MONTEBELLO'S MAID FOR MARRIAGE

CHAPTER 2

Jax's Point of View

"Hi!" Hindi ko pinansin ang bumati sa akin because I know who this girl is, my one and only enemy, Claire.

"Hey, I said hi!" I still didn't look at her and I just continued doing my homework, so later, I'll just read and sleep when I get home. Mom and Dad grounded me, thanks to this annoying enemy who annoyed me up until now. We're already twelve years old, kamalasan pa ay classmate kami lagi. Additionally, yep, she's still playing with barbie dolls. Sobrang hangin niya pa habang kausap ito. Well, I am still happy remembering I am not just the one who's grounded here. I smirked a little, but I did not know she would notice it.

"You smirk? What's with that little smirk, Mister grounded? Well, pareho naman tayong grounded pero you have worst parusa, haha!" Take note, my annoying enemy will always irritate me, especially with her conyo way of speaking and accent. God, give me more patience! I know she's annoying me this much, so if I snapped, it would surely be the end of me again. Mas lalala ang parusa nina Mom at Dad sa akin.

"Hmm, ignoring me huh? Okay, that's fine sa akin. Mamaya, makikita mo you'll regret not giving your attention sa akin!" I still ignored her and I felt relieved when she left in front of me and went to her annoying friends also.

Sa wakas umalis na ang babaeng 'yon. Ayoko na makita ulit pagmumukha niya kung pwede lang. Buti na lang graduating na kami ngayon at huling beses ko na siya makikita this school year. Magkaibang school na ang papasukan namin simula secondary level hanggang tertiary. Hindi ko rin ma-gets kung bakit gustong-gusto nina Mom at Ninang na maging friends kami ni Claire. It will never happen, we will never build that kind of friendship they have. I can clearly remember the first time we saw each other here in school, we were already enemies. Yep, we considered each other enemies. Most of the time when I was a baby up until pre-school, we stayed in America. Nagkataon lang na kinailangan namin bumalik dahil nagkakasakit na rin sina Nanang at Tatang, my grandparents from mother side. Now, thinking of this, I remember clearly what happened when our mother left us inside the classroom during our Kindergarten days.

"Give me my crayon! It's mine!"

"Sa akin 'to, it's not yours! Inaangkin mo ang crayon ko!"

"Claire, Jax, mga anak, stop." We stopped fighting over the red-colored crayon when Teacher Katy spoke. She did not shout at us, she was speaking calmly, and we listened to her. After that, pinatuloy niya ang pag-color ng shapes sa classmates namin. Kami naman ni Claire ay pinalapit niya sa table niya at malumanay kaming kinausap.

"You should not fight over the crayon, you can share it with each other or ask if there's any available, okay? Don't shout at each other and keep calm and behave. Now, you're fighting over the colour red for a heart-shaped colour. I'll let you Claire borrow my colour read here. Next time, hihingi muna ng permission sa may ari ng gamit, okay? Jax, also tell to teacher kung may need i-raise na concern, yung sobrang paghila mo kanina kay Claire ay 'di rin maganda iyon dahil muntik na siya mahulog sa upuan. Ikaw naman Claire, nakita ko 'yon na parang sasaktan mo na si Jax gamit ang crayon. It's not good. Now, apologize to each other."

"Sorry, Claire."

"I'm sorry, Jax."

Both of us just looked at each other and apologized to each other. Teacher Katy let her borrow the colour red crayon. It's peaceful now but once we are done and time to go home, our classmates are already going out pero hindi ako makalabas agad dahil may tumali lang naman ng bag ko at alam ko na agad kung sino gumawa nito. Yes, Claire Alistair Guerrero. Lumingon siya sa akin na nakangiti at kasama na si Ninang.

"Jax, what's the problem?"

"Teacher, I can't get my bag. May nagtali po nito at super higpit," sagot ko at nakatingin kay Claire.