Unwelcome Change (2)

These pesky people! They didn't have to call my mom and Evan to join us. I cried inside my heart, listening to Luke going through the dangers of social media and gaming apps. Social media had many inappropriate posts, supposedly bad influence for people our age with rapid impersonations and the high possibility of strangers more than double our age looking through our posts. In addition to mentioning how it negatively impacts our mental health.

Meanwhile, the gaming apps either had common or similar reasons. Luke went through the high addiction rates, the examples of people struggling to go on with their daily lives due to it. The bright and damaging colour schemes to the eye, the simplicity of the games which dumbed your brain, and revealing the skyrocketing numbers of the people affected per year. Near the end of his lecture, my aunt and mom were totally convinced to adjust the setting on the phones of Ally and Evan.

Taking away the phones of Ally and Evan, theirs equally became an empty shell as mine. Ally's eyes burned with hatred towards Luke and Alex, who showed them how to adjust the settings. Meanwhile, Evan's shoulders slightly drooped, watching his only source of entertainment disappear. When my aunt and mom left the room, Ally screamed to Luke, "what the heck? There's only so much I can tolerate, and this isn't one of them. You mental clean freaks!"

"This is really not cool," Evan agreed.

"We saved you from getting addicted," Alex scoffed.

"Do you really want to die? Do you? You're asking to be beaten," Ally slightly trembled.

"We can send lawsuits for physical assault if you turn to violence," Alex warned her.

"Adam is already planning to hide bugs inside their pillows," April whispered into Ally's ears.

"That would be breaking and entering, another potential lawsuit," Alex heard her.

"You're asking to get hated. Everyone hates you and only tolerates you because of Rika," Ally angrily raised her voice.

"Let's return to our room Rika, I don't want you to be near these kinds of people," Luke frowned at her behavior.

"Ally and Evan have every right to get mad at you. You officially eliminated all the entertainment inside this house, and it isn't even yours," I stayed in my spot.

"We also want to know the reason you guys are super controlling when it comes to Rika," Evan found them to be extreme.

"Rika is my fiancée and someone I am responsible for. I have every right to guide her," Luke resorted to pulling me out of Ally's bed.

"You can think of me as one of his belongings. I can't make any decisions on my own and need their permission for nearly everything," I answered his question in simpler terms.

"Is this how you live your life?" Ally pitied me.

"I'm just a valuable doll that's not easy to replace," I nodded.

"I do this because I love you Rika. This is also for your sake," Luke began to carry me out.

I rested my head on his shoulder, watching everyone see me forcibly leaving the room. This was something I was familiar with by now, losing more of my freedom with every passing day. Unfortunately, the school canceled many potential missions before I graduated from middle school. The fire, kidnapping, stalker, and monster incidents were seen to be enough to provide the practical experience needed for that year.

Opening the door to our room, he eventually placed me on our bed. My eyes were used to seeing Alex tightly shutting the door, locking it. Meanwhile Luke began to set up the table, preparing to start another study session. I had to admit, my life was pretty depressing. Not even April was jealous of me anymore, whispering to Adam at the dining table, "if you eat their food, you'll end up trapped like Rika."

"I'm not touching those plates again," Adam overcame his greed.

All my cousins were well behaved around the dining table now, surprising my aunt and uncle in the process. I sighed when they thanked Luke and Alex with their eyes, most likely continuing this even after they left grandma's house. After I finished with dinner, I resumed rolling on the floors again, having more people join me than usual. Ally commented, "I think I know why you do this now. It helps you calm your anger down."

"Does it really help?" Evan watched us from the couch.

"It does," Ally gestured to join us.

Evan awkwardly laid down on the floors, hesitating to roll around like the rest of us. But when April pushed his back to encourage him, he soon followed us. With his eyes staring at the ceiling, Evan agreed, "it is calming."

"I don't know what to do starting from tomorrow," Ally sadly smiled.

"We can explore grandma's fields," I suggested.

"I guess we can," she agreed.

"There's also her storage room where she has a lot of useless things inside," she recommended.

"We can explore both of them, we have tons of time," I sighed.

The next day, we decided to visit the storage room first, going through all the abandoned purchases. Ally was right, every item was absolutely useless, cheap and outdated antiques. Since it was one of the few common areas Luke and Alex didn't clean, my eyes were beginning to get watery from the dust. Resembling me, Adam sneezed from the mass waves of dust swirling in the air.

I shifted away from him, accidentally bumping into a large object, clunky and made of iron. My eyes went wide when I realized what it was. How was this here?

An iron cast pot was in front of me, a perfect tool to make rice. I never got to touch a bowl of rice in this life, having parents coming from the northern regions and the first district full of westernized diets. Memories of my previous life began flowing inside my head, shimmering into the time my family went camping. My mom always cooked in these pots when we went camping. The nice warm and fluffy texture, chewy sometimes as you asked for second servings. Maybe I was really homesick from my family missing in both lives.

"I think I have an idea," I faced them.

"Does grandma have any rice grains in the farm?" I wondered.

Sometime ago, I discovered grandma liked to plant a little bit of everything. From the various wheats to my favorite strawberries I never got to eat, every species was nicely organized into small plots of land. When I remembered her grocery list, it was mostly meat, nearly making her self-efficient. It was pretty impressive, different from Luke or Alex ordering ingredients to their mansions.

"You're thinking of making rice?" Ally seemed interested.

I nodded, "it's possible if we clean the pot and process the grains."

"Didn't grandma say it's an heirloom?" Adam recalled.

"That's for everything inside this room," April pretended to gag.

"Heirloom?" I didn't believe them.

Ally sighed before explaining, "grandma always buys these old looking garbagy things, saying she's going to make them our family heirlooms. She wants to start something to follow her neighbors who actually have valuable ones."

I faced the pot again, realizing my eyes were right, the room resembling a mini junkyard. It was like this entire heirloom thing was a joke, my thoughts confirmed when April added, "grandma sometimes cooks with that pot."

"I'll help move this outside," Evan began hauling the pot.

The four of us moved the pot near the field full of wheats, swaying from the gentle wind. Sweeping my hair behind my ear, I began to take a closer look, analyzing the thin golden stalks. The round and thin shapes of its buds, fingers struggling to crush the figureheads, this was definitely rice. Trying to recall the processing method, mostly useless knowledge until now, I managed to take out the familiar grains from its shell.

"I didn't think we actually had rice here. Grandma never makes rice," Ally was impressed.

"I think we can finish it faster if we work together," I urged them to start.

Thankfully, everyone looked forward to eating rice, and worked hard to process the grains. I was touched since they were such efficient workers, I didn't have to pressure them. Since only I could identify the strands, I was in charge of pulling them out. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, adding to the pile behind me, the pot was a quarter full. Maybe I could share this with the rest of my family later if there were any leftovers.

"Is this enough?" Evan showed me they finished.

"This should be good enough. We can start washing the grains now," I recalled the steps.

"I'll bring the water," April offered.

I stayed behind with Adam, watching him play with the rice inside the pot.

Sunshine poured into my eyes, my hands reaching out to cover them, the ideal country life. The first district moved at a fast past, and everyone competed with each other to gather more wealth and power. I liked the slow life here, barely anyone expecting anything, everyone working together with no exterior motives. The raw emotions shown in the people, not putting on a mask and honestly facing others.

"I think this much should be enough," Ally held a pail of water.

"You can place them on the ground," I ordered them.

Evan and April followed Ally, placing the pails beside the pot, allowing me to start demonstrating how to wash them. I poured the water inside the cauldron, swirling my hand around, enjoying the faint coldness. Once the water became murky white, I gestured to Evan to help me tip the pot, getting rid of dirty water. Adam's eyes glittered as he wanted to wash the rice, soon taking my place. Meanwhile, I moved onto gathering thin tree branches, attempting to replicate a fireplace.

"How do you plan to make the fire?" Ally wondered.

I planned to use my mana to secretly light up the wood, and didn't answer her. Scanning if they were watching, I mumbled to create a fire after slipping the branches underneath the pot. April brightened as she noticed faint hints of sparking, spreading to the other pieces of wood. I placed the lid on the pot, waiting for time to do its job.

"I think it'll be finished in around thirty minutes," I set the timer on my phone.

"Have you done this before?" Evan was impressed.

"This is my first time," I excluded my past life.

"I think there's someone calling you," Ally noticed.

I sighed as I showed them the person calling me, having everyone instantly stiffen. Ignoring the call was my best option, knowing Luke and Alex well. Shooting a look at the others, they agreed to pretend my phone didn't exist. Until Ally slightly began shuddering, mouthing to warn me, 'they're behind you. They came out of nowhere.'

Taking a deep breath to prepare myself, I slowly turned around, facing the two people I wanted to avoid.