Kabanata 11

MARIA

"C'mon kuya, let's eat." I heard Kelsie call for Peter. She placed her food with Juan and Peter's lunch.

"Kelsie, did you prepare all of these?" I asked.

"No, my yaya did the cooking. I only packed it." She replied.

Gosh the smell of pork and beef is roaming around the kiosk. I then heard a familiar grumble inside my belly. I heard Kelsie chuckled, guess she heard my tummy.

"Uh, I only brought two sandwiches and ham." I said just to share a small amount of food for them to eat.

"Sure, come and lay it on the table." Peter said as he offered a hand to help me set my sandwiches and ham. I smiled and thanked him afterwards.

"Okay, let's eat." Juan digged in the table and ate the food with his bare right hand. I was in shocked to see him eat like that. As if I didn't see my mom sometimes eating like that.

Meanwhile Kelsie ate an amount of food on the table while Peter was like Juan, eating using his bare hand. As I stopped eating I asked Peter, "Do you eat like that inside your house everyday?"

As he was finished chewing his food, he then replied "Yeah, we eat like this inside our barong-barong."

"Bro, baka hindi siya sanay na makakita ng ganito. Alam mo naman, proper hygiene ang nasa Amerika."

"Ah, Juan it's okay. I also saw my mom eat with her bare hands sometimes so that thing your doing is not foreign to me." I explained and the two of them nodded.

We continued to eat our lunch as Juan tell all of his jokes. Kelsie laughed while Peter only smiled. I too laughed and it came to a shocked that they knew I can understand a little bit of their language. Geez, I may look foreign but I can understand the language because of my mom.

"So Kelsie, do you and Peter live with your dad?" I asked her.

"Well-"

"We're not related. She just calls me kuya because I'm older that her." Peter replied.

I saw how Juan and Kelsie exchanged looks after what Peter had just said. Really? I could have sworn they look like related or something.

"Really? I thought you were like siblings." I said and they both exchanged looks. Juan seemed disinterested in the topic so both of us just continued to eat.

I just shrugged the idea off but they seemed really similar. I noticed that they had the same honey-brown eyes and complexion. I could have sworn that it was Peter in which I saw in the airplane. And their names? They have the same surnames.

"I am just a regular worker at the hotel."

"Okay, but you have the same surnames with Kelsie." I continued to be suspicious.

"Yeah, there are a lot of Aranguez' here in Cebu." Peter replied. I just nodded and finished my lunch. I never got to eat a lot since I was not feeling the need to eat.

I just sat there and watched them eat their lunches. I saw Juan get the sandwich I prepared. He then ate a big bite out of it. He widened his eyes, maybe the sandwich was not good? I asked myself that.

I saw Kelsie get another half of the sandwich and ate it. She then nodded her head and asked, "did you make this sandwich?"

I nodded slightly, "It's a ham sandwich. I'm sorry if it's bad."

"Are you kidding me? It's delicious!"

Juan made a thumbs up and agreed with Kelsie. I ate a little bit of the sandwich and just smiled. As a crappy cook I sure do know how to make a mean sandwich.

As we all finished eating, we talked about our personal life and also I wanted to know the details about them. They seemed pretty cool for me, they are very relaxed and so freeing.

"Nakakaintindi ka ba ng lengwahe namin diba?" Juan asked me, I nodded and chuckled at him. He smiled and told me his story.

He was young when his father and mother separated. He lived with his father and his mom found another man in America. He was an only child but right after his father died last year, he decided to work since he was in the right age. His uncle retired as a head waiter at the hotel and recommended him. He then worked as a driver and then got a privilege to study with the help of the company's scholarship program.

"Nagpapasalamat nga ako kasi binigyan ako ng scholarship para magpatuloy ng pag-aaral." Juan added. I just smiled at him, he's a hardworking man and I adore him for that. Being abandoned by your own mother and your own father died, I could never imagine myself in that scenario.

"How about you Maria, why come here and study in the Philippines?" Juan asked me. I was hesitant at first to tell my story but I might be too selfish if I wouldn't tell them.

"I was born and raised in California, I have a little sister and my mom is pure filipino yet my dad is mexican." I told them thought it seemed like they were interested about my life.

"But your skin is tan." Kelsie said.

I chuckled at her, "Yes indeed. But I have my mom's complexion and some of my dad's facial features."

We talked a lot about my hometown but I never told them about my ex. Maybe if I started telling them about him, they might want to delve in more in my past relationship. Besides, Oz is a part of my history now and I want to forget about the past.

After chatting, we head to the sink near the auditorium to wash our tupper wares and head back to our classes.

"Hey Maria, are you gonna stay here in the Philippines for good now?" Peter asked. It was shocking since I never really heard him talk a few minutes ago. I nodded as a response, I wish he wasn't getting awkward with me.

"By the way Kelsie, do you wanna hang out with us this weekend? We're going to the mall and buy some of the requirements for homeroom." Said Kelsie as she stopped skipping around.

"Yeah, I might wanna tell my parents about that." I answered.

"Really? That's great! So that we can get to hang out more often."

I smiled at Kelsie. She is one hell of a girl. Quirky, fun yet sometimes annoying based on Peter's looks. He seemed so irritated.

I wanted to talk to Peter more, but I didn't have the guts to engage in a conversation with him. It's like every time I want to talk, I might have the tendency to freak out and get a little awkward sometimes.

As we were walking, I slowed my pace since the stairs were killing my feet. Our classroom was on the sixth floor in the main building and I am tired. I had to step back and regain my harmony in breathing. Then Peter saw me and he too stopped his tracks. He then walked towards me and asked, "You okay Maria?"

I smiled at him after a huff, "Yeah, but you can call me Ri. I'm comfortable with people calling me Ri."

He chuckled and then said, "Okay, Ri."

I smiled at him and to my surprise, he smiled at me back. I saw his dimples showing and it made him seem cute. Not that I was attracted to him but he looked so cute to me.

As I was about to walk he then walked with me. Oh no, I hope this would not involve talking to him.

"How was life back in Cali?" He asked. So he did listen to what I was saying. I thought that he was disinterested due to the fact that he rested his face on his palms at the kiosk.

Oh, I have to make a reply. To the hell with great communication. I don't wanna be deaf for fuck's sake.

"It was nothing much. I was just normal."

"Really? You look pretty. I thought that you were more than normal."

What did he say? I was more than normal? That made me blush dude, he has his way of words. Thank you for complimenting me, dear Peter.

I chuckled, "Nah, I was just staying away from the popular crowd. Being popular is not my thing."

He laughed, "Well I can't blame you. Being in the popular crowd is overwhelming."

I laughed at his sentence. Is he one of the popular ones? Well, he is handsome and all but why join us when we are not popular?

"Are you from the popular crowd?"

He then laughed at what I said. "Nah, I like to be simple. That's all and I want to have privacy. Popular kids don't have a day without drama."

He looked at me while we were walking and he had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. But I had to concentrate on our conversation in order for him not to freak out about me.

"Yeah. I guess the more popular, the more you magnate to drama." I contorted. It was true enough that I have observed from every aspect on the popular kids. They are mean and hideous on the inside.

As we walked inside the classroom, I then seated in the middle of Kelsie and Peter. I placed my bag on the front and then started to text my mom that I have finished eating my lunch. It was kind of refreshing to hear Peter and talk with him. We were a bit awkward at first but boy did we talk like normal high schoolers.