Twice The Trouble

Chapter 52: Wrong Name

Stacy

"Good morning, Orion Hunters. This is Dean Archie Cortes, head of the Humanities Department. I would simply like to call in Miss Sophia Ann Sta. Ana from Education into my office for a very important matter. Again, Miss Sophia Ann Sta. Ana, kindly come to my office as soon as possible. That is all. Thank you, and study hard, Hunters."

What the hell? My sister NEVER gets in trouble. I inwardly groaned, knowing I had no valid reason to excuse myself from this class.

Come 10am, I felt my cellphone buzz inside the pocket of my gray vest as I stood from my seat.

From: Your Nutty Sister

I'm not in trouble. The dean's niece was an S. Green fan and was visiting him. I'll meet you at lunch later.

I breathed out a collective sigh of relief while pocketing my black phone. She's fine, so I'm fine.

"What's the matter, Sta. Ana? Did your precious sidekick get punished for being a goody-goody?"

I shot daggers at the tall girl with buttery blonde hair. She was making duck faces in a compact.

"Be careful, Rivera," I warned Alison. "Your face will freeze like that if you don't stop soon."

The governor's daughter glared in my direction. "Whatever, Sta. Ana."

My friends, Miles, Dylan, and Selena walked up to me, their backpacks behind them.

Dylan fixed me with a curious smile. "So what did Sophia text you?"

"You're such a girl sometimes, Dy," I told him. "It's nothing serious. A book thing."

Miles snorted, folding her arms. "Books plus Sophia? Always a major situation."

Even Selena nodded her head in agreement. She looked at me then at Miles and Dylan.

"Remember the Book-Utopia Sale three years ago? Damn, it was insane," mulled Selena.

Dylan gave a chuckle. "It was AWESOME. Remember, Ace? When your sister did the thing?"

A nostalgic smile crept its way onto my pink lips. I replied to him: "How can I forget?"

When we were fifteen years old, Sophia and I had saved up a lot of money for the once-in-a-lifetime sale, Book-Utopia. The sale took place in Mall of Asia, and all the books were slashed to unbelievable prices--from 20 pesos to 100 pesos. Bundles were under 150 and 200 pesos. I couldn't delete the details from my mind because my twin kept screaming them in my ears.

It had been a very eventful day,thanks to Sophia. I had been subjected to pushing the grocery cart containing our sweet finds (I was more into Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars Series) while my adrenaline-filled sister was on war mode---Her brown hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, she wore two army green horizontal marks on both her cheeks, a soldier-print cap, a silver whistle dangling from her neck, and she had been dressed in a white shirt, khaki pants, and rubber shoes. Several heads turned to gawk at her military getup. Some took pictures.

She loved being melodramatic about her passions.

But not even I had expected her to pull that stunt three years ago.

The Mall of Asia was filled with massive crowds, an ocean of kids, teens, adults, and senior citizens. There were hundreds of them with their own suitcases, dozens of them pushing their grocery carts stacked with staggering towers of old classics and modern fictional books.

Book-Utopia extended up to the second floor, and the tidal wave of people kept me trapped on the first floor, so I stayed in my spot while Sophia managed to weave through the upper story.