THE DICTATOR'S GRANDSON(RANCH SERIES)

TWO | LIES

CHAPTER 2

IT’S 5:30 am and everyone is already wide awake. Well, my family is quite an early bird, you won’t see them getting out of bed at 8 am. They probably finished all their house chores by that time and were thinking of other things to fix.

“What do you want for breakfast?” Mama asked me.

“Just light breakfast, Ma, by the way where is Ryse?”

“She went for a jog, will be back around 6:30 am, why?” she asked while preparing a sandwich.

“Nothing, I just want to ask about a certain surname if she ever bumps into me.”

She turned to me, “What surname?” she asked.

“De Marco”

“Uhm, n-no, I-I don’t know any De Marco in town. It’s not even familiar to me.” She replied.

“Okay, but Mama, can you please wrap up for me? I will be eating that on my way to school. I need to catch up with my new friends”, I said while walking on my way to my room.

If you’re asking about my father, well, he’s with his 1st family. But he is married to my Mama, so that makes us a legal family. I have two half-brothers and they are very kind, especially their mom. We don’t hold any grudge towards them because, technically, my Mama and Papa are an arranged marriage. And it's not my story to tell.

I have music playing on both ears, a book to start and a nice spot to stay before my classes start. What a day to start my 2nd day as a freshman.

Someone covered my eyes from behind. I immediately smacked its hand and scooted over. “HEY!” I shouted while glaring on him. It’s no other than the Alexandre De Marco “the great”.

“Hi! Good morning to you too.” He said while smiling at me.

“My morning is not good because I saw someone who was not good. Why do you keep on following me?

“ I asked.

“You do not have any idea? Any familiarity? My name, surname, nickname, this face?” He asked.

“I’m sorry but there isn’t, you must have mistaken me for someone. I am new here on my hometown.”

“Elaaa!” Grace and Jia shouted as they approached me.

Alexandre turned his way and sat at the table full of boys. I saw a slight disappointment in his eyes, but rather than asking about it I just shrugged it off. I didn’t even know him. I might as well ask those girls running towards me.

“Hii!” I said and kissed their cheeks.

“Did you already have your breakfast?” Grace asks while getting something inside her bag.

“Not yet, but I have my sandwich inside my bag. How about you?”

“I’m starving!” Grace said.

“You should thank me because I brought 3 sandwiches. We should eat now because my 1st class is 7 am. What about yours, Ela?” Jia said.

“Same 7 am and that is 15 minutes from now.” I answered.

“So, I will be the one who’s staying here until 8:30 am. I’ll just go to the library and borrow some books,” Grace said.

“I just want to ask you about someone.”

“Who?” Jia asked.

“Do you know the guy who I was talking to earlier?” I asked while eyeing them for answers.

“Oh! The ‘Alexandre De Marco’?” Grace asked.

“Yeah! He is.”

“Well, did you not know that he is the first born of Alexandre Jaime De Marco Jr., 3rd grandson of the late Don Alexandre Jaime De Marco Sr.” Jia said while giving me some gestures and ‘what-the-f**k-look.

“He is related to 10 De Marco’s in town. They have a 50/50 bad and good reputation. Every weekend they have a party, booze, girls and boys, but they excel with their studies. Some of them are in Engineering, Medicine, Law, Business, and Agriculture courses.” Grace explained after eating her sandwich.

“Oh, how did you know this information about them? Are you a stalker or a member of some sort of a fan club?” I asked teasingly.

“Of course not! We have been schoolmates since grade school. Everyone knows basic information about them. Like all of their relatives are government officials, maybe it is distant cousins, aunties, and uncles” Grace said definitely.

“Okay, fine. But seriously, do you think he has something about me?” I asked.

“Well, that De Marco hasn’t been in a serious relationship ever since. He had been linked with girls but not in terms of committed relationship things. That’s all I can say,” Jia answered.

“Okay, by the way, I need to go. I have class in 5 minutes. See you around girls!” I hurriedly said and, made my way to my class.

I was so close to the door when suddenly someone came before me to open it. Almost everyone turned to us, maybe because the door was opened suddenly.

I don’t know him, but someone patted my shoulder. I was startled a little bit and looked at who it was. It's no better than the ‘freaking’ De Marco.

“The hell?! What is it this time?” I asked and detached his hand from my shoulder.

“I just want to say sorry; it was one of my cousins who bumped into you,” he said.

“Okay, I’ll go inside, our Prof is coming.” I answered.

I'm already looking for a seat but the only thing left is the one next to De Marco's cousin. “Is this seat taken?”

“No, you can take it,” he said.

It was a good seat though, because it is beside the window, I could see the open field from there and students walking by. I took a deep breath and began listening to whatever our professor might discuss.

“Okay class, we will be having an introduction first since it's our first time meeting each other,” our professor said.

“Yes ma’am”, we said in unison.

“This will be the format. First you will think of an adjective that starts with the first letter of your name and that best describes yourself. For example, since my name starts with the letter V, I’ll pick vital.” the Professor explained.

“Next is where do you live, hobbies, and why did you choose that adjective? Understood?”

“Yes Ms.” we answered.

“Hi, I am Vital Victorina Tuazon, I live in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte. My hobbies are studying, reading, and working. Vital because I am important, I shouldn’t be the second option. I am as important as you, so don’t settle for someone that will give you less.”

Our block mates started to introduce themselves in front. Someone patted my shoulder and I immediately looked at who it was.

“Hi, I’m Christopher Daennielle De Marco, Niel for short. I am sorry about earlier. Are you a friend of AJ's?” my seatmate whispered.

“Hi! Its okay, no biggie. I’m Mikaela Denysse Alejandro, just call me Ela. I’m not friends with your cousin, he’s just a walking annoying man for me.” I whispered back.

By the way, my first class is Intro to Cruise Line. To answer your question, yes, I am a hospitality student with a specialization in Cruise Line Operations in Hotel Services.

‘I choose this course because I want to travel while earning blah blah blah…’ I heard this line so many times, but for me, I choose this course because I wanted to, there are many opportunities on board. I can have my own freedom, save a lot without depending on my inheritance if there’s any, and most especially it comes from my hard work.

“Next”, our Prof said.

I immediately stood in front, “Good morning, I am Malleable Mikaela Denysse Alejandro. I am from Cavite, but now I live with my grandfather who resides in San Juan. My hobbies are reading books, watching series, and baking. Malleable because I am adaptable to changes and easy to be molded. Thank you.”

After two hours, we proceeded to our next subject, which was Art Appreciation. I don’t do art. I hate it. I don’t have talent for it but my sister has.

I was saved from this subject because the Professor was suddenly called for a meeting. I guess I have to stay at the cafeteria for 4 hrs.