Chapter 2

Matthew

I woke up to the sound of someone calling me "Mattie"; it was my sister waking me for breakfast. Sheesh, one would have thought that the million times that I lectured her on calling me Mattie would have had some kind of effect on her, but nooooo, she still calls me Mattie. Probably because she knows that it annoys me so much.

"Mattie? You awake?" she called from outside my room, continuously knocking on my door.

"Yeah, dammit!" I shouted back.

She entered my messy room and glanced around. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that the way to greet one's older sister? I tell you, Mattie, you are losing your manners."

I threw a pillow at her disrespectfully, which hit her right smack at her smug face -- and I laughed aloud.

"Very funny Matthew! Get up! Come on, you don't want to be late!"

"Late?" I asked incredulously. She wakes me 2 hours before my class and she thinks that there's a big probability that I would be late? Talk about crazy sisters.

"Whatever. Just go downstairs okay? Before breakfast gets cold. I made waffles," she said, leaving me in my room.

I reluctantly stood up and went to the bathroom to comb my hair and brush my teeth.

Finally, a chance to introduce myself.

I am Matthew Bryant, a third year high school student. My sister's name is Tyrene -- she's 23 years old (7 years my senior). She's currently working as an assistant in a succesful accounting firm until she gets her accounting license.

Then there's my dad. My dad's a doctor -- he's pretty popular among doctors actually. Being a doctor, he's always away, leaving me and my sister to tend to ourselves.

My mom disappeared when I was still 3 years of age. My dad told us she ran off with her officemate. My dad received divorce papers a week after; he signed them and that was the last we heard from her. It doesn't really bother me much -- I think it bothers my sister more since she was about ten when that happened, and I think she had this close relationship with my mom.

Frankly, I have no idea why my mom ran away. Dad doesn't really speak about it, but as far as I can see, he's not bitter about it or anything.

"Matthew! What's taking you so long?" Tyrene yelled from downstairs.

"Coming!"

The three of us are living quite well and so far, we haven't any problems. Since mom's gone, Tyrene and I take turns cooking because dad's always busy. But I don't mind that -- dad's really working hard for us so it's kinda worth it.

I went downstairs and greeted dad. He was reading the newspaper while stuffing waffles in his mouth. What a pig. Looking at him right now, I can hardly believe that he's one of the most respected guys in the state. Sheesh -- what a faker.

Then I rememered it was my turn to water the numerous plants on our front lawn -- my dad is a garden-freak. Since he's always doing something, we get stuck with taking care of the flowers and stuff.

I went outside and turned on the hose and was watering the roses when I saw a familiar figure jog by. Miranda Sommers.

It was her daily routine before class -- she jogged for several blocks. No wonder she has such a fantastic figure. No wonder two-thirds of the guys in our batch have in one time or more fantasized about her.

And you know what?

I am one of those two-thirds.

There are many reasons for liking Miranda. First of all, she is breathtakingly beautiful. Not just the pretty ones who have pretty faces, but really gorgeous. She's nice, generous, talented, not at all meek and is very smart.

Actually, I have always wondered why she's considered popular. She's smart -- and was once what we call a geek. Thus, she was ignored by the populars. But then she suddenly turned into this beautiful swan and they all accepted her. Even though she's smart. Maybe because of her beauty. Popular people are most often than not shallow.

Which brings me to another wonderful thing about her. She is NOT at all shallow. Believe me, I can spot a shallow girl from far away. There are many of them in my school.

Actually, I started to like her even when she was still in the geek stage. I noticed her in sixth grade because she was in my social studies class and I couldn't help but stare at her smooth nape from behind her where I sat. I guess her brain was a turn-on. It still is.

I think I would still have liked her even if she didn't turn out to be a swan but an ugly duckling. I would have even courted her if not for the fact that there are too many guys running after her. Sigh. That's my girl.

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--mskitsune--