"Happy birthday, Miggy!" Mara greeted, barging into my room.

I scratched my eyes as she pulled my dark curtains, letting the sunlight stream into my room. I saw her holding strings of blue balloons in her right hand and a paper bag in the other.

"Stop calling me that! I told you, I'm too old for that nickname."

"You're welcome!" she replied, chuckling.

Mom and Dad entered my room too.

"Happy birthday, son," they said in unison.

"Come on, get up," Dad urged me.

"Thank you for the gift, sis," I said after checking the paper bag which contained a blue dress shirt, signature belt, and a bottle of perfume. Another year older, another bottle of perfume from Mara.

We ate our breakfast with the usual conversation asking me if I have a girlfriend to introduce to them.

I laughed. "I don't have a girlfriend...yet. Hopefully I'll have one next month."

"I always thought that you would be dating Bianca," Mara said.

"What? Of course not."

"I love her dresses and skirts!" Mara added. "Does she ever wear jeans? I think I haven't seen her in jeans yet."

I furrowed my brows. "You think I'll date her because of her cute dresses?"

"She's pretty, talented, and a really nice girl," Mom added.

"Yeah, and she's one of my best friends, in case you forgot."

"Finish up your food and help me wash the car. It's your birthday but you don't have immunity when it comes to the household chores," Dad said gravelly, but I was sure he was joking.

I stared at him, waiting for him to laugh but he didn't.

"You gotta be kidding me."

After finishing my meal, I hurriedly walked outside to the garage to get ready in cleaning dad's car but I was surprised to see a yellow FJ Cruiser parked beside dad's car. Dad stepped out of the FJ, a key on hand.

He gave me a big smile before saying, "Happy birthday, Miggy."

"Dad..." I uttered in awe. I couldn't believe that they bought me my first car.

Mom and Mara were already in the porch too.

"You gotta make sure that I can ask you to be my driver whenever I need you to be," Mara laughed beside me.

I glanced and smile at Mara then looked back at the brand-new car.

"Wow," I said, shaking my head as I walked towards it.

"Wanna take it for a ride today?" Dad asked.

"Sure...my student permit hasn't expired yet," I responded, without taking my eyes off the car.

"Yeah...about that, you're getting your driver's license today."

***

"Bianca, Stephen is waiting for you down the hall," Jade said when I walked out of the theatre club meeting.

"Where's Jam?" I asked.

"You know, she and her boy already left."

"Ah," I nodded. "Of course."

We walked down the hall and found Stephen standing near the stairs. He was talking to someone on his phone. When he noticed us, he gestured for us to wait for him to finish his phone call. As soon as he hung up, he walked up to us.

"How was the meeting?" he asked.

"It was okay but I'm having second thoughts about joining the club."

Acting had been one of the things I love to do. I'd been a very active member in the drama club back in high school. I wanted to continue doing it in college but I was having second thoughts if I should pursue it or not. The first reason was, studying in college was very different from high school and being a part of the club might make it difficult for me to focus on my studies, and the second reason was standing right in front of me. Being a club member might cause trouble for us, for our relationship. It might start issues about jealousy or something. I knew it shouldn't be a problem and he shouldn't be a hindrance in pursuing my passion but I still wanted to consider his feelings.

Stephen gave me an encouraging smile. "You should join if you want to."

I glanced at Jade who looked as surprised as I do.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," he answered briefly. "Anyway, I only waited for you but I really need to go back to the CBA building. We have an org meeting today and I think they already started without me."

"Sure. Jade and I will just hang out for a while," I said.

"Alright. I'll get going. Love you," Stephen hugged me. Before leaving, he turned to Jade and said, "Take care of my girl."

Jade and I went to the bleachers to hang out. The soccer players weren't practicing today. But there were a few who were running or jogging around the track.

"So you two are okay now? He's not jealous anymore?" Jade asked.

"At least not now. I try not to give him a reason to be jealous. But really there's no reason to be."

"Must be hard."

I nodded and sighed.

All I wanted was to be in a relationship with Stephen but still be in good terms with Miguel and the rest of the squad. Was that too much to ask?