"Miguel will be here in about five minutes," I muttered as I paced around the living room and looked down on my sleeveless off-white floral dress and gold ballet flats.

"You look nervous," my cousin Cecilia pointed out.

I sat down on the sofa and fixed my messy up do.

"Your hair is perfect. Stop touching it," she snapped, swatting my hand.

"You gotta calm down Bee," Becca chuckled. "You're just going out for lunch with him, his sister, and his sister's boyfriend."

"Yeah and it looks like a double date. I shouldn't have agreed to do this," I said as I regretted my decision of agreeing to Miguel.

"You said you and Miguel are just best friends. So you should just relax," Cecilia reminded me.

"This is how I know my little sister isn't ready for a relationship yet. You get so nervous about having lunch with your best friend and his sister. What more if you had to go out with a guy you actually like?"

If this was any ordinary day, I would squirm from Becca's question. I felt guilty for hiding my relationship with Stephen. But this was one of the reasons why I didn't tell them. They thought I wasn't ready. But hiding my relationship had been a good decision because they were right. Maybe I wasn't ready, and it turned out that Stephen wasn't the guy I wanted to introduce to my family.

Suddenly, we heard a honking outside and I saw Miguel's FJ parked outside of our gate.

"I gotta go." I picked up my leather shoulder bag from the sofa.

Cecilia and Becca walked me out of the door. I sprinted towards Miguel's car, aware that the two girls were still watching me.

As soon as I strapped on the passenger seat, I exhaled.

"That was deep," Miguel chuckled. "Calm down, Bianx. If this will help you relax, I want you to know that you look pretty in that dress."

I stared at him.

"Well, you always look pretty, alright? I mean you look extra today," he added, sounding a little bit like Brian when the latter complements a girl. "My words of complement are worth 500 pesos, you gotta pay me later."

Finally, I calmed down and laughed.

"I knew you were going to dress up so I knew I had to," I explained.

Miguel was wearing his go-to outfit of a short-sleeved polo tucked into his denim jeans, a signature belt, and his favorite pair of leather boots.

We arrived at the restaurant after an hour of drive, and Mara and James were already there.

I knew Miguel's sister but unlike Kane and Lily, I just met Mara in high school and I rarely got the chance to see her because she wasn't home most of the time we hang out at their residence. She was six years older than Miguel so she was already in college and stayed in her dorm.

On the other hand, it was my first-time meeting James and I instantly knew they were perfect for each other. Their chemistry was undeniable. Miguel also seemed to really like him. After all, he would be Miguel's older brother if he and Mara would get married in the future.

"It's so nice to finally get a chance to hang out with you," Mara said. "I knew Kane and Lily since they were little."

"Did you study at Eastview too?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"Yeah, Miguel and I transferred there at the same school year."

I nodded.

"We've heard so much about you," she beamed.

I glanced nervously at Miguel, and he lightly shook his head.

"Well, I know so much about everyone in your squad," she added.

I smiled politely and tugged the hem of my dress under the table.

"Maybe we should order our food now," James suggested, and we all picked up the menu on the table.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Mara asked as soon as the waiter left our table with a list of our orders.

"What?" I chuckled nervously.

"Mara..." Miguel muttered.

"Okay, sorry. You don't have to answer that, Bianca."

"No, it's alright. I don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh really?" Mara asked, grinning, before glancing at me.

***

"Bianx, thank you so much for coming with us today," Miguel said sincerely.

"No, thank you for the treat. Please tell Mara that she was so fun to be with."

"Sure thing," Miguel smiled. "Well...that is after I convince her that we're definitely not dating."

"If we were dating for real then you wouldn't be having a hard time convincing her," I laughed.

"But we aren't."

I stared at Miguel before replying, "You never asked me to."