MIA

Mia opened her eyes groggily as she clumsily reached for her mobile phone that was sitting on her bedside table.

She lazily typed in her 4 digit password and bright light momentarily blinded her. She opened one eye and squinted to see the time.

7:12 am.

Who freaking wakes up before 9am on a Saturday morning?

" Mia! " She heard the banging on her door again, the same pounding that woke her up minutes earlier.

She groaned and covered herself with her comforters. She was not a late riser but neither was she an early riser. And it seemed unholy to be waking up at 7am on a weekend. No, she was not going to get up. She was going to enjoy a few more hours of slumber.

" Maria Amelia Sebastian! " Melissa shouted in a shrill voice. " I swear I am going to break down this door if you won't open up!"

Mia moaned as she threw the covers away. " What do you want? " she grumbled loudly.

" Open up! "

Mia sighed and grudgingly climbed out of bed. She didn't know what could be so important that couldn't wait for another hour or two. Slipping into her bedroom slippers, Mia walked to the door and opened it.

" Good morning! " Melissa said in a chirpy voice. She was wearing her workout clothes with an apron tied around her waist. She was holding a frying pan in one hand as she looked at her cheerfully. " Breakfast is ready!"

" That's it? " Mia looked at her incredulously. " You woke me up just for that? "

" Don't think you're the only one, " Marco muttered as he walked behind Melissa and headed towards the kitchen. Mia didn't need to guess that Melissa pulled him out of bed too.

Ever since Melissa started taking culinary lessons a few days ago, she'd been enthusiastically cooking their meals. She'd even been preparing them lunch and packing them up they like they were some grade schooler.

Mia didn't really mind, Melissa was quite the chef. She has always been fond of cooking even when they were in high school. Marco, however, was another story. He didn't mind eating what Melissa cooked at home but he refused to take any lunch boxes with him.

" Come on! " Melissa grabbed her hand and practically dragged her to the dining table.  

Melissa had already set the plates and the utensils in place. She even added some white napkins folded in what seem to look like a... bird?

Marco was already seated on his usual place, at her left side, sharing the same sleepy expression that she has on her face.

Melissa hummed as she stood between her siblings pouring freshly brewed coffee on each of their cups. She placed the half empty pot at the center of the table before heading to the kitchen. She then came back with two plates and placed each one in front of them.

Mia's eyes widened and the smell of blueberry pancakes woke her senses up. Melissa had stacked 4 pancakes on top of each plates, poured over blueberry syrup which Mia believed to be homemade. She added some whipped cream and garnished it with several pieces of blueberry.

" Fuck, " Marco said as he started cutting the pancakes into four. " I do not mind waking up to this!"

Mia dug in her plate and took a forkful of the pancakes in her mouth. She has to hand it to her sister. This was better than Ihop.

They ate in silence afterwards and it took two cups of coffee before Melissa finally dropped the bomb.

There has to be a reason why they were woken up too early on a Saturday morning. Mia thought wryly. And fed with a hearty breakfast.

" So I'm going out tonight, " Melissa said nonchalantly as she sipped her second cup of coffee. She looked at Mia as if pleading to support her.

Uh-oh. Mia thought in alarm. Melissa can ask her any favor but this. Not this again.

She looked at her brother for any reaction.

Marco was reading the newspaper and it covered his entire face. He turned the page but didn't say anything.

" Vince will pick me up at 8, " Melissa continued.

Still no reaction from Marco.

Melissa moved her hand in front of her as if gesturing for Mia to say more.

What? She mouthed questioningly.

Say something! Melissa mouthed back and nodded her head towards Marco.

What did she want her to say? Mia thought. She knew that dating was one topic Marco was allergic to.

Melissa glared at her and nodded her head vigorously this time, towards Marco.

Okay, fine.

" That's interesting, Iz " Mia said at last. Melissa rolled her eyes at her and continued to give her that look.

Hell, what was she supposed to say?

She hasn't even met Vince. She only knew him through Melissa's stories. Who knew what the guy was really like and what he was capable of.

But she knew how important this was to Iza, judging on how she went into the trouble of preparing them that big breakfast.

Might as well back her up.

" I think Vince is a nice guy, " Mia tried again, her words sounding alien to her eyes.

Melissa grinned at her.

" He is, " Melissa chimed in smiling at Mia gratefully. " We plan to watch the latest Avengers movie. Heard it went box office during its first weekend of release."

" That's cool, " Mia said.

She loved Avengers and has been wanting to watch the latest sequel. Mia liked this guy already.

" Can I come? "

Melissa gave her a sharp kick underneath the table.

" Oowww!"

Mia frowned and glared at her sister.

Geez, can't she take a joke?

Next time, she was just going to shut her mouth and let Melissa handle her drama.

Marco put the paper down and looked at Mia disapprovingly.

" No, " Marco said. " You're not watching any Avengers movie tonight. You're coming with me to the Open House party."

Mia shrugged at her brother.

It was just her third week in town so it wasn't like she already had Saturday night plans.

Melissa's face brightened when she heard this.

" Great! " she exclaimed as she clasped her hands together. " That's settled then. The two of you can go to the party and I would be watching a movie and probably grabbing coffee with Vince after!"

Marco narrowed his eyes and Mia already knew that Melissa's plans tonight were not going to happen.

" Mia's not going to the movie with you because you're not going anywhere with Vince Morales," he told her as a matter-of-factly.

Melissa pocketed her smile and folded her arms across her chest. " Why not? " she challenged.

" Because you're coming to the party with us, " Marco said evenly, unblinking.

" I'm not going to that party! " Melissa said hotly.

" Well, you are, " Marco shot back.

" Why don't you approve of Vince? What has he ever done to you? "

" Vince is a two-timing bastard. I asked around about him. " Marco said tightly. " And I am sure you don't want a repeat of what happened the last time."

" That's not fair. You don't even know Vince! " Melissa cried indignantly. " And in case it suddenly slipped your mind, Alfred and I are history. I'm way over that. "

" Well I'm fucking not! " Marco growled, his eyes blazing in fury.

Marco was referring to Melissa's ex- boyfriend, Alfred Samaniego, who happened to be one of Marco's friends, or so he thought.

The asshole cheated on Melissa and broke her heart. But he just didn't break her heart. He broke her, too. Real bad.

After the break up, Melissa, who was one of the smartest girls in her class, failed almost all of her subjects that semester. She didn't have much energy for anything those days and spent most of her time in her room, crying over the two-timing bastard. She was on sleeping pills and anti-depressants for almost a year.

" You can't tell me what to do, " Melissa clenched her teeth in anger. " You're not dad."

Marco pushed his chair away from the table. Mia cringed at the sound of wood screeching against the marble floor.

Her brother placed his palms on the table top and leaned his face towards Melissa's.

Mia held her breath as she watched the two of them silently.

" Watch me, " Marco snarled.

With that, he strode out of the room and slammed his bedroom door shut.

So much for a quiet Saturday morning, Mia thought to herself.

It wasn't exactly the first time that she'd seen them fight. They fight every now and then, like what normal brother and sister do. But it gets especially heated when when it comes to boys. And Mia couldn't blame Marco at all.

More than anyone in the family, Marco was the one who saw Melissa broke down. He was the one who saw how much she suffered when she broke things off with Alfred. He was the one who rushed her to the hospital when she refused to eat for two weeks. He was the one whom Melissa cried on to every night when he woke her up from her nightmares.

Mia couldn't blame him at all.

" He's so unreasonable, " Melissa grumbled from her seat. She blew out a breath and stared at the ceiling. " I hate it when he becomes this overprotective."

Mia just folded her arms across her chest as she looked at her sister quietly.

" What? " Melissa looked at her in annoyance. " Just say it. It doesn't really make much of a difference now."

" You couldn't really blame him, Iz, " Mia told her bluntly. " You were a mess when things ended with Alfred. "

Melissa opened her mouth to say something then closed it. After a while, she gave a heavy sigh. " I wasn't a pretty sight, was I? " she admitted.

" You were horrible! " Mia exclaimed. " Did you see yourself in the mirror back then? You were hideous. You looked like Helena Bonham Carter when she played Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Pottery movie, only you look more awful than she did. At least she had-"

" Stop, " Melissa held out a hand to her younger sister. " I get it. "

Mia shut up and shrugged. It was true. She did look really awful during that phase in her life. For a while there, Mia even thought that Melissa was sick or dying.

Mia heard Melissa sigh again. She watched her stand up to clear the table. Her shoulders were slumped in defeat.

She knew Melissa would not dare defy Marco. She had never defied him and she wouldn't dare to now especially after seeing how angry he had been.

Mia shook her head as she stood up and helped Melissa wash the dishes. Mia suddenly wondered how Marco would be like if someone did ask her out. She was certain that it wouldn't be pretty. She knew how stubborn she could be and how she shared Marco's hot-temperedness.

She knew that she would not take things the way that Melissa did. Marco and she seldom had fights. They almost never fight. But she recalled one major fight when she was in high school when they almost burned the house down with their rage. Mia recalled not speaking to Marco for a month until he apologized.

Mia glanced at Melissa beside her who was soaping the dishes vigorously. She still looked pretty pissed off.

She nudged her. " Hey, " she grinned at her crookedly. " Think of it this way. At least, we can do a sisters bonding over The Avengers. What do you say?"

Melissa didn't reply right away. She rinsed the soap off the last plate and placed it on the dish rack before turning to her.

" One day Mia, you will fall in love, " Melissa told her quietly. " And Marco will be there telling you not to. And when that happens, then you'd understand."

She wiped her hand with the kitchen towel and headed to her room leaving Mia looking after her.

Well, if she was going to fall in love, she will definitely not let Marco interfere. Mia told herself silently.

She heard of his golden rule. Who wouldn't? It was all that he talked about after Alfred and Melissa's break up.

If he ever imposed that damned rule on her, there will for sure be war. She was not going to sit down and accept that rule just because he said so.

He is her older brother, yes. But it doesn't mean he can tell her what to do.

When and if she falls in love and Marco comes barging in with his pathetic rules, she will tell him off and buy him a rope so he can bungee jump his issues away.

Mia vowed as she walked to the living room and switched on the TV.