Chapter 1

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.