Covered By My Own Umbrella

Spill it, Eliah!

“The first person to pick the question is me,” Cathy said aloud.

“So, my question is, “With whom did you have your first kiss?” Cathy took a slip of paper from the bowl and slowly read it.

“Oh my goodness, who made the question? What would I choose if it was so hard?” While deciding between the two, Cathy said.

"Spill, spill, spill, spill, spill!" Gabby and Leigh yelled, prompting Abed and me to yell the word ‘spill’ as well.

“The toughness comes over you, bestie! Spill! Spill! Spill!” I said, convincing Cathy.

“Oh my gosh, fine. Since there are only six of us here and that person no longer matters to me, I'm gonna —— drink,” Cathy said as she quickly grabbed the soy sauce and oil mixture and drank. “What! You tricked us!” I said.

“WOAH!” Gabby and Leigh exclaimed.

“I thought you were going to spill, you hooked me,” Abed said as he mixed the questions in the bowl.

“No, I’m not. It’s really a secret to me, noh!” Cathy explained, laughing.

“All right, let's move on to the second person. Abed, it's your turn,” Cathy said, having a silly smile on her face.

I noticed Jax, who is sitting beside me, staring at my face as Abed picked his question.

“Why are you staring at me?” I asked Jax.

“Excuse me; I'm not staring at you. I'm staring at the cheesy bacon burger right next to you. Do you think you can get it for me?” Jax abruptly asked, trying to look cute to me.

“No, because you have your own arms and hands to get it. Tse!” As I said this, I sneered at him.

“So the question I picked is, “Who was the last person who made your heart flutter?” Abed read it to everyone.

Since Jax is constantly annoying me, I didn't get to hear what question Abed picked.

“Wow, how about you? You know what, you certainly look like a lamp post on the street. Thank God you didn't literally become one,” I teased back at Jax.

“Wow, hats off to you,” Jax sarcastically said as he suddenly pinched my nose.

“Why did you do that?” I asked as I looked at him.

“Nothing, I just want to annoy you,” Jax said as he continued to stare at my face.

We didn't realize we were no longer in the game and that Abed had already drank the ketchup and vinegar mixture because we were being busy annoying each other.

“Hey there, you two! Abed had already finished his turn. Are you still in the game?” Cathy's yell caught us off guard.

“Yes we are, why?” I responded.

“Yeah, of course,” Jax replied as well.

“No, you are not. You're just in your own world,” Cathy said, looking at both of us as if she were mad.

“But, anyway, let's keep this going. So now it's your turn, bestie,” Cathy said as she handed me the bowl.

“Okay, I picked, “Name the last person who made you smile.” I get nervous as I unfold the question because I don't want to spill anything or drink any of the disgusting beverages in front of me. Until I opened the paper and mentally read it.

While they were waiting for me to read the question aloud, Cathy asked, "What did you get, bestie?"

She didn't wait for me to read it aloud and suddenly grabbed the paper I was holding, saying, "Oh, who was the last person who made you smile?" As she read, Cathy giggled.

“Yieeeee!” Gabby and Leigh uttered loudly, pushing me closer to Jax, causing me to become physically close to him.

“What? I don't want to answer this,” I said.

“You don't have to; we already knew. It's so obvious in your blushing pinkish cheeks right now,” Gabby barged into our game as he tried to tease me again.

“Gabby, stop it!” I spoke, trying to slow down the atmosphere that is so focused on me.

“Spill it, spill it, spill it!” Leigh, Gabby, and Cathy all teased me out loud.

“You're ruining the fun, bestie. It is just dropping the name of the last person who made you smile. It's as simple as that,” Cathy said, trying so hard to persuade me.

“OK, if you insist, but this is what you're going to drink,” Cathy said as she handed me the drink.

I accepted the drink she offered and took a look at it.

“What exactly is it, bestie?” Sniffing the drink, I said.

“Oh no, is this peppered cow's milk?” I asked Cathy directly.

“Yes, it is,” Cathy replied with a smile.

“I'm sorry, bestie, but I can't drink it. I'm allergic to protein drinks. I would just pick another drink,” I said, intending to choose from the assortment of beverages in front of me.

“It saddens me that you can’t choose another drink, that is really the drink in line with question number three,” Cathy said as she stopped my hands from choosing.

“Woah, that's not fair, bestie. You know that I'm allergic to that drink, so I have the right to choose another drink,” I argued.

“Sorry, bestie, but I'm the headmaster of this game. Thus, I won’t allow it. We must strictly adhere to the rules, which prohibit us from changing our drinks. So, spill or drink?” Cathy said, forcing me to choose the spill option.

“OK, fine. I'd rather spill it than experience any of the symptoms of my allergy,” I said, feeling compelled by this decision.

“So, who was the last person who made you smile?” Cathy enquired once more.

When I'm about to answer the question, our circle falls silent. For me to spill it, I just thought it was just a simple question and there would be nothing wrong with my answer.

“There is no malice, Eliah. You just have to spill it out once,” I told myself without saying a word.

“Ok, it is the person beside me,” I uttered quickly, feeling ashamed.

I didn't get to mention Jax’ name because I'm too embarrassed, because I don't want everyone, especially Jax, to get the wrong idea.

“Woah! Yieeeee!” Gabby and Leigh tittered, eating their hamburgers.

“Yieeee!” Cathy teased me, feeling so fluttered.

“Shhh, stop it now, mom might hear you,” I said as I covered Gabby's mouth with my hands.

“It's not a big deal. Let us now move on to the next person,” I said, wanting to change the subject.

“All right, Jax, it’s your turn. You may now choose your question from the bowl,” Cathy said as she continued smiling.

“Please give Jax the bowl, bestie,” Cathy told me.

“Hmm, Eliah, could you choose one for me from the bowl?” While eating the cheesy bacon burger, Jax asked for a favor.

“Sure,” I replied quickly.

“So, here's what I've picked for you. I'll also read it for you,” I said.

“Who was the person who recently broke your heart?” I read it aloud while holding the bowl in my lap.

“Someone who just broke me? Hmmm, I think it was my long-time best friend who turned out to be my first love, but she ghosted me after she discovered I was falling for her,” Jax stated solemnly.

“Oh, that's quite harsh. But, have you had the chance to speak with her and clear things up?”, Cathy asked, curious

“Oops, no follow-up questions. That's one of your rules, right?” Jax responded, looking at Cathy while eating the hamburger.

“Hello, my lovely and handsome grandchildren, are you having fun?” Grandma appeared beside me and asked everyone.

“What are these drinks?” Grandma asked, noticing the stale drinks on the table.

“Oh, grandma, these are the drinks we use as a consequence for the person who does not want to answer the question he or she chooses,” I explained.

“I see, but make sure you properly dispose of these drinks after your game, okay?” Grandma told us what to do.

“However, I think it is time for you to clean up all your mess. We should go to bed now because it's already 11 p.m. and your uncles are completely wasted there. So, pick up all these shambles right now and help me in sobering them up,” grandma said, looking around as she realised our uncles at the other table were agitated.

“OK, grandma,” we all agreed, and we began to clean up our mess.

“Oh Jax, go ahead in your room now, your mom might be looking for you,” grandma said to Jax.

“It's fine, grandma; I'll just text her. And, besides, I still need to be here to sober up dad as well as uncle Charles and uncle Criz,” Jax explained, offering assistance.

We all start doing our thing. Cathy and Sam pick up all of our trash that needs to be thrown away. Gabby and Leigh, on the other hand, stack the chairs and gather the beer battles to be discarded in the recyclable trash bin.

“Eliah, could you please make me three cups of coffee?” Jax asks me when I'm staring at him, which catches me off guard.

“Ahh okay. Just wait for me here,” I said as I walked into the kitchen.

“Wake up, dad, and let's go inside. Mom is already waiting for you,” Jax said to uncle Richard, who had fallen asleep with his head bowed on the table.

“Dad, wake up!” Jax said it again as he turned his father's head to face him.

“Dad, I'm going to carry you now and put you on the couch,” Jax said to his father, who is still unconscious from the many bottles of beer he drank.

"I had no idea he was such a loving son; when I first met him, I assumed he was just an arrogant guy born to annoy and bother me. Or, to put it another way, he is someone who doesn't care if he hurts the feelings of others and is only concerned with himself. However, when I look at him now, all of these thoughts have faded and been replaced by positive thoughts about him. “The adage "first impressions don't last" is true because I believe now,” I thought as I held the tray of three cups of coffee.

“Oh, you're there. Could you please put the tray on the table for a moment and open the door for us?” Jax asked, assisting the unconscious uncle Richard to walk.

I clean up the strewn-across-the-couch shambles and place some pillows on uncle Richard's head. I went upstairs to get a blanket as well. As I watched him put a blanket over his sleeping dad, I was struck by how loving he is to him.

“I had no idea you were that kind of loving to uncle,” I said as we walked back to the garden to fetch uncle Charles and uncle Criz who are still sleeping because of drunkenness.

“Why? Is it because of the sweet gesture I did towards Dad?” Jax replied with a smile.

“Yeah, because I just thought that even if uncle isn't your biological father, you care for him as if he is,” I replied, smiling back at him.

“Yes, because he cares about me, my mom, and my sibling. He is a person to admire because of the extraordinary love he has for me; even though we are not blood relatives, he doesn't love me like that. He loves me as if I were his real son,” he explained as he sat on the table's edge for a few moments.

“Oh, that's exactly who uncle is. When he loves someone, he pours his heart out. He doesn't give scraps, but the whole thing,” I replied, sitting beside him but not as close as you might think.

“Oh, I think we're getting closer ‘coz you're starting to treat me nicely now. So, are we now friends?” Jax asked as he stood from his seat to confront me.

I'm taken aback as he looks at me intently.

“No, we are not. I couldn't forgive you because of what you did to me at the airport,” I said boldly as I pushed him away from me.

“What? I thought you'd forgiven me all this time?” Jax asked, laughing in a silly way.

“Forgive you? No way!” I said as I walked over to the green leafy wall to remove the decoration.

“But, why?” Jax asked as he followed me.

“You know, Jax, I can't forgive someone who can’t apologize for what he has done. I know it was my mistake to believe your lie, but I believe you should still apologize for lying in front of me. Have you forgotten that I was the one who apologized to you this morning at the dining table?” I said as I stopped removing the decoration on the wall.

Jax suddenly gets silent as I continue what I am doing.

“Ok, fine. I'm sorry,” Jax said abruptly as he held my hand.

“I'm sorry because I lied and tricked you. I know I was wrong for doing that. Can you now forgive me?” Jax explained and asked me.

I was shocked by what he did. He held my hand, and that moment was frozen. I'm at a loss for words because my heart is racing so fast that it seems to be speaking louder than my mind.

“Yeah, you're now forgiven,” I just said as I released his grip on my hand.

“Thank you Eliah!” Jax uttered.

“Hey! You two, what are you doing here?” yelled the drunk uncle Charles as he approached us from the table.

“Is this your boyfriend, Eliah?” Are you hurting my dearest niece?” uncle Charles looked to Jax and asked, standing in the middle of us.

“No uncle, he’s not. You're just drunk. Let's go inside now before you get knocked down,” I told uncle Charles as I cradled him in my shoulders due to his drunkenness.

“No, I'm not drunk. I am just asking this guy,” uncle Charles insisted, staggering down.

“You, you can't hurt my niece because she is our princess and she is precious to us, Under--?” uncle Charles yelled to Jax before he couldfinish his sentence.

Uncle Charles fell on the ground.

“Oh my gosh, uncle!” I uttered as I tried to wake up uncle Charles.

“Uncle Charles, uncle Charles, wake up!” I said, slowly slapping his face.

“Don't wake him up, Eliah; I'll just carry him. Open the door for us wide open, just like what we did to Dad,” Jax said, offering help.

“Okay, okay,” I said as I dashed to the door to open it.

As soon as we finished carrying uncle Charles and putting him in his bed, we went to fetch uncle Criz and put him in his bed as well. But before we went to bed, Jax and I decided to clean up the remaining mess around, wash the dishes, and put everything back in its place.

“Finally, we're done!” I said, feeling tired but satisfied.

“Yeah, it's so tiring. I've worked all day even though I haven't gotten over my jet lag,” Jax said.

“All right, let's go now. Let's go to bed!” I invited Jax as I stepped my feet on the stairs.

“Let's go!” he exclaimed, seconding the motion.

“But wait, I remember I have something to say,” I said abruptly, calling Jax once more.

“What is it?” Jax faced me again and asked.

"I just want to say sorry about what uncle Charles did earlier. I saw you looking so shocked because of the commotion he did, I apologized." I explained.

"No problem, Eliah. I think your uncle just really wanted me to be your boyfriend," Jax jokes.

“No way, you're so arrogant! Tse!” I responded.

“Good night, Eliah; I'll see you in your dreams,” he said, pinching my nose again.