Present
"We hope you have a pleasant stay. Thank you for flying Skylight Airlines, Mabuhay at Salamat."
"We're here." Giliw na giliw na sabi ni Kuya Marky habang tinatanggal ang seatbelt niya.
Napabuntonghininga lang ako, "God, I hope I can get some decent sleep tonight."
Natawa lang si Kuya, "Right, like you get any sleep when we were in New York."
I roll my eyes.
If I'm being honest I'm really nervous coming back to Manila. Ang tagal ko na'ng hindi nakakauwi, but when family calls, we come running. Kuya and I have been living in New York for the past six years. Pagka-graduate ko ng High School nag-decide ang parents namin na doon na kami magtapos ng pag-aaral and we never had a reason to come back here until now.
Kuya and I were in the same school dati, he was a sophomore in College while I was a Senior in High School.
"I'll get our bags." aniya.
Typical Kuya Marky, always the doting big brother. Kuya has been my number one everything since I was little, he's dependable, supportive at protective. Pero siyempre dahil kapatid na lalaki at dalawa lang kami, he used to tease me sobra noong bata kami. He makes fun of me lalo na noong nasa High School ako.
Ang dami niyang nicknames sa akin dati na minsan gusto ko pa rin siyang umbagin dahil sa sobrang sama ng mga tawag niya sa akin.
Mimi-gsa
Mimi-yatot
Mimi-hukot
Mimi-ling
Mimi-bantot
I hated that last one.
Well, that was before. He can't do that to me now.
You'd never think now with me looking the way I do na dati ako'ng binu-bully noong bata pa ako. Now I look.. well, like Marky's Galvez' sister.
Kahit ano'ng tawag nila sa akin noon hindi ko masyado pinapansin because they were all partly true. I had so many pimples, wala nang paglagyan sa mukha ko kaya pati batok ko nagkaroon, my face was so oily I had to bring two handkerchiefs. I also had dry brittle hair. Puberty came early sa akin so I had a growth spurt and towered over most of my classmates, I stand at 5'7" now.
At dahil mas matangkad ako sa kanila I used to feel ashamed so medyo yumuyuko ako para hindi ako masyado mapansin. Habang ang ibang girls kapag matangkad look regal, I was the opposite - I was lanky and awkward. Minsan I also had B.O. from sweating too much - nakaka-stress kaya pumasok knowing that you're going to get shamed for how you look.
While all of that was fine and I accepted it all, the only thing I absolutely hated was when people say that I don't look like Marky's sister. Na ampon daw ako or pinaglihi sa sama ng loob.
Si Kuya ang golden boy at napakaswerteng nilalang since naipanganak siya. Never pa siyang natawag na pangit sa buong buhay niya. Feeling ko siguro ako ang sumalo ng lahat ng kapangitan noon sa aming dalawa. We didn't even look related.
Kapag pinagtabi kami sa pictures ni Kuya before mukhang ako yung alalay, tapos siya yung amo. But I never resented him for it, it's wasn't his fault.
He used to defend me kapag may naririnig siyang hindi maganda pero nakiusap na lang ako na 'wag na niyang gawin. I get in so much trouble kapag nakikialam siya. Paano yung mga nang-bu-bully sa akin, crush na crush siya.
BINABASA MO ANG
Mimi Turns Pretty - SOON TO BE PUBLISHED ✅
Romance"Puberty - the stage in people's lives when they develop from a child into an adult because of changes in their body that make them able to have children." - Cambridge Dictionary Some people are blessed since birth, puberty doesn't even hit them - n...