It's Not Over Till It's Over

"Promise me that you'll stay in touch." Katherine wrapped me in a hug. "Let's not make the same mistakes that we did before and regret them."

I nodded and squeezed back.

Being mushy in the middle of Gen Aspire Station was not something that we ever thought of doing before. But after that game last night and the drama that happened before, we got closer to each other as if we were not that close before.

"Kath's right. We're here for each other. Let's not forget that." Trixie also joined our hug. "Better yet, we have to promise to meet each other at least once a week."

That made Mia frown as she jumped in and joined our huddle. "What are you talking about? Do you guys have plans for Summer? We should meet every day!"

"Won't we get tired of each other if we do that?" I lifted my head above theirs to get some air.

Mia grinned and snuggled closer. "Not a chance! You guys should just pack your stuff and come to my place for summer break."

The idea made us laugh. Two whole months of pigging out at her house would result in us having to break the door to be able to get out.

With her parents busy working in the hospital, her nanny had been doing a great job at filling in for both ever since she was a baby. I'd even say that Mia's sweet and charming demeanor was all thanks to Nanny Celia.

"Why does it have to be your house?" Trixie complained. She's been inviting us for a sleepover since her room has been renovated.

But the reason that we were hesitating to go was not that her room used to be small for all of us.

It's because her brothers were way too chaotic.

The last time we visited, they had a very big fistfight. And just a couple of minutes later, they're already playing games together on their computers.

I patted Trixie's back. "We can come over and play when your brothers are not there. We don't get much privacy whenever they're around."

Mia frowned at me. "We can't do that. I like going to her house because of her brothers."

Katherine also chuckled and nodded. "Mia's right. If I had a brother that was as eye candy as your brothers, I would try to be a very good sister."

I raised my eyebrows at them, feeling betrayed. "So, am I the only one who finds them troublesome?"

Trixie shook her head and patted my back as well. "Nope. I'm with you on that one. You guys will never understand how annoying having a brother can be. Especially older ones."

"What's more annoying is having a younger one that pretends to be superior." I rolled my eyes and realized too late what I just said.

'Oh shit.'

"You have a little brother?" Mia blinked her eyes a couple of times.

Katherine clamped her lips shut and slowly stepped out of the circle while the other two bore their eyes on me.

I smiled awkwardly. "Haha. I do. A step-brother."

"Really? How come you never told us about this? Is he in kindergarten already?" Mia peered at me with interest.

As soon as she asked that question, flashbacks of me and Arthur fighting bombarded my head. "He's acting like one."

"Awh! I find it cute when babies act like they are adults." Mia said dreamily which made me burst out laughing.

"I swear. There's nothing cute about that thing." Still laughing, I took out my phone when I felt it vibrate in my pocket. "Yeah?"

"Where are you?" The sound of roaring vehicles almost drowned out Arthur's voice.

"I'll be there in a second."

"Make it fast. It's hot here."

Mia and Trixie were looking at me with curiosity. "Turn on the AC."

"I don't want to."

I rolled my eyes. "Then that's your problem."

"Just come fast." He whined. "It's not as if you guys won't see each other during summer break."

"Fine!" I grunted and ended the call. I turned to them with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I have to go."

"Was that your step-brother?" Mia was beaming at me. "His voice was very deep."

"You heard?"

"We heard." Katherine smiled. "Go before he starts having tantrums."

"Okay. Thanks! Bye-bye!" I started walking away and overheard Mia asking Katherine.

"You've met her brother before? He definitely didn't sound like he's in kindergarten."

Then Katherine answered with a smile. "He definitely acts like one."

When I got home, I quickly took a bath and changed into comfortable clothes. I set up my laptop to my TV to start binge-watching a drama that Ameera recommended to me from China… no Taiwan… or was it Thailand?

I could not remember which country it was from but she highly recommended it to me. She said that it was not like our local dramas and it had a good mixture of romance, action, and comedy. And judging by how she managed to convince me into watching a 'human show', I had a feeling that she would make a great salesperson someday.

The story started with soldiers crouching around a dilapidated shed and there were terrorists inside holding some civilians hostage.

Two guys appeared and, based on how dramatic their entrance was, I guessed that one of them must be the male lead.

"Or is this bromance?"

Thirty minutes into the episode and I found myself loving this new experience.

And no.

It was not a bromance.

*knock knock*

Arthur appeared in my doorway with a huge grin on his face. "From where did you get that sack?"

'Sack?' I looked around to find what he was referring to. Then I asked him. "What sack?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and pointed at me with his lips. "The one that you're wearing."

I looked at my oversized pink cotton sweater dress and frowned at him. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. It's cute." That's what he said, but saying it while holding back his laughter made me suspicious.

"Why did you call it a sack then?"

He shrugged. "Because I don't know what to call it. But it's cute"

I decided to let him be because I wanted to continue watching the drama and was about to rewind it a few seconds when Arthur knocked his knuckles again on the door.

I glared at him. "What do you want?"

"Come down for a sec." He motioned me to follow him by wriggling his finger.

And of course, as usual, I ignored him.

But he must have known that because he looked back and added with a smirk. "Mom is telling you to go downstairs this instant if you know what's best for you."

I pushed myself up from the bed and forced my legs to get down from it. "You should have said so in the first place."

He chuckled as we descended the stairs. "You'll be in for a great surprise."

"What surprise?" Looking at the back of his head made me feel tempted to smack it. But I held myself back.

"You'll see. Your sack is very perfect for this occasion." I could hear the smile in his voice.

'What is he scheming now? But he said it was Mom who told me to come downstairs.'

As we reached the last step, Arthur shouted. "Mom! She's here! She's wearing a very cute pink sack."

I smacked the back of his head then I heard my mother's voice from the living room. "Zee. Come here."

'Why am I feeling nervous?' There was something in my mother's tone that set off the alarm signals in my head. "What's going on? Did I do something wrong?"

And just as I turned the corner, my question was immediately answered and my jaw dropped to the floor.

Someone that shouldn't be there, was calmly sitting on our sofa while sipping the tea that my mom only makes for her special guests, like my grandmother for example. And just to make sure that my brain has not gone into overdrive and was making things up, I discreetly pinched my arm.

"Ow."

Arthur chuckled beside me and did the honors of pinching me again, but a lot harder than I did.

"Ah!!! That hurt!" My hand acted on its own, as if on reflex, and hit his arm multiple times.

Arthur squirmed away from me while shouting. "Ah! Ah! Ah!"

"Stop fighting, will you? Are you still kids?"

My mother's voice brought me straight back to awareness and I locked my gaze on her while trying to avoid the pair of eyes that were watching me with amusement. Not to mention that I was currently feeling like I was guilty of something that I was not aware of doing. "Sorry, Mom."

"Have a seat." She motioned to the seat beside our visitor then turned to Arthur. "My dear, will you please get me a cup of warm water?"

"Sure!" Arthur beamed and ran to the kitchen.

For the very first time, I had wished that Arthur stayed around.

And it was the first time, ever since becoming related to him, that I missed his presence.

Because the person beside me was making me very uncomfortable at the moment.

'What should I do?'