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"Clary! Apo saan ka ba nanggaling? I called Kirsten earlier and she said you were not there. Saan ka pumunta?" That was Lola Minerva talking. She almost had a heart attack because I went somewhere with her not knowing. 

"Lola, I just went back to the tailor shop to buy these! You mentioned that you're running out of blue thread and needles last week." I said. I showed her the plastic bag containing what I bought 30 minutes ago and gave it to her.

"Then why didn't you tell me? You told me you were going to Kirsten's to get supplies for your art class next week." She said as she rummaged through the bag. 

"Kulang naman yung binili mo pero, okay na ito. Sa susunod magsabi ka sa akin kung saan ka pupunta. 'Wag kang gagaya sa nanay mo na sinabi nya na pauwi na sya pero wala pa rin hanggang ngayon" She added.

"Opo," I said as I plopped down the couch and got the tv remote. Napagod ako maglakad, malayo-layo rin kaya 'yon. If only my bike's fixed edi sana mabilis akong nakapunta at nakauwi. Binuksan ko yung tv para manuod ng re-run ng The Big Bang Theory. 

"Hinaan mo yan. Nagtatahi ako dito. Dapat matapos ko ito ngayon." Muli nyang sabi nang mahulog ang kanyang gunting dahil nag gugupit sya ng tela sa working table nya. 

"Could you get that, please?" She asked. Of course uutusan niya ako kasi mahina na tuhod nya. So I did what she asked and went back to sitting.

"Lola, may pagkain na ba?" I asked. "May natirang kanin dyan. Magluto ka na lang ng pagkain mo. Kolehiyala ka na matuto kang magluto." She annoyingly told me. I sighed as I went to the kitchen to check if there's any food left para hindi na ako magluto. I sighed again dahil walang left over. Sad.

I made scrambled eggs with corned tuna dahil gutom na gutom na ako. Buti na lang sapat na sa akin yung natirang kanin. Inayos ko yung plato ko at nilapag sa may harap ng tv para nakakapanuod pa rin ako. Hurrah for Dr. Sheldon Cooper and his witty geek remarks.

"Clary! Open the door please!" And the wicked witch of the west is here. Joke lang. Si mama na yun. Shit. Hindi ako nagsaing ulit. Uh oh.

I went to the door to help mom with her things. "Oh. Bakit ginabi ka na?" Lola asked her. 

"I went to Rina's school to buy her some extra uniform. Nakakapagod kaya maglaba gabi-gabi." She said. Rina's my younger sister. She's a grade 7 student in this famous science school. Good for her. Luckily, Philippines has this new educational curriculum and they're the first ones to experience it. I grew up in California with Dad.

"Clary, bakit hindi pa halos naka unpack mga gamit mo sa kwarto? I thought we settled this? 2 months ka na nandito sa Pilipinas. Honey, makinig ka naman sa akin. I know you miss your father but he isn't coming here. We had an agreement. Alam mo naman yun eh." Mom said. 

"Yes, mom. I know that. You don't have to rub it in my face. I'm still not used to my room. I grew up in Cali, remember?" I reminded her.

"Yes, I remember." She let out a sigh. "You know what? Let's just go somewhere tomorrow. How about that? Tayo lang dalawa. Shopping tayo?" Mom said while smiling. Maybe spending time with mom tomorrow will let me get used to this kind of environment.

-x-

"So what do you think of this place?" Mom asked as she paid to the cashier with her newly brought bag. Sabi nya para may bago syang bag habang pumapasok sa office nya. I looked around when we got out of the store. Ugh. Too many people. 

"There are too many people, Mom. Ang crowded masyado ng mall na 'to. And look! There are people who actually wears something like that here?" I said pointing out the kid na halos makita na yung kaluluwa sa sobrang ikli ng damit nya. And they're all wearing clothes with a shade of color black. Hindi nga color black yung iba eh. Mismatched nga eh. Ito na ba ang definition ng basic ngayon?

"Stop pointing, anak. Masama magturo dito. Baka kung ano na mangyare." She said. 

"What's this? They're acting like they're cool. Ang pa-cool naman nila, mama. Get me out of here." I said. Please, ma. Nagmamaka-awa ako. They're such an eye sore. 

"Ok. Let's eat muna. Saan mo gusto?" She asked. "House of Lasagna! Meron ba dito?" I asked. Hoping na meron dito sa mall na 'to. "Meron dito, nak." She said, smiling at me.

"Hmmm! Ang sarap talaga ng lasagna dito kahit kalian! I miss papa even more." I said then I sighed with a thought of my father being here. I looked at mama then I saw 'the look' so I cleared my throat and changed the subject. 

"You know that art class I enrolled to? May nakilala akong girl dun. She's really friendly." I said then took a bite of this glorious lasagna.

"Ano pangalan nya?" She asked. "Her name's Kirsten. She's really funny. It's really weird, though. It's like I've known her for a long time already." I said then took a sip from my sprite. 

"Ganun talaga pag magaan ang loob mo sa isang tao. Mabilis kayong mag click sa isa't isa." Mom said. "Nakatira din sya sa village natin. 3 houses from ours." I added. 

"Really? That's good! Edi pwede kayong maghang-out during weekends." She said happily. I just nodded and continued eating this heavenly lasagna.

Pwede bang mag-order ulit?

-x-

Nag taxi kami pauwi kasi marami-rami rin nabili namin sa mall kanina. Buti na lang bumagsak yung ulan nung nasa loob na kami ng bahay. Yay! Malamig na lalo sa kwarto ko!

"Clary?" Mom knocked on my door and I opened it. "Yeah?" I asked and went back to drying my hair. Nag shower kasi ako. 

"Aren't you going to unpack the rest?" She asked. This is what irritates me about her. She's very persistent about things. 

"Yes, I will before I go to sleep." I said and went to the boxes and heard her sigh. I opened the boxes and felt her presence. 

"Aayusin ko na 'to. Go away na. Go to sleep, ma." I'm trying to shoo her away, basically.

"Okay. Buti naman. Akala ko next month makikita ko pa tong mga boxes na 'to pag binubuksan ko kwarto mo. Matulog ka kagad pagkatapos ha? Good night," She said as she kissed my forehead. 

"Ew ma! Masyado kang cheesy! Alis na kasi!" I said with a disgusted face. And mom's just laughing as she went out of my room.

I sighed at sight of these 8 boxes in front of me. Mom's right. I should've unpacked these when I got here. This is going to be a long night.