Hold It In

Stood Up

"Ms. Danielle. Why is your whole family here?" I heard Emma asked suspiciously.

"To help you guys get ready for your dance, duh", she said matter-of-fact.

Emma laughed and I came tumbling down the stairs, knocking her down during the process. I got off Emma as quickly as I could and started laughing.

"You're so clumsy!" I looked to Ms. Danielle's family and smiled. I've met them before and they're really nice.

"Ate Angie!" I exclaimed running to her and giving her a huge hug. "Sydney bear", she laughed, hugging me back. "So who's the guy?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Have you seen the voice?" She nodded and I continued. "Juan Karlos Labajo." She squealed and started jumping around. "He's cute!"

"I'm going with Darren!" Ate Angie picked Emma up and twirled her around. The others started roaming around and getting our stuff ready.

"This seems like a Cinderella story", I scoffed. "It is", some of them shouted.

"I'm gonna go outside, while you guys are getting ready", I walked out the door, realizing that I was still in pajamas.

Oh well. No time to change now. I wandered around the streets until a saw a kid being picked on by a bunch of older kids. "Hey", I screamed. "Umalis kayo dyan kung ayaw nyo masaktan!" They all ran away from the little boy and I knelt down to check on him.

Until I realized who it was. "Patrick?" He looked up and me with tears running down his face. "What are you doing here?" I picked him up and started walking to Juan Karlos' house.

"I was with Lola and I got lost", he sobbed. "Sh", I cooed. I knocked on their door and Karlos appeared a few minutes after. I think he was asleep.

He was wearing basketball shorts and a white v-neck. And his hair was messed up in the most attractive way ever. "I saw some kids picking on Patrick around the corner", I explained coming in without permission.

"He has a couple bruises forming on his arms and legs, I brought him here as fast as I could."

I sat him down and checked his legs. There were a lot of cuts on them. "Do you guys have alcohol and cream?" I asked Juan Karlos.

"Yeah. I'll go get them."

I nodded and I continued to calm Patrick down. "Why did they do that to you?"

He was shaking with fear and I hugged him tightly. "They wanted my money that Lola gave to me", he stuttered.

Juan Karlos ran back into the room and I quickly took the alcohol and cotton balls. "This is going to hurt a little bit okay?" He nodded and held Juan Karlos' hand tightly.

I started dabbing the alcohol lightly on his cuts and he let out whimpers. I felt so bad, but the cuts were bleeding too much. I cleaned my hands so the cuts wouldn't get infected when I put the cream on.

I softly traced the cuts with the cream and covered it with a bandages. "There you're all better!"

"You're such a brave boy", Karlos said, giving him a little kiss. "Thank you Ate Ganda", he sniffled.

I nodded and lied him down on the couch.

Juan Karlos tugged on my arm and I got up to talk to him. "Thanks. I don't know what I would've done if he got hurt." I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's fine Juan Karlos. Just go fix your hair, it's making me sad", I joked.

He lightly punched my shoulder, "Why were you roaming around in your pajamas?" I took my bottom lip in between my teeth and blushed.

"I didn't change because Ms. Danielle literally invited her whole family to help us for the dance tonight. I found no point in changing yet."

"He fell asleep", Juan Karlos pouted. "I wanted to play with him." I shook my head and walked towards the door.

"Where ya going?" He asked, disappointed. "I'll be back, I'm just a little hungry", I said. He rolled his eyes and gestured to his kitchen. "Um are you sure?" I asked shyly.

He carried me to his kitchen and forced me to sit on the chair. "You don't have to make me anything."

He scoffed, "I don't care. Gusto ko."

"You also didn't have to carry me."

"Don't care", he hummed.

"Are you serious? I'm not a princess, I shouldn't be treated like this", I laughed. He sighed and stirred the bacon around in the pan. "You're my best friend. I'd do anything for my best friend, and that counts cooking."

I got up to give him a hug. "You're sweet. A huge annoying flirt, but you're sweet", I said.

I pulled away and found Patrick giggling and covering his eyes. "Ew!" I laughed as Juan Karlos ran to him and started tickling him.

I was happily watching until sound of the bacon sizzling got louder and louder. I turned and the oil was popping everywhere. And trust me, if you get hit, it stings like hell.

I backed away from the pan and saw that Juan Karlos was paying no attention to it. The oil was going all over the place and he didn't even notice. How oblivious.

"Juan Karlos", I said slowly. He continued ticking Patrick. "Juan Karlos", I called out a little louder. I looked over to see him hiding behind the couch. "Fix it Sydney!" He yelled.

"I can't!" I screamed. I went into the cabinets, dodging the oil. I found a lid for the pan and quickly threw it on.

"You're my live saver." I ignored JK and went over to Patrick. "Okay ka lang?" I asked softly. He giggled and pointed to Juan Karlos, who was pouting and had his arms folded.

I stuck my tongue out and he just ignored me. "Ang drama mo naman."

He continued to ignore me so I got up and started poking his sides. He made a hmph sound as Patrick and I laughed.

"I'm sorry! I love you", I joked, running over to him and giving him a hug.
He looked over and winked at me, that's how you know he's gonna start flirting with you. "Okay ka na pala, sige na bye!" I was going to run to the living room until I felt a pair of arms around my waist.

" You're not going anywhere, princess", he whispered in my ear. His breath tickled my ears and I kept on laughing.

He pulled me closer to him and I laughed even more.

"You're ruining the moment", he whined, instantly letting me go.

"I'm going home now. They're probably waiting for me." JK nodded and Patrick just waved, too distracted by his toys.

"Bye best friend", Juan Karlos screamed.

I stuck my tongue out and walked out the door. Weirdest moment of my life. I didn't even get to eat my bacon since that idiot burnt it.

I was really looking forward to that bacon. My morning is now ruined!

I walked into the orphanage to find about 5 people working on Emma's hair. I tried to blend in with everyone until I was pulled by Ms. Danielle's grandma. " Maligo ka na. Baka hindi mapaganda yun buhok mo", she commanded and I nodded and ran up the stairs.

So much for blending in.

Juan Karlos' POV

I was sitting on the couch with Patrick watching TV until my phone started to vibrated. Can't even watch spongebob without being interrupted.

I looked to see that it was Stacy. "Hello?" I answered. "Karlos, gusto mo ba pumunta sa dance mamaya? "

I'm toast. I'm already going with Sydney. Maybe she won't care? I mean she doesn't even like me. We're just friends.

"Don't you already have a date?" I asked her. "No, if you don't want to go it's okay. I would've thought you were going with that Sydney girl", she said coldly.

I've had a huge crush on her ever since we met, the same day Sydney and I met too. But Sydney's helped me through so much, and she's my best friend. But Stacy is just so amazing. And it's a once in a lifetime thing to be asked out by your crush!

"No, I'll go with you. I'll pick you up at 7."

Cliffhaaanngerrr lol