My Sister Is Not The Bride

We both looked into each other's eyes, tears dropping down our cheeks. My wildest dream has now become reality. This can't be happening. I leaned on a table behind me to prevent myself from falling.

" No, this is a Mistake!" Daniel said, moving away from Laura. " Laura how could you?!" He ran towards me and attempted to grab my arms. Our hearts were beating so fast. " Luna no! This can be fixed - I - I don't know how, how couldn't I have recognized you?" His hands were so cold and frizzy, I almost froze from his touch. The whole place seemed empty, although filled with a large crowd, but it felt like my brain could only process his face. " You should have looked, you - you - you should have been careful... " I looked away, my tears betrayed me. I could feel more hot tears pour down my cheeks; my make-up smudging already.

My dad looked at my sister and then to my mum, they were utterly disappointed, and disgusted too. I could see the pain in their eyes as they teared up: teared up cause their daughter's most happiest day was ruined - and it was ruined by the one that is supposed to have her back. " No this can't be true, this can't be happening!" I ran out of the hall.

***

~Chapter 1~ :Prom Night

" It's late Laura, hurry up!" I screamed at the top of my voice. " Luna, slow down, I'll be right down!" She yelled back. I froze. A slimy insect was moving slowly on my feet - I jumped up and screamed, nearly getting my prom dress torn. " THAT DAMN MOTH!" Laura rushed down the stairs, to see what made me scream and was surprised it was only a baby caterpillar. "That's no moth, that's a baby caterpillar, dummy." She said mockingly, attempting to pick it up to scare me even more. " Hey hey hey, stop that right now!" I yelled, obviously scared she'd actually put it on me. " Laura, that's enough. Don't scare your younger sister like that." Finally! Once again, dad saved the day. " Dad, the bug - " " You mean the 'caterpillar' ?" Laura cuts in. " Whatever. It scared the crap out of me." " Aw my sweetheart's scared of a little caterpillar." He said jokingly, attempting to make me smile. "Dad, it seemed like it was gonna bite me." I was dad's little angel, it was normal for me to act like this around him. "Oh here we go again!" Laura exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

" We're gonna be late for prom, it's 6am." I said, adjusting my beautiful blue dress. I just know that I looked beautiful with that dress on, it was a gift from my dad, on my 17th birthday. "Oh oh, are you forgetting something hunnie?" Mum said, rushing downstairs to give me a necklace. It had a beautiful blue pearl pendant. It was beautiful. " Thanks mum." I gave her a kiss on the forehead. "And what do I get?" Laura asked. She always looked for ways to complain. " I couldn't have forgotten you my love, you also get one necklace as well." Mum smiled and handed hers to her. Laura's was a pink pendant necklace, very pretty too. "Hmm, quite plain, unlike Luna's." She had a way of comparing gifts given to the both of us.

" Laura that's not true, it's literally the same necklace, just different pendants. Anyways let's head out. Time's not on our side anymore." Just then, Uncle Winnie honked, signalling for us to come out. I rushed outside and got into uncle Weenie's car. " What a beautiful dress you got on cupcake." Uncle Winnie said as I got in. " Thank you Uncle Winnie." I smiled warmly.

" You too Laura." Laura had a plain smile.

The school's ambience was cool, filled with beautiful, sparkly students. It was a beautiful hall too. I met my friends and we drank some sodas. " Well guess who's looking so hot tonight and yet, got no date. You should have accepted Rick's offer Luna. He could have been your date tonight. What's a prom without a date?!!" Mona said, sipping her soda. " We all have a date... well excluding Laura, Mona and I have a date except you. I feel bad for you hunnie." They genuinely felt concerned. " Well having a date doesn't determine anything... I'm fine on my own." I checked the alcohol bucket and it was empty. " There's literally nobody that's my type in here, ewww." Laura said, rolling her eyes at every couple that passes by. " Let's just be each other's prom date, asides your prom dates. Let it just be us right now, three best friends - including Laura of course - " Laura glared at me. " -we make a perfect group, I'll get alcohol, y'all wait right here." I proceeded to go get alcohol for all four of us. It wasn't new that Laura had no friends; her friends either left her cause she was mean to them, or she probably snitched on every single one of them. She just tolerated me and my friends. I squeezed into the crowd to get through, it was a struggle.The hall sure was crowded.

"Nice dress." I looked back to see who that was and behold, it was Daniel. 'The' Daniel Antonio! I was in awe of how handsome he looked close up. In case you didn't know, Daniel used to be my crush in high school. He was a senior, but I used to really hit on him while he was still in highschool, before he moved to college. But why is he here? I thought he moved to New Haven. " Uhmm, why thank you sir-" " Daniel. The name's Daniel." He affirmed. Duuhh! Who doesn't know The Daniel Antonio. I would literally remember his name even if my memory gets wiped a million times. He looked into my eyes, his dark hair covering his face. I could still see his ocean blue eyes, even in the dark. It looked darker than it used to be. Did he grow taller, or I just haven't stood this close to him. His lips had this smirk on it, I couldn't tell if he was purposely looking flirty or it was natural. Because why would The Daniel Antonio be flirty with me? I laughed at the joke in my head. " Oh, sure... thank you Daniel." I spawned back to reality. He gave a soft smile. " Yep. And what's the name of the beautiful girl in blue?" He leaned forward. I gasped. Who me? He didn't just call me beautiful, did he? " Who me? Ohhhh, yes yes, meeee!" I said laughing out loud. I wasn't even under the influence and yet I was acting this crazy. " Yes you." He arched an eyebrow. Damn he looked so good. " Luna. I'm Luna." I raised my voice because the music got so loud. "Huh?" He didn't get the name. " It's Luna. L-U-N-A. It means the Moon." I moved slightly closer to his ear, so he could hear me. " Ohhhh, Luna." He bent over to whisper into my ears. " Your name's as beautiful as you are." I froze. I got shut out of the world for a split second. I then felt my cheeks with my palms - I could feel their redness. " You t-t- too." I stammered. What? You too? Luna get a grip on yourself! " I mean, you are in fact handsome too." I shut my eyes. " Hmm... " He moved closer. And then... "Luna, where have you been? I've looked everywhere for you." Laura struggled through the crowd to get to us. " And you're here?" My friends, Danielle and Mona were right behind her. Bummer! As much as I wanted more time with him, they saved me from this awkwardness. " Oh, hi guys." I moved away from him. " I was just here to grab a dri... "

" And then she met her prince charming, ouuu." Mona and Danielle said in unison. Daniel's smirk widened. I got shy. " Stop it you guys. There's no way The Daniel Antonio would be Luna's prince charming. I mean it's Luna. She is so clumsy." Here we go again. Laura couldn't spare me just one night, in front of my crush. She used to tease me about him before, saying he'd never look my way, blah blah blah. But guess who's getting compliments from The Daniel Antonio? Me! I have always known she liked him too, she just tries to hide it under her teasing. " Well I like clumsy. I am clumsy too." Daniel said, countering Laura. "Trust me, you wouldn't -" Laura could go on and on in her quest to belittle me. I had enough already.

" Stop it you all. There's no prince charming here, and nobody's clumsy, okay?! We just bumped into each other, and that was it. Now let's go have fun. It's our prom night. We might never get the chance to be together like this again... " "Ouuu, it's time for prom dance! I'm super excited. Luna, I love you girl but I have to be with my date right now." Mona ran to meet her date. " But... " " Me too Luna. I'd love to be here with you, but it's the last dance tonight and I can't possibly leave Nate all by himself." I looked over and saw Nate, looking around, clearly waiting for Danielle. " Well I can't beat that innocent face." I looked defeated. " Love you hunnie, muah!" Danielle rushed away, like a bride who's late for her wedding. "Love you too... " My face turned pale.

" Wellll, I guess it's just us now..." Daniel pressed forward. Laura looked like she was gonna burst. " Hello, I'm literally right here. What do you mean 'it's just us', like you don't see me?" She couldn't hide her jealousy this time. Daniel looked confused. " And who are you again?" " Sister. Uhmm she's my sister." Laura looked infuriated now. " I can do my introduction by my own self. I do not need your help." She glared at me. " Well, just trying to -" she cut in. " Know your place Luna. Makes me think you're trying to have some alone time with him. Wow Luna, so much for a sister." Laura said, and dashed away angrily. " Does she always get like that?" I was embarrassed on her behalf. " I'm sorry, that wasn't her best behavior. She's just..." He held my hands, now taking steps closer. " Don't make excuse for her. She's clearly responsible for her actions, you shouldn't apologize. It's not your fault." I looked him in the eyes. Why's he being so nice to me? I didn't envision him to be this nice and calm. "Yes, you're right. But she's still my sister. I don't like seeing her upset. What you don't know is that... she thinks I'm robbing her of a lot of things, and it's not true. It's kinda like an internal problem. I don't want matters to escalate, that's why I'm this calm." " You sure have a good heart." He looked deeper into my eyes, and I felt his calmness. I wonder why he left the Philippines to go abroad to study.

Just then, the prom dance started. "Would you do me the honors and dance with me, Luna?" My eyes widened. Dance with him? 'The' Daniel Antonio? No this was definitely a dream. "Uhmm, me?" I asked, still in doubt. "Yes you, Luna." I didn't realize when I started blushing. "Uhmm, yes yes. I'd love to dance with you." Duhh, I dance with you even in my dream, talk more of in reality. I was in cloud nine. He placed one hand on my waist, and held my hand with the other. I could feel a burning sensation under my skin. Is this real? I pinched myself to be sure it was real, and alas, it was.

We moved to the hall and I could sense people's prying eyes on us. I was uncomfortable, but he drew me closer, and I immediately was at ease. There was just something about him that was gentle, subtle and sweet. He was exactly how I dreamed of him. " Uhmm, I was wondering... why did you leave the Philippines? I mean you have your entire family here and basically you have lived your whole life here, why then did you leave to a new place?" I've been longing to ask this question. The day I found out he left the Philippines, my heart shattered into pieces. I didn't realize the weight of the crush until then. After it dawned on me that i wouldn't be seeing the love of my life anymore, my heart ached like never before. That was my very first heartbreak. Depressed. My sister would always laugh at me everytime she caught me looking at his pictures on the net. I literally saved all his pictures from Instagram. You could say I was sort of... Obsessed!

" School. Nothing else. I got accepted into Yale, and I couldn't not go. And so yeah, that's why I left." My eyes tweaked. That's why? Just that? There's literally tons of good schools here in the Philippines, maybe not as good as Yale, but still... I held my breath. It hurts that he left before I told him how I felt. Maybe I didn't gather up courage because my sister's words got to me. 'he'd never like someone like you' she said. Maybe I believed her, and shrunk at the thought of him rejecting me. " That was enough for you to leave?! Your family, friends, even m- " the words fought to escape my mouth. "Go on, I'm listening." He paused, and leaned forward, as if to hear every bit of it. I became teary thinking about the nights I cried cause I was missing him. I didn't want him to see my vulnerable side, so I decided to leave. I stumbled upon a waiter and let go of his hands. " Oh nevermind, I have to go." I fought back the tears from falling down my eyes. " No wait Luna. You can't run away from the truth." I stopped midway. Truth? What Truth? I thought.

"What are you talking about?" I turned back to look at him. He ran towards me. " You know what I'm trying to say." " No I don't know what you're trying to say, so tell me now. What truth?!" I demanded. He looked defeated. "You. You're the reason I came back." All these didn't make any sense. My head became heavy. I wasn't thinking properly. What in the world is he talking about? Or am not only seeing, but hearing things too? " What do you mean you came back for me? We barely even know each other. We never even spoke. You used to give me this look, like it was unwelcoming. You never approached me, or looked in my direction. What then do you mean by you came back for me?!" I was getting overwhelmed already. Fresh tears were now dropping from my eyes.

" Yes, I have always had a crush on you. Ever since I laid my eyes on you Luna. I know your scent, how you pack your hair everyday, how you dress, how you walk, everything about you - " "you're probably drunk Daniel, because you're not making sense, how...?!" I was confused. Was this a dream? " Yes, it's true. I only ever realized it after I moved, that I couldn't live without seeing your face. Carlos told me. He told me you liked me, and I was relieved. I was relieved that it wasn't one-sided. I have always thought you wouldn't like me back because you always avoided my stares, everytime we crossed paths -" Oh darn it Carlos! " That's because you always looked at me like you'd tear me apart." " That wasn't it, it's just the way I look. I was always thinking about you. What you'd wear the next day, the day after, the week after, my days revolved around you. Remember when we went for that house party?"

" Julius's house party?" I tried recalling the incident. " I walked up to you, and you were quite drunk... " Oh that wasn't a dream? Bummer! "... We had a conversation, we both confessed, the night before I left for Yale. I left you in the hands of your sister, who apparently I thought was your friend." So Laura lied about it all being a dream. " So all that was real?!" I was shocked. Wait. So the kiss happened too?! My eyes widened, my ears stood like an antenna, my cheeks became more red. " Di-did, did the the kiss happen too?!" I asked, shutting one eye, and covering my ears with both hands in embarrassment. He looked shy too, he brushed his hair up with his fingers.

"Yes, we- we did ki- kiss that day." He said and turned away quickly. My whole head was about to burst. All these happened and I thought it was a dream?! I am Never taking alcohol again! " So you see, I left on the next day and I didn't get the chance to talk to you or see you or even, give you clarity. I felt like I wronged you." It wasn't his fault. He had to leave. But all these happened and I had no knowledge of it. No wonder Laura acted strange after that day. She kept teasing me about him even more. She probably saw us kiss. " Did-did she see- see us ki-ki-kiss? " I stammered. " Yes, she did. She pushed me off you, and warned me to stay away from you. I didn't know who she was at that time and so I pleaded with her to take care of you. After watching you pass out, I left. I had a feeling you wouldn't remember anything that happened that night. It helped me leave, with a little ease in my mind." He moved closer. "Once I got there , I couldn't stop thinking of you. And seeing you now, I think I'm in still in love with you." A glass fell and the sharp sound pierced into my ear. I looked behind me and it was my sister. Her mouth wide open, as if she had just seen a ghost.