Chapter 4: Pissed Off

Josh Rain Montez

I quickly caught the ball that Ramil threw at me and promptly shot it into the basketball ring. As expected, it went in smoothly, and my game today was flawless.

"Whoa! You're really amazing, Papa Josh!" Ramil exclaimed with a teasing smile as he high-fived me. I chuckled and sat on our team's bench because the head coach of the opposing team called for a timeout.

I grabbed a bottle of water and took a sip. While doing so, I heard my phone making a noise inside my bag. I retrieved it and saw Sissy's name—my cousin Ate Rica—on the screen. Before the game could resume, I quickly answered.

"Why—" I started, but Sissy immediately cut me.

"Where are you now?" she quickly asked.

"Why—"

"We're going to Laguna. Join us," she cut me again.

"What?!" I asked in surprise.

"Hurry up, Josh—"

"I can't. I'm in the middle of a game right now, Sissy," This time, I cut her off.

"What time does it end?" she asked.

"It will be over later."

"Alright, we'll wait for you to finish." If she decides on something, she'll definitely do it no matter what.

"Seriously, Sissy? If you have somewhere to go, let your boyfriend drive you instead," I protested.

"He's busy saving up for our future," she simply replied.

I raised an eyebrow. "Maybe he's busy with other girls."

"Shut up, Josh! He's not like your friend Ramil," she retorted, teasingly mentioning Ramil, who was now unwittingly part of the conversation.

"Come on, Sissy. Find someone else to drive you. I need to get back to our game—"

"No, Josh! We'll wait for you," she insisted.

"Come on, Sissy. You're not the only one who has friends. After this game, Ramil and I have plans too—"

"I'm with Aika now," she cut me, causing me to pause. "We're heading to Laguna, and afterward, we'll drop by to Yannie," Sissy explained further.

"Y-Yannie?" I asked, recalling the girl she always talked about. The one she met at the public press conference of her 4SBLUE. She had been bugging me about that girl ever since.

"Yes, Yannie. I've told her we're coming," Sissy informed me.

I didn't have a chance to respond further as I was quickly ushered back into the game. I swiftly ended our call and returned to the match. It turned out to be a great game, and in the end, we emerged victorious. I couldn't help but feel more motivated to play after learning that Aika was now here.

"Congrats, Josh!" greeted and approached two unfamiliar girls who had watched our game earlier.

I smiled at them and replied, "Thanks." They quickly stopped me as I was about to take a step away.

"Wait, Josh. This is for you," said one of the girls, handing me a cake in a box. "I personally baked this for you. I hope you like it," she sweetly said with a smile.

"Oh, thank you," I responded, accepting the offering. There was a small card attached, and I read the name written on it. "Bam," I said, smiling at her. Her eyes sparkled, and the sweet smile remained on her lips.

"Josh, let's go!" We turned as Ramil called me from near the gymnasium exit.

"I have to go. Thanks again for this," I said, expressing my gratitude to the girl and bidding her farewell. She nodded with a smile as I quickly turned and left.

"Who's that? Your new chicks?" Ramil teasingly asked as I approached him.

"Don't make me like you, dude," I replied, handing him the cake given to me by the girl while continuing to walk.

"Is this now mine?" Ramil asked, following me. I didn't answer him and instead continued walking towards my car. "Hey, Josh. Byron hasn't arrived yet—"

"You guys can go ahead for now," I interrupted Ramil and got into my car.

"Huh?"

"Sissy is waiting for me," I explained.

"But our plan comes first. Tell Ate Rica that she should bother her boyfriend instead," Ramil complained.

"But I might get into trouble if I make her wait too long," I replied.

"You really can't resist your cousin," Ramil remarked.

"Of course. You know she's like a sister to me, even if she can be annoying most of the time," I laughed. Finally, I started the car's engine. After bidding farewell to Ramil, I quickly left.

I made go first to my condo to freshen up and change clothes. Luckily, my condo is near the university. After fixing myself, I headed straight to the place where Sissy and Aika were waiting for me.

Upon arriving, my eyes immediately found Aika happily chatting with Sissy. Aika is Sissy's best friend, and to be honest, she is my first love and my ideal girl. However, because she is Sissy's best friend, she sees me as a brother. I accepted this reality and didn't want to ruin what we had. That's why I managed to be in relationships with others. However, I genuinely cared for all my previous girlfriends.

I honked at them, rolled down the car window, and waved at them. They quickly noticed and came towards me.

"You're earlier than I expected," Sissy commented to me.

"Hi, Josh! Long time no sees. How have you been?" Aika greeted me with a smile.

"Hi, Patty! If not for you, I wouldn't be picking up my cousin now," I said with a grin to Aika, which made her laugh and earned a slight frown from Sissy. I got used to calling Aika "Patty" because of her cute and chubby appearance.

They hopped into the back seat, making it look like I was just their driver.

"What are you going to do in Laguna?" I asked them as we were on our way.

"We're dropping off Aika there," Sissy replied.

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

"I'll be staying at Aga's place for a while," Aika answered. Aga has been her boyfriend for two years.

"Why stay there?" I asked again.

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with her staying at Aga's place since he's her boyfriend, right?" Sissy interjected, defending Aika.

"Yes, I know. But isn't Patty's OJT in Manila? And it would be more convenient if she stayed with you—"

"Why are you meddling in Aika's choices?" Sissy interrupted me.

"I'm just expressing my opinion," I said and glanced at them through the car's rearview mirror. Aika is from Zambales, our province, and now she's here in Manila for her OJT.

"It's okay, Josh. Aga will pick me up and drop me off for my OJT," Aika reassured me with a smile.

"Why didn't he pick you up now?" I asked, causing a momentary pause in the conversation.

"Josh," Sissy scolded me, and after that, silence enveloped the three of us.

Aika and Aga have been in a relationship for two years, but I still harbor doubts about him. It's not because I have feelings for Aika, but something about him doesn't sit right with me. It's like he doesn't deserve someone like Aika.

"Let's go to Sta. Rosa, first, let's drop off Aika," Sissy suggested to me.

"Thank you, Rics. I'm sorry I can't join you in visiting Yannie," Aika apologized, lifting my gaze to the rearview mirror to look at them.

"Do you know Yannie?" I asked her in surprise. Aika turned to me and smiled.

"Yes. Rica has told me about her before," Aika replied to me. I glanced at Sissy through the rearview mirror.

"Wow. You really like that girl?" I asked Sissy in amazement.

"Yes. I really like her for you," Sissy replied directly, causing me to inhale sharply and shake my head slightly.

"Me too, Josh! I like that girl for you," Aika said with a smile.

"How can you say that? You haven't even seen or met her yet," I asked her, redirecting my full attention to driving and the road we were taking.

"Well, I've seen her in photos, and I can affirm she's adorable and appears to be a good and respectable girl," Aika responded to me.

"Here she is. Look!" Sissy interrupted again, showing me a photo on her cellphone. I glanced at it and saw the girl they were trying to introduce to me – Yannie. The first thing I noticed in the picture was her smiling eyes. "She's cute, right? She's very simple and easy to love. A far cry from the bitches who became your girlfriends," Sissy added.

I swallowed and quickly averted my gaze from the picture of the girl they were endorsing to me.

"Try her, Josh. I think she's the one for you," Aika said with a smile, giving me a slight pang in my heart.

I liked Aika, and as I mentioned earlier, she is my first love and my ideal girl. A girl like her is the one I want to take seriously in my next relationship. But for the first time, she is endorsing another girl to me like this. She never commented on the girls I dated before or took seriously. So, I couldn't help but think about Yannie. What's so special about her, and why does Sissy like her so much? Even Aika is insisting on her.

After a while, we arrived in Sta. Rosa, at Aga's apartment. We were surprised to find it empty.

"Does Aga know you're coming to him today?" Sissy asked Aika.

"Yes, he knows," Aika replied while busy texting on her cellphone.

"Then where is he? Why isn't he here? If he knew you were coming, why did he leave? He didn't even wait for you to arrive?" I bombarded Aika with questions. Sissy quickly elbowed me as a rebuke for my words.

"Stay quiet there," Sissy signaled to me. I couldn't contain my frustration. Aga knew that his girlfriend was coming, but he wasn't there.

Aika didn't respond to me. Instead, she looked anxious, attempting to call her boyfriend's number. Unfortunately, he didn't answer as his phone was turned off. My anger escalated even more. That guy is really infuriating.

"You might as well leave me here. Aga will come eventually. Maybe he just went somewhere unexpectedly," Aika said, attempting to appear okay in front of us. While observing her trying to keep a brave face, my irritation grew. She doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. She deserves not to be disregarded.

"We're not leaving until your boyfriend arrives," I said coldly to her before turning away from them. I walked out of the apartment's gate, seething with frustration, and returned to my car.

We waited there for almost four hours until Aga finally arrived. I didn't listen to his reason because, honestly, I wanted to punch him in the face. But what irritated me the most was Aika smiling at him as if it was okay for him to keep her waiting for so long.

Aga opened his unit and quickly carried Aika's belongings inside. "Come inside," he offered with a smile to both Sissy and me.

"No, thank you, Aga—"

"No," I cut off what Sissy was saying. "Did you see the time? We have to travel back to Manila."

"Josh," Sissy softly scolded me.

"Oh, is that so? I'm sorry, Bro—"

"We're not siblings; don't call me Bro," I interrupted and turned away from them, heading back to my car. But just as I was about to get inside, Aika called me.

"Josh!" I looked back, and Aika was walking towards me. "I'm sorry. I know you're annoyed because of Aga. I'm so sorry," she said to me.

"Do you really need to treat him like that?" I asked Aika with a cold tone.

"I love him, Josh," she replied to me.

"And what about him? How deeply does he love you?" I asked her again.

She gave me a weak smile. "Josh, when you truly love someone, sometimes your feelings become more significant than how they feel about you."

"What kind of perspective is that, Patty?" I asked her in frustration.

"You'll understand when you've experienced loving someone deeply, when you're willing to do anything for them. When you're ready to give all chances just to keep them in your life," she replied and gently tapped my shoulder. "Take care on your trip back to Manila, and thank you again for today. I'm sorry for it seems like you won't be able to meet Yannie tonight," she added.

After a while, Sissy came out, and we finally left.

"It's late. Maybe we'll visit Yannie next time, right?" Sissy said, but I ignored her. "Hey, Josh. Are you mad? What are you angry about? Is it because of Aga? Or because we can't visit Yannie?"

I was upset with Aga because I didn't want to see Aika being disregarded. But instead of saying that, I gave a different response to Sissy. "I'm annoyed because we can't visit Yannie."