The second hand of the clock ticks, counting down every moment, testing her understanding, patience and the power of emotions. Tick; promises are made. Tock; people leave. Tick; hearts are broken. Tock; people hurt each other like they're meant to.
...
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Eury opened their fridge to look for something to cook tonight while Van was lying on the sofa and on his phone, texting.
"Kuya, what do you want for dinner?" She asked.
"Cook anything easy. I'm starving." Van answered in monotone, not taking his eyes off his cellphone.
"Okay. It's up to me?" She closed the fridge door and waited for her brother's response. She just wanted to make sure. She noticed that he didn't hear her. Busy much.
"Kuya?"
"Mm," he said. Eury confirmed that he was really busy so she went to their cupboard instead while checking her brother. He was intensely looking at his phone so Eury thought it might be about school stuff. She shrugged then started preparing dinner.
"Kuya, about my gown..." Eury slowly set her utensils down when she noticed that her brother was still holding his phone instead of eating. She cleared her throat to catch his attention. Once. Twice. Nothing.
"AH! Ow! It hurts! Kuya! Ah!" She acted as if she was in deep pain while holding her stomach. Van immediately dropped his phone to the floor and frantically left his seat to go to his sister.
"Eury! What's wrong?!" Van was panicking and he didn't know what to do. Eury stopped acting as she mentally gave herself an Oscar. She went back to her food like nothing happened.
Van realized what just happened. He stood straight and glared at his sister. He crossed his arms in front of him and sternly said, "That's not funny."
Eury glanced up at him and put down her spoon. "You shouldn't have been disrespectful to the food po. You always told me that phones aren't allowed when in front of the food, right?" She smiled at him.
"Even so. You shouldn't have done that," Van seriously said which made her feel guilty for what she did. She bowed her head down and pouted. She only wanted to get his attention off his phone even for a bit but she ended up being scolded. "You were texting nonstop since..." She murmured.
Van sighed and went back to his seat. "I'm sorry. It was something urgent. You were asking about your gown?" He picked up his phone from the floor and checked if there are scratches before he put it inside his pocket.
On the other hand, it hit Eury that there are a lot more things that are important to her brother and not only her. Van might not tell her, she's his priority especially because they only have each other aside from their Tita Mariella. She had just fathomed that her brother has his own life too and he can't always focus on her. It's time to grow up. Well, she'd be in college in a few months and she'll be able to give her attention to other important things too.
She didn't notice that she was already staring into the void. She was only brought back to earth when her brother touched her arm.
