CROWN.

• 8

armi

it was precisely 3am, the holy hour where the dawn envelopes the sky and every sane person is asleep, when an annoying ringtone erupted on the bedside table where i laid my phone.

i only had three hours of sleep so far, for gods' sake.

"do you even know what time it is?"

"it's 3am, i know cousin. but i have to tell you something--"

"you know you're talking to a person at 3am with only three hours of sleep, if you haven't noticed by now. quick, tell me what you want to get out of your frigging mind--"

"i took the risk like you said. i confessed, this afternoon,"

"good to hear then. glad you finally moved on from your dilemma. now, let me sleep, cousin."

"sorry for disturbing you. good morning, armi,"

"i'm hanging up bluementritt. bye"

ten minutes of interrupted sleep, matutulog ulit ako.

-

"hey, aikee. wake up," a voice interrupted my peaceful sleep.

instead of responding, i twisted my body to face the other direction.

"aikee, stop being stubborn. you need to wake up. someone's waiting for you downstairs. what did he say again? uhh.. manliligaw?" the mere mention of the word manliligaw made my eyes shot open and i was wide awake.

"manliligaw? what?!"

-

turns out it was christiane martel who introduced himself as my so-called 'suitor'.
i had to hold back my urge to choke him right in front of my brother's eyes because i find his prank quite irritating.

he was guilt-tripping me, saying he's been here for two hours already when in fact yayi told me it has only been thirty minutes since he arrived. rome, being the good brother that he is, butted in and aided martel in guilt-tripping me.

i thought he didn't want me to be that close with guys?

the two of them seemed to have grew fond of each other within thirty minutes. how nice.

"bakit ka nandito?"

"ang gandang bati naman niyan. good morning, kuusela,"

"bakit ka nga nandito? you even interrupted my sleep, how thoughtful of you." i sarcastically remarked.

"i'm here to take you out on a date. i already got your brother's permission." i looked at rome with disbelief.

"you should go out, aikee. you're mostly inside the house anyway," rome seconded.

"fine."

"take care, little twin."

-

martel took me out to mr. sese's cafe. he left me in a table to order, without even asking what i want.

he came back with two drinks in hand.

"i heard you like wintermelons. here you go,"

rome must've told him so.

"why the sudden invitation, martel?"

"a token of gratitude, kuusela. hindi ko inakalang gagaan ang pakiramdam ko kapag nakipag-usap ako sa iba. most of all, ikaw pa ang nakakita sa'kin in that state."

"gratitude accepted."

"movies?" he invited and i nodded my head in agreement.

it's nice to enjoy someone else's company once in a while, after all.