Chapter 3: Leon

Leonel Grey Montero

"Leon!" I heard an older woman's voice from the kitchen, sounding like my mom.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Can you pick up your little sister from school before you go?" she asked.

"Sure, but why me?"

"I'm kinda busy preparing lunch before she gets back home," she explained, busy as always.

The good thing is I have afternoon classes while my little sister goes in the morning. At least our schedules don't clash. I headed out wearing casual clothes to fetch my little sister from school.

It's usually just me, my little sister, and my mom at home since my dad often comes back late from work. But sometimes he makes up for it by spending time with us when he can.

Walking down the street, I caught sight of a glass mirror in a store, causing me to pause for a moment and take the opportunity to check my reflection.

Honestly, I don't quite understand why I'm popular or why some of the girls in my school like me. I just usually have my messy black hair and don't pay much attention to my fashion sense, so it's a mystery to me why these girls are interested in a person like me.

Sure, I've been told I'm tall and gentle, but is that really all it takes to capture the attention of young girls these days? It's hard to say.

Heading towards my little sister's classroom, I watched her come out with a bright smile on her face. "Big Brooo!" she exclaimed loudly as soon as she spotted me, drawing the attention of those around us. It was a bit embarrassing, to be honest.

"Yo" I greeted her, immediately patting her head and pinching her cheeks, my favorite gestures of affection toward her. "How was school?"

"It was okay!" she giggled.

"Let me carry your bag," I offered, and she gladly handed me her soft, pink bag that suited her perfectly.

"Thank you," her sweet voice warmed my heart.

As we walked away, I couldn't help but overhear some nearby chatter.

"Is that her older brother? He's so handsome."

"I wonder what their family genes are like."

I never imagined that even at my little sister's school, there would be people impressed by my appearance. If I already knew about this, I could have just declined mom’s request.

"Look, big bro! Everyone is looking at us," my little sister said, she was also aware of the attention we were getting. Well it was very obvious.

The best way to handle situations like this is to simply ignore them and keep walking until we were beyond the school's property. Because the more you entertain them the more you’ll get a lot of attention from them.

"La la la la~~" she hummed happily as we strolled along the sidewalk. She seemed joyful today. "Hey, big bro! Can we get ice cream?" She's so happy that she wants to buy an ice cream. What a little sister I have here.

"But mom is preparing our food right now," I reminded her.

I knew that she would make such a disappointed expression. "Awww, pleaaasee! I really want strawberry ice cream from Frosty Delights!"

"Frosty Delights?" an unsure tone come out from my voice 

"Yeah, the one at the convenience store near our house," she replied.

How did she know about that? Maybe mom introduced her to it, or perhaps she saw her classmates buying it. I hadn't heard of that brand before.

"Hmmm."

"Pretty please, big bro!" she pleaded, clasping her hands together in anticipation of a 'yes' from me. 

We really should get going, but I couldn't resist my little sister's cuteness. "Fine, let's check out the convenience store. But you have to promise not to tell mom, okay?"

"YAYYYY!!!! THANK YOU, BIG BRO! You're the coolest and most handsome brother in the world!!" she exclaimed, jumping with joy.

I chuckled. "That's a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?"

"No, it's true!"

"Well, if you say so."

We entered the convenience store, and as soon as we stepped inside, my little sister dashed off. Clearly, she was excited about getting that ice cream. I followed closely behind, realizing it had been a while since I'd been in this store. Usually, I always go to the one near our school for snacks, and mom handled the shopping for our household.

"Hey, watch your step, okay?" I warned her. She was so eager that she was practically sprinting to find the ice cream section, not even bothering to look back at me.

Finally, she turned right toward the ice cream she'd been talking about, and I immediately followed her. But when I turned, I found her standing still, staring sadly as a little boy grabbed the last strawberry ice cream from the mini freezer. It was the exact flavor my sister had wanted.

"No..." she whimpered, sinking to her knees and beginning to make a scene. "Uwaahhhh!"

Oh no, this is not good. We were sure to attract attention if she kept crying like this in the store.

"H-hey, don’t worry. We can get ice cream from another section," I tried to console her, but she was unstoppable at this point.

"But that's just ordinary ice cream! I want Frosty Blast ice cream! Waaahhh!" I hadn't expected this. It was unfortunate that the flavor she wanted was out of stock.

I thought my sister would cry for about an hour, but then the boy noticed us and slowly approached her. He held out the ice cream to her.

"Do you like this?" he asked.

My sister just nodded while wiping her tears down with her bare hands..

"Is that so? Then it’s yours," he insisted, handing it to here. 

We were both shocked by the sudden action that little boy had made.

"Are you sure?" I interrupted their conversation to confirm it to him.

"Yeah," he smiled and turned back to my sister.

Since he was so insistent, my sister slowly reached out to accept the plastic-wrapped ice cream from him. "T-thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome! I'm just glad you stopped crying," he said. His words made me think he was raised well by his parents. He seemed mature for his age.

Usually, elementary school kids can be moody and stubborn, but this boy impressed me with his selflessness.

"Do you want to share this with me?" my sister suddenly asked the boy that question. Wait, when did she learn how to flirt?

"No, I’m okay," the boy replied.

“Ion? Where are you?” a familiar voice echoed near us calling the name of this little boy. The voice kept getting closer and closer until the owner of the voice emerged from the other side of the aisle. “Ah, there you are”

My intuition can’t be wrong, it is her, Clara.

“Leon?” she turned her gaze to mine as soon as she saw me.

I never expected to see her again after getting tired of seeing her face at school all the time. 

She shifted her gaze towards my little sister, who stood beside me. "Is this your sister?" she asked, pointing her finger in her direction.

"Yes," I replied with a nod.

"Hello, I'm Sunny," my little sister greeted Clara gratefully, surprising me with her politeness after crying all the way earlier.

"Aw that’s a cute name, well hello sunny! I'm Clara, and this is my little brother ion. Nice to meet you," Clara said, smiling at my sister.

Observing their faces, I noticed similarities between the little boy and Clara. They both had similar eyelashes, sharp noses, and were good-looking. However, their behavior differed greatly. I couldn't help but wonder how the boy turned out to be more mature than his older sister, whose personality always bothered me, despite having nothing to do with her. It was mysterious.

"I know what you're thinking," Clara said, pouting at me teasingly. It seemed she could even read my mind.

"I'm not thinking about anything," I replied defensively.

Feeling a tug on my shirt, I turned to my little sister. "Big bro, is she your friend?" she asked innocently.

"I don't know," I shrugged.

“Hey! What do you mean–” Before Clara could continue, I steered the conversation elsewhere.

"By the way, Ion, thank you again for giving the ice cream to my little sister," I said, nodding in appreciation.

"Thank you!" my little sister added, and I gestured for Sunny to go pay at the cashier, leaving the two siblings behind. “Goodbye” 

It was quite a coincidence to run into Clara with her little brother today. It was my first time meeting her brother, so was hers. And it felt like a mini family reunion, bringing a sense of nostalgia from our childhood days.

When I was a child, I've always been trailing behind my mom whenever we go out for walks or shopping. And everytime she and Clara's mom meet, they tend to chat for hours, leaving Clara and me alone in such situations. Then that was the time I knew that Clara is quite expressive, much like my sister right now, while I tend to be more reserved, like her little brother.

"Mommy, I'm home!" Clara exclaimed as she dashed to embrace our mom at the door’s entrance.

"Hello, dear. How was school?" Mom asked, gently brushing Clara's hair.

"I'm okay, and I was so happy because my big bro was there waiting for me outside!" Clara replied excitedly.

"Good to hear that. Are you hungry?,"

“Yes mommy!”

“Then let’s eat” she smiled and we walked into the dining table and had lunch together. This was our daily routine that we must eat together at lunchtime and dinner to at least maintain our family bonds.

I finished eating earlier than them since my classes were about to start this afternoon and so I grabbed my bag and bid them goodbye. “Mom, Sunny, I'm gonna go now."

"Take care, Leon."

"Take care, big bro!" they both waved with smiles on their faces, leaving me in a good mood as I headed out of the house. Few steps from the outside of the house and I sensed something danger. In case you didn’t know, it’s a person.

"Good morning, Leon," a girl greeted me as expected, waiting for us to walk to school together. So the dangerous person that I refer to is Clara. Again.

"Morning." I replied

We stared for about a moment, I don’t know but I felt that she was waiting for me to say something so I asked her "Yeah?"

"What do you mean, 'yeah'? We're not finished yet. Why did you say that to your sister?" She was pouting again. I knew it.

"Which part? Being your friend?"

"Yes," she replied with a hint of sadness, so I tried to make a way to cheer her up.

Even though she can be annoying, she's always been a part of my life since childhood. So I feel bad at least for ignoring our friendship like that after all of our bonds together.

"I feel like it's not enough to say that we're just friends. It just didn't occur to me earlier to tell them that we are childhood friends," I explained, knowing deep down that she was smiling because of my response. I've known her for so long, after all.

"All right! Apology accepted," she said, her smile evident in her voice. “C’mon let’s go to the school together”

"Eh? Apology? When did I apologize to you?" I wondered aloud. I don’t really get her.