Chapter One: It's a Revolution
"Hey, Ric! Can you speed it up a little? They're already waiting for us over there!"
"Wait up, Harv, I'm still getting dressed here!"
"Just hurry up!"
I rolled over on my bed, disgruntled at the fact that the first thing I'm going to hear this Saturday morning are the voices of my two younger twin brothers. Sunlight flashed through my window and shone at my face. What time is it anyway? I asked myself groggily as I reached for the digital alarm clock at my bedside table.
It's ten thirty in the morning. I was planning to sleep the morning through since I was up late last night chatting with my friend, Amy, at YM after finishing my homework. We decided to hang out at the mall today since it's been a while since we had a get-together. But it's not until this afternoon.
Grumpily, I pushed myself up from my bed littered with plush dolls from various animes, and exited out of my room to go to the bathroom across the hall. My mind is still drifting in its half-awake stupor as I entered the bathroom and sat down on the toilet bowl to relieve myself. I planned to take another nap after my little trip to the bathroom.
Of course, when you have siblings who must've sworn an oath of responsibility to annoy the hell out of you, things ALWAYS have a tendency to go wrong.
"Wait, I need to go relieve myself..." Ric's voice suddenly began on the other side of the bathroom door. I began to wonder if I remembered to lock the door…
Richard hurriedly entered the room, and was already unbuttoning his jeans when he finally noticed me sitting on the toilet bowl. He stopped, as if he was turned into stone. I, of course, had only one remaining course of action left…
"AIEEEEEEEE!!!"
Great. Just great. Ten-thirty at a Saturday morning, and already, I'm wishing that killing fourteen year olds is a legal action to do in this country.
Anyway, I managed to get back to my room, despite the ordeal I had to go through. My mom and my other brother, Harv, ran to our location as soon as they heard my scream. I was already berating Ric about the importance of knocking when they showed up. As soon as they realized on what's going on, Harv burst out laughing, and my mom defended Ric from my wrath by turning the blame on me. Now I'm getting a lecture about the importance of locking?!
Life can be unfair sometimes, but it also has its moments.
I took a seat in front of my study table to check my laptop. Since the incident caused me to lose my sleepiness, I thought it'd be best if I spent the remainder of my Saturday morning on the internet. I took a swift press on the keyboard and waited as the computer boots from 'Standby' mode.
Eh, I have two messages at YM. I wonder who it is from…
Subject: No subject title
From: cherubim_
I had to take a second look. Cherubim_kimiko… that's Mikki. She rarely uses her YM, let alone send me an e-mail. This is probably important, so I clicked on it right away.
"amy won't stop bugging me so ill see you tomorrow…"
Wow, that's new. Mikki prefers being alone when going somewhere. It's not like she hates hanging out with her friends, it's just her preference. I must commend Amy for being able to convince Mikki into coming with us. She must've threatened her and sent a lot of spam mails or something to get her to accept.
And speaking of the devil…
Subject: Waiiii~ XDDDD
From: kitsune_
I already have half a mind on deleting this mail, just to see what would Amy's expression will be if I told her that I didn't receive her mail. She always kids around when online… or offline, for that matter. I mean, the subject title is a definite giveaway. I opened it anyway.
"paaaaaaaaattttttt!!! I gt 2 convince mikki!!! Shes comng along 2mmrow!!! Weeeeee~!!! XDDD"
I knew I should've deleted it when I had the chance. I could barely understand what she's trying to say due to the excessive use of text-speaking! I was about to delete it when I remembered that there's still more written.
"… and 1 more thing! We meet at 1130! Lst one 2 arrive will pay 4 lunch!!! MWAHAHAHA!!! XDDDD"
I get it, I get it, no need to act like a Dracula-wannabe. She always does this, changing the agreed meeting time at the last minute while throwing in a bet. I always fall victim in her little ploy. She must've told Mikki about this new meeting time, so I will probably have no escape if I come in late.
But not today! I jumped up from my seat and ran towards my closet to rummage my clothes. While groping around for the clothes I picked for today, I made a mental 'thank you' to my twin brothers for waking me up. If it weren't for them, I'd still be asleep and I would've lost to another of Amy's tricks. As I took out my clothes of choice, I glimpsed at the digital alarm clock at my bedside table. It's only quarter to eleven, there's still enough time for me to prepare. At top speed, I rushed out of my room and into the bathroom. This time, I locked to door to prevent any more unwanted exposure from happening.
It was already eleven by the time I emerged from the bathroom. I was still drying my hair and my feet are still wet when I went back to my room, but it would all be worth it when Amy sees that I arrived earlier than her. Revenge is going to taste oh, so sweet.
I spent another five minutes waiting for my hair to dry. Five precious minutes wasted, so I picked up my pace. I slipped my sandals on and started attacking my hair with a comb. I didn't bother putting on any make-up, since it's just going to be the three of us anyway. As I secured my wallet and cellphone at the pockets of my pants, I took another look at the clock. Eight past eleven, I can still make it.
I rushed down the stairs and through our dining table, where my younger sister, Samantha, is taking her brunch, to get to the kitchen to tell my mom that I'm going.
"Huh, weren't you supposed to meet later this afternoon?"
"There was a change of plans, Ma. I'm going to have to head there now."
"Ah, is that so? Why don't you have some breakfast first?"
"Er, we're meeting by McDonalds. I'll just grab a bite there."
"Oh okay. Be careful now."
I gave her a quick nod and began my way back across the dining table to exit through our front gate. I was practically bouncing in glee as I raced towards the door.
"Don't forget to bring me back something!" Sam's voice called out behind me. I wasn't in the mood, nor do I have the time, to argue, so I agreed.
As soon as I got through our gate, I started looking for a tricycle. Looks like I'm in luck, there's a number of tricycles waiting near our house. I got on the nearest at my house.
"Where to, miss?"
"SM North, please. And can you step on it; I'm kinda in a hurry..."
The tricycle began to rev and run, giving me time to catch my breath. I checked the time again using my cellphone. It's already eleven-twenty. I can still make it if I hurry. Fortunately, nothing eventful happened during my ride at the tricycle. When we reached the mall, I handed a twenty-peso bill at the man and began running towards the mall.
There's not much people going to the mall at this kind of time, so I had no problem getting in. I can feel an excited sensation beginning to swell within as I make my way at the McDonalds. While walking, I decided to stop and fix myself since I still have some time to spare. I don't want to look like I rushed here, which is exactly what I did.
I can see McDonalds now. I'm now getting an urge to stomp and shout triumphantly, knowing that I'm the first to arrive. But I restrained myself. I would just look stupid if I did that. I slowed down my walking pace as I approached the fast food joint, since I've been brisk-walking at the mall ever since I got in, and now that I'm certain that I beat Amy in her own game, I can probably ease up now. Then I saw a girl wearing striped black and white knee socks sitting at a table outside McDonalds, and she strikes a sense of familiarity to me…
My heart fell disappointed, and I stopped in my tracks. The girl seems to have sensed my presence because she turned at my direction, and grinned. I just noticed that beside her was another girl reading a book. She is pretty familiar too. Then I remembered.
Crap, am I…
"Paaattt!!! You're late agaaaaaain!" Amy shouted at my direction, still grinning.
I wake up early, prepare early, leave early, and still, they manage to beat me here? I thought resignedly as I began to walk towards their table. Amy, however, stood up and dragged me inside the store by my arm. I forgot how eccentric Amy is on her clothing, she never wears anything ordinary. Aside from her striped socks, she's also wearing a white polo shirt and a black skirt with two belts hanging limply from her waist. She also has a large yellow headband on her head. At first look, a person could easily recognize her as a cosplayer. Hard to imagine that her companions would only be wearing a shirts and denim pants.
"Can't you wear something... a bit normal?" I asked, feeling rather uncomfortable.
"What, what's wrong with my clothes?" She asked, flashing me a toothy grin. "Remember, you were the last one to arrive, so it's your wallet on the line here." She added in a baby-like tone.
"Yeah, yeah, I know that. Now can you let go of my arm?" She did, and I put my hand inside my pockets to get my wallet. There weren't much people in the line so we got to the counter pretty fast. As soon as the smiling girl behind the counter finished her greeting, Amy began to bombard her with our orders. It seems like my only purpose there was to hand over the money. And, boy, how I wish I was the one reserving our table. I could've just handed the money to Amy and sat at the table with Mikki. Hurriedly, I ended our transaction and ushered Amy immediately back to our table while carrying our food tray. This is not an easy task.
Mikki didn't even look up as we approached the table. She merely closed her book, put it in her handbag, and grabbed one of the McChicken Sandwiches that Amy ordered for the three of us. This is the first time I noticed what she's wearing; black shirt topped with a denim jacket and denim pants. I was practically thankful Mikki decided to wear normal clothing, compared to Amy here.
We quickly finished our meal and now, three wrappers of McChicken Sandwiches are littered at our tray. Amy and I were just finishing our fries while Mikki hid her face at her book again. It would've been nice if she tried to strike a conversation, but it's either she prefers eating in silence or Amy kept stealing all her opportunities to speak.
"Hay, Pat. Next time, why don't you try coming a bit earlier, so you wouldn't be losing so much all the time..." Amy suddenly began in a lazy tone.
"Next time, try telling me the changes in advance so that I know when to really come." I grumbled. "What time did you guys arrive, anyway?"
"Uhh, I'm already here since opening time." Great, so my defeat was inevitable no matter what I do. "Mikki came around not long after."
"So why did you tell me that we're going to meet at eleven-thirty?" I asked, obviously annoyed.
"Pat, Pat... It's like you don't know me." She said, flashing me another grin. "Anyway, where should we go next?" I shrugged. I was under the impression that Amy will be leading us the whole day through, but I guess she haven't given things much thought. Both of us looked at Mikki, who seemed to notice us and peeked out from behind her book.
"I know a place." She mumbled meekly. I feel a headache coming on soon.
I was right. The loud speaker of the arcade machine in front of us was loud enough to make me hold my ears to prevent them from falling off. It could just be because I'm not used to the sheer volume a DrumMania machine can do.
"Hey, Teku! Think you can take on this song?!" A guy with glasses said, loud enough to make himself heard over the noise, while pointing at something at the screen. The guy sitting in front of the machine gave him a thumb up, did a drum roll on one of the pads, and smacked the farthest to the right pad.
In case you're wondering, Mikki took us here so that she could play DrumMania, or DM as she calls it. We've been standing at the crowd for a while now since this guy, Teku, had been playing ever since we got here. It seems that Mikki will be up next anyway, since she already got her drumsticks out from her handbag. Amy, however, decided to take refuge just outside the arcade, so I decided that I should too.
"We'll just for you outside, okay?" I whispered to her ear. She simply gave me a nod and I immediately ran towards Amy's direction.
"Is Mikki playing yet??" She asked as she saw me approach her.
"Haven't even begun yet."
"Ah, looks like we'll be stuck here for a while..."
I had to agree. I watched as Teku rise from the seat while conversing with his companion while Mikki seated herself on it. Then the vacant machine in the middle of the arcade caught my attention.
I grinned as I motioned to Amy the DDR machine. "Think you can keep up with me?"
Amy made a loud, snorting sound. "Game!" She eagerly replied.
So it is done. We immediately purchased our tokens, three for each of us, and headed back to the machine. Heads began turning at us as we input our tokens and position ourselves at the dance pads. Standing here, it takes me back seven years from now. Now the same feeling of being watched and admired was back and it couldn't feel any better. I helped Amy with the configuration and setup and left her to choose our first song. It didn't take her that long to find something interesting anyway.
"Hey, Pat. Let's try this." I took a look at the screen, as the song preview starts up.
"All right, go." I replied confidently. Amy smirked and gave the green button a quick press.
"FIRST STAGE!" The machine called out.