Discoveries

After freshening up, Kaia changed her dress again and sneaked out of the house. She kept her head low and walked fast, afraid to make eye contact with anyone.

She shoved the envelope in her bag along with a handwritten note to the bank from her father. He was so knocked out, he had no idea what he was signing. It's a good thing her small hands still remembered the tricks from the calligraphy class, now if what she learned in the taekwondo and self-defence classes came in handy, she'll finally be able to put all the classes she took to use.

Reaching the bank, she gulped.

Are kids even allowed here? What if her father found out about it? What if someone shouts at her again? Like they always did, whether she did something wrong or not.

She still felt scared remembering the looks she got from the people every time she went in before.

But she made it this far, the best she can do is see it through. If she's lucky, the person at the counter will be a nice one.

♣

In the banks of their world, people worked at the counter, interacting with the customers while the machines handle everything else; like depositing the money, counting the money for withdrawal, calculating the taxes, opening their bank accounts, etc.

Once a person enters the bank, they are given a counter number in the form of a ticket. They have to find that counter and give them the ticket before starting their transaction. All counters are equipped to be able to perform any and all transactions at one spot.

♣

With legs like jelly, she took one small step at a time and still reached the counter too soon. Seeing the woman there she did a quick turn and walked away as fast as she could.

Her already strained body shaking more with each memory that resurfaces.

In her previous life, she always had the unfortunate luck of getting that woman every time she came to the bank. That woman had the worst patience and an especially foul mouth. No matter how pretty she was, Kaia could only see her as a monster. She feared her.

And what's worse is that she was at her mother's funeral, one of the many that kept gossiping about her.

But you already entered the bank. Do you really want to come all the way back? Look at yourself. You don't look like you.

Stopping in her tracks she looked at herself in the glass reflection of the door. She tried to look as presentable as possible.

She is pretty but she just felt really, really off every time she saw her own reflection.

I already did this much. I can't let a woman who always verbally abused me all my previous life control my fear.

She laughed a little, it sounds so sad when she puts it that way.

Guess it's time for the second experiment: Will scary money lady be nice to the new Kaia or not? Only one way to find out.

She made her way to the counter as quickly as she could and gave her a ticket. She didn't allow herself to have the chance to turn and run.

Scary money lady looked down at her, a cold expression came on her face as Kaia braced herself. But her demeanour changed in a second and she smiles at Kaia. "Hello, my dear. Do you need anything?"

No matter how kind her smile is, it did nothing to ease the fear Kaia felt looking at her.

She gave the envelope with the cheque and the letter signed by her father to her, trying to steady her hands.

"Let's see here." She took the envelope and the letter, reading the letter first.

The letter is addressed to the bank to give Kaia the money from the cheque in cash, personally signed by her father.

"Kaia Marschall. Marschall? Kaia?" The lady looked from the letter to her. "It's really you?"

Kaia smiled as sweetly as she could, taking a piece of paper from her pocket and scribbled on it.

"Daddy told me to give this to you and that you're going to give something else."

"Of course. But, couldn't your daddy come here himself?"

Kaia noticed that she had a dreamy look on her face when she talked about her father. Does she . . . like him?

Oh~ that explains a lot.

No, it doesn't! Whether she likes my father or not, she had no right to treat me the way she did, no matter what he felt.

She felt her brain cells dying as she thought about how she could have lived the rest of her life without this idea in her head.

"Here you go, Kaia. Pretty little girl." She handed her three full envelopes and patted her head.

Arms full, Kaia accidentally crushed an envelope in her hand the moment she touched her head. Swallowing her pride, she smiled at her and put them into the little bag she carried.

She waved and walked away wondering why this all seems a little too easy. Until she heard her call.

"Kaia! Darling!"

The woman ran to her holding a thinner envelope. She crouched down to her level and placed that envelope in her hands.

"A little something for the prettiest girl in the world." She winked. "See if you can tell your father about how good I am to you, ok?"

Gritting her teeth, Kaia smiled up at her and nodded.

The woman squealed happily. "Good girl." She patted her brown hair again, murmuring, "Good. Very very good. No one will be able to say anything to me anymore."

What?

"Ok. Then I will see you later." She walked away, leaving a trail of perfume wherever she went.

Walking home, Kaia looked into the envelope she gave her and saw several notes of money.

This woman is trying to bribe me!

Her body shivered when she remembered how gently she patted her head.

I need a bath.

She tossed the envelope into the mailbox of an empty house, refusing to have anything to do with the woman.

Before entering her house, she went to the backyard and took out the two envelopes, hiding them behind a loose brick in the wall. When she's sure that it was secure, she walked into the house and bumped into her father.

"Who are you?"

He seems to have sobered up after his ten-hour nap but he's already holding another bottle of wine.

Will his indifferent behaviour change if he saw her with this new face?

She smiled up at him and signed, "Good morning, Dad."

"Kaia? Where have you been?" He moved aside so that she could enter.

She signed, "There was this man that came with money for you."

"Oh. The condolence money. Give me the cheque, I'll go change it."

Her smile became more forced as their conversation continued. "I didn't want to wake you so I went with him to change it to money."

"Really? Give it to me."

She took one envelope and gave it to him. He counted the money in it and shoved them into his wallet.

"Good job."

Her eyes widened. He never said anything remotely positive to her before. He either was really mean or completely ignored her existence.

"I hate going to that stuffy place." He continued, taking a chug from the bottle.

Just then her stomach growled. Kaia realised that, with how busy she was, she forgot to eat from the morning.

"Hungry?"

She nodded her head. Maybe, just maybe. Can she dare to hope?

Her father made his way to his room and came back, clean, and dressed up. Now, he actually looked like a decent human.

"There must be something you can eat in the fridge. Don't worry about me. See you." And he was out the door.

Kaia stared at the door long after he left in disbelief.

Did he really leave his starving twelve-year-old daughter with a fridge full of wine and beer?

What was I expecting, just because he complimented me once?

She thought she already lost this feeling years ago but the burning and the pain in her chest told her otherwise.

She ran to the bathroom and took a hot shower, scrubbing her body until it became red and raw. She couldn't tell whether she was crying or it was just the water from the showerhead.

At least she felt clean now that skin felt like it was on fire. She took out the rest of the money she hid and started counting them.

She stow away most of the money and with the ones left and she contemplated if she should buy herself something to eat.

Her father would disappear for days on end, leaving her alone in the house. It is only because of her friends that she didn't die of starvation. They gave her their lunch, Aliya and Max even packed extra for her.

Even though they didn't go to the same school, they would all meet after school in their playground and eat with Kaia.

If she wasn't wrong, the next day is Shia's fourteenth birthday and she promised her years before that incident happened, that she would make her mother's special spaghetti for her. But she never got the chance to.

She could finally make it for her tomorrow. But first, she would have to go to the convenience store.

She gulped at the thought of meeting more people but it's something she has to do. So she summoned up all her nerves and got ready for the third time that day.

With a hoodie over her head, she made her way to the convenience store. Luckily for her, there were not many people there, it is late evening after all. Most people would be at home, doing literally anything else.

Maybe some fathers would be at home with their kids too.

She knew that deep down, she still really cared about her father and still wanted his approval, even now.

Pathetic. Kaia, learn from your past.

Grabbing a packet of spaghetti, she threw it into her cart with butter and a packet of salt.

I just can't understand it, everyone else I've met has become nicer to me the moment they saw my face but he just remained unfazed.

The more she saw her reflection, the more she noticed how similar she looks to her mother. Could that be why he-

Her hands stopped on a bar of chocolate.

It's just chocolate. No need to be afraid. Just grab it and done.

Try as she may, she couldn't bring herself to grab it, they just stood suspended in the air, trembling. She swallowed her saliva and put her hands down.

Maybe not.

She continued walking to the other isle in search of tomato puree and meatballs. Her palms itch with the thought of spending so much money.

It's for Shia. It's ok. The money will always be there she … won't.

… yeah.

She looked down at her items in the cart. These were all that she considered as 'luxury' items even at the age of seventeen. Now, she, as a twelve-year-old, is able to buy them without losing too much money. She is also not stared at as much anymore when in public. And all this just because she changed her appearance. She chuckled at the irony.

I think that's all I need.

She turned to pay the cashier when she bumped into a boy with fluffy black hair. He wore a mask but his chocolate-brown eyes stared at her like she was a ghost.

She stared back at him, refusing to the first to break eye contact.

What does this kid want?

"Ah . . . Um . . . Excuse me."

She tilted her head to the side, giving him her full attention.

"Uh . . . You have to be careful. You only have two y-years left to live. Ok. Bye."

He ran out of the store as fast as he could making Kaia ditch her cart and follow after him.

She tried to call out to him but it only came out like a gargle as he disappeared around a corner.

No matter how much she looked she couldn't find him anymore and had to make her way back to the store.

That boy. He knows my life span. How? How is that possible?

Did he die and came back too?