I went to my cousin Anthony's house because today was my grandpa's 69th birthday, and he lives with aunt, Anthony's folks. My grandpa doesn't talk anymore because his stroke affected the speech part of his brain and is bedridden. But he seems to still recognize all of us, which is good. I wonder if he gets bored at all, doing nothing, just staying in bed all day with his 2 nurses. I guess he's very lucky to have reached 69. I mean, he was orphaned when he was a teenager, lost a wife at the height of his wealth and lost two sons . Plus, he's got that stroke thing. He had brain surgery the day after my uncle was buried last April. My mom says that ten years ago, when my grandpa could still talk, she asked him how many years more did he plan to live, and he said he wanted ten more years. God is probably the reason why he's still alive, cause he's got real strong faith. My mom says that when he could still walk, he'd go to church daily by himself. And he always prays the minute he wakes up. Gosh, I wonder if I'll ever live to be that old. I pray just to talk to God and the rosary when I feel like it, but I don't think I'm that religious because I don't do novenas and stuff. I don't want to get old, ever. I'll try to pray everyday though to keep me strong.

Stephen didn't come over last night cause his mom wouldn't let him because his older sister was home. See, he's half Chinese and there's some Chinese superstition that the brother has to guard the oldest sister or something like that. He cancelled a gimmick with us last year for the same reason. I would never let superstition control my life, ever. Anyway, that kinda bummed me but I was like, "Okay" and read for like an hour. After I got bored with that, I called Michelle and the person who answered the phone said she was already asleep. It was only 8 -something but maybe she just didn't feel like talking. Or maybe her parents wanted to use the phone. I'll ask her about it later. Then I called Kristel but her dad said she wasn't home from the party yet. At that point, I was already beginning to feel antisocial and grumpy, so I went back to reading. Finally, the phone rang and iIt was a relief to hear Stephen's voice at the other end of the line cause I was beginning to feel a little lonely. He called to say that he got a B in the maniac level of Dance Revolution and I was like, "Congratulations!" He's been working at it all week, according to him, so I guess it was good he finally got the rating he deserved.

We talked for three hours last night, at first about random stuff. Then we started talking about next Friday's gimmick and I said, "Why don't we go to Alabang Town Center then to Glorietta, like what we did on your birthday?" And he said, "Good idea! I'll ask Alex if it's okay with her." When he said that, I said in my mind, Is Alex supposed to be our mother or something? Why the hell do we have to get her permission anyways? but I didn't dare say it. What I did say was, "Uhh Stephen, please don't tell anyone but I think Alex hates me." He suddenly got all quiet when I said that so I went, "It's like, she never talks to me anymore. Whenever I try to start a conversation with her she usually ignores me. She never calls. And haven't you noticed, that whenever I'm around, she and I get real quiet? I think she really, really hates me." More silence after that. Silence means something bad and I started getting pretty nervous.

At last he spoke. "I knew this was going to happen," he said. "To be honest with you, I've known about this since last December. And don't worry, it's not just you, it's also Chris."

"But....why?" I asked.

"She's scared. She's scared that you and Chris will take me away from her. And the reason why she's scared is because I've been the only friend who can really understand her, who can be really honest with her and vice versa. I've told her that she was just being paranoid but she won't listen. Sometimes, when she calls me up, she's like, 'Is Lauryn or Chris there?' and when you are and say 'yes', she'll come right over."

"But that's stupid! I could never take the place of Alex. She's your best friend man. And I wouldn't take you away from her!"

"I know. And there was a point where Alex started to get annoyed at you already. Remember when you told me you finished Clock Tower II? Alex was like, 'That Lauryn', which is a typical Alex statement. Alex is the type of person who always wants to be noticed, who wants to be the number one. And whenever you're around, she feels like she's number two, that she's nothing. That you're taking her place, as my best friend. She's jealous of you."

"What the hell for? You guys have been best friends for years! And I've only known you guys for months."

Then Stephen was like, "How did you know all about this anyway?" I said I was real observant and that I've noticed this since last December. And Stephen said, "Wow. There are lots of observant people these days. Even Miss Judy noticed it." And I laughed and said that couldn't be true. Stephen said, "It is! She asked me once if you and Alex were fighting or something because whenever I'd talk to Alex, you'd shut up and whenever I'd talk to you, she'd shut up. Remember last Monday? I was staring at you while I was telling Alex about the birthday party of my friend on March 4 and you looked like you were feeling out of place."

"That's true."

We talked about it for like an hour. I admitted to him that I was really afraid to tell him about Alex's 'tude because since he's her best friend, he'll most probably side with her and hate me for saying that. And he told me that Alex was afraid to tell him about me because she was thinking that Stephen would be on my side. And he said that Chris was probably thinking the same thing, that all three of us were against him. It was all so funny and weird that I was laughing when he said that. Stephen also said that he feels like his future will be something like My Best Friend's Wedding, that Alex would probably stop him from getting married or something. And there had been a point in his life where he was feeling annoyed at her because she always wanted attention. Anyway, when we finally ended the topic, he told me that he'd speak to her the next day but promised that he wouldn't tell her what I said. And he also added that we must really give Alex all our attention on our gimmick next Friday because she said she felt out of place. In my mind, I was like What? but I decided to give it a shot because it might improve my relationship with her. Anyway, I do hope Alex listens when Stephen tells her that I'm not going to take him away from her or anything like that. And maybe I'll steer clear away from her for awhile. Just so she can cool off.

Anyway, Martin and I had fun today sliding at the water park, flying at the ferris wheel, talking, laughing , flirting , screaming and just bumming around at cybertown. Let's do this more often, Martin.