Running from the Horizon (Secondary Series #2)

01

“Ate! Wake up! Wake Up!"

I groaned as I felt the non stop bounce of my mattress with the jumping my siblings did. It is like that every single morning. Sometimes it does annoy me, especially if I sleep late because of doing homeworks or just watching random Korean dramas. Sometimes it does not because I find them adorable.

“Okay! Okay! I’m awake!” I surrender.

I lazily raised myself up into a seating position but immediately fell down on the mattress again with my brothers tackling me. They really know how to play! Typical boys.

“Why are you guys so clingy today?” I asked in between struggling as they tightened their hug to me.

“Love you ate!”

It warms my heart everytime I hear it randomly from them. My younger brother gave me a peck on the cheeks before they went down from my bed carefully. I just noticed that they are already in their school uniforms when they went down.

“Look at your uniforms! It’s all a mess!” I exclaimed, fixing each of my brother's polos.

They ran out of my room when we heard mama’s voice calling from downstairs. I just chuckled softly with the sight of them before taking my towel and went to prepare for school as well.

I still have an hour and a half left before I need to leave for school. I wore my school shirt, that has a logo of our school in the middle of it, tucking it with jeans before wearing a pair of black shoes. There is a program in our school today which is our foundation day so wearing our regular uniform is not really required.

I put on powder and lip gloss just to make myself less pale and a little presentable. I took my phone from my nightstand before going out of my room.

“Ate!” I heard my sister’s voice from behind. I raised a brow as she raised two jeans in front of me. One has a lighter color than the latter. “What suits better?”

“It’s both a jeans sis. Whatever you wear will look great.” I said.

“But ate!”

“Fine! The one in the left.” I said before she thanked me and ran inside her room again to finish changing. On the other hand, I went downstairs first already to have our usual family breakfast.

“Good morning!” I greeted cheerfully after putting down my backpack on the couch in the living room before taking the seat adjacent to my mother. Papa is in the middle as the head of the family. My brothers are beside Mama while my sister will sit on my side once she goes down.

“Why are you not wearing your uniform Diana?” Papa asked, taking a bite of his scrambled egg.

“We have an event in school today, Papa, foundation week. It’s not required to wear our regular uniform.” I politely answered, placing a sausage on my plate.

“Is it the last day now dear?” Mama asked as I nod.

We have been doing nothing but celebrating our school’s foundation day for the whole week. Everyone participated in different areas of sports and performances. I participated in one of the dances and also in volleyball which ended yesterday so I got to wear jeans now.

“Make sure to come home before dinner, okay?” Papa reminded me as I nodded before proceeding with my breakfast. My sister went down shortly wearing her own school shirt that has the same design as mine and the jeans that have a darker shade of color which I have chosen.

My family consists of my Papa, my Mama, and my three siblings. Among the four siblings, I am the eldest one. My siblings are named Meghan Rayne Gonzales, Bailey Ezekiel Gonzales, and Bryan Kyle Gonzales. We have the best chemistry because there are two boys and two girls so none of us gets really left behind.

My sister Meghan is my younger sister who is next to me. She is 3 years younger and is currently in 1st year high school. I am really close to her since she is my only sister. Compared to my closed set eyes and bow-shaped lips, she has hooded eyes which makes her seem sleepy all the time and wide lips which makes me envious of her sometimes because she really is beautiful.

The next one is Bailey. He is the oldest in the boys but is the third in four of us. He is 5 years younger than me and is currently in 4th grade. At the age of 9, he is already 4’5 feet tall which I believe he will be taller in the future. I am sure that he will be taller than me and Meghan in the future since I am standing at 5’4 feet tall while Meghan is standing at 5’2 feet tall.

Our youngest brother is Kyle. We got used to calling him Kyle as he grows up instead of Bryan for no particular reason but everyone in school knows him as Bryan. He is 7 years younger than me and is currently in 2nd grade. Both of my brothers are undeniably handsome despite being so young. Bailey has the same eyes as mine but has the same lips as Meghan while Kyle has the same eyes and lips as Meghan.

Both of them are the sweetest to us but Kyle is sweeter than Bailey. Maybe because Bailey is close to hitting puberty in a few years. The four of us are all in the same school but the difference is that Meghan and I are in different buildings. Since high school buildings and elementary buildings are a little far from each other. We are all close and as the eldest, I always make sure that no one will be left or feel outcast.

As for my parents, my Papa is currently the CEO of our family business, a marketing company. He built that company with his best friend, tito Julian. They have been friends since high school so it is no doubt that they managed to build such a company. Their business has been ruining for almost 15 years now. While my Mama is a full time housewife. She did work before resigning in her last position as Marketing Manager when papa’s business hit the triumph. It was hard for her to adjust at first because she is used to working but later on, she managed it.

Both of them graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. They were college blockmates and friends since first year college. That’s when they met and later on became together.

“Come on Diana and Meghan! I’ll drop you two off to your school.” Papa said after our younger siblings were fetched by their school bus.

I took my bag from the couch before following him outside.

“Papa are you okay?” I asked when he held into the wall. Mama immediately accommodated him, leaving me confused.

“Are you okay, honey?” Mama asked as Papa nodded. He suddenly looks pale. It was as if he can’t make it out for today.

Meghan and I changed looks before looking back at our father. “Why don’t you rest for now Papa? I can have the driver to just drop me off to school.”

He looks hesitant at first but when Mama gave him a nod, he gave in. I was worried for him throughout my whole journey to school.Meghan and I are close to both of my parents but we are closer to our papa. Since mama tends to take care of my younger siblings, since they need it more than we do, papa looks out for girls almost every single time. He is like those protective fathers who want nothing but the best for their daughters. Their amount of love for us is always at the same level. That’s why we never really fought about it and never made it an issue between the four of us.

“Why do you look so bothered?” Marley, my best friend, asked. I looked at her in shock because she just suddenly appeared beside me.

“Ate, I’ll go to my friends now. Bye ate Marley!” Meghan said before leaving the two of us.

I turned to my best friend after I saw my sister went inside her room. “When did you arrive?” I asked.

“About two minutes ago? I even talked a little with your sis. You were so stuck in dreamland that you didn't even notice my arrival. Are you okay?” She worriedly asked.

I nodded simple before we walked together in the hallways, to our room. Almost every student is out in the quadrangle because of the program being held downstairs.

“Finally! They arrived!” One of our friends, Vanessa, exclaimed.

“Did you guys get stuck in the traffic or what? What took you both so long?” Kendall, our other friend asked.

“I did not intend to come early so don’t ask me.” Marley answered in a sassy way. I smirked and took the empty seat on her side. There are only a few of us here in our room as of now. They are probably downstairs.

“I am hearing someone being sarcastic early this morning.” Camille remarked as Marley glared at her.

My friends in school consist of four girls. First is Marley Adelyn Buenaflor, who is my best friend among the four of them. She is both sarcastic and witty at the same time and also straightforward whenever it is needed. She has long natural dark brown hair, almond eyes, thin lips, and is 5’5 feet tall.

Second is Camille Concepcion, our friend who mostly gets in Marley’s head. Both of them do it to each other actually. She is sometimes too mean but nonetheless, she is still kind. She has a black medium length hair, wide eyes, full lips, and is 5’2 feet tall.

Third is Kendall Alonzo, our friend who aims to be on the top everytime. She is kind and is well spoken whenever we talk about serious matters. She could be sarcastic sometimes as well but she shows me kindness most of the time. She has shoulder length black hair, wide eyes, wide lips, and is 5’5 feet tall.

Fourth is Vanessa dela Vega, our friend who is always updated in social media issues. Mostly celebrities and influencers. She is literally sassy and super out-going. She is almost friends with everyone in this school. She has long hair, monolid eyes, thin lips and is 5’3 feet tall.

The four of us met back in first year high school and since then, we stick to one another. Our bond mostly consists of shopping and after class bonds in each other's houses. You can say that the four of them are pretty close to my parents, especially Marley.

“We have a cheer meeting at 1pm. Coach says it will be just for a short time.” Kendall announced.

“It’s foundation week! Why do we need to have meetings?” Camille groaned.

“It’s because that annual competition for private schools are on-going Camille.” Marley said.

“Then what do cheerleaders have anything to do with it? Marley?” Camille asked once again. My eyes just keep on switching from her and Marley because they are at it again.

“Try asking our coach. I’m sure he knows about it.” Marley simply answered as she focused on her phone. Camille just rolled her eyes on Marley, taking out her phone as well.

“And we have the beautiful five girls here!” I heard a guy’s voice from the door. There are two of them, standing tall, in there.

“Did you two enter the wrong room or what?” Vanessa exclaimed as the two guys approached us.

“We surely don’t,” One of them pushes the other closer to my side. “Because that guy went here for Diana.”

I softly laughed and put down my phone to greet them. “Hi Axel! And Rocco!”

Both of them came from another section but they mostly visit ours since we are just a room away from each other. They are Vanessa’s friends to be exact. That is why we got to know them both.

“Hi Diana!” Rocco took the empty seat on my side, leaning his chin to his palm before looking at me. “You really are so simple yet beautiful.”

I heard a fake puking sound from Camille which made me laugh. They really know how to make him embarrassed.

“Damn your cheesy lines Nolasco!” She complained.

We just killed some time there before taking our lunch and went to our cheer meeting afterwards. Despite having a program in the quadrangle, we have to attend for some reasons.

“I will go straight to the point here. Next week, friday, the semi finals for the annual private school competitions will be held here in our school. It will be basketball, taekwondo, and volleyball….” He started before Vanessa turned to whisper something to me.

“I am hoping that the taekwondo team from SPU will be there.” She exclaimed.

“SPU?”

“The semi finalist for taekwondo consists of SPU…” I could not even hear what our coach said after that because Vanessa almost tackled me already.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked him in a soft voice.

She browsed over her phone and showed me a photo of a tall guy wearing a school uniform while smiling and in a seating position, leaning over the table behind him. He is lightly tanned, has attractive eyes, pointed nose, and wide lips. “That is Aiden Noah Castro. The star player of SPU’s taekwondo team.”

“What should I do with that information?” I asked her innocently as she looked at me in disbelief.

She was about to say something when our coach called her, asking what she was whispering about. She says sorry immediately before turning to me. “I will get back to you later.”

Our meeting continued for another 10 more minutes before we were dismissed. Vaness was still on her phone when she stood beside me, clinging her arms on mine.

“Are you seriously telling me that you don’t know who Aiden Noah Castro is?” She asked me as I nodded.

“Do I need to know who he is?” Camille and Kendall both turned to me as well when I asked them that. Did I say something wrong?

“Girl! Are you serious?” Camille asked me in disbelief as I looked at them innocently. Marley was also confused as she stood beside me.

“Who is that Noel or No whatever they are talking about?” She asked as I shrugged. Why is she asking me when I don’t even know who that guy is!

The three looked at the two of us in disbelief, mouth parted, before they dragged us out of the room. We settled in the quadrangle, the side where there are less people around. Vanessa then turned her phone screen to me and Marley after they made us take a seat on the bench while they stood in front of us.

“Aiden Noah Castro. The star player of SPU’s taekwondo team.” Camille said with arms crossed.

“So? What does his star player title have anything to do with us?” Marley asked them as if she does not care. Not even a bit.

“Girl! Castro! Goodness! Have you two ever heard of Fortress Le Restau?” Kendall asked as I nod. How could I not know that??

“Of course! It’s my favorite restaurant.”

Fortress Le Restau is also a big corporation and is hitting the top. Their menus are just so delish! I remember eating there once or twice a month. Depends on my mood. I have celebrated my birthday there for the last 3 years!

“He is that restaurant’s heir! His family owns that restaurant!” Camille exclaimed which made my mouth parted. I was left speechless and in awe not because he is the star player or something but because he is connected to Fortress. Not just connected but well connected because he is the heir!

“The real definition of tall, handsome, and rich. Isn’t he?” Vanessa said. “I mean, everyone in their school is falling for his charms. Some even say that he is a silent flirt. You know? The one who uses their charms rather than their mouth. A simple smile makes him surrounded by girls.”

I look at her weirdly as she literally admires that Noah guy even though he is not even present right now.

“Let me see,” Marley snatched Vanessa’s phone from her hand, looking closely at that guy’s photo. She stared at it as if the guy could come out of the phone already.

“What are you staring so deeply there? Are you falling for his charms as well Marley Buenaflor?” Camille teases as Marley looks at her sharply.

“Like hell, I would. I’m just looking if my hunch is true.” She said before looking at me and back to the phone. “He is your type Diana.”

My eyes widened as she said that. What the hell is she talking about?

The girls went to Marley’s side, crowding her. They watch as she scrolls over the guy’s i********: feed, leaving me confused.

“He really is! Look!” Kendall handed me Vanessa’s phone to let me look at myself.

@noahcastro

21 post - 5k followers - 46 following

He has less photos of himself but more with others. Most of his photos are with two elders which I think is his parents. The others are with five more people, one guy and four girls. He only has 5-6 photos of himself and those are mostly stolen. Only three of those are where he is looking straight at the camera.

“Who is this girl? His girlfriend?” I pointed to the photo he has with a girl. They are both wearing their school uniform while sitting on the bench. The girl was smiling wide as she looked at the camera like a bright kid while that Noah guy is just simply smiling.

“That is Felicity Martinez of La Martíns Holdings. And no! She is just a friend of his.” Vanessa says. I shook my head with the information she is giving me. She knows everything.

“Tall, rich, and handsome! Literally your guy!” Camille says as I stare back at his phone. Is he?

Meghan and I were picked up by the driver because papa insisted on coming into the mall to eat dinner. It was so sudden but we have no choice anyway. It’s not even family day! Meghan and I are even planning to hang out with our friends after the programs but we had to cancel.

We roam around the mall for a while since it is still early for dinner. Papa allowed us to shop for new clothes, shoes, bags, and many more. But he makes sure that we won’t reach the limit. Most of what I bought came from my savings that I saved from my allowances since my parents gave me more than I can spend for the day.

“Please follow me.” The waiter says after papa says his name. We are in Fortress right now to have dinner and luckily, papa’s secretary was quick to secure a reservation slot for today because they have a lot of customers.

My mind flies to what my friends told me earlier. Aiden Noah Castro. His family owns this restaurant and is the heir. I suddenly felt nervous with the possibility that he is here right now.

“Careful!” I suddenly heard when I felt an arm on my waist pulling me over the side while I was on my way to the restroom.

“I’m sorry. I’m just being clumsy.” I said, sighing. I raised my head to look at the person but was shocked to see who it was. “Noah Castro.”

He looks at me strangely. “Do you know me?”

Oh my Diana! What have you done!