COINCIDENCE - Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Aveline was flipping the channels trying to find something to watch in her living room. It’s been 2 days since Adelle told her about the “situation” they were in, and now she was thinking of a plan of attack to inform her parents.
“MEI!!! Stop changing the channels… you’re making me dizzy, give me the remote,” Nathan, Aveline’s second brother, complained before taking the remote from her hands. In the household, it was rare for Aveline to be called by her name. Since she was the youngest and the only daughter in her family, everyone called her ‘mei-mei’, meaning little sister in Mandarin. He then continued to channel surf as well, leaving Aveline confused.
“And this is different… how?” She rolled her eyes at her brother.
“It’s different ‘cos I’m doing it.” He stuck his tongue at her childishly. She glared at him. Sometimes he acted like he’s 10 when he’s actually 27, 9 years older than her.
“I swear we’re not related.” Phillip, her first brother was simply baffled by his younger sibling, if not a little disgusted. Aveline grinned. Whenever her second brother teased her, it was always Phil to the rescue and she loved it. It had not been like this in awhile, her whole family together under one roof. Everyone used to be separated. Phil was the first to go, leaving in his first year of high school to continue in the U.S. Aveline was only 4 at the time. Then, it was Nathan’s turn to go to for college when Aveline was just about to turn 9. William, her third brother, was the only person who never left her side, since he accompanied her to the U.S. two years after.
So basically, except for the first four years of her life, she did not get the chance to be under the same roof with the whole family very often, especially since her dad was a business man and traveled often. Fortunately, now that her two oldest brothers worked for her dad and her third brother had finished his degree, the whole family was reunited this summer. She was glad at first. Now… she was not so sure anymore. Her two brothers and her parents worked during the day, leaving her bored alone in the house. William never hung out with her because he was never home and was always out with his girlfriend.
That particular news shocked the whole family. He was in the U.S. all this time. How did he…? They decided to keep the question to themselves.
It was about time for dinner and William was probably upstairs in his room, chatting with his girlfriend. As relieved as she was to think that her eccentric brother was at least desirable to some women, it was getting ridiculous. She headed for the kitchen to grab a cold drink.
“Ge, where’s William ge?” Aveline yelled toward the living room, hoping that one of her brothers would answer. As she expected, Phil yelled back.
“I dunno, probably upstairs, chatting with his girlfriend. Ugh” He made a fake gagging sound.
“Pssah! You’re just jealous that he has a girlfriend before you did. Watch, when you have one, you’re going to be just like him,” Nathan butted in. Aveline could hear a loud slap coming from the living room. She chuckled. Her mind wandered back to the thoughts she had before she was rudely interrupted by her brothers. As if on cue, the phone rang. Aveline picked up.
“Hello, the Lin household.” She heard screaming from the other line. She sighed as she removed the phone from her ears, holding the receiver a foot away. “Yes Adelle?” She paused for a moment, listening to the frantic voice on the other line. “No, I haven’t… I can’t do it!!! I know it’s soon…what? NO, you can’t tell them! I’ll do it…. I promise! .... NO! I promise I’ll tell them…. TONIGHT? ..... *sigh* fine… I’ll tell them tonight at dinner… Fine…. I’ll see you soon then.” She hung up.
The talk, or rather the berate she received from her cousin, left her mentally exhausted. She floated out of the kitchen, about to go up to her room for a nap in need of extra energy for the potentially stressful dinner, but she was suddenly stopped when she heard the sound of a car engine pulling onto the driveway. She groaned as her chance slipped away. The front door burst open.
“We’re home!”
“Hey mom, hey dad.” Aveline automatically replied, moving away from the stairs toward her parents. Her dad smiled, ruffling her hair and giving her a hug.
“Have I told you how much I missed having you home? I mean… you’re the only one who answers us. Watch this… Hey Phil, Nathan, we’re home!” Both boys grunted in reply, not even turning their heads away from the TV screen. Her dad sighed. “See what I mean?” Aveline laughed before going over to her mom to give her the same gesture.
“Oh mom! I…well, actually…Adelle invited herself over for dinner and a sleepover tonight. Uncle Nick and Auntie Liz aren’t back from Japan yet, so the poor soul is alone in her mansion.” Her parents simply nodded in reply like she knew they would. This house had practically become Adelle’s second home. Adelle loved her aunt and uncle like her own parents and vice versa. Aveline wished that she could feel the same for Adelle’s parents.
Even if her family was separated most of the time, they still had warmth and no one missed a birthday, even if it was only a phone call or an e-mail. Adelle had had too many birthdays missed and forgotten. That was one of the reasons why she decided to study in the U.S. That way, when the birthday wishes were not received, she could use the distance as an excuse. Both girls knew better though. It was times like these that Aveline was truly thankful for her slightly “unique” unit she called family. At least they knew they loved each other. If only it was the same for her cousin.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell rang. She huffed in annoyance. She still had not gotten her chance to think. She asked the house maid to get the door. Even though her family was not as rich as her cousin’s, their house was still big and they do have a couple of helping hands.
Soon enough, Adelle barged into the house like she owned the place. Spotting Aveline, she quickened her pace. The younger girl groaned at the prospect of another ranting.
“Aveline! Did you tell your parents yet?” Adelle asked for the hundredth time since they came back from Malaysia. Before Aveline could shake her head for the hundredth time, William appeared behind them,
“Tell them what?” The girls screamed. Aveline swore she heard no sound coming from the boy. She did not even see him walk down the stairs.
Having recovered from the shock earlier than Aveline, Adelle pressed on, ignoring her expectant cousin, “Well?”
“I told you… I’ll tell them about it during dinner.” Adelle narrowed her pupils in distrust.
“Tell who what?” Her parents had come down from their rooms, dressed in comfortable matching flannel short sleeved pajamas that Aveline and her brothers bought for one of their anniversaries.
“Tell… you both that dinner is ready. We should eat. I’m starved.” Aveline breathed a sigh of relief when her parents shrugged and took their places at the dining table. She ignored the death glares her cousin was sending her.
The dinner went by smoothly until Aveline yelped in pain after receiving a not-so-accidental kick from the girl beside her. Everyone turned to face Aveline.
“Something wrong, honey?”
“Uh…no mom, I just accidentally bumped my leg on…OWW!!!” Aveline groaned at the bruise that the second kick would cause on her calf. “Actually, yes… there’s something I need to tell you guys.” Viewing the smile of satisfaction plastered on her cousin’s face, she was relieved for her leg.
“What is it? Oh no, don’t tell me you have a boyfriend!” Everyone stared at the head of the family strangely.
“Err…no dad, but it does involve a boy…five to be exact.” Aveline was now having second thoughts of telling her parents. If her father had already gone berserk over one boy, she cringed at the thought of telling him about five. Her brothers’ eyes widened in surprise, followed by her parents chocking briefly on their food. Adelle was sitting primly next to her, her smile broadening.
“Honey, please elaborate before your father and I have a heart attack.”
“Well, you guys remember that Korean group that I met while I was in Malaysia, right? Yeah, they’re the five boys I was referring to…” Adelle, who was impatient with the direction the conversation was going, finally croaked out in restrained excitement,
“Well, basically, since they did us a favor of letting us join them on their private session, they asked Aveline and me if we want to star in this one commercial with them.” Aveline braced herself for the worst and closed her eyes. When nothing happens, she peered with one of the eyes still closed. Her parents were thinking.
“Well…do you want to do it?” Her father finally opened his mouth. Aveline was confused.
“Dad, how come you’re not going red, vehemently shaking your head, and yelling ‘no’ ten times?” Her brothers laughed. They all knew how their father reacted whenever he disagrees with someone and their youngest sister’s description of it matched perfectly. After getting glares from their mother, the room was quiet once again.
“Well, honey, you’ve been working hard all year and have never gotten into trouble at school or at home…”Her mother paused while looking meaningfully at her three boys. “so this is a good chance for you. Does this mean you have to go to Korea?” The girls nodded. “How long?”
“About a week, two weeks top if we decide to do some sightseeing. They’re paying for it and we have housing, transportation, and food. We just won’t get paid.” Adelle hurriedly answered.
“Are you guys sure you’re okay with this? I mean… I don’t have to go…you can just say no and I’ll cancel the tickets right away.” Aveline could not bear to see the looks on her parents’ faces.
“You booked the tickets already?” Phillip asked.
“They booked it for us when Adelle said that we’ll do it.”
“But… you didn’t ask us yet,” said Aveline’s dad, somewhat dejectedly. Nathan smiled. He seemed to really enjoy seeing his parents torment his sister conscience like that.
Aveline looked to her side for assistance. Adelle picked it up right away. “Well, I was thinking that if Aveline couldn’t go, then I could ask one of my other friends to go in her place. It’s just that I felt bad that she could not go to the concert in Malaysia because she was stuck at classes and her internship.” Adelle had said the right words because after she finished her explanation, Aveline’s parents nodded their heads in agreement.
“It’s true honey, she didn’t go to that concert. And you do know how much she loves those guys.” Her mother discussed the matter with her dad. He pondered for a second then looked at his only daughter with a smile on his face.
“Well… I’m sure going to miss you replying me every night when I get home.” His eyes twinkled. “Make sure you bring us presents. OH! And knock ‘em dead girls.” Aveline grinned and took a big bite of her broccoli.
“So when are you guys leaving?” Her mother asked while reaching for her glass of water.
“The day after tomorrow.” The resulting response left Aveline wiping her mother’s water spit off of her face with her napkin. Thankfully, her mother had no residual food left in her mouth.
Two days after that eventful dinner, the two girls were on their way to board the plane to Seoul. Aveline’s whole family was there, because it happened to be on a Sunday so her two oldest brothers did not work and William was dragged from his precious computer screen in order to send the two girls off. Therefore, he was not looking very happy to be there at the moment and simply grunted his goodbyes.
“Have fun honey! Call us when you get there okay?” Aveline’s mother shouted her last minute words to the two. They waved.
“Oh my goodness! Can you believe it? We’re going to meet them….AGAIN! Now seriously… many fans can truly say that about them?” Aveline was speaking rapidly while putting her luggage through the x-ray machine and munching on a sandwich she brought from home. Adelle, on the other hand, was trying very hard to contain her enthusiasm and merely nodded in reply. She could not bear to lose her cool at a public place such as the airport. Her parents needed to live in this country, after all.
The two girls boarded the plane and slept the whole way there.
Aveline was flipping the channels trying to find something to watch in her living room. It’s been 2 days since Adelle told her about the “situation” they were in, and now she was thinking of a plan of attack to inform her parents.
“MEI!!! Stop changing the channels… you’re making me dizzy, give me the remote,” Nathan, Aveline’s second brother, complained before taking the remote from her hands. In the household, it was rare for Aveline to be called by her name. Since she was the youngest and the only daughter in her family, everyone called her ‘mei-mei’, meaning little sister in Mandarin. He then continued to channel surf as well, leaving Aveline confused.
“And this is different… how?” She rolled her eyes at her brother.
“It’s different ‘cos I’m doing it.” He stuck his tongue at her childishly. She glared at him. Sometimes he acted like he’s 10 when he’s actually 27, 9 years older than her.
“I swear we’re not related.” Phillip, her first brother was simply baffled by his younger sibling, if not a little disgusted. Aveline grinned. Whenever her second brother teased her, it was always Phil to the rescue and she loved it. It had not been like this in awhile, her whole family together under one roof. Everyone used to be separated. Phil was the first to go, leaving in his first year of high school to continue in the U.S. Aveline was only 4 at the time. Then, it was Nathan’s turn to go to for college when Aveline was just about to turn 9. William, her third brother, was the only person who never left her side, since he accompanied her to the U.S. two years after.
So basically, except for the first four years of her life, she did not get the chance to be under the same roof with the whole family very often, especially since her dad was a business man and traveled often. Fortunately, now that her two oldest brothers worked for her dad and her third brother had finished his degree, the whole family was reunited this summer. She was glad at first. Now… she was not so sure anymore. Her two brothers and her parents worked during the day, leaving her bored alone in the house. William never hung out with her because he was never home and was always out with his girlfriend.
That particular news shocked the whole family. He was in the U.S. all this time. How did he…? They decided to keep the question to themselves.
It was about time for dinner and William was probably upstairs in his room, chatting with his girlfriend. As relieved as she was to think that her eccentric brother was at least desirable to some women, it was getting ridiculous. She headed for the kitchen to grab a cold drink.
“Ge, where’s William ge?” Aveline yelled toward the living room, hoping that one of her brothers would answer. As she expected, Phil yelled back.
“I dunno, probably upstairs, chatting with his girlfriend. Ugh” He made a fake gagging sound.
“Pssah! You’re just jealous that he has a girlfriend before you did. Watch, when you have one, you’re going to be just like him,” Nathan butted in. Aveline could hear a loud slap coming from the living room. She chuckled. Her mind wandered back to the thoughts she had before she was rudely interrupted by her brothers. As if on cue, the phone rang. Aveline picked up.
“Hello, the Lin household.” She heard screaming from the other line. She sighed as she removed the phone from her ears, holding the receiver a foot away. “Yes Adelle?” She paused for a moment, listening to the frantic voice on the other line. “No, I haven’t… I can’t do it!!! I know it’s soon…what? NO, you can’t tell them! I’ll do it…. I promise! .... NO! I promise I’ll tell them…. TONIGHT? ..... *sigh* fine… I’ll tell them tonight at dinner… Fine…. I’ll see you soon then.” She hung up.
The talk, or rather the berate she received from her cousin, left her mentally exhausted. She floated out of the kitchen, about to go up to her room for a nap in need of extra energy for the potentially stressful dinner, but she was suddenly stopped when she heard the sound of a car engine pulling onto the driveway. She groaned as her chance slipped away. The front door burst open.
“We’re home!”
“Hey mom, hey dad.” Aveline automatically replied, moving away from the stairs toward her parents. Her dad smiled, ruffling her hair and giving her a hug.
“Have I told you how much I missed having you home? I mean… you’re the only one who answers us. Watch this… Hey Phil, Nathan, we’re home!” Both boys grunted in reply, not even turning their heads away from the TV screen. Her dad sighed. “See what I mean?” Aveline laughed before going over to her mom to give her the same gesture.
“Oh mom! I…well, actually…Adelle invited herself over for dinner and a sleepover tonight. Uncle Nick and Auntie Liz aren’t back from Japan yet, so the poor soul is alone in her mansion.” Her parents simply nodded in reply like she knew they would. This house had practically become Adelle’s second home. Adelle loved her aunt and uncle like her own parents and vice versa. Aveline wished that she could feel the same for Adelle’s parents.
Even if her family was separated most of the time, they still had warmth and no one missed a birthday, even if it was only a phone call or an e-mail. Adelle had had too many birthdays missed and forgotten. That was one of the reasons why she decided to study in the U.S. That way, when the birthday wishes were not received, she could use the distance as an excuse. Both girls knew better though. It was times like these that Aveline was truly thankful for her slightly “unique” unit she called family. At least they knew they loved each other. If only it was the same for her cousin.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell rang. She huffed in annoyance. She still had not gotten her chance to think. She asked the house maid to get the door. Even though her family was not as rich as her cousin’s, their house was still big and they do have a couple of helping hands.
Soon enough, Adelle barged into the house like she owned the place. Spotting Aveline, she quickened her pace. The younger girl groaned at the prospect of another ranting.
“Aveline! Did you tell your parents yet?” Adelle asked for the hundredth time since they came back from Malaysia. Before Aveline could shake her head for the hundredth time, William appeared behind them,
“Tell them what?” The girls screamed. Aveline swore she heard no sound coming from the boy. She did not even see him walk down the stairs.
Having recovered from the shock earlier than Aveline, Adelle pressed on, ignoring her expectant cousin, “Well?”
“I told you… I’ll tell them about it during dinner.” Adelle narrowed her pupils in distrust.
“Tell who what?” Her parents had come down from their rooms, dressed in comfortable matching flannel short sleeved pajamas that Aveline and her brothers bought for one of their anniversaries.
“Tell… you both that dinner is ready. We should eat. I’m starved.” Aveline breathed a sigh of relief when her parents shrugged and took their places at the dining table. She ignored the death glares her cousin was sending her.
The dinner went by smoothly until Aveline yelped in pain after receiving a not-so-accidental kick from the girl beside her. Everyone turned to face Aveline.
“Something wrong, honey?”
“Uh…no mom, I just accidentally bumped my leg on…OWW!!!” Aveline groaned at the bruise that the second kick would cause on her calf. “Actually, yes… there’s something I need to tell you guys.” Viewing the smile of satisfaction plastered on her cousin’s face, she was relieved for her leg.
“What is it? Oh no, don’t tell me you have a boyfriend!” Everyone stared at the head of the family strangely.
“Err…no dad, but it does involve a boy…five to be exact.” Aveline was now having second thoughts of telling her parents. If her father had already gone berserk over one boy, she cringed at the thought of telling him about five. Her brothers’ eyes widened in surprise, followed by her parents chocking briefly on their food. Adelle was sitting primly next to her, her smile broadening.
“Honey, please elaborate before your father and I have a heart attack.”
“Well, you guys remember that Korean group that I met while I was in Malaysia, right? Yeah, they’re the five boys I was referring to…” Adelle, who was impatient with the direction the conversation was going, finally croaked out in restrained excitement,
“Well, basically, since they did us a favor of letting us join them on their private session, they asked Aveline and me if we want to star in this one commercial with them.” Aveline braced herself for the worst and closed her eyes. When nothing happens, she peered with one of the eyes still closed. Her parents were thinking.
“Well…do you want to do it?” Her father finally opened his mouth. Aveline was confused.
“Dad, how come you’re not going red, vehemently shaking your head, and yelling ‘no’ ten times?” Her brothers laughed. They all knew how their father reacted whenever he disagrees with someone and their youngest sister’s description of it matched perfectly. After getting glares from their mother, the room was quiet once again.
“Well, honey, you’ve been working hard all year and have never gotten into trouble at school or at home…”Her mother paused while looking meaningfully at her three boys. “so this is a good chance for you. Does this mean you have to go to Korea?” The girls nodded. “How long?”
“About a week, two weeks top if we decide to do some sightseeing. They’re paying for it and we have housing, transportation, and food. We just won’t get paid.” Adelle hurriedly answered.
“Are you guys sure you’re okay with this? I mean… I don’t have to go…you can just say no and I’ll cancel the tickets right away.” Aveline could not bear to see the looks on her parents’ faces.
“You booked the tickets already?” Phillip asked.
“They booked it for us when Adelle said that we’ll do it.”
“But… you didn’t ask us yet,” said Aveline’s dad, somewhat dejectedly. Nathan smiled. He seemed to really enjoy seeing his parents torment his sister conscience like that.
Aveline looked to her side for assistance. Adelle picked it up right away. “Well, I was thinking that if Aveline couldn’t go, then I could ask one of my other friends to go in her place. It’s just that I felt bad that she could not go to the concert in Malaysia because she was stuck at classes and her internship.” Adelle had said the right words because after she finished her explanation, Aveline’s parents nodded their heads in agreement.
“It’s true honey, she didn’t go to that concert. And you do know how much she loves those guys.” Her mother discussed the matter with her dad. He pondered for a second then looked at his only daughter with a smile on his face.
“Well… I’m sure going to miss you replying me every night when I get home.” His eyes twinkled. “Make sure you bring us presents. OH! And knock ‘em dead girls.” Aveline grinned and took a big bite of her broccoli.
“So when are you guys leaving?” Her mother asked while reaching for her glass of water.
“The day after tomorrow.” The resulting response left Aveline wiping her mother’s water spit off of her face with her napkin. Thankfully, her mother had no residual food left in her mouth.
Two days after that eventful dinner, the two girls were on their way to board the plane to Seoul. Aveline’s whole family was there, because it happened to be on a Sunday so her two oldest brothers did not work and William was dragged from his precious computer screen in order to send the two girls off. Therefore, he was not looking very happy to be there at the moment and simply grunted his goodbyes.
“Have fun honey! Call us when you get there okay?” Aveline’s mother shouted her last minute words to the two. They waved.
“Oh my goodness! Can you believe it? We’re going to meet them….AGAIN! Now seriously… many fans can truly say that about them?” Aveline was speaking rapidly while putting her luggage through the x-ray machine and munching on a sandwich she brought from home. Adelle, on the other hand, was trying very hard to contain her enthusiasm and merely nodded in reply. She could not bear to lose her cool at a public place such as the airport. Her parents needed to live in this country, after all.
The two girls boarded the plane and slept the whole way there.