Chapter 9: The Roommate and The Little Brother

[Just so you guys know, there will be some Tagalog and some French in this chapter, so there will be translations at the bottom. ^_^]

"And then what happened?" I asked enthusiastically. I had already been told about the heroic rescue at the stairwell, but Tina wouldn't tell me anything else besides him asking her to be his girlfriend. Now it was the day after Tina and Matthew decided to become a couple. They really took their time, didn't they...

"Grieta, I-I'll tell you about it later. I really think I should go eat breakfast now..." Tina reasoned. She was getting dressed for the day, but I was already prepared and bored waiting.

"You could just tell me right now~" I suggested.

"Grieta, please. I'm in a hurry—" she began, but I interrupted her with my realization.

"Oooh~! You're gonna eat breakfast with him, aren't you?" I concluded. Tina was walking the fine line between rushing at full speed and taking her time to be sure that she was indiscreetly prettied up. When I noticed her eyes widened for a moment and she took a quick glance at the door, it was obvious: "He's waiting outside our room, isn't he?"

"G-grieta! Don't!" Tina tried to stop me, but I had already bounced up from my bottom bunk bed and was headed for the door, while she was struggling to get something out of the closet to wear. I swung open the door and Matthew, thinking it was Tina who opened the door, stepped into the room. For a second, the two of them stared at each other until Tina turned pink, and made a squeaky noise as she tried to cover herself up with her uniform, which she failed to separate from the hanger. Matthew caught himself and, finding that he couldn't close the door since I was still holding it open, simply turned around to face the opposite direction.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!" he said, flustered. I looked back at Tina, who had now managed to get her blouse off the hanger and was swiftly getting dressed. She glared at me when I started chatting with Matthew.

"So, Matthew~ Should you really be so up and about after yesterday's incident?" I asked the still pink Canadian.

"Well, I went to the nurse's office earlier and Mama Hassan said I was fine." Matthew said, still looking straight forward. He's so pure. "I only got a little bump at the back of my head.."

"So, have you two kissed yet~?" I inquired nonchalantly. Suddenly, Matthew's cheeks turned back from pink to red and Tina's head shot up to look back at me again.

"Grieta!" she almost yelled, while putting on her knee socks. "Don't ask him weird things!"

"Aw, Tina~ I'm only asking him coz you won't tell me..." I replied. "Well, judging from how embarrassed your little boyfriend got, I'm guessing that's a yes~!"

"Th-this isn't the time to be talking about that!" Tina said, finally putting her shoes on and grabbing her bookbag from the floor. She walked towards us and touched Matthew lightly on his shoulder. He turned around slowly, but smiled once they were facing each other again.

"Sorry for making you wait." Tina said, looking up at the taller boy in front of her.

"No, it's fine." he said, looking back into her eyes. For a short moment, the two simple looked at each other, smiling. They are sooooo adorable! When they remembered I was right there, grinning widely at the two little lovebirds, they got embarrassed again.

"Uh, we should head to breakfast now." Matthew suggested. Tina slung her bookbag on and then began walking out of the room with Matthew. Oh, I cannot miss watching these two. They are too fun to tease!

"I guess I'll come along too, then~" I said, following behind the couple as they walked down the hallway.

"O-okay..." Matthew said politely, although he looked a little disappointed.

"Aw, don't make that face." I told him. "You two have been hanging out alone for over a month now! I just wanna see what you guys really do when it's just you two~" I explained. Although, it won't just be the two of them if I go... Oh, oh! There it is! His hand is getting closer to hers, and yup, now they've made contact and...yays! They're holding hands~! Aw, I'm so proud of Tina; she's usually so shy around boys. Well, except Yao, her little brother, and Al... Oh wait, Matthew is Al's brother, right? Ooo~ This is so much more interesting than I thought!

When we reached the cafeteria, I got my waffles, Matthew got his pancakes, and Tina got a sunny-side egg and some rice. Juan found us just as we were walking towards a table. Even though Matthew and Tina weren't holding hands anymore (they were holding their food trays now), Juan squinted at Matthew, looking at him as if he was doing something wrong. He quickly got some rice and breakfast sausages and followed us to our table. Just as we were sitting down, Juan squeezed in between his sister and Matthew. He said "I'm sorry" to Matthew, but quickly looked back to his sister and began interrogating her in their native language.

"Ate, totoo ba na muntik ka na mahulog sa hagdanan kahapon?" Juan asked his sister, earnestly at first.

"Oo. Pero niligtas ako ni Matthew, kaya okey naman ako." Tina answered, calmly, although she seemed to know what was coming.

"Tapos gnayon, boyfriend mo na siya?" his voice was beginning to hint with some disapproval.

"Tama. May problema ba?" she answered and asked her own question.

"Gaano katagal mo siyang kilala, Ate?" Juan continued to ask. Do these two always talk to each other in questions?

"At anong kinalaman non sa kahit ano?" she replied.

"Ilang taon mo na bang minamahal si Kuya Alfred?" his voice rose slightly, as if he couldn't understand something.

"Sinasabi ko no sa iyo, Juan. Hindi ako nakikita ni Alfred nang ganoon!" Tina reasoned tiredly. She continued talking quietly, but her grip on her spoon tightened though...

"Alam na ba nito ni Kuya Alfred?" Juan continued after he calmed down a bit.

"Hindi ko alam. Wala kaming pagkakataon kahapon sabihin kay Alfred..."

Even though the two siblings were eating and talking with quiet voices, it was obvious they were sort of arguing. Matthew was listening intently while eating his pancakes uncomfortably. He heard his name, the word "boyfriend," followed by several mentions of Alfred. This was making him nervous since he knew Juan was very important to Tina and Juan didn't seem too keen on Matthew. Juan seemed to know all about Tina's feelings for Alfred too.

At first it was kinda interesting that Juan seemed to disapprove of Matthew, but now I was growing bored since I couldn't understand a word they were saying.

"Pendant qu'ils parlent, continuons notre conversation jusqu'à?" I said aloud, catching Matthew's attention.

"Qu-quoi?" he asked, surprised. He musn't have noticed I spoke French too.

"Ce qui a fait Tina et vous faites après que vous lui avez demandé d'être votre petite amie?" I asked him. By now, the two Filipinos had stopped talking. Juan heard his sister's name and became aware I was asking Matthew about her. That kid's pretty protective of his older sister in his own way... Tina, on the other hand just seemed relieved that Juan was distracted for the moment.

"R-rien. Nous n'avons fait rien." Matthew denied, flustered.

"Je sais déjà que vous deux vous êtes embrassés. Dites-moi-en juste." I urged. I don't know why neither Tina nor Matthew wanted to tell me anything. They should know that anything I ask is just out of curiosity~

"Pourquoi me demandez-vous de cela?" he asked back, a bit confused.

"Parce que Tina ne me dira pas." I explained, sighing.

"Alors je ne crois pas que je doive vous dire n'importe quoi si Tina ne veut pas que vous sachiez." he answered without thinking. He didn't seem nervous anymore though, almost as if his resolve had risen.

"Elle veut vraiment que je sache. Elle a dit qu'elle me dira plus tard." I tried to reason, but then he ended the conversation.

"Alors elle vous dira plus tard." he smiled innocently. I sighed and turned to Tina.

"He's just as stubborn as you, Tina." I told her. She realized what I was trying to ask Matthew and smiled at him for not telling even if she wouldn't have known if he did. But before anyone else could say anything, the bell rang, signaling that we should get on our way to first period. All of us scrambled to get our things and leave, but before everyone parted ways, Juan turned to his older sister again.

"Ate, kailan mo sasabihin kay Kuya Alfred ito?" Juan asked, as if it was all he wanted. But before Tina could make up an answer, Matthew held her hand and answered for her as if he understood Juan's intentions completely.

"We'll tell Alfred, and everyone else, during lunch." Matthew said unwaveringly. Juan looked at him for a bit, but then he nodded and left the cafeteria. After her brother was gone, Tina squeezed Matthew hand, exhaled, and then looked up at him.

"We should get going to class then." she said, relieved. Throughout the schoolday, very few people really noticed the new couple walking through the hallways. They had been walking side by side like that for over a month, but now their hands were linked.

Every once in a while one of Tina's friends would stop her in the hallway and ask her if she was okay after yesterday's accident. She would just say she was fine and then introduce them to Matthew. It was kinda funny how they'd get surprised at how they never noticed someone else standing beside Tina and holding her hand. There were a variety of reactions depending on who it was.

When Tina introduced him to Erin Kirkland, she mistook him for Alfred and made the situation a little awkward when she congratulated her on "finally hooking up with him." When Tina straightened her out, Erin laughed it off and gave Matthew a violent pat on the back, congratulating him instead. When Hue Nguyen caught sight of Tina walking hand in hand with a guy, Ms. Vice President stopped in her tracks and approached the two. At first she mistook him for Alfred and was about to get really angry until Tina explained everything to her. At some point Victoria and Lakshmi came by and, noticing that Tina and Matthew were holding hands, began giggling until Matthew turned completely pink. It's so cute how shy he is.

… … … … …

It's almost lunchtime. I wonder if Ate will really tell Kuya Alfred and everyone else. She's usually keeps her feelings inside...well, every now and then she'd rant to me about all her complaints. But otherwise, she just stays nice and courteous. It's just that she's been holding herself back with all the stuff with Antonio and Kuya Alfred that I just can't believe she'd find someone else to like so much. It kinda figures that he'd look almost exactly like Kuya Alfred though, except he isn't as awesome.

I don't really have anything personal against that Matthew guy. It's just that it really bothers me how Ate could just push aside her feelings for Kuya Alfred like that. I know she keeps telling me that he doesn't see her in that way, but I know she's wrong. I've been watching them for years and, even if Kuya Alfred doesn't realize it, he definitely feels something for Ate. I mean, he definitely didn't have to visit all those times and come to bother Ate even when he didn't need anything. And after learning from Kuya Alfred for all these years, I came to a conclusion: if it was just about me, Kuya Alfred would probably have only encouraged me to kick out Antonio from our house on my own. But because of Ate, Kuya Alfred confronted Antonio head on and even fought with him in front of her. Kuya Alfred even got really jealous when he saw Ate talking to Dylan. Both of them made excuses, though: Ate said that Alfred was just a "egotistical jerk," and Kuya Alfred made up the excuse that he didn't think we were ready to make friends with other older kids yet. He was fine when I talked to Dylan later that day though...

I didn't get to the cafeteria as early as I wanted, so by the time I got there Feli and Ludwig were already sitting at our table. Ludwig was diligently waiting for everyone else before he began eating, but Feli seemed to have annoyed Ludwig into letting him eat some pasta. Where did he even get that anyway? I sat next to Feli and waited, but pretty soon, everyone else arrived. Ate and Matthew weren't holding hands anymore since they were carrying their food trays, but they sat next to each other since Kuya Alfred sat on my other side. At first everyone began to eat like it was a usual lunch, so I shot Matthew a glare to remind him of what he said. He noticed and nodded. Seemingly without doing anything, Ate seemed to noticed me glaring. And that's when I noticed...ew, they're holding hands under the table! After that though, Matthew coughed slightly, getting everyone else's attention.

"Um, I don't know if everyone already heard about yesterday..." Matthew started, but was quickly interrupted.

"What happened yesterday?" Feli asked, genuinely oblivious.

"Oh, uh...Tina almost fell down the stairs, but I...uh..." Matthew grew nervous. He seems less confident about calling himself some kind of hero than being Ate's boyfriend.

"He saved me." Ate said simply.

"Wah~! You really are Al's brother!" Feli concluded. There was a little pause in the conversation right then since nobody knew who was going to talk next. But then Matthew continued.

"W-well, afterwards, I asked Tina to be my girlfriend." he said with more conviction than before. "And she said yes." There was another silence, but then Daniel leaned back on his seat, smiled, and then gave Matthew an approving nod. It relieved Matthew that someone, even if it was the mysterious Netherlander, approved of him. One after another, the rest of the table gave their silent nods, until I turned to Kuya Alfred.

"So, Kuya Alfred, what do you think?" I asked, hoping for a reaction.

"Oh! Haha... I already knew." Kuya Alfred said, laughing unnecessarily. "I was outside the nurse's office when Mattie asked her. I didn't wanna interrupt them, so I sat out in the hallway with Matt's polar bear." he explained. Okay...even I think that's a little bit pathetic... But since Grieta already heard all about this, she was impatient to ask about what happened next.

"So, what did you guys do afterward~?" she asked, implying that she already knew.

"Grieta! This isn't the time!" Ate protested.

"Aw, but you said you'd tell me!" Grieta whined. She was definitely goading Ate, but this time Ate didn't think before she spoke.

"You already know we kissed!" she almost yelled, getting up from her chair and pulling both her hands on the table. I think the rest of the cafeteria must have heard her though... When she realized what she had just said, she turned beet red and immediately sat back down. But Matthew and Kuya Alfred both turned red too. Wait, if Kuya Alfred is blushing too, that means he really does like Ate back! Gah, why isn't she looking at him right now! Ate always looks at Kuya Alfred when she thinks nobody else notices! But this time she wasn't since Grieta continued teasing the couple.

"So I was right! You two have made out~" Grieta stated.

"I-it wasn't like that..." Ate replied despite still looking down at her plate of food. "It was chaste..." she said in a quiet voice.

"Is that with or without tongue?" Grieta continued, as if it was a perfectly normal question to ask during lunch. There was a short silence and it almost seemed as if the rest of the cafeteria got quieter.

"...without." Ate answered quietly. I exhaled. I don't know why I was holding my breathe, but I ended up doing it anyway. I know she's my older sister, but she's still my sister. I have to be sure to protect her...or something... Another long silence followed and nobody at our table said anything again until the usual murmur of conversation seemed to resonate in the cafeteria again.

"Uh...hahaha..." Kuya Alfred broke our silence with a laugh more awkward than usual. "Hey, if you two get married, Tina would become my sister!" Kuya joked. Both Ate and Matthew looked at him weird, and even Ludwig raised an eyebrow to the comment. When only more silence resulted, I decided to add on to the joke.

"Oh, um, and then Kuya Alfred would really be my brother!" I said, trying to match Kuya Alfred's seeming enthusiasm. I got the same three confused looks from Ate, Matthew, and Ludwig, and an equally semi-horrified look from Kuya Alfred, who thought I wasn't joking. I sighed... This is going nowhere. But then, out of nowhere, Feli spoke again.

"Hmm, I was rooting for Antonio~" he said innocently.

"F-feliciano—!" Ate began to lecture, but then that Spanish bastard popped out of nowhere from behind Ate.

"Rooting for me in what?" Antonio asked, startling Ate and Matthew, who hadn't seen him walking toward our table.

"WAH..u-uh, soccer! I mean futbol!" Ate said suddenly, after turning around to face him. "He was rooting for you during the big match a couple weeks ago. Congrats on winning! You were great!" she continued, adding in some genuine feeling. He beamed at the compliment and then remembered what he really came for.

"Oh yeah! I heard you and Matthew here finally got together!" he said, putting each arm over both Ate's and Matthew's shoulders. "Congrats on that! You see, since I'm sort of like an older brother to Tina," and Ate almost did a facepalm. "I had to come see her first boyfriend for myself. Well, you seem like an okay guy, so make sure to treat her well!" Antonio concluded, whacking Matthew on the back. Then, he proposed a group hug, which Grieta and Feli happily joined, but then he had to leave when Lovino threw a shoe at Antonio's head from two tables away.

"Dammit! Stop bothering other people, bastard!"

Like woah:

I'm pretty sure Belgium is supposed to be this bubbly kinda character, but somehow she ended being kinda scheming...well, why not~ Oh, but even though Grieta thinks Matt and Tina are cute, I don't think Juan does... He just wants the best (in his opinion) for his Ate though, so don't start hating the little brother. Besides, I thought having Juan's POV would give a lot of analysis on Alfred's feelings, since Alfred doesn't know that he has them... Oh yeah, I don't remember if I ever said before, but Juan and Feliciano are roommates. And Juan's a little bit like Lovino, except he might actually genuinely hate Antonio...

Ate is Tagalog for "older sister" and Kuya for "older brother," but both terms can be used for close family friends that are around the same age range.

When Juan and Tina were "arguing" I could only imagine them only asking questions since neither of them would want to give a wrong answer or something like that. I don't know, that's just how it came out in my head.

Juan: "Ate, is it true you almost fell down the stairs yesterday?"

Tina: "Yes, but Matthew saved me so I'm fine now."

Juan: "And now he's your boyfriend?"

Tina: "You're right. Is there a problem?"

Juan: "How long have you known him, Ate?"

Tina: "And what does that have to do with anything?"

Juan: "How many years have you been in love with Kuya Alfred?"

Tina: "I've been telling you, Juan. Alfred doesn't see me like that!"

Juan: "Does Kuya Alfred know about this?"

Tina: "I don't know. We didn't have the chance to tell Alfred yesterday..."

Juan: "Ate, when are you going to tell Kuya Alfred this?"

...

And excuse me if the French is incorrect; I used an internet translator for that. Here are the translations for everything:

Grieta: "While they're talking, let's continue our conversation from before?"

Matthew: "Wh-what?"

Grieta: "What did Tina and you do after you asked her to be your girlfriend?"

Matthew: "N-nothing. We didn't do anything."

Grieta: "I already know you two kissed. Just tell me about it."

Matthew: "Why are you asking me about this?"

Grieta: "Because Tina won't tell me."

Matthew: "Then I don't think I should be telling you anything if Tina doesn't want you to know."

Grieta: "She does want me to know. She said she'll tell me later."

Matthew: "Then she'll tell you later."

...

Erin Kirkland is my Ireland OC. She's also a sophomore. Hue Nguyen is Vietnam and she's a senior and the Student Council Vice President. Lakshmi Patel is my India OC, and in case anyone forgot, Victoria Leone Prideux is Seychelles. They're both freshmen and they recognized Matthew since they were all former-British colonies. Haha, maybe I should write a extra chapter someday about how Tina made all these random friends.

And in case nobody remembers either, Dylan Kirkland is Australia and he's a sophomore. Daniel te Kolstee is Netherlands and he's a senior and Grieta's older brother, obviously.

I wanna try to sneak in a couple extra chapters before I go to Niagara Falls [unfortunately, it's not the Canada side, but the NY side should be fun anyways...] on Monday. I hope I don't get too distracted this weekend...