You Are Mine

"It was my fault that you were sent away", Jolo confessed.

"Why would you say that? How it became your fault?'', she was confused. All she knew was they were celebrating Jolo's birthday when all of a sudden, it was stopped by Joseph and all the visitors were sent away, including her.

+++++++

Jolo's birthday party started early and all his friends were there. They were planning to sleep over. The boys were busy playing videogames while the girls were busy talking about the boys, some are even trying so hard to get the attention of Joseph. Joseph was the hot topic of the girls as teenagers, they are very vocal with how they feel.

"You will see, he will be mine", said one of the girls in the group. She was taller than everybody, has blonde hair and a caucasian look.

"Don't be so sure Cora, I heard that Joseph hates women", said another girl with curly hair. She was a little chubby but has a pretty face.

"I don't think so Tita, look at him. Look at how he looks at that girl beside Jolo. What was her name again?', asked the girl beside her.

"That is Christine", declared one of the girls.

"Oh, yeah? Now Angel, tell me what is going on between that girl and Joseph? Since you are here almost every day?'', Cora asked her while her gaze was still on Christine who was at that time playing videogames with Jolo. Angel is one of the distant relatives of the Arantes and the daughter of the family's veterinarian.

"She is the daughter of Uncle Jackson. I don't see anything special between them", she said and shrugged her shoulders.

"Good, or she will be sorry. Joseph is mine and mine alone", she said while looking at each one of her group.

"Of course", chorused all the girls. Cora is the daughter of a politician and no one dares to go against her. Her father is very influential and has one way or another given each and everyone's family a favor and that is of course due to being friend with Cora. So all of them, including their families are at Cora's mercy.

"Looks like your dad and Joseph are getting along well", said Tita. Cora was escorted by her father Mr. Cabonce and naturally, Joseph entertained him and offered him some wine.

"They must be talking about business and how our families will get closer", Cora said proudly and can't help but stare lovingly at Joseph.

While the girls are still engrossed with talking about Joseph and Cora, the boys are sneaking out of the mansion towards the back of the mansion. They met at the cottage at the center of the back garden. They were whispering at each other like they are planning something that they don't want others to know. After a few minutes, the boys were back. They joined Jolo and Christine again who were still playing videogames. Someone whispered something on Jolo's ears.

"What the f#*& did you say?'', Jolo's voice was a little louder than normal. They attracted everybody's attention including Joseph and Mr. Cabonce.

One of the boys tugged at Jolo's polo shirt, silently asking him to calm down or they will be doomed.

"You....you can't beat me at this, I am the master of this, just watch and see", Jolo diverted the conversation, noticing that they have attracted the attention of everyone and they were all looking at him with expectant eyes.

It's like everybody relaxed and let out a sigh of relief and then they all went back to what they were doing. Jolo stopped playing, gesturing one of the boys to take his place. Then sat beside his friend Marlon who whispered to him earlier.

"What are you doing man, that is illegal", he said in a low voice.

"Ilegal if we get caught and not if we are not caught. Unless you will tell your brother now", whispered Marlon.

"Are you crazy? He will kill me, man", said Jolo still in a very low voice and glance at Joseph from time to time.

Christine glanced at them and wanted to ask but changed her mind and decided to stop playing and excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"Common man, It will just be a try. It will just be an experiment and no one will know as long as we are discreet", Marlon tried to convince him. They bought a sachet of cocaine from Marlon's friend and they planned to let Jolo experience it.

"Hey, don't tell me you are a chicken, common man don't be a chicken", seconded by a skinny boy in the group, his name was VJ.

"We have not tried it yet and we wanted to try it now, be a sport man"', urged Raffy who was the one in possession of the drug.

"We will just have fun, it is your birthday and you should try this just for experience's sake", urged Marlon.

"Have you tried it before, Marlon?'' Jolo asked who was also curious with what will it will feel like.

"Yes, and it was the best", Marlon said proudly but still kept his voice low. They were trying to act normal so as not to raise any suspicions.

"What if we get caught, bro? Joseph is here.", Jolo was already on the verge of agreeing to them but is still worried.

"We have planned it out, all you need to do is join us", Marlon urged some more.

"Okay", he agreed after thinking about it for a minute.

"We shall go to my room but you have to act normal", Jolo said and slowly stood up. He pretended to invite his friends to his room for another set of videogames.

"Come on guys, I have a better game at my PC, let us try that", he said deliberately talking louder than normal so that the people in the living room will hear and won't be suspicious. Little did he know that Joseph was already suspicious of them and was only observing them. Although Joseph was having a conversation with Mr. Cabonce, he was particularly observant to their group. Not because of anything else but because of Christine who seemed to be enjoying with the boy's company. She was the only girl in the group and it makes Joseph's mood sour. So when Christine stood up a few seconds ago, he was suddenly alerted and he was actually making a plan to excuse himself from Mr. Cabonce to check on Christine.

So when the boys started whispering, it did not escape Joseph's attention, he suddenly had a bad feeling about what they were talking and he planned to find out. He has heard rumors about Marlon and of course, he ignored it but right now, he has a very bad feeling.