chapter 8

Ysa

"...thank you for choosing Alisea Airlines. Enjoy the Flight." I heard the pilot's announcement as I walked down the aisle of the plane. I walked past the bathroom and saw my reflection and stopped "Wow, I knew I'd look good in this uniform but not this good" I smiled as I looked proudly at myself. It has always been my dream to be a flight attendant.

We've been in the flight for almost two hours now, when a man called my attention

"Excuse me, miss?"

"Oh good evening, yes sir?" I asked with a smile

"Could I ask for some coffee?" He said smiling back

"Of course, would you want a hot or cold one?" I asked

"I would love a hot coffee, please" 

"Okay, sir. I'll be back with your coffee. Just a minute." I replied. Wow I thought to myself it's been a while since I was approached that politely, I proceeded to walk at the aisle of the plane and ask passengers if they need anything when suddenly

"This is your captain speaking, we are having some troubles with our right wing engine. Do not panic. Please fasten your seatbelts and make sure that your seats and table trays are in upright position. We are having an emergency landing. I repeat do not panic."

My heart dropped and walked quickly to our designated seats, I fastened my seatbelt with my shaking hands. Suddenly we were experiencing extreme turbulence, all I could do is to hold on to my seat and pray. All I could see is pure blur, I don't know if it was smoke inside the plane or the tears in my eyes. I closed my eyes shut. Everyone is panicking and crying. I could hear shouts. Loud shouts. I want this to end this feels like forever-

"This is your captain speaking. I'm pleased to inform you that we have safely landed. You can now take off your seatbelts and leave the plane premises to be guided by the flight attendants."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, cheered and scrambled to get their stuff, as a flight attendant, we are tasked to help people get out the plane safely and organized, with my shaking feet and hands I helped the passengers get their baggage. When I suddenly heard a loud bang and people shouting. And another bang. And another... and another?

"HEYYY SIS WAKE UP IT'S PASS 7 ALREADY!!" I heard Libbie, my loud and clingy youngest sister shout through the door

"SISSSSSS!!!" she shouted again as if I was miles away from her, I was still trying to make sure that this is not just part of that weird dream I just had

"Wake up! Mom's orders!" while banging at my door, yeah this is the reality I have to live in every morning

"Ugh! It's way too early for this!" I said in annoyance

"You're gonna be late, duh!!!" I heard my other sister, Yassie, shout while banging at my door too. I swear I'm the oldest but they're the one treating me like this.

"Ugh!" I love my sisters but sometimes I just want to smack them specially every morning. I stood up and opened my door and walked back to bed, I could hear footsteps towards my bed and soon enough I could feel a person sitting down on my bed.

"Ysa, what are you doing? Fix yourself. It's your graduation today! It's your last day in highschool! That's why you should be pretty!" she says while literally screaming in my ear

"Lib, why do you always have to shout? It's 7 in the morning. You're waking up the neighbors." I replied while covering my face with the duvet

"Sis!!" she says while kissing me all over my face

"Okay! Okay! That's enough" I said while tickling her side

"YSA!HAHA! STOP!! PLEASE!!" damn, this girl's throat really contains a freaking microphone, no wonder mom always tasks her to wake me up

"Alright, you can move now I will fix my bed" she immediately stood up and sat down at my study table. After few minutes, I noticed that Libbie is very quiet, which is very unusual

"Sis?"

"What?"

"Since it's your graduation, I'm sure that we will eat at our favorite restaurant and dad will ask or give you a gift... Why don't you ask them to visit the Philippines?"

"Lib, didn't I tell you that we will wait for the right time for that? If you want YOU can go ahead and ask dad"

We've all heard the stories about the Philippines from mom and dad specially about their childhood, since then, it has been our dream to come back or visit there and experience what our parents experienced. Specially the ambiance, scenery and kindness of the people there. My mom has always told us that as soon as she became a mother, she will raise her children the "filipino way" she even thought us tagalog, we do all the household chores and we've also played filipino games such as "piko" and "tumbang preso" in our backyard, it's one of my favorite things I did as a child. They've always said to us that one day we'll come back there because they want us to also experience the childhood they had and meet our cousins and other family too but, before that happens the business here should be well managed and stable.

"Oh sis, pleaaaase! Just try. If they say no then we won't push further" She argued

"No. We know that dad would be mad if we keep asking them about that. You can go now, I have to take a bath" I said with annoyance, she looked at me sadly as I lead her to the door

After taking a bath, I looked at myself in the mirror and I realized that this is going to be my last time wearing this uniform. I made a lot of memories and friends wearing this, I will surely miss it. I'm literally going to be a college student next year

"Wow, I'm getting old" I said to myself while getting my robe from the hanger and my graduation cap then went downstairs

I saw my parents Libbie and Yassie my 2nd youngest sister looking at me while walking downstairs. Soon enough, I saw a tear down my mom's cheek.

"Mama, don't cry. Your makeup is gonna be ruined." I say as I wipe her cheek

" I.. just can't believe it. It seems like yesterday I was just carrying you in my arms and now you're graduating and going to college in a few months" she says, hugging me tightly

"Congratulations, my beautiful daughter. I'm so proud of you. Keep up the good work" Dad says sweetly and joins mom and I's hug

"Can I join this?" Libbie says while walking towards us. Dad opened his arm and let Libbie join us

"Me too!" Yassie exclaims running towards us as well

"You guys are really hugging without me, huh?" I hear Yael say while walking down the stairs. Yael. The second oldest and the only boy among our siblings, we basically fight and annoy each other every day

"Stop talking and come here! I shouted then he laughed but still joined us

"Alright, let's go! I don't want to be late on my graduation day" I say knowing that my mom will probably cry for the next 5 minutes

"Familia Alfonso is really cheesy, huh? Feels like our big sis will migrate to another country" Yael says, teasing us most specially mom

"Oh yeah? Then why did you go all dramatic too and joined the hug?" I replied, he stopped laughing because Yassie, mom and dad started laughing

"Yeah? then why did you-" Yael says but was cut off my mom's hand that covered his loud mouth because she knows that we won't stop bickering until one of us starts hurting the other

"Stop that. Let's go, I thought you don't want to be late?" mom says. The moment mom removed her hand from Yael's mouth, he immediately sticks his tongue out towards me, however, I'm not in the mood to really fight with him today so I just rolled my eyes and turned to get my bag and walked towards our garage.

"We did not forget anything, did we? You're bringing your robe, ysa?" mom asks

"Ma, calm down. We didn't forget anything. You can sit back and chill on your seat" I replied, teasing her. She literally worries about everything but I think that's just a natural mom thing, right?

"Knock knock" Yael suddenly says, everyone of us sighed.. it's one of his corny jokes again, it's one of the things that Yael does that embarrasses me the most

"Wow, you guys are rude!!" he says

"Who's there!!" Libbie replies

"Chill"

"Chill who?"

"Use chill in a sentence" Yael replies that got all of us confused, even Libbie didn't know how to answer

"What are you even saying, idiot? Even your knock knock jokes are messy like your brain" I replied

"It's YOUR fault that's why I got confused!" he says, trying to defend himself

"Really? Putting the blame to us?" Yassie replies lightly laughing

"Again Again" he says. Completely ignoring Yassie

"Knock knock"

"Who's there!?"

"Chill"

"Chill who?"

"chill 'em with kindness chill 'em chill 'em" he says while copying selena gomez' voice and completely failing. He's literally laughing at his own joke, we're all just staring at him.. well, except for Libbie who's laughing on his lap obnoxiously

"Please tell me on what part of that "joke" are we supposed to laugh?" I said that made mom and Yassie laugh

"Haha! It's funny, what are you saying!" Libbie defends him, I don't know if she's laughing because of the joke or because of Yael's "Selena Gomez" voice

"Hay this is why you're my favorite, lib!" Yael says tickling Libbie in her tummy

"Stop! HAHAHA!" Libbie shouts while fighting Yael's hands, her laughter filling the whole car

"Okay, lib. I will give you your favorite chocolate later, do you want that?" Yael asks

"Yes yes! But Yaelll" Libbie says with the voice that she only uses when she wants something

"What does my baby sister want?" Yael asks, tying Libbie's hair in a ponytail

"For you to teach me basketball!" she says. Okay, wow didn't expect that and as I can see, Yael didn't expected that either

"What? Why do you want to learn basketball all of a sudden?" Yael asks, very confused

"Well, I think because she saw you play yesterday" Yassie replies

"Ohhh. Sure, baby! Since you're the most lovable and beautiful sister I have" he says while kissing Libbie's forehead

"Whatever" Yassie and I replied in unison

"Stop that, we're here." Dad says

We got down the car and mom helped me in fixing my robe when I heard shouts coming from the other side of the parking lot, I turned and saw the Mika, Theo, Felicitè and Mika walking towards us. Theo and Fel are both half Italian and half filipino while Mika, Marie and I are pure filipinos.

"Bellaaaaaa!!" Mika shouts

"Hi guys!!!" I shouted back while hugging each one of them

"Hey, luke" I heard a man say

"Oh, Jonathan? How are you? Your business?" I heard papa say, I'm sure he's one of his business buddies, I wanted to know what they were talking about but I watched them walk a bit further and talk.

"Come here I'll take a picture of you guys" mom suddenly says getting my attention back to them and my friends

"Okay 1-2-3 cheese!" she took around 20 photos which is not a problem to me because I love taking pictures but I can tell that Theo was tired of posing

"Okay, would you mind to take a picture of us?" mom asks Theo

"Sure!" Theo replied, getting the camera.

"Come here, mister. Let’s take a photo" mom says, to dad who's approaching us

"Okay 1-2-3!" Theo took a couple of photos quickly because we all know that we're minutes away from being late

"Ma, we're gonna be late. I think that's enough pictures" I said to them and she mumbled an "okay." I watched as they walk off and I saw mama signaling that they'll walk to the venue and I just nodded and talked to my friends while walking

"Congratulations to us! Can you believe it? Time flies quickly, seems like yesterday when Theo confessed his feelings for ysa" Marie says teasingly while looking at Theo

"Marie, that's not necessary. You know what's important? Is that we're going to graduate together, okay?" I replied. Being awkward with Theo is the last thing I want to do during this special occasion, but it seems like my friends have other plans

"Right! Look at him! ohhh he's blushing' look at those tomato cheeks!!" Felicitè adds while pinching Theo's cheeks

"Stop it! We're just friends, don't start making things awkward again" Theo says, removing fel's hand off his face

"Aw friendzoned! Hahaha!" fel teases even more

"Shut up" hitting her at the back of the neck "Keep talking, do you want me to ask reiniel to join us-" reniel is one of fel's major crushes that is also a friend of mine

"Stop that. Let us just please appreciate our last day in this school. " Marie says then we all shut our mouths off

"I will really miss this" Felicitè replied looking at the benches that we used to seat every break time, it's where we shared our deepest secrets and regrets.

As we arrived in the venue, I heard our professor doing a roll call in our class

"Where is Laila Ysabella Alfonso?" I heard our professor say while checking our class attendance

"I'm right here, sir!" I exclaimed rushing towards my seat

"Okay, take your sit and you too guys. The ceremony is about to start." pointing at Theo, Mika, Marie and Felicitè

"Remember no using of phones, okay? Savor this moment." our professor said while we all replied a small okay to him

"I'm proud of every single one of you. I know you guys will be successful one day. Congratulations" he said, I can feel my eyes water he's always been one of my favorite teachers and I genuinely enjoyed his class, I will surely miss him

"Remember what I always tell you all, okay? Love God. Love people. Most importantly-" he says, I can see tears from his eyes while saying his favorite phrase to us for the last time

"Love yourself" our class said in unison, he smiled to us, I can see his sincerity through his eyes

"I will miss you, sir" one of my classmates told him and all agreed and mumbled the same words to him

"Thank you. I will miss you all too" he said then we heard the emcee talk the signal for us to all shut up because the ceremony is starting.

I heard my name being announced, I could hear shouts and cheers coming from my friends and especially from Libbie and Yael. I earned 4 medals this year which I'm very proud of. I watched as all my classmates and friends walked up the stage and got their diplomas, the real smiles of finally getting the prize for their hard work is absolutely priceless.

"And just like that our Highschool life is over, guys!" Theo shouted to us as we all cheered, shouted and threw our caps

We took a lot of pictures as a class with our teachers and some with our friends. Slowly everyone is leaving and saying their goodbyes, I watched as the crowd grew smaller and smaller. I can't help but think that this might be the last time that I'll see these people; we will all go in a different path now, face new challenges, and new people. We've all did some stupid shit in this school, skipped classes, matured and now here we are, officially the ending of our high school life, it feels like our long bond will end here.

"Don't cry, you shit" I heard Felicitè say beside me

"I'm not" I weakly argued

"Yeah, sure that's why you're all quiet and your nose is all red up right?" She said while slightly laughing, she knows me very well

"Ah, fine. I just- I will really miss our class" I said honestly and Felicitè smiled

"I know. I will miss them too" she said while hugging me, thankfully no tears fell from me

Few minutes later almost all my friends are gone and Mika and I are the only ones left

"Alright, we'll go na Bella. Facetime me later" Mika says as she kisses my cheek

"Goodbye, Mika. We'll go ahead. Take care. I'll call ya later!" I said, hugging her and she smiled and waved at me as she walked off

I still can't believe that my high school life is over. But, I'm ready for a new chapter in my life. I smiled as I glanced over our auditorium for the last time.

After a few photos, umalis na rin kami. It's our annual thing and every time one of us is graduating, we will eat in our all time favorite restaurant here in Florence.

"Mom let's go! I'm excited to eat, come on!" Libbie exclaims pulling Yael

"Yes yes alright, baby." he laughs "She's so excited mom." he said while he runs with lib

"Lib, don't run. You might trip and hurt yourself!"

"Wouldn't be surprised if they tripped, especially in Yael's hands" mom looked and I just laughed it off but we both know it's true. Ever since Yael was a kid, he would literally trip on air, he'd always have bruises on his knee and head. Luckily, when he stepped in to Junior Year he tried to join the basketball team which he was surprisingly very good and I think all that helped him to not trip all damn time

"So, what's your order, baby?" dad asks

"I want salad, pasta, like this carbonara dad. I also want garlic bread with balsamic vinegar." Yassie replied while pointing at the menu

"My usual order dad, Classic Italian Panzanella." I replied mocking Yassie's voice

"Stop it. It's not funny."

"I want salad, pasta and garlic bread" Yael adds mocking Yassie's demanding voice as well

"Mom, look at them! They keep on teasing me. Stop it, it's not funny."

"Ysa, Ciano." then looked at us and said "Stop that. Leave your sister alone" and knowing from the tone of mom's voice we know she's serious that's why we both shut our mouths off

"Okay, while we are waiting for our orders, let's start on giving our gifts for you" dad says

"What? You didn't have to!" I say and of course they didn't care and continued. I still feel embarrassed when I open gifts in front of the people that gave it to me

"First, of course me" Lib says, approaching me "This is my gift for you. It's not much but I hope you like it!" she kisses me on the cheek

"Thank you baby, of course it's from you I will surely love it!" I said smiling at her kissing her little nose

I opened the gift and it's a shirt and card inside the box

"Hi, Bella. Congratulations on your graduation! Yey! we are really proud of you. This gift is simple, I did it with the help of yas, I hope you like it as much as I do. Someday, I want to be like you. I love you so much. Love, Libbie." my youngest sister and her messy handwriting wrote that sweet little message for me and that made it so much more special

"Thank you baby, give me a hug." then we hugged. I whispered to her "You don't have to be like me, you're beautiful and special in your own way, okay? I love you so much" she nodded, probably didn't even understood what I just said to her but I know that someday she will

After ni Libbie, we were all waiting for the next gift giving which was Yael.. who was acting like he didn't know what's happening

"Fine." he says "Okay, I'm sorry I didn't get to buy you anything but.." he stood up and kissed me on the cheek "Congratulations, I love you" he smiled, this time I know he was sincere

"Ciano.." I started pretending to be offended. "I'm just kidding, don't feel bad about it. I appreciate that"

"I'm only allowing you to call me ciano because it's your special day!" He says a bit too loud and everyone looked at him

"Okay, ciano! You don't have to shout" I whispered to him while laughing he just scoffed but laughed too

"Here" Yassie says handing me her gift

I opened her gift and also card two crop tops from h&m.

"Congratulations! I'm so proud of you. Thank you for being an inspiration to me. I saw all your efforts in studying and you deserve every award that you get! Thank you for being there whenever I need someone to talk to. You deserve to be always happy. I love you even though you always tease me.

Love Sassy- Yassie"

"Aww thank you, Yassie. I love you. I'm sorry if I always tease you but I can't stop it" I said laughing then kissed her cheek. She just rolled her eyes but still laughed, I know she's used to me teasing her and she's a smart little girl as well that's why she has good comebacks too

"It's my turn" mom said and handing me a little box "Congratulations again, baby" she said sweetly

I opened it and.. "Is it..."

"Yes it's your favorite Jewelry from Cartier." she said excitedly she knows how much I love this!!

"OMG mom!! I've been eyeing on these for a while now! I never thought you'd buy it for me! Thank you so much i love you i love you i love youuu!!" I exclaimed while I rushed to her seat to give her a hug and a bunch of kisses

"It's my turn." papa said as I was flooding mama with kissed, I saw him pull out a huge box from a paper bag beside him

"Why is it so big dad? I'm scared" I have no idea what he could've bought me since I Barely even talk about the things I like to them

"Well, it's for you to find out"

I feel a little nervous while opening the box. As I opened it, the waiter arrived and brought us our food. Since I was nervous too for some reason I decided to maybe open it after we ate

"Do you think we should eat before I open?" I asked them, all my siblings look as nervous as me

"Open it already. Just be fast I'm hungry but I want to know what's inside." Yael replies

The box was surprisingly light judging from its size, I slowly lifted the lid and removed all the tissue paper and--

"A- Are these..." I looked at my parents they were smiling while my sibling are waiting for me to tell them what's inside

"What? What's inside?" Yael asks

"Dad? are you serious? Are these..."

"What is it?" Libbie asks looking at me weirdly

"Are you really that shocked that you can't talk?" Yassie asked and I looked at her my eyes stars to fill with tears, I looked at my dad and he smiled he knows I wouldn't be able to talk

"Yes, we are going home to the Philippines" he said himself, we all screamed and cheered I could see the big faces on my siblings' faces as well as my parents' I'm pretty sure everyone is looking at us but we didn't care all I could feel is extreme happiness that words couldn't even express.

This is a dream come true

I'm excited to set my foot in this country that has always been the subject of the stories we were told since we were little. 

And, I can't wait to make stories and memories of my own.