, a little bit annoyed.

“Anak, we think that it is time for you to be here,” Mrs. Valdez said with a knowing smile. “You already had too much fun in Makati, don't you think?”

“Whatever!” Justin said in great boredom.

The car came to a stop, and Mr. Valdez turned off the ignition. He opened his door, and Mrs. Valdez and Justin did too. While his parents looked at the house with heaves of happy sigh, Justin was grumbling. He hated Cebu City because he heard from his friends in Makati that the Cebuanos are serious folks who do not appreciate the glitz and glamour of celebrities.

“Cebuanos are baduy (cheap),” Justin voiced out to his parents.

Although twelve going on thirteen, he was still acting like a brat.

“Oh, but you are Cebuano too,” Mrs. Valdez said with a smile.

“No, I'm not,” he retorted to his mother. “I am a Manila guy. And Cebuanos do not know a thing about celebrities.”

“Oh yes, they do,” Mr. Valdez finally piped up. “Cebuanos love celebrities too. It's just that, for them, show business is not the only thing in this world. Come inside.”

The household helpers came out from the front door, and greeted the family amiably. Mr. Valdez went to the back of the car, and opened the compartment to bring out loads of baggage. The household helpers brought all the things from the car and then inside the house, and Justin followed them. The head of the household helpers, Manang Angelica, came in from the kitchen with a sunny smile. The old servant embraced the couple, whom she missed so well. She saw Justin and patted the young lad on his cheeks.

“Sir Justin, you have Miss Jasmine's features,” the old servant commented with a smile.

“Who?” he asked.

“Miss Jasmine, your elder sister,” Manang Angelica remarked. “The one who flew to the United States.”

“Whatever,” Justin replied nonchalantly.

“Justin!” Mr. Valdez roared.

But Justin was hardheaded. He walked up to the flight of stairs to go to his room. First, he passed by the first room located immediately by the stairs, and he knew it belonged to Jasmine. Her room was next to his, so if he and his sister had been close, he could have gone to her to ask her regarding his assignments or annoy her with anything. But no. He did not care who Jasmine was in his life, and he never cared for the room which used to be his playground.

Jasmine is twelve years older than Justin. When the whole family went to Manila, Jasmine stayed behind because she preferred to stay in Cebu City. She was sixteen at that time, and Justin was only four. They used to be close, but because also of age gap and due to Jasmine's busy life, they drifted apart. Thus, it came to Justin's consciousness that he should be the only child that his parents have.

During summer vacations, he would stay in Manila because Mr. Valdez was assigned there in Makati, while Mrs. Valdez would come home for Jasmine. As for Jasmine, her maternal grandparents acted as guardians in lieu of her parents.

A year before Jasmine graduated from college, Mrs. Valdez insisted that Justin should come home with her during the summer vacation, and he got along, against his will. But because Jasmine was already a nursing intern, she was busy with her studies. During weekdays, she would either be away for duty, or would hang out with her friends, and she would come home rather late. During weekends, she would be out of the house most of the time. Because of that, she rarely had seen her little brother.

The last time he saw Jasmine was during her graduation in college and during the pinning ceremony, for Justin's school in Manila let them out early for summer vacation. But after the pinning ceremony, he insisted in going back to Manila because he hated staying behind.

Those circumstances kept them apart. Yet, he did not know that Jasmine missed him so much, and that she was being a good granddaughter to her grandparents. He also did not know that when Jasmine was at the airport before leaving for the States, she was crying hard because she would miss her brother.

“Tsh,” Justin scowled. “What do I care?”

As he stopped in front of his room, he noticed the room next door. The doorknob was furnished with a name tag, which was held by baby pink and sky blue beads. His curiosity got the best of him, so he went to the room and read the tag.

“Who's Ashley?” he asked one helper, who was carrying his luggage.

“He's your parents' lodger,” was the simple reply.

He heard his parents talking about a certain Ashley once or twice around three years ago, but he did not mind. What is? He just preferred his own likes and his own wants, and he did not care about other people's business. And Ashley, in effect, was not really his business.

“Whatever,” he drawled again with his annoying pet phrase.

He grabbed hold the knob and twisted it. Man, was it ever locked! Maybe that Ashley was hiding a trillion pesos to last a lifetime!

“Tsh. Whatever,” he scowled again.

In his annoyance, he got inside his room, which was opened by the helper who came in before him.

“Justin, come down after changing, and let's have dinner,” Mr. Valdez announced.