Over the Line (4)

"Look, I'm trying my best. My room in grandma's house is much smaller than the size you share with April. It could barely fit one bed and I always have to share it with two other people. I wasn't able to get any good sleep for the last few weeks," I pointed out.

"While you were enjoying your time here, I was constantly pushed to practice. Is it wrong for me to look annoyed for wanting more sleep? To want to sleep on a decent bed. Of course I would get more annoyed when you target me for nearly everything," I was disappointed in her.

"It's just that you take everything for granted," Ally explained.

"Have you ever considered I'm forced to take these things they offer me? Do you know I have no choice but to wear these uncomfortable things? Anything they don't approve is burnt or thrown away upon discovery, leaving me stranded. And of course I wouldn't like their food when they threaten me to eat them," I wanted her to move.

"I'm sorry," Ally's eyes glinted with guilt.

I took this chance to walk around her, and headed towards the living room to reveal more of my sufferings. Thankfully, Ally was the last person to join us, accepting the desserts upon her arrival. Why did everyone in my family appear so greedy? They accepted everything Luke and Alex offered them. They didn't even try to decline like my friends in the first district. I interrupted them to resolve their misunderstandings, "this is exactly why I didn't want to come here."

"This is a schedule," my mom stared at the paper.

"This is everything I have to do in exchange for going to the shopping mall, which you ended earlier than what I wanted," I gave my schedule to them.

"But this isn't possible," grandma frowned.

"It is possible. Please enjoy your time here while there's an hour left before I go to the next item on the list," I hoped one of them would help.

"Who is teaching you all these subjects?" My mom wondered.

"Them. Who else would it be?" I gestured towards Luke and Alex.

"The curriculum in our school is very extensive and many preparations are needed," Luke explained.

"There's no break for more than twelve hours," Ally noticed.

Finally! Someone who noticed the worst part of this schedule! Each hour represented around a day using the time-space room. My mom had to admit, "this is a little too strict. How about you give Rika more breaks?"

"I follow what my parents planned for us," Luke revealed.

"Your parents must be very strict," my dad commented.

The Roselia family wasn't just strict, they were cold and vicious people. I couldn't blame Luke for everything, knowing Joanna and Logan created most of the cruel schedules. When Joanna revealed Luke's schedule to me, I wondered if he was even a human being. I didn't know his schedule was ten times more intense than mine. Whenever we visited his parents or grandparents, they sent him to more classes during the time I would be sleeping.

Luke really didn't have more room for anything other than his mandatory heir lessons. I remained ignorant when Joanna contemplated on which classes to drop, eventually adding more. She was determined to push most of her work onto Luke later. Meanwhile, my schedule was already crafted by Logan. It was hard to believe they lowered their expectations towards me, seeing everything they wanted to accomplish.

"This is what everyone in the first district goes through," Alex supported Luke.

"You never have any breaks?" My aunt was stunned.

I was sure others had breaks. My friends in the club room were equally surprised by the intense schedules I suffered through. This meant both the Roselia and Monete families weren't normal. Luke and Alex were close to each other for a reason. Joanna and Juliana liked to work together, struggling to watch them match their children's schedules. I learned many things while everyone else got to compete in the sword spars.

"Do you create my schedules?" I faced Joanna.

"Your schedules are different. I send a proposal to your grandfather and he is the one who makes the final decisions," she revealed.

"Is it possible to take more classes out?" I desperately hoped.

"We're making you take the minimum number of subjects. We can't reduce them further than this. Although we were at the edge of adding more, you managed to convince us you wouldn't be able to handle it," she was lenient.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything else I could say to her. She looked at me as someone she needed to shape to succeed her position. I would be the same if I was in her position, there was no other way to escape from the work. Their family resembled a black company, having a clear hierarchy, forced to work until their deaths. Although I pitied Luke, there was no way I could live the rest of my life this way.

"Sadly, we do not have the room for any breaks," Alex strictly followed his parent's orders.

"Would it be fine if we watched a little part of Rika's usual days?" My mom was curious.

I silently cheered inside my heart, knowing they wouldn't be able to yell at me in front of my parents. This plan was working very well. Until Luke unexpectedly refused, "we apologize in advance that we cannot allow you to watch us. We are bound by some rules."

***

My eyes brightened when our car was close to grandma's house. I was only allowed to sleep for seven hours last night, the rest of the time spent going through that horrible schedule. Instead of going to my cramped bedroom, I ran to the living room. With the mats Luke placed, it resembled laying down on a sleeping bag. It was the perfect place to roll around while catching up on some sleep. And since my family knew how much I suffered, they left me alone.

When Adam entered the living room to sit near me, I couldn't help but be filled with envy. Since my childhood, I never had any toys. I was either forced to study or make do with the desserts in the café. In his hands was a kit, working with paper to create simple objects. It reminded me of origami, making me feel a little nostalgic. I used to be obsessed with those in my former life when I was younger. I watched him go through the steps, looking at the pictures in the book. He was getting a decent and loving childhood.

"Is it fun?" I rolled towards him.

"I don't know how to do this step," Adam sulked.

"I can show you," I took a quick glimpse at his book.

"I want to do it on my own," he was afraid it would get confiscated.

"You can do this," I used my hands to demonstrate.

"I did it!" Adam imitated my actions.

I gently smiled to praise him, not able to touch him. Unexpectedly, Adam began to work harder, folding more pieces of paper. In some steps, he used a pair of scissors, turning to me to get a demonstration for the harder parts. He was oddly well-behaved, making me wonder if the lack of toys was the problem in the past. It was nice to have someone looking up to you, not feeling like the youngest for once.

Although Evan was younger than me, we were more like equals since we were twins. Meanwhile, Luke and Alex sadly treated me like I was less than a toddler. Unconsciously, I shifted closer to Adam, going through the book with him. He was creating a grand castle as he cut out some parts in the book. These paper crafts were suited for his age, making me confused when April angrily stomped towards us.

"That's mine!" April tried to swipe the book away.

"It isn't his?" I watched them fight.

"He stole it from me. I bought this at the mall yesterday. He bought a bunch of toy cars and robots," she grabbed her book.

"Give it back! I'm almost finished with the castle," Adam whined.

"It's not yours in the first place," April attempted to kick him away.

Adam and April began to wrestle with each other, both of them adamant to use the book for themselves. I stiffened when I noticed Adam was still holding a pair of scissors in his hands. This could be dangerous as the scissors could injure someone, its dull blade pointing in the wrong direction. I sighed as I joined them to take the scissors away, not knowing Adam would think I was on April's side.

"It's mine!" Adam shouted.

"Can you pass me the scissors?" I nicely asked him.

"See! Even Rika is saying you're the one wrong," April misunderstood.

"I'm not wrong!" Adam's grip on his scissors tightened.

My eyes went large when I felt a metal blade in my hair, feeling like the scissor was lightly tugging it. April stopped fighting with Adam, freezing in her spot. Her mouth opened, watching strands of silver hair drifting towards the ground. Meanwhile, Adam took this chance to grab the book, and tightly hugged it inside his arms. Did he actually just cut my hair from panicking? As always, Luke had impeccable timing, entering the living room to drag me away for something.

His eyes instantly landed on the glistening hair on the mat, eventually noticing the scissors in Adam's hand. I shuddered from his furious eyes, his entire body trembling and taking heavy steps towards me. None of it was my fault, I didn't want to become the target. I immediately pulled out my acting skills to shift the blame. I made my eyes glimmer, full of tears and blinked several times to have them stream down my face.

"He cut my hair," my voice wobbled.

Maybe I had to cry harder, unfortunately his reaction remained the same, focusing on me. I began to miserably whimper, "Adam cut my precious hair. He was fighting with April and I tried to avoid them, but he lunged at me."

"What is happening here?" My aunt joined us.

Damn! There was a whole audience coming from the chaos, my parents and my uncle followed by grandma. It would be harder to convince others in addition to Luke. I had to act faster. Mustering the courage, I ran into Luke's arms, sobbing and trying to pretend I was the victim. I actually didn't care if Adam cut my hair, but I have signed away the control over my hair to Luke. This meant my hair didn't belong to me.

"He cut off an entire inch," Luke studied the damage.

An entire inch! Didn't that mean they had to cut the rest of my hair by the same amount? My head would finally become lighter! To hide my happiness, I dug my face further into his chest. And unexpectedly, he tightly hugged me, trying to console me. Although I didn't know when Alex joined us, I avoided his eyes, noticing he was equally angry as Luke.

"You can send the lawsuits we prepared," Luke exploded.

"Shouldn't we add more to them?" Alex viciously suggested.