Ruining Her

Chapter 1: How

Angeline POV

Life is tediously boring, honestly.

If you think about it, this kind of decision my mom made is really impractical. For my first year of college, maninirahan kami sa isang malayong probinsya kaysa manatili sa Manila kung nasaan ang mga top universities sa buong bansa.

Throughout my whole life, I've only been to the best schools and they're all in Manila. Tapos, ngayong magco-college ako, we're gonna downgrade and I'm gonna be enrolled in some provincial university? Oh God, help me!

I rolled my eyes as I walked with my mom inside a fancy-looking ancestral mansion. There were lots of gates and securities we had to go through before going here. And my, my... who would've thought that after rounds of boring plain farm lands, there's a decent Spanish-themed mansion like this.

If I could recall what my mom said correctly, this family is barely Filipino. The patriarch has Filipino blood but mainly has Spanish lineage. While on the other hand, the matriarch is purely Australian. Still though, they are one of the biggest old rich families in the country. Something like that.

"Reich!" a fair woman in her 40's excitedly screamed and walked towards my mom.

"How many years has it been, sis? And oh my, is this Gie now? She's so tall! Look o, mas matangkad pa sa'yo." the woman cheerfully announced once again after my mom and her hugged tightly.

I gave her a small smile. Of course, being tall was the only thing that was compliment-worthy about me.

"Yes. Gie, this is your Tita Astrid Tristan. She's my high school best friend and you've already met her once when you were around 3 or 4." my mom giggled.

Tita Astrid smiled at me once again and gave me a small hug and kissed me on my cheeks, just like how she warmly greeted my mom.

I wonder how she feels about it, though. I feel embarrassed... there's a lot of tiny red bumps on my face and I thought that she would barely come and touch me. Because if I was as fair as her, I certainly would not even dare to contact with someone pimple-faced like me.

I let out a timid smile at her as she and my mom talk animatedly. I stared at some random space, wanting the time to pass because I just can't play mute all day as my mom goes on with her usual socializing sessions. I'd rather stay in my room and do some things that would actually keep me in company.

Wait... What the fuck?

I don't know if I'm hallucinating or what by staring too much in a blank space but even though I've already scratched my eyes... it's very visible. It's real!

A boy with aristocrat features, dark hair and mesmerizing grey eyes, started walking towards us. Up close, I could see how perfect his jaw is and the his little mole above his upper lip. Even though I was already very tall at 5"7, he was still taller than me.

Realizing I was probably drooling too much when he opened his mouth a bit and closed it again as if he was hesitating, I looked at the other way and pretended I wasn't drooling at all even though I very much am!

Stupid, stupid. What right do I have to do that? I'm nothing. Aside from being a pimple-head face, I also have braces and I'm quite chubby-looking. I could only imagine the disaster if I had the height of an average Filipina... I'd be considered short and even chubbier.

"Mom, I'm here." he announced as he hugged Tita Astrid and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

He let his arms rest on Tita Astrid's shoulders as his mom introduced my mother and I.