My Knight in Shyning Armor

After celebrating her 15th birthday, Leslie Monica's mother, Leticia or Letty Juarez, decided to return to their home country. It had been seven years, and Lemon was a little apprehensive doing so.

Even before they landed, she could already feel the anxiousness from all the adjustments she had to go through. She wasn't sure if she would be able to handle everything.

Lemon felt like she would soon be in an entirely different world. She was hoping she could cope but wasn't confident about that.

She knew she didn't have any reason to be worried. Mother and son, Dahlia and Kale, were both coming with them. But there was still something unsettled inside her.

Mikale, or Kale, when he transforms, is her pink friend, but he isn't a closet queen. Everyone knew his preference, and no one had a problem with that.

Lemon practically grew up with him. His mother, Aunt Dahlia, is Lemon's mother's executive assistant. They're always together, so the same goes for Mika and her.

They were the same age and went to the same school. Returning to their home country, they enrolled in the same school too. That was just how inseparable they were.

Anyone who looked at them could immediately tell that Kale was not as anxious as Lemon. He was confident their new classmates would accept him with arms wide open.

Lemon may not feel the same, but she was without a choice. She knew Letty wouldn't agree to leave her in France by herself.

"Lemon, what's up?" Kale asked, raising a brow at her. "I'm done packing! Don't tell me you're still nursing a hangover from your birthday celebration?!"

"Bête! I'd already packed my stuff three days ago! You're the one who just finished packing!"

"Fine! Fine!" he said, waving a hand at her.

Looking at her pink friend, Lemon confirmed he would get accepted with open arms. 'Who wouldn't love this gay?' she asked herself.

Although Kale annoys her most of the time, her pink friend does have a refreshing personality and could easily befriend anyone. Lemon even believed he could gather fans at Saint Mary's University.

After that short banter with her friend, Lemon stepped out of her room to check on Letty. She saw they were already busy packing their stuff as well.

Letty kept reminding the new manager of the fashion house of the same things she had already reminded her of days ago. She often does this, especially when double-checking stuff.

Letty wasn't really letting go of 18 Threads. She will only return its management to her sister and put up her own in Centro.

The shop belonged to her sister anyway. It was transferred to her when her sister got sick and couldn't handle it.

"What time is our flight, by the way?" she asked while her mom was scrambling with everything she needed to do.

"In two hours, fille," Letty responded without looking at Lemon, and her daughter's eyes widened in surprise.

'Two hours, as in? I thought we were leaving in two days!'

"Are you excited, Lem?" Dahlia asked.

"Of course not, Mamita. She's actually nervous!" Kale generously shared.

Letty suddenly stopped what she was doing to look at Lemon, her forehead creased. "Why is my daughter nervous?" She asked, but Lemon just shrugged and let out a sigh.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because it'll be a new environment. New people to try and get along with?" Lemon explained.

"Oh my, fille! You don't have to worry about anything. You're a lovely girl, and I'm sure they'll like you," she said sweetly, running a hand through her daughter's hair.

"Of course! Besides, I'm there with her!" Kale butted in.

Letty hugged her daughter and mouthed 'thank you' to Kale. If not for both mother and son, life would have been tough for her and Lemon.

A couple of hours passed, and they finally boarded the plane. It will be a 17-hour trip and will surely be exhausting.

"O-M-G, can you tell I'm excited?"

"It's not THAT obvious," she retorted, grinning at Kale.

"You need to stop being pessimistic about things, you know?"

Lemon smiled lazily at her friend. She may not want to admit it, but she was indeed pessimistic. In eight out of ten situations she was in, Lemon would always think of a negative outcome.

She couldn't help it if she got insecure.

After everything that had happened to her family, her sense of security hit rock bottom. She had a hard time coping with that.

Lemon grew up shy. If it weren't for Kale, she wouldn't know how to deal with people. So it was really all thanks to him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Centro International Airport. The local time is 0800h, and the temperature is 29°C."

Her eyes suddenly flew open when she heard that announcement. 'There's really no going back now!'

They arrived on a Saturday. Just great! Because on Monday, they will attend their new school as incoming grade 9 students.

She was unsure how she would be able to deal with it. No matter how she tried to convince herself to calm down, she still couldn't relax.

Negative scenarios kept popping into her mind, and they kept bothering her. All these what-ifs bugged Lemon ever since Letty told her they were going back.

Another thing that worried her was seeing her father again. 'What if he shows up all of a sudden? How am I supposed to face him?'

All these kept playing inside her head, and Lemon was starting to lose focus. Hopefully, she will be able to settle down in a few days. Otherwise, she might end up going back to France.

Whether Letty would agree or disagree, she wouldn't care. If she needs to, Lemon will do everything to return.

She can just seek the help of Letty's younger sister, Ena. She will surely help her out. Even her mother's older brother, Rigo, can help her, especially if put in a tough spot.

Kale hugged her before climbing down the stairs of the plane. "Girl, this is it!" he exclaimed. "I feel like I'll finally find a boyfriend here!"

"Gosh! Why are you such a flirt?" Lemon called him off and laughed when Kale stuck his tongue out at her.

"You're just envious because I'm prettier than you, and for sure, they'll all come after me," he added.

Lemon could only shake her head at his antics. He was not wrong anyway. If he weren't gay, girls would chase after him.

He was good-looking if he was a guy, but that was not the case. He was flirtier than her. He even got a complete makeup set when Lemon didn't have one.

"Lemon, let's go?" Letty called when she noticed her daughter stopped on her track when they were about to ride the car that picked them up.

She nodded and followed. They headed to the hotel where they would stay overnight while the preparations for their new house weren't over.

Letty bought a house near their school. It was also near her prospective location for Fashion Street, too.

Dahlia and Kale will stay with them. So Lemon won't be spared from his craziness. But that was a good thing for Lemon. At least she has someone next to her.

When they reached the hotel owned by Letty's brother, his family immediately welcomed them. Rigo was there with his wife and his twins, Kipper and Kellen. They're both my age.

Rigo was the eldest among the siblings, but he was just two years older than Letty, so they were more like friends. Ena was there too. She, on the other hand, was the youngest in their family.

They went straight to the hotel's restaurant for brunch. Everyone happily shared stories. They couldn't help but laugh at Kale when he shared his stories with them.

"Are you going to SMU too?" Kellen asked, and Lemon nodded. "OMG! I'm excited! I hope we're in the same class. Have you guys enrolled already?"

"Yeah, we're in Hope," she informed her cousin and Kellen's eyes widened in excitement.

"Lucky us! We're classmates!" she squealed.

Kale and Lemon looked at each other, smiling. Kippler and Kellen had been at SMU since prep, and they are popular on campus. That could be an advantage to them as newcomers.

"My G! I suddenly felt excited. I can't wait till Monday!" Kale shrieked and raised a hand to Kellen for a high five.

Lemon could see fondness in Kellen's eyes while talking to Kale. However, Kippler was a bit wary of him, and she understood why.

After having brunch, they excused themselves from the welcoming committee. Kale and Lemon went to their suite while Letty stayed for coffee.

They thought they were heading home, too. So they were surprised when the twins followed them. "Give me your number, cuz," Kip handed his phone and placed an arm over her shoulders. "I don't like your friend," he whispered, and Lemon chuckled.

They don't see each other often but are close to each other, although she sometimes feels shy toward them. But between the twins, she was closer to Kip than Kellen.

Lemon typed in her number and returned the phone when he suddenly exclaimed, "Shoot!"

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot we have a practice today," he said, cupping his forehead.

"Oh, you're still in a band?"

"Yeah, of course! I can't stop now that we're popular on campus!" he said smugly.

"Yeah, right! You're popular among high school students," Lemon teased, and Kip reached out for her hair to mess it up.

"Kellen, I'll go ahead. Are you staying?" he called to his twin.

"Where are you going, Kippler?" Kale asked in a flirtatious tone that soured Kip's face.

"Band practice," he answered timidly.

"You're part of a band? Are you all good-looking?" Kale asked again, and Lemon couldn't help but shake her head. Kale really can't stop himself from asking about handsome guys.

"They all are!" Kellen butted in. "They're all in our basketball team, too," she squealed.

Kale's eyes immediately widened after hearing what Kellen said. "Oh my G, I wish it was already Monday! As in!" and they laughed in unison.

When Lemon looked at Kippler, he shook his head at the two before turning to her. "I'll go ahead," he leaned forward to kiss his twin's cheek and did the same to Lemon. "See you Monday, cuz!" he added before exiting the suite.

Kellen stayed a bit longer, exchanging stories with Kale. She only bade them goodbye when Rigo called and told her they were leaving.

Letty and Dahlia came not long after Kellen left. It was only past one in the afternoon, but they all looked like zombies, tired from the trip.

Lemon didn't even notice when she fell asleep. She only woke up after someone harshly tapped her shoulder and shook her incessantly.

"Girl, wake up!" Kale was starting to sound irritated. When Lemon opened her eyes, she realized he was already wearing a two-piece bikini, and it was red. "Let's go swimming!"

"Where's mom?"

"She left with mom. They're checking out the shop," he replied. "Hurry up and get changed. I need to swim. It's hot!"

Lemon nodded and reached for her bag. She was unsure if she had swimwear there, but she checked anyway. Fortunately, there was one, but unfortunately, it was a two-piece too.

As much as possible, Lemon doesn't like wearing skimpy or revealing outfits. According to Dahlia, her body doesn't look like she was fifteen. It was more like the body of someone at the age of eighteen.

She was a bit curvy with long arms and legs. Although they would tell her she should be proud of her proportions, she would still feel shy.

Lemon quickly changed so they could go down before Kale whined again. She donned a striped black and white two-piece and wore a kaftan over it for the cover-up.

It was scorching hot at noon, so she wasn't even surprised that Kale was excited to jump into the water. She felt the same, to be honest.

They went to the hotel's pool area, and it was a shame when people started looking at them. That was all thanks to her company, as he didn't bother covering up.

When they exited the elevator, he threw the towel over his shoulder and wore his rainbow glasses and floppy hat. He wore slippers but walked on tiptoe as if he was ramp modeling.

Lemon sat on the nearest lounge chair as she couldn't bear the intense stares of people anymore. They even heard a group of girls laughing at Kale, but he just raised an eyebrow at them.

"I'm going in, girl," he announced, tossing his towel toward Lemon. She doesn't even know if he applied sunblock.

Lemon nodded and checked her phone. There were messages from the twins, and both asked her to save their numbers.

She did just that and placed the phone underneath the towels. She took off her kaftan, put it on the lounge chair, and walked toward the pool.

Sitting on its edge, Lemon dipped her feet as she watched Kale doing laps. "Aren't you going in?" he asked.

"I will, in a while."

"Hi!" someone greeted. A guy who looked close to their age sat beside Lemon. "I'm Yel, by the way," he said, offering his hand.

And because Kale's sense of smell automatically gets activated when a guy is near, he magically shows up in front of them. He took the guy's hand and shook it. "I'm Mikale," he said.

He was on the other end of the pool but swam back as if he were in the Olympics when he saw the guy named Yel. Lemon couldn't blame him, though. The guy was indeed good-looking.

He got thick brows, but that didn't overshadow his beautiful, round eyes. He got a good build, and it complimented his natural brown skin. His haircut emphasized his oval face.

"Lemon," she replied and returned the handshake.

"Nice name," he muttered. "Aren't you gonna swim?" he asked again.

"Maybe later. I'm too lazy right now," Lemon grinned, and Yel nodded.

"How young are you?"

"Fifteen," Kale butted in.

"Oh, I'm two years older. I'll be your older brother then," he chuckled.

After that, he didn't say another word. Yes was just sitting there, looking somewhere far. Even Kale kept glancing at him as he suddenly fell quiet.

Lemon felt weird being around the guy. She didn't know if it was because he looked mysterious or because he was too handsome that it was starting to feel intimidating.

"Lem, come on! I'm about to go out," Kale said, so she turned to Yel and excused herself.

She swam the distance to the other end of the pool and back to her original spot. When she looked around, Yel was nowhere to find.

Lemon shrugged it off and did a few laps again. She and Kale stayed for thirty more minutes before they stopped swimming.

"That Yel's really handsome," Kale commented while drying his hair.

"Yeah, but he looks so serious in life," she answered.

"That's what most girls like, you know? Someone who looks like he can secure your lifetime," he stated with twinkling eyes.

Lemon couldn't help but shake her head. He really had a weird way of putting things, but she didn't comment further on it. Otherwise, they will end up arguing over a stranger.

Lemon didn't expect the scene she saw when they returned to the suite. Letty was on the bed, leaning on the headboard with a wineglass in her hand.

'Is she crying?'

She looked at Dahlia, seated on the loveseat, with her forehead creased. "We saw your Dad," Dahlia stated, glancing at Letty. "He was already there when we arrived."

Lemon walked to her mother and combed Letty's hair with her fingers. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. She nodded before pushing herself to sit up, still leaning on the headboard.

"I was surprised to see him there," Letty said, sniffing. "He said he's been looking for us for years, but your Uncle Rigo and Aunt Ena won't tell him where we were. Your father knew we were returning because the real estate agent was his friend. He said he just tried his luck today," Letty narrated, sobbing in between.

Lemon can see pain, anger, and sadness in Letty's eyes, and she has to force herself not to cry with her. "What did you tell him?" she asked, but her mother could only shake her head.

"Your mom ignored him. He didn't even get a sigh out of her," Dahlia informed her, chuckling.

"I can't bring myself to talk to him. I can't even think of anything to say to him. I wanted to jump at your father and scratch his face nonstop, but I stopped myself," she sighed.

Lemon hugged her, and Letty returned it, "I love you, Lemon," she whispered.

"I love you too, mom!"

That was one of the many things she didn't like about her mother. She doesn't know if Letty was a martyr or if she was just naturally kind.

Lemon witnessed how she suffered when her father left them back then. But she also knew Letty could easily forgive him once he explained.

She can still recall how Letty became both a workaholic and an alcoholic during their first months in France. She can't work without a glass of whiskey next to her.

That was why Lemon couldn't help but worry. Not just for her mother but for herself, too, especially when she thought of the possibility of her father wanting to return to them.

She was scared for herself as she might take after Letty. She might easily forgive whoever will hurt her in the future.

Lemon was worried for Letty because after meeting her father after a long time, she might return to how she was before. Letty might start drinking and overworking again.

Lemon was not asking her not to forgive him. She was just her daughter, and he was her husband, more so if she still loved him.

But for her, Letty should give herself time to reconsider things first. She was just hoping she won't accept him back right away.

Even Lemon was unsure whether she could accept the man back into her life again. No matter how they explained it to her, she couldn't understand why he left them for another woman.

She won't be able to accept the truth that she and Letty were never enough for him to keep their family together. He still chose to go with someone else.

That night, Lemon slept next to her mother, hugging her tightly. She could feel her sobbing in her sleep, and her heart ached for Letty.

She can't afford to see her suffer because her father chose another woman over her mother. She can't tell her mom, but up until now, she still can't forgive her father for what he has done.

The following morning, although Lemon stayed up late looking after her mother, she quickly got up when Kale called her. It was only past eight in the morning.

At the pool the other day, they talked about going to church in the morning, so she had no choice but to start preparing to leave. She decided to just catch up on sleep when they were back.

Aside from church, they needed to go to the mall to buy their school stuff. They didn't even have a notebook, and their class will start on Monday.

Letty and Dahlia were already up too. They will drop Lemon and Kale off at the church before heading to the shop.

But, of course, before anything else, Lemon had to check her phone first. She was a little disappointed when she only received one message. But she realized she wasn't in France anymore.

And that one message was from Kellen. 'Good morning, cuz! Happy Sunday!' After replying to her, Lemon headed for the bathroom to get ready.

She thought of inviting her cousin over to their suite or the mall. But she wanted the day to end fast, too, so Lemon decided to put it off for next time.

Lemon donned a striped, boxy tee, skinny jeans, and casual kicks. Kale's outfit was almost the same though he picked a polo shirt instead.

It was how he usually dressed up when going to church. According to him, it was his semi-formal attire.

After getting dressed, they both headed downstairs. They ate breakfast for almost an hour and exited the hotel.

"Good morning, Lemon! Where are you off to?" Yel greeted and waved.

"Good morning! We're going to church."

"Who is he, fille?" Letty asked from behind.

Lemon turned to face her mother and pointed at the young man to introduce him, "This is Yel, Mom. Yel, This is Letty, my mother, and Kale's mom, Aunt Dahlia."

Letty nodded at Yel with a smile, but Yel's reaction weirdly changed after the introduction. He was smiling at first, but then that smile slowly faded.

His forehead suddenly creased, and Lemon noticed a glint of anger in his eyes as he looked at Letty. He also didn't say anything more after she introduced them to him.

After a few seconds, Yel bid them farewell, and since she was a bit confused, Lemon nodded in acknowledgment. He left them without even looking back.

'That was strange...'