She's Older Than Me

Chapter 2: The Annoying Little Brother

Over the phone, Mrs. Valdez was talking to her parents, who went to Australia to have a good time. The elderly knew that Justin would finally come home to Cebu, but they were sorry they could not see their grandson for a year because they were out of the country.

“Take care,” Mrs. Valdez said to her mother before hanging up.

She went to the dining hall and noticed that her son was playing with his fork.

“Justin, we are at the dining table, so please behave,” Mrs. Valdez told her son as she took her place.

Justin stopped playing with his fork and participated as Mr. Valdez said the grace before meals. It was their first meal together in the quest for staying here for good, and the couple wished that they had Jasmine with them during the meal.

****

The family was enjoying dinner when the front door opened. A teenager, who looked like fifteen or sixteen years of age, came in with a sigh. She had three paper bags in her left hand and four others in her right hand. A silver blue shoulder bag hung from her shoulder. She looked like she was burdened with all the things that she was handling.

“Good evening, Tita, good evening, Tito,” she greeted the couple as she saw them at the dinner table, for the living room can be seen from the dining room.

She placed her things on the sofa, and strode across the room to kiss their hands.

“Mano po,” she said to them.

Mrs. Valdez smiled and turned to Justin.

“Ah, yes, Justin, this is your Ate Ashley,” the mother said.

“Hi Justin,” Ashley said with a smile as she held out her hand for a handshake.

But Justin wasn’t interested in meeting new people, so he looked at her in sheer boredom before replying.

“I don't know why I should be polite to you,” he said.

“Justin!” Mr. Valdez roared.

Ashley, of course, was insulted, but she let out a smile.

“He's thirteen, isn't he?” she asked the couple. “I think I can forgive that."

“I will not apologize,” Justin said before biting into the food on his fork. “And I’m still twelve.”

Ashley was agitated, but she kept her cool.

“Hija, come and join us,” Mr. Valdez said, motioning the seat beside his wife.

“Oh, thank you, but I had dinner already,” Ashley said.

“She's already full, so why invite her?” Justin asked.

The father reprimanded his son, but Justin only shrugged. Ashley rolled her eyeballs before saying that she had to go to her room.

****

And inside her room, Ashley was fuming in anger. That Justin was a lad, but he was really a spoiled brat. She hated how the young lad was so rude to someone who is older than he is, and she could not understand why his parents were so kind.

“Where did he grow up? In Mars?” she scoffed. “Ugh! He is the least of my problems! I need to get ready for the enrollment tomorrow.”

****

And indeed, the next day, she went to school early to enroll for her final year in high school at Frigate Academy, an exclusive school for girls. She had to leave the house because she was busy, and she had to in order not to see that brat that went by the name of Justin.

A few hours later, Justin and Mrs. Valdez went to an adjacent school, the San Ignacio de Loyola School For Boys, where he will be enrolled as a Grade 7 student under the K-12 curriculum. Justin was still brooding over the thought that he will have to spend high school away from his Makati chums, whom he had spent some time with since primary school years.

****

After enrollment, Ashley hung out at a ritzy coffee shop and ordered her favorite espresso macchiato. When she settled in a comfortable seat near the wall, she took out her laptop from her bag and began to surf the Internet wirelessly. She had told her father that they’d talk via video call after her enrollment, and so they did. When her father was able to contact her, the first thing she did was, of course, to greet him.

“Hello Daddy,” Ashley beamed.

“Oh, how’s my unica hija?” Armand Dizon greeted.

It was already early evening in Australia when the video call transpired. Ashley rolled her eyeballs before reacting.

“Dad, why is that Justin so...so...annoying?” she asked in exasperation.

Armand laughed when his daughter complained. Justin indeed had the reputation of being rude, but the young brat was polite to him and his wife.

“How come Tito and Tita are so very kind? What’s up with that?” Ashley went on, frustrated about that fact.

Armand grabbed a glass of water and drank before replying.

“Ashley, you never had a younger brother or any other siblings, but you had cared for younger cousins,” he told his daughter. “Just be patient with him, and he’ll soon change.”

“But Dad, he really is rude! It’s just a pity he wasn’t able to bond with Ate Jasmine,” Ashley complained before sipping her drink. And she resumed. “If he only knew how kind Ate Jasmine was to me!”

Ashley growled angrily in frustration before she inhaled and exhaled.

“Dad, I will put up with him for just this one year, okay, but it doesn’t mean that I will allow him to bully me,” Ashley told her father. “Not in a million years. I am just… complaining here because I cannot shout at the top of my voice inside the house! I respect Tita and Tito so much that I cannot do it at home.”

“Well Ashley, my dear, there is time for everything,” was Armand’s wise counsel to his daughter. “In time, Justin will warm up to you. Just be patient.”

“Patience is my virtue, but only in Math, Daddy,” Ashley said. “I wish I can take your advice about Justin… But right now, I cannot do so. Ugh!”

Armand laughed again. The two of them continued chatting about certain topics, and later, Mrs. Dizon joined in the chat after preparing dinner. Ashley missed her parents so much, and she wanted to study really hard and graduate in a respectable university afterwards so that she soon can join her parents in Australia.