"Brother," she called softly.
He looked at her, clearly waiting for what she was about to say.
I know I did something wrong to him earlier, she thought, swallowing hard before finally speaking.
"I'm sorry about earlier," she blurted out.
He let out a deep sigh. "I know you were carried away by frustration over a mistake you didn't even commit, but… to use my signature just to skip school without me knowing—" He sighed again, shaking his head.
"Don't ever do that again." His tone was calm, almost like a reminder rather than anger.
All she could do was nod.
"I'm really sorry," she repeated quietly.
He ruffled her hair with a small smile.
"What time are you meeting with Ciel tomorrow?" he asked.
She scratched her head. "Eight-thirty a.m.," was all she could answer.
"Then you better sleep. You'll need to wake up early."
"You'll come with me, right?" she asked, her voice a little hopeful.
He chuckled softly.
"Yeah, don't worry. I'm not really busy tomorrow."
She smiled and nodded, then quickly went upstairs to her room.
The next morning, even though she was still sleepy, she woke up early. She had to be at Cielo's house on time. If not, he'd eat her alive.
Her brother went with her to the Villanuevas' house—it was her first time there. She already knew the address, and it was easy to find, but still, she felt safer having him with her.
Wow… she thought, staring in awe as they arrived. Her brother rang the doorbell, and it was Cielo's older brother who opened the gate.
"Come in, come in," he greeted with a smile.
"I just came to drop her off. She's helping Cielo with the output she ruined yesterday," Chris explained.
Julie stayed quiet, guilt pressing in again. I really didn't mean for that to happen… she told herself.
"Oh, I see. He mentioned last night that you'd be visiting," Dave said.
As they entered, Julie's eyes wandered all around. Wow… this place is huge. More like a mansion, she thought, completely amazed. She kept turning her head left and right, taking in every detail.
Dave chuckled softly at her reaction. "It's been a long time since you've been here. You were so young the last time you visited; maybe that's why you don't remember much."
She nodded. Now that he mentioned it, a few places did feel familiar.
"You're on time."
The voice made her turn, and there was Cielo, looking straight at her.
She simply nodded back.
"Come on. We'll do the project in my room—I already gathered the materials," he said.
Julie leaned toward her brother. "I'll follow him now… or he'll eat me alive," she whispered.
Her brother and Dave both laughed at her words.
She quickly followed Cielo upstairs.
Inside his room, she immediately noticed the shelves stacked with books.
Wow… she thought again.
"You have so many books. Are these all yours?" she asked.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Can I borrow one?"
"Later, when we're done. I didn't know you liked reading? You couldn't even be bothered to read the handbook," he teased.
"That's because it was just the handbook," she defended.
He handed her some materials.
"Follow this outline. I started the arts project last night but didn't finish—I prioritized math."
"Okay," she answered, studying the portrait outline he had drawn.
"If you have questions, just ask me. I need to finish this math problem first. When you're done, you can help me here."
"I'm not good at math," she admitted.
"You don't need to solve. Just remember what we discussed last time," he reminded.
"Oh… right," she nodded, finally understanding.
She decided to behave—he was calm now, and she didn't want to get on his nerves again.
Silence stretched between them.
"Cielo, do you have an eraser?" she asked.
He silently handed one over, not looking up from his notebook.
She glanced at his work—he wore reading glasses while solving equations, his pen moving swiftly.
Does this guy eat numbers for breakfast? she wondered.
Her eyes returned to the outline. This is going to look so beautiful once it's colored, she thought.
A little later, she held it up proudly. "It's so nice!" she said, showing it to him.
"You did this?"
He nodded.
"Wow, it's really good. Is there anything you can't do?" she asked in awe.
He gave her a small smirk. "Just follow the instructions I gave you. If you're confused, ask me."
She smiled back and nodded.
Dave peeked into the room. "You two okay in here?"
"Yes!" Julie quickly answered.
"If you get hungry, come down to the living room," Dave reminded.
Cielo just nodded, and Dave left.
Julie worked quietly, but soon enough her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl.
Twelve already? Time flies… she thought.
"Navares, let's have lunch," Cielo said.
She nodded eagerly and followed him. Her hands were dirty with pencil marks and colors, so she went to wash them first.
After lunch, Cielo handed her a book.
"Here, this one's good. Rest your hand first. We'll finish later."
She realized he had noticed the stiffness in her hand. Gratefully, she started reading. But soon, the letters blurred and her eyelids grew heavy. She fell asleep right there.
*****
Cielo noticed.
He sighed, shaking his head slightly, but didn't wake her. Instead, he continued solving math problems and checked the progress she had made on the project.
Not bad, he thought.
A little while later, drowsiness caught up with him too. Fifteen minutes. Just a short break, he told himself… but ended up sleeping for an hour.
When he woke up, he groaned. Shoot, I overslept. But then he saw Julie—already awake, reading again, and smiling at him.
"You're up," she said.
"Yeah. Are you done?" he asked.
"Kind of. Can you check it? I haven't erased the outlines yet."
He looked it over. She had followed the instructions, applied the right colors, and kept the details neat. He nodded.
"Good. You can erase the outlines now."
She beamed. "It looks so nice."
He returned to his seat to finish his own work.
"Read for now. I'll handle this part," he told her.
"Just don't ask me about math. I have zero trust in my math skills," she teased.
He didn't bother replying.
A knock interrupted them. Dave poked his head in.
"I left cupcakes here. Grab one if you get hungry."
"Thanks. Just leave them there," Cielo replied.
He turned to Julie. "If you want one, go ahead."
"Thank you," she said politely. She did take one, nibbling on it while reading the book Cielo lent her. He noticed her genuinely enjoying it.
"Cielo, may I use the bathroom?" she asked after a while.
"Yeah, go ahead," he said without looking up.
By the time she returned, he had finished his work. He leaned back, exhaling deeply.
Julie waited patiently, and then he gave her new materials.
"Eat another cupcake first. They're good," he told her.
She nodded, smiling.
He sat beside her to check her progress.
"Is this right?" she asked.
"Yeah," he confirmed with a nod.
They worked until evening, finally finishing before nightfall. Both let out a long sigh of relief.
"Stay for dinner," Cielo offered.
She shook her head. "We'll just eat at home. You need to rest, remember?" she said gently. Then, softly, "I'm really sorry for what I did."
He sighed. "It's fine. What's done is done. We were both just stressed with all the outputs."
She smiled and nodded.
"Oh—can I borrow this book?" she asked suddenly.
"Sure. It has a sequel; wait—I'll get it." He stood, found the book, and handed it to her.
"Take care of it."
"I will," she promised.
She and her brother left soon after, and Dave saw them out.
"It's good you two managed to finish everything quickly," Dave told Cielo.
"Yeah. Honestly, I didn't think we'd finish today," he admitted.
Back in his room, Cielo looked at their finished output one last time, exhaling slowly. He checked for mistakes—none.
Good. Now I really need to rest, he thought.