ONE- BIRTHDAY BLAST

HER POV

"Cheers!" she shouted as she raised her glass of wine in the air and loud disco music filled the air inside an elite disco bar in their city.

"Cheers," her friends also responded.

"Bottoms up," she added and she and her friends gulped down the contents of the glass at the same time.

Then her friends shouted at the same time and headed to the dance floor and danced like crazy. They had the best time of their lives. No one could stop her happiness anymore because she was now eighteen years old.

She is celebrating her 18th birthday without her immediate family but only her few circle of friends who are also on the same journey in life. She chose to celebrate her birthday like this and her daddy didn't do anything about her decision because of her insistence.

She is stubborn as hell because of her stepmother, Dolores Dela Vega. And even though she has been married to her daddy for several years, she still can't call her mommy. For her, her Mommy Tess is all alone. No one can replace her in her heart.

She hates grand parties and having sex with business partners and family friends. She hates being scrutinized by judgmental people. She hates being the center of attention like wearing classy party gowns and all. In short, she's just a simple person but she rocks.

Yes, she learned being hard and untamed since her mother passed away. She became difficult for people, even her daddy, especially when he married someone else who had a child with him, who she thought was sharing the attention her daddy was giving her.

It has been six years now that her daddy chose to marry again with her aunt Dolores and brought her only son to their home and live with them. She couldn't accept that her daddy had easily replaced her mommy Tess in her heart.

So in the little ways she knew, she rebelled. She was even more annoyed every time she saw how close her daddy was to her aunt Dolores' son, Franz.

Oh, remembering her handsome but coward step brother made her smile. She always wanted to tease him. She felt that when he lost to her, she could take revenge and her hatred in her heart would be removed.

Especially if it was like a magnet in its whiteness because it turned pale every time he approached it. How could he be so angry with her? He would always scold and scold her for her little mistakes.

Her stepbrother was four years older than her when he first moved into their house and she first laid eyes on him. Her innocent heart was impressed by his handsomeness but he always got angry with her without understanding why.

Every time she distanced herself from him, she wanted to make him even angrier and the more intense the scene between them and the fake brother was, he kissed her on her broken lips. She was only thirteen years old at the time and Franz was seventeen.

The following days were tormenting because Franz was almost hiding her. They could no longer be reached for breakfast and even for dinner at night, he was always gone. Their family driver no longer drove them to school together.

She didn't dare ask her daddy Andres and aunt Dolores because she was shy. She only found out one morning from the maids that Franz was leaving for America to study aviation courses. He wanted to be a pilot like his late father.

And since he left without telling her, they haven't seen each other again for more than five years now. Who was Franz to say goodbye to her? Besides being her step sister, they were always fighting and she always made him angry.

Every year she spent in America, she didn't even come home for Christmas or New Year, not even for her daddy Andres and aunt Dolores' birthdays. Her daddy and aunt often visited Franz in America, which made her angry.

That's where he learned to rebel at the age of sixteen when he suggested to his dad that he could go to America because it was his vacation and he wanted to go sightseeing. But his dad refused. He said he was staying here in the Philippines because his training at the company was about to start and his presence was needed.

He wanted to force himself to go but it was hard to break his father's decision. So when they left, he lost everything. He invited his friends and that's where he learned to drink alcohol.

And when they returned from America, he became even more difficult for them. He learned to have vices and be reckless. He felt that his father and stepmother had made him a friend. Franz also took away his father's time that should have been for him alone.

He hated Franz so much. He had done so much wrong to him. He would make sure that when he returned from America, he would make his life miserable like him and that his life seemed to have no direction.

He was not doing his studies properly, unlike before, even though he was angry with his step brother, he seemed to have inspiration and the desire to study hard because he always saw his step brother's handsome face.

She thought at first that all she felt for her brother Franz was admiration, but that admiration turned into love. That's why she felt so devastated when Franz just left.

She cried every night. She missed Franz because even though they had only been together for a year under the same roof, she felt like she had someone with her because Franz always cared about her even though he didn't treat her well because he was always angry when he talked to her.

She felt Franz's concern for her. When he wasn't being teased, he would talk to her properly. He was even the one who carried her books when they were in high school.

She was a first year and graduating Franz. He also patiently waited for her with the family driver every time she came home. But because he was a brat, he would rather annoy his older brother than be sweet to her.

They were like dogs and cats, never stopping their fights. And she was enjoying every moment of those days when Franz always lost to her. She always won their little battles.

She sighed in her memory, Franz. He didn't even remember her birthday. He hadn't even received a message or letter from her. Not even a verbal message that was sent to him.

He threw the fake older brother out of his mind. It was no longer time to remember the past. Once that happened, the past could not be brought back. Franz had forgotten him all along and did not consider him his brother, so it was only right that he forget about his older brother and his prejudice against him.