Before Us

It was a ceremonious night when Matilda bore her child. The moon shone bright in the dark sky for the most powerful white witch, the 15th generation of their race.

At the sound of the newborn's cry, a loud wail was heard. It echoed around the place, scaring all the birds that had been watching kindly beside them. The loud wail was even followed by small ominous growls like that of a beast. Orlando was alarmed because of it.

Matilda clinged on Orlando's arm as she felt the black power coming from Amara. Orlando glanced at her as if they were thinking the same thing.

He immediately stood up and placed a brown cape around Clara, his nine year old daughter. Then, he handed her his newborn daughter.

The brown cape will serve as their protection from Amara. It will prevent its wearer from releasing their power and it will hide them from the sight of any powerful being.

It is a family heirloom, passed on from generation to generation to whoever was the most powerful white witch living in the family. It is also one of the reasons why their life is in danger.

"Mommy," Clara's voice trembled as she called out to her mother. You could see fear in her gentle eyes.

She looked into her daughter's eyes and started using her powers. Her eyes glowed purple, so did Clara's.

"Run, sweetie and take your sister with you! Run far from this place and never turn back. Live with the normal people. Take care of Jennifer and raise her. That would be her name as a normal person. Let her and her fate discover her true identity. We love you both so, so much. Farewell."

After she said her last words, tears fell out of her eyes that she couldn't stop them. Her eyes have returned back to normal, but she left Clara's in that condition. She has to put her under her purple power so she could make her do whatever she wants her to do. She couldn't let them leave without her extra layer of protection.

Clara started to walk with little Jennifer in her arms. They had to leave the white castle. Orlando stood quietly behind them. Not even a tear escaped his eyes. Everything was too much that his heart became hard.

His eyes started to change its color. His right eye turned purple, the other black, a sign that he also possesses the blood of a black witch. Among the two of them, only Matilda is capable of fighting against their enemies because a pure white witch can only defend. If they hurt a being, no matter how bad it is their purple blood will be soiled by black blood.

Orlando knew to himself that this would be the end for him and his wife. However, he will do everything that he can just to kill them all even if one of them is his younger sister just to protect his wife Matilda.

Guide:

Kuya- "Kuya" is a term used in Filipino culture to refer to an older brother or an older male cousin. It is commonly used as a term of respect and affection when addressing or referring to an older male family member or close family friend.

Ate- "Ate" is a Filipino word that means "older sister" or is used as a respectful term of address for an older female. It is commonly used to address or refer to an older sister or any female who is slightly older or more senior in age. It is a term of respect and often indicates a close and caring relationship. In Filipino culture, addressing someone as "Ate" is a way of showing deference and acknowledging their authority or seniority. It is similar to the term "big sister" in English.

I STARED at the big painting in front of me. It was attached to the white wall of my bedroom. It was a painting of my late parents' faces. My parents, whom Ihad never had the chance to be with since I was born.

Despite that, I never felt what it's like to be an orphan. I always have my older sister, Clara, with me who has also been both a mother and a father to me. In fact, I grew up being rich because of her endeavor and perseverance.

She was able to build a company that sells beauty products here in the Philippines. It's called Ever Beauty and now, it is the leading and most successful company in the country. Almost everyone loves our products because of their effectiveness and affordable price. We were even able to export our products and sell them to other countries.

Sometimes, I wonder how Clara was able to do all that by herself. I wonder how she was able to know how to use plants for cosmetics and make-up when she only studied and graduated from a normal school. One time, I asked her about this and she just said, "Someday, you will know the reason behind all these. When that time comes, I'm sure you will be better than I do when it comes to this field."

I went back from my thoughts when my dog, Wolf, jumped on my lap. I am currently sitting on my bed, leaning on the headrest. Wolf also stared at the painting and wiggled his furry tail. He looked so happy, like he just saw his owners.

I smiled after glancing back at my parent's painting. They looked so handsome and pretty, like a king and queen from a rich clan. I'm so thankful because I inherited their good-looking genes, just like my sister Clara.

Actually, Clara painted that painting. She painted it so we can still see our parents every day, at least in that way. She said cameras were not that good back then, so she couldn't show me personal photos of them.

~~~~~

I PARKED my Honda Accord car in the parking area of Central Plaza Mall. I turned off the engine then took my car keys from the ignition lock. After that, I dropped it inside my Birkin bag that even came from New York. It was a gift from Clara during one of her out of the country business meetings about building a new branch in the said country.

"That girl! She's seducing Robin," Lorilyn hissed.

She's sitting at the shotgun seat. We became best friends the day we learned how to walk.

We were neighbors. I remember how I would leave our house without her permission just to count the vehicles that would pass in the small highway of our area. That's how I met her because she is the only person who found that interesting.

"He is just your crush. Forget it," I told her.

"But that's where everything starts. That Bitch! She always flirts with the men I have a crush on," she countered.

I placed my sling bag on my right shoulder and left the car. Lorilyn followed behind me, still evidently upset.

"Let him do what he wants. Besides, I thought Robin said that he likes Arlene?" I pointed to the woman who was always Lorilyn's rival when it comes to men.

Arlene's boyfriend broke up with her with his reason that he likes Lorilyn, who was unaware of the whole thing. That was way back when we were in eighth grade. Arlene was our classmate and her boyfriend, Lance, who was in college, would always visit Arlene in their classroom from time to time and that's how he met Lorilyn.

Arlene became angry with Lorilyn because she thought that Lorilyn stole her ex-boyfriend. That's why she always flirts with all the men that Lorilyn has a crush on. Lance still tried to pursue my best friend, but Lorilyn hates him, for he made a person hate her who now plays a role as the wicked stepsister of Cinderella. And another thing is, Lorilyn was never fond of sweet talking men.

"This is Lance's fault. Until now, he never stopped bothering me. Where does he even get that kind of confidence?" Lorilyn grumbled.

We continued walking to the mall's entrance. Deep inside, I can't help but laugh at her attitude. What Lorilyn and Lance have is cute, especially when Lance would shower Lorilyn with compliments and Lorilyn would only yell at him in return.

Still, I held my usual expressionless look, something that Clara and Lorilyn has gotten used to. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. It's as if something terrible had happened to me before, when in reality, I'd never really experienced any pain and hardships in life.

"Do you know that-"

"The more you hate, the more you love. Let me repeat this again, Jennifer. I will never fall in love with him ever," she interrupted me in what I was about to say.

"Whatever. Just make me the maid of honor in your wedding?" I jestered, and she rolled her eyes in return.

I stared at the security guard, who looked like he's in his fifties based on the amount of white hairs he has on his head. We arrived at the mall's entrance and the guard seemed to enjoy watching Lorilyn acting so childish. She really looked like a little child deprived of candy with her small stature and upset face.

Lorilyn forced a smile on her face in respect to the security guard. A gust of cold wind from the air-conditioned room welcomed me as well as the smell of the products they sell here in the mall. We came here just to buy a dress for our graduation party.

We are now grade ten students, and at the end of April, we are about to celebrate our most awaited graduation party. Lorilyn wanted to buy a cheap dress in the market instead or borrow a dress from the neighborhood. However, Clara persuaded her to come with me so we could both buy a new dress. Clara will be the one who will take care of the payment. Clara gave me the money for the things we needed to buy.

Lorilyn and I are different when it comes to our social status. I'm rich and she's poor, but that never affected our friendship. We always share what we have and help each other as much as we can.

~~~~~

AFTER our afternoon classes, Lorilyn immediately invited me to eat siomai rice. We left the classroom together and went along with the other students that were crowding the hallway. There were also other students left inside the classroom, for they were assigned as the cleaners for the week.

"Go straight home, okay? Don't go anywhere else, especially for the girls. Be home before it gets dark," Jose warned us. He is our school's security guard that we always meet at the school gate.

Jose is kind and friendly to all of us students. We are used to hearing him warning us to go home early to keep us from harm.

When we were out of the school gate, different food stalls on the other side of the road welcomed us. They are selling different kinds of street foods. Both of us went directly to the food stall with a dine-in area.

I sat at a table for two people that faced the narrow road of Mabini Street while Lorilyn went to the vendor to buy the food that we were going to eat. She even paid for it as a treat for me.

When she arrived holding two cups of siomai rice, I placed down my birkin bag. I only bring one notebook and a single pen to school, so even at school I still use this bag. I placed it in the right corner of the table.

"That's why I don't want to exchange papers with Arlene. She would put a wrong mark on my paper even though I gave the correct answer. Why do our last names have to be next to each other? Because of that, I had to sit next to her." Lorilyn rolled her eyes as she vented on me.

"When will you get along?" I asked her.

"That will never happen," she answered firmly.

I continued to eat my food, but I was interrupted when I saw a yellow liquid splattered on my bag. I stood up in shock. My notes!

"I'm sorry Jennifer. I didn't mean it," the man pleaded for forgiveness.

I checked the inside of my bag and was relieved when I found out that the juice didn't go through inside of it. My notes were secured.

When I finally got my only notebook in my bag, I handed it to Lorilyn so she could keep it inside her big bag.

And that's when I faced the man who spilled a dollar worth of mango juice on my priceless Birkin bag.

FROM where I'm sitting inside the classroom, I can clearly see the wide plaza of our school, the Mabini College, through the window. Out there you could see a group of fourth year college students happily playing baseball by themselves.

Their bags are all placed on a blue bench just right in front of them. The other benches surrounding the plaza are all occupied by girls watching them play with admiration in their eyes, especially for Akira.

I just watched Akira's every move. From the time he hit the ball until he ran around, my full attention was focused on him. Even before, it has always been a habit of mine to watch what goes around the plaza through the window, but today is different. It's all because all my eyes could see is Akira. It all started since that juice accident happened.

THE moment I turned my gaze on the man who spilled his mango juice on my Birkin bag, my eyes first landed on his brown eyes. I was stunned for a moment. This is the first time I had the chance to have a close look into a man's brown eyes. It was a beautiful sight. If I would be given a chance to stare at it every day of my life, I'll grab it.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't mean it," he sincerely said straight to my eyes.

That's when I averted my gaze from him. My eyes landed on the two men that were only a few steps away from us. I caught them laughing silently while looking at us, but they stopped when he noticed me staring at them with my expressionless, intimidating face.

"It's okay," I told Akira, barely above a whisper. After saying those words, I went back to my seat and ate my siomai rice like nothing happened.

Akira Dela Cruz is a popular guy in our school. Girls drool at his almost perfect physical features, and his pair of brown eyes is the most charming thing about him. He is tall, maybe six point five. He is white. His dark slightly wavy hair is long enough that it reaches his elbows. He always ties his hair in a high ponytail.

He has a muscular body. Lastly, he always get excellent grades in all of his subjects. He took a course related with agriculture, and it looks cute seeing a handsome guy planting and caring for plants.

Jeremy Badaguas is the name of the guy with him, the same guy I caught silently laughing at us. He is Akira's close friend and they can always be seen together including Lance Cristobal. However, it looks like he's not with them today. Unlike Akira, the two were planning to become policemen.

This is the first time in four years as schoolmates that Akira and I met this close. We never cross paths in the school hallways. We haven't even greeted each other before, but I always see him in the plaza playing baseball with his friends and some of his classmates. Sometimes, I would see him with his two best friends Jeremy and Lance sitting on a mango tree's sturdy branch inside the campus.

"Jennifer, if you want... I'll wash your bag. I'll bring it back when it's clean, but if not I'll pay–"

"Take it. Bring it back whenever you're done with it," I cut him off. What happened was not a big deal for me. I can just wash my bag.

"Thank you," he replied, brimming with glee.

A long silence had passed between us, but he's still standing right beside me and my bag is still where I put it.

Right after I was done eating, I looked up at him. Our gazes collided, making him step back.

"Do you have anything more to say?" I asked him. I'm trying my best to sound soft and not plain and expressionless just like how I usually sound like.

"Ah nothing. I'll take the bag," he replied.

He pulled out a white plastic bag from his black bag and there he carefully placed my wet bag.

After doing those things, he still remained standing in front of me. Instead, he even offered to take me and Lorilyn to our houses with his friend Jeremy. There's a five minute difference from their house to our house, but their house is nearer than ours.

"Just accept it," he told us before I could protest. I slowly nodded my head as an answer.

I looked back at Lorilyn. She rested both her elbows on top of the blue plastic table that was separating between us. She rested her head on her hands while looking at us dreamily. She even made what happened between me and Akira as a romantic scene that happened in a romance movie.

We began to walk on our way home. The sky is orange. The wind has already turned cold and the street lights had started to light up. There are also many people around us. The others are on their way home, some of them are taking their dogs out for a walk, while there are also others heading to the market to buy cheap fruits and vegetables where only during rush do they sell those things in the market.

"Is your name Gillette?" Out of nowhere, Akira asked who was walking right beside me.

I heard Jeremy fake a cough. Lorilyn on the other hand, simply poked my side.

"My name is Jenniffer," I corrected him.

"No, I'm not asking your name."

I frowned and stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's knock-knock."

"Uh... okay. Why?"

"Because you are the best a man can get."

Lorilyn started laughing beside me accompanied by a hurl of light slaps and punches. I also heard Jeremy laughing too who is walking just behind Akira. My mind hang up for a moment. I'm trying to think what's funny about what Akira said, and then I realized it. Before I know it, I'm laughing loudly with them too. I lightly hit Akira on his arm because of his funny joke.

When I was done laughing, I noticed that I'm the only one left smiling and laughing among the four of us. They were staring at me with a shocked expression on their faces. When I realized what I had done, I was no longer surprised by their reaction. I just laughed for the first time.

"MISS Largo," Ma'am Anica called me once again. She is our math teacher.

I looked away from Akira who was at the plaza and turned to my teacher who is now glaring at me. The whole class's attention are now on me.

"When I am in front of you, you are not allowed to look outside. And Miss Largo, the second time around that I catch you looking outside, I will pull you outside this classroom," Ma'am Anica firmly said.

I wasn't hurt by what she said. We are used to her strict behavior. She's very strict when it comes to her class, but outside classes, she's totally treating us fine.

"I'm sorry ma'am," I apologized.

LORILYN and Jeremy left to buy skewered food at the farthest end of the boulevard. Akira and I were left at the shore of the beach of Bagasbas. It's already evening, so it's dark around us. Only the light from the street lights near the beach served as our only source of light.

"I like you ever since I saw you walking around our neighborhood with Wolf. As far as I remember, I was only in grade six at that time," Akira suddenly confesses.

My whole body froze. Almost two weeks have passed since we got acquainted. Everytime our classes ended, the four of us would go outside and eat street foods together. We would even return to our houses together. I'm not that numb not to feel that Akira has something for me. Still, it feels different to hear it coming from his lips.

He placed his hands on both my shoulders and turned me to face him. He gently held my chin and slowly lifted my face. When our eyes met, my heart raced within me. I almost lost my breath because of how close our faces are to each other.

"Can I court you, Jennifer?" He asked with a sincere smile on his lips. My cheeks are blushing.

The sound of the waves of the sea, the cold whisker of the wind, the street lights along the boulevard. A perfect place for me to kiss Akira as my response to his question.

I leaned towards him until our faces were only inches away from each other. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips on his. I felt electricity shot in my body at our contact.

A few moments passed and Akira didn't respond. I was suddenly ashamed of what I had done, but when I'm about to withdraw my lips, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him, finally responding to my kisses – deepening and savoring our precious moment.

And I'll admit it. I have had a crush on him since the day he said that he had a crush on me. That's the first time I saw him. Like he said, I was in grade six at that time and I was walking with Wolf around our street. At that time, he was also wandering around, riding his bicycle and then he passed by. Our eyes met for almost a second, but it felt like the world around us stopped for a minute at that moment.

And when I transferred to Mabini where he was studying, I wasn't expecting this to happen.