Holding on to His Promises

Chapter 11: It's in their Blood

From the window of the bedroom, I saw a white van arrived. Teenagers who were just my age hopped out of it. A man and woman who were from the driver seat and passenger seat also got out of the van. I guessed they were Dylan's relatives.

I went out of my room and looked for Storm and Kirby. Saktong sakto nang patungo ako ng kwarto nila, niluwa sila ng pinto.

"Hey, Dylan. You have guests outside," I told him.

He looked surprised. "Those are my cousins," he said with a smile and then walked past me, heading the living room. Kirby and I followed him.

"Did you meet them already?" Kirby asked me.

"Not yet," I said.

Naabutan namin sa living room na masayang nagkukumustahan ang mga bisita roon kasama sina Lolo Max, Tito Travis at Tita Thalia.

"Storm!" Storm's cousins happily approached him. The three ladies there hugged him while the four guys just did fist bumps with him. When they noticed me and Kirby, their eyes turned on us. "Who are them, Storm?" The guy who had long hair just below the chin asked. He looked like a rock star but he was so cool though. He was good looking like Storm. Well, all Storm's cousins were good looking. I thought it was in their blood.

"That's Kirby and Demi. They are my childhood friends. We're always having vacation here, especially during Christmas vacation," Storm said.

He just nodded his head and then walked away to wander around the mansion. He didn't even mind to introduce himself to us. Kalahi rin pala 'to ni Storm. Suplado.

"He's Brayden Dandridge," the guy next to Storm said. I stared at him and I was surprised that he looked like the long haired guy whom he introduced. "And I'm Braydon Dandridge. We're twins." He smiled, and that made him look kind and gentleman unlike his twin. They had different hairstyle. That was why I hadn't noticed earlier that they were twins. Brayden had long hair while Breydon had fringe hairstyle. I guessed they were older than me.

"Is she your partner in your prom night?" the girl with blonde hair asked Storm. She was beautiful but looked like a brat.

"Yeah."

"Oh . . ." She looked at me from head to toe. "I'm Mandy Finn," she introduced herself, offering her flawless hand with cocked brow.

"Demi Frances." I gave her my sweetest smile as I accepted her hand and shook it. Her eyes squinted because of my kindness.

She later turned her eyes on Kirby. "How about you?"

"Kirby Perez."

The other two guys also introduced themselves to us. Sean Montano, the guy who always wore playful smile on his lips. Alexander Colmenares, the young one; I guessed he was just 12 years old. The other ladies' names were Juddith and Wren. They were Mandy's sisters. Parents pala nila ang mag-asawa na kasama nilang dumating dito.

Their names didn't bear "Ramirez" as their surname because their mothers were the Ramirez. Lolo Max's children were all girls.

I couldn't say that Storm's cousins were all nice, because most of them weren't that nice, especially the girls. Magtataka pa ba ako kung bakit ganito kasungit si Dylan? Hay! It's in their blood.

***

We were now eating snacks in the living room while watching movie. All the boys were occupying the wooden sofa.

"Why don't you join them?" Storm told me when he noticed that I was distant from his girl cousins. They were taking pictures outside the mansion.