CHAPTER 21

Back in the room, Angela was still busy with her new design. She have separated the different colored tints and the ones with varying strokes and added in some more tone. She was at her last patch and dabbed it one last time before she placed the paintbrush down. She stepped back, looked around her and smiled.

"There, much better than I expected." she said to herself. "Guess Obet and the rest have a use after all."

"Ei, Obet, race you to the other end!" called Jon. He swam towards Robert and slapped him gently on the back.

"You're on!" the other replied, the past anger forgotten.

"Hey, wait for me!" called Ricky and Kenny. Robert grinned at them as they placed themselves beside the other two.

"Okay, I'll be the referee!" yelled Danny from the other side.

"Mic, out of the way!" called Matt. Mic waddled to the side of the pool.

"Okay, ready?" called Danny, "GO!"

Mic and Matt yowled as the four raced towards Danny. Ricky and Jon were using butterfly strokes and were head to head, Ken was swimming in a graceful breaststroke. It was Robert who was leading thou; he swam underwater like a huge fish in an ocean of blue. Angela sat on the baluster, watching them. She couldn't help but look at the graceful figure cutting through the water like a torpedo. The group reached the far end of the pool with Robert leading then started back to the finish line. Angela watched as Robert broke the surface every now and then to breathe. He looked like a professional diver. He finally reached the goal and raised himself out of the water, gasping for breath. She blushed.

"And the winner is..." cheered Danny and the rest "Obet, of course!"

"Great, Obet..." said a breathless Jon, "Still as fast as ever..." he pulled himself out of the water too and sat beside him.

"That person's really a fish...." said Ricky, trying to stay afloat, the water was way over his head. "You're probably a fish in a previous life!" he pulled himself with some help from Jon and sat beside them too. Ken did the same.

"Hey, Ange!" called Mic when he saw the girl in the balcony, "Come and join us, the water's just great!"

"Yeah," said Matt, "The sun's so hot you wouldn't think it's been raining for five days!"

"Hey, Ange!" called the others waving at her.

"No, thanks, I'd rather stay dry." she replied.

"Hey, is the room finished yet?" asked Robert. He stood and approached her.

"Yup!" answered Angela with a proud smile, "Thanks for the help guys!"

"Hey, can we see it?!" they asked, all climbing up the stairs.

"No!" said Angela, she ran to the top of the stairs and spread her arms out to keep them from passing. "Wait till the paint dries." she added, "I'm not taking any chances!"

"Ah, Ange doesn't trust us!" said Ken with an exaggerated sigh.

"Just a peep?" begged Matt.

"No."

Angela was still holding her position when someone called from below.

"Any body home?" called May-may. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a small pink blouse. Behind her stood his brother, his face red with shame as his sister made her way around the house and straight to Angela. "Ate Ange!" she said beaming, "No one was answering so I went in to look for you instead!"

"It's okay!" said Angela returning the smile, "I'm glad you were able to come today!"

"I'm sorry, sir Obet.... I told her not to..." said Boyet. The wounds in his face were beginning to get better.

"It's okay, nothing worth taking inside the house any way..." he replied with a chuckle.

"Ate Angela, let's go swimming!" said the little girl.

"Oh, you go ahead, I'm still a little tired..." she placed an arm around the girl and proceeded down stairs. "You. Down." she told the guys, guarding the way up to the room.

The group went back to the pool, the little child leading the way. She looked so excited and quickly went down the steps.

"Hey, hey that part of the pool's 5 feet deep kid, be careful!" called Robert. The kid went straight to the water and began swimming around,

"Don't worry, sir Obet," said Boyet, "May-may grew in the province, we live by the sea."

"Figures." said Danny as he watched the kid bobbing in and out the water's surface like a dolphin.

"Looks like you've found yourself a partner, Obet!" said Ken laughing.

"Obet's the best swimmer in our group," explained Matt looking at Angela, "he swims like a fish!"

"That's because he has a sadistic cousin who used to throw him in the pool and watch him drown!" said Danny.

Angela looked at Robert, eyes wide. He was grinning at the others, then looked at her and smiled. Angela turned away.

"A sadistic cousin?" she thought to herself, "Could it be kuya Glenn they're talking about?"

Just then, Robert appeared in front of her, a mischievous grin in his face and pushed her in the water. Angela fell with a loud splash, too surprised to react. The other guys laughed behind Robert. He squatted by the side and watched where Angela sank, a smile in his face.

"Man, is Ange gonna kill you when she gets outta there!" said a laughing Danny.

"He-he-he..." laughed Robert, "I know that!"

They all went to the pool's edge, waiting for her to show up, the others standing behind Robert. Their laughing subsided though, and Angela still didn't show.

"Where's ate Ange?" asked a floating May-may.

"Umm... Obet?" asked Matt, "Does Angela know how to swim?"

Robert froze. He quickly jumped into the pool, the others following after him. He saw her at the bottom, curled up in a ball. She was pinching her nose, her eyes tightly shut. She was holding her breath! He quickly took hold of her and pulled her up to the surface.

"Angela!" he called to her as he gasped for breath, "Hey are you okay?!?"

Angela opened her eyes slowly and rubbed her face. She took a deep breath and looked at the boy who held her.

"You stupid jerk!!!" she yelled as her hand rose, it went racing at Robert's face in a load slap! "Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Whoaaah!" said Ricky in awe, "She slapped Obet!"

"Not the first time too!" said Danny grinning, "Serves you right, stupid!"

"Hey, but I didn't know..." Robert tried to explain, Angela hit him on the head.

"Let go of me, you perv!" she cried. Robert looked at their position. He was holding Angela tight against his own body. He could feel her soft chest heaving against his. He suddenly felt hot.

"Let go! Let go!" she cried again. Robert pulled his arms away, Angela sank down the bottom; he pulled her up again, this time, merely holding her arms.

"Sorry, sorry!" he cried. Angela was fuming.

"You okay, ate Ange" called May-may.

"So, you don't know how to swim!" said Jon floating beside them. Angela turned red.

"Hey, why don't you ask Obet to teach you, he's a great teacher!" said Matt "He taught most of us how to swim!"

"No thanks!" said Angela, still fuming. "I'm going home." With that, she grabbed hold of Matt's shoulder, then at Jon and made her way to the side of the pool. She trailed it till she reached the stairs, then walked out the pool, May-may floating beside her as she did.

"You're going home already, ate Ange?" she asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Sorry, May-may, maybe next time we can waddle in the pool together..." she said with a little laugh."

"But don't you live here with kuya Obet?" she asked innocently. Angela blushed. She heard the guys snickering behind them.

"We're just neighbors...." she tried to explain to the little girl, "I really have to go now, besides, I don't have a change of clothes with me."

"Not to worry, Ange!" Danny called from behind them, a big grin in his face, "Your sisters brought some!"

Angela looked at him and saw her sisters trailing behind. Both were wearing swimsuits, one blue and the other lilac. Danny even carried a big picnic basket and placed it on a table under the mango tree.

"Ate Ria! Ate Pia!" Angela called, alarmed, "What are you doing here?"

"Danny called us over!" said Ria with a lovely smile. Danny blushed beside her. "You never told us Robert had a pool in their backyard!"

"That's right!" said Pia, "And in this weather, it's as if the storm happened years ago! It's suddenly so hot!"

"That's great!" Ken suddenly said appearing beside Angela, "Ange, how about introducing us to your lovely sisters?" he asked with a dashing smile.

"Oh, how cute!" said Ria, musing over little May-may.

"Anyway, I'm going home. There's no way I'm going near that pool!" said Angela. She turned away and was heading home when her sister suddenly pulled her back.

"Don't bother." said Pia. "We locked the house." she smiled at her sister mischievously and handed her a tote bag. "Here's your swim suit and just in case, I'll hold your dry clothes to keep you here." she smiled again.

"Ate Pia... you...." Angela hissed, but Pia was already busy taking out sandwiches from the picnic basket.

"So, who's hungry?" she asked. The guys went around her, starting from Matt and Mic as Danny introduced them to the rest of the gang.

"Stupid sisters!" mumbled Angela as she made her way to the small dressing room beside the pool house, "That Pia, I'll really get back at her one of this days!" She went to the cubicle and slammed the door behind her.

"Wow, these are delicious!" said Matt with a mouthful of pie, "Did you bake these?" he asked Pia.

"Ria did, she's real good at sweets and pastries." replied Pia.

"It's still hard to believe that you're both doctors...." said Ken in a low voice, "Such a waste..." he thought, "just think of the age gap!"

"Yes, everyone finds it hard to believe," said Ria laughing, "I guess we just look too young to be doctors..."

"By the way, why's Angela soaked like that?" asked Pia.

"Oh, umm..." Danny said, "She accidentally got pushed in the pool..."

"Kuya Obet pushed her...." said May-may. Robert laughed nervously.

"Hey, that's dangerous!" said Pia, "Our sister never learned how to swim, you know..."

"Yeah, she's afraid of pools." said her twin.

"Afraid of pools?" asked Ricky, another pie in hand.

"Well, not really, she just doesn't go near them much." Pia explained.

"Yeah," said Ria with a concerned frown, "you see, when she was younger she used to love to swim in our pool..."

"But we... 'Accidentally' bumped her in the deep end one day..." said Pia.

"Yes, poor sister drowned and had to be brought to the hospital...." said Ria

"Since then, she never went near the pool again...."

"Daddy had it turned into a garden..."

"Yeah, real waste..."

"Yes, she really did love wading in the pool.... but we...."

"Anyway," said Pia cutting her twin short, "Maybe you can cure our sister!" she said facing Robert.

"Eh?" the boy answered with a mouth full of pie.

"That's right!" said Ria, "Perhaps you can teach her to swim!"

"I can teach her," May-may butted in, "I'm a good swimmer too!"

Angela shuffled around the bag and pulled out a towel and a very small two-piece bikini. Angela paled. She threw the bikini aside and shuffled some more until she saw a one piece tucked away in a corner. She then took her clothes off and put the swimsuit on, tying the towel around her waist. When she stepped out of the small cubicle, the others were seated under the mango tree, busy stuffing their face with her sister's cooking. Robert was waiting for her to come out. He stood up and ran towards her with a big grin in his face, May-may running alongside.

"Hey, sorry 'bout pushing you a while ago." he said bowing his head.

"Get away from me." replied the other.

"Ate Ange, ate Pia and ate Ria said you were afraid of pools...." said May-may. Angela went red in the face.

"Did they tell you how they drowned me?" she said, slinging the tote bag over her shoulder.

"Eh?" asked Robert surprised, "Drown you?"

"Those two wanted me dead ever since I was born and stole the spotlight from them...." Angela mumbled, "And they're still at it!" Angela went around Robert, making sure she was as far away from the pool as possible.

"And why would they do that?" he asked.

"I killed their mother remember?" she whispered so as May-may wouldn't hear. Robert was speechless. May-may took Angela's hand and pulled her towards the mango tree.

"Ate Ange, quick!" said the little girl, "You better eat your pie before kuya Matt eats it all!"

"Okay, okay, let's go..." said Angela smiling at the girl.

Robert looked at Angela as he followed the two girls back. He looked at the twins, happy with the attention from all the boys. Danny was telling Ria something and both started laughing. Pia was telling Matt how to bake the pies white the rest were still busy stuffing their faces. Even Boyet seems to be enjoying himself.

"Everything's so peaceful now." he found himself thinking, "How I wish it would remain this way."