When the Stars Lead to You

"No, you have to stay here, Maya. To where I can see you." I pouted because of what mommy told me. I wanted to play outside our house lang naman eh. Besides, the village we live in, is full of security! "But mommy..." I pouted more. Tinignan ko si daddy but he just looked at mommy too. "I said no, my love. You can play here," sabi ni mommy and kissed my forehead. "Daddy..." paghingi ko ng tulong sa daddy ko but he just smiled at me and kissed my cheek before going with mommy inside the kitchen. I groaned and played with my dolls na lang in our living room. I didn't have any siblings, so I had no people to play with. My only cousin, Katalina, lives far from us so I had no one to play with at the moment. "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" the voice from the tv sang. "Spongebob square pants!" I answered him. I started singing about that na hindi ko napansing may mga tao na pala na nakapasok sa bahay. When I looked back, I saw my mommy's girl friends... with kids... like me! Mommy's friends are her friends since they were kids too. That's what she told me. Friends! New friends! "Come here, Maya. Your tita's are here," tawag ni mommy sa akin. Tuwang tuwa naman akong binitbit ang doll ko at lumapit sa kanila. "Hello po! Good morning!" I waved at them. "Aw, hello, my love." Tita Reina smiled at me. "Ohmygosh, she's so big na!" tita Seanna chuckled and hugged me tight. Muntik na tuloy akong hindi makahinga. "Hello, Maya," tita Leona only smiled at me and ruffled my hair. "Maya, these are your tita's daughters. These are Sienna, Rain, and Veronika," turo niya sa mga bata. I tilted my head slightly to the right while observing them. Sienna, I saw her in some kids' magazine. I get that because tita Seanna is a model. Rain, on the other hand was jumping all over the place like she had all the energy in the world. Veronika was the most silent one. Just silently hugging her teddy bear tightly. "New friends?" umangat ang tingin ko kay mommy. She smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear. She hummed. "New friends." That day, I learned that Sienna was in third grade as well as Rain. A year older than me. Veronika on the other hand, was the youngest but only a few months younger than me. Rain's like a ball of sunshine, completely opposite of Veronika, who was the shy one. Nanonood lang siya ng tv. Sienna is like a little fashionista. "Anong gusto mong panoorin?" tanong ko kay Veronika na nakaupo lang sa couch. Tinignan niya naman ako na parang takang taka siya sa pinag sasabi ko. "She doesn't understand tagalog," Sienna informed me. "Oh," I remarked. "What cartoons would you like to watch?" I asked her. Mommy doesn't allow me to watch other movies except for cartoons. She said I'm still not big enough for adult movies. "That's fine," nahihiya niyang tugon sa akin. "Just tell me if you don't like it, okay? Do you want to play with us?" I asked her because I don't want her to feel lonely. Kanina pa kami naglalaro ni Sienna and Rain with my dolls. I don't know why but I got sad when she shook her head and turned her attention to the tv, completely ignoring me. Maybe because she doesn't talk much, and I want her to play with us. But it's okay. We still have a lot of time to play. "I have a crush on this guy on my school. He plays basketball and he's my classmate," sabi ni Sienna. "Aren't you too young to have a crush?" Rain asked her and ate some apples. "What's a crush?" I asked them. Nakakain ba 'yun? Sienna held both of her arms to my shoulder at hinarap ako sa kaniya. "A crush is like a person that inspires you," she told me. So na inspire siya sa classmate niyang basketball player? "Do you have a crush now, Maya?" tanong ni Rain na tinanguan naman ni Sienna. "No," umiling ako. I have no one to talk about. I didn't like my classmates because they won't talk to me. I even tried making friends with them once, the locked me inside the comfort room. Friends don't do that to each other. That's bad. "You, do you have a crush?" tanong ko kay Rain. Umiling naman siya. "No, I don't like boys." "Girls?" tanong ni Sienna. Right, daddy taught me about that. That two people on the same gender can love each other too, and that is a beautiful thing. "No." Finally, I got to play with Veronika after that but not too long because they had to go home. I got sad but tita's promised me to bring my friends here again the next time. "Bye!" I waved until I couldn't see their cars in the driveway anymore. "Did you had fun with your new friends?" tanong ni daddy habang kalong kalong ako. Nanonood kami ngayon ng moana inside their bedroom. Kakatapos lang niya ako paliguan and was now brushing my hair. Tumango ako. "Yes! I had fun with my friends." Tumango ako and it made dad smile. "I love you, Maya," he whispered and kissed my hair. I giggled, still watching Moana, but my attention was to what my dad said. "I love you, daddy." After my hair dried, I slept with my mommy and daddy. I get so happy when I'm sleeping with them because... I just love them so much. "Maya, juskong bata! Bakit ang bilis mo magpatakbo?!" nagpapanic na sigaw ni manang habang nagbabike ako. Tumatawa namana ko habang sinusubukan niya akong habulin. Manang was here even before I was born. I think she's already with us when my mom was in high school. "Hina niyo po tumakbo!" sigaw ko pabalik at mas binilisan pa ang pagbabike. Because of that, I didn't see the rock on the road kaya ay natumba ako paalis sa bike. I think I scratched my knee, but I acted like I got unconscious. "Maya!" rinig kong sigaw ni manang. "Maya, gumising ka ngang bata ka, jusko, mamamatay ako ng maaga dahil sayo. Maya!" inalog alog niya ako. "Boo!" gulat ko kay manang and she screamed when she saw me, alive. Tawang tawa naman ako sa mukha ni manang nung dumilat ako. "Batang 'to! Tumaas yata ang dugo ko!" she said and held her chest at uminom ng tubig. I blinked several times. I grinned widely after that at sumakay nanaman sa bike ko at pinatakbo ito palayo kay manang. "Maya! Jusko, mana ka nga sa katigasan ng ulo ng mommy mo!" rinig kong sigaw niya bago ako habulin ulit. I laughed at that. Everywhere we go, people always tell us that I look like my father. It's true, I look really like the carbon copy of my father. Parang si daddy lang na nilagyan ng buhok. But then, people who really knows us, always says that I got my personality from my mother. Makulit. When I got home, I didn't expect my parents to be at home this early kaya ay wala na akong chance pang itago 'yung sugat ko kanina sa bike. "What happened to your knee, my love?" agarang tanong ni daddy sa akin nung makita niya ang sugat ko. Hindi pa nga niya natatanggal iyong lab coat niya. "Omg! Your elbows too!" gulat na sabi ni mommy. Nakasuot pa siya ng office attire niya kaya mukhang bagong dating pa talaga sila. "I fell... from the bike," I nervously smiled to my dad. Daddy sighed and asked mom to get the first aid kit. He looked like he was stressed all of the sudden. "Daddy... I'm sorry..." nagsimula na akong humikbi nung makita ko ang alcohol na dala ni mommy. Hindi naman ako takot sa mga magulang ko because they don't scold me for doing things like a kid should do at their age. Takot lang talaga ako sa alcohol. "It's okay, my love. I'm not mad," umiling si daddy and put on gloves before treating my wound. "Araaayy!" my voice echoed inside our house when dad cleaned my wound. "Shh... let daddy treat your wound so it doesn't get infected," mommy hushed me and hugged me. "I'm so sorry, my love," paghingi ng tawad ni daddy. "There, it's done. It's that fast, right?" He smiled at me before nilagyan ng bandage iyong tuhod at siko ko. Hindi pa rin ako tumigil sa paghikbi kaya ay binigyan ako ni manang ng tubig. She smiled at me. Siguro sinabi nya na 'maybe if you didn't run away from me, hindi ka iiyak iyak ngayon'. I pouted and drank all the water from the cup. Maybe this is my karma for making manang almost having a heart attack. "Bye, daddy. I love you." I kissed dad cheeks and turned to mommy. "Bye bye, mommy. I love you." I also kissed her cheek before getting out of the car. Dad waved at me when he and mommy drove away nung nakapasok na ako sa gate with manang. Kumaway din ako kay manang nung naglakad na ako to my classroom. Guardians are not allowed to go inside kasi and told to wait in the waiting area. My classmates were noisy when I got there. They were playing, jumping around, sitting on the tables, and some were even drawing things on our 'draw wall'. Umupo nalang ako on my seat quietly because I didn't want my classmates to pick a fight with me again. I didn't want my parents to be called in the school because the last time that my parents were called because I got locked inside the comfort room, dad almost sued the parents of my classmates. "What happened to your elbow?" masungit na tanong nung isa kong classmate, si Anne. "Ah, I fell from the bike," I shifted uncomfortably and tried to hide my bandages. "You must be stupid," she remarked and left me alone. I blinked many times as I follow to watch her around. She called me stupid. Why did she call me that? I decided to walk up to her. "Anne, why did you call me stupid?" mahina kong tanong sa kaniya. She looked up to me and slammed her pencil on the chair harshly. It made me wince a little. Bakit siya galit kaagad? "Because you are!" she spat. "I'm not stupid. Not to boast but I'm the top 1 of our class," I can't help but to tell her. Narinig ko iyan na sinabi sa akin ni daddy. there was this one time he was teaching me science homework, I told myself I was stupid, but he told me I wasn't because I was the top 1 of the class. "I hate you!" she stood up and pushed me. Because of that, I fell to the ground and hit my back on the chair sa likod ko. "You, hurt me!" tumayo ako kaagad and pulled her hair. She seemed to be caught off guard because she fell on the ground as well. Our classmates were surrounding us and cheering us on. She pulled my hair back and I pulled her hair too. "Let go of me!" she screamed. "Let go of me first!" I angrily told her. I was confident to hurt her because I know I wouldn't be in trouble. Siya ang nauna! She should learn the word karma! And she will learn that from me! "Ms. Araneta, Ms. Lorenzo!" hindi pa din kami natigil sa pagsasabunutan even after our teacher called our surnames. On the drive home, tahimik lang ako. It was mommy who picked me up from school because he was the one who's free. Buti nga at si mommy ang nakaalam! Dad will threaten to sue again if ever! "What happened, Maya?" mom asked me using her serious voice. "She called me stupid and then pushed me, then I pulled her hair and then we were all over the place, mommy." Bagot kong sagot kay mommy at humalukipkip. I mean, did I lie? "Very good baby, don't let other people push you around, okay? Fight back if ever you need to," she smiled at me and pinched my cheek. Habang pauwi kami ng bahay, I noticed that there were new people beside and in front of our house. Mukhang nag aayos ng mga gamit. "Mommy, who are these people?" I asked her and picked outside the window. "They must be the Nachtnebel's," she answered me. "They come back here every other week to look at the progress of their house. Me and your dad get to talk to them once and invited them for dinner later tonight. New neighbors. Though their family owns the village." They own the village?! That's cool! they must be rich rich! I hope there's a kid my age again so we can play every day! Later that day, I asked daddy to pick a dress that I should wear for our dinner tonight. "You want this pink one, or the red one?" tanong ni daddy and handed me the two dresses. Nakapulupot lang ang towel sa akin dito sa may kama while staring at the dresses. "Itong pink nalang, daddy." Tinuro ko ang pink dress ko na may flower designs. Dad helped me put on my dress and combed my hair. He left it wet pero naglagay nung pink clip on my hair with diamonds in it. Tita Seanna gave it to me. After we got ready, sakto naman sumigaw na si mommy that our visitors are here. "I'll get it, my love," dad said to mommy and got the door. Sumunod naman ako sa kaniya and held on to his pants. "Good evening. Come in." "Wow, your house is beautiful!" a woman, around mommy's age, said. It looks like she's with her husband and their kid. "Thank you, for having us," the man said. "My wife designed it," dad smiled and shrugged. "We should hire your wife to design our house too," tumawa pa ang isang babae habang hawak hawak ang dalawang kids. One girl and one boy. The boy looks so shy, though. Tinitigan ko lang siya kahit nagtama ang paningin namin. "Daddy, his eyes are blue!" I exclaimed at tinuro iyong bata habang naglalakad kami papunta sa dining. "Don't point your finger to him, anak," puna ni daddy and held my finger down. "And your eyes are green," the mommy of the boy said and chuckled after. "I'm sorry, he can't talk." "Why? Doesn't he have a tongue po?" I asked her. Nakita ko namang natawa siya. "Maya," dad muttered and I pouted. I just asked. The woman chuckled. "He can't talk because something happened to him in the past and he got trauma because of that." Suddenly, I felt sad for the boy. But then again, I felt happy for myself. Why? Because I know I'll help him. I'll help him talk until he's ready and be my friend.