"Her emerging blisses"

[November 30th, 2021]

The morning started off as she felt wide awake but still didn't open her eyes, with her mother, sitting beside her as she was concerned.

"What happened to her? Why won't you tell me?" She asked her husband, close to tears.

Her father was standing leaning towards the door.

"She's just vitamin deficit-"

"No! You're lying!" She ended up bursting into tears. "What do you take me for?!" Her face turned red and eyes swollen.

Aurora sat up to the commotion, breathing heavily turning her head to the side to look at her mother.

"I have cancer, Mom." Aurora whispered loudly.

Her mother stared at her, speechlessly, as tears dripped down her cheeks slowly hitting the mattress. Seeing that she had woken her up, she quickly wiped her tears clean, sniffing one last time to finally compose herself. Upon hearing her own daughter talk about having cancer, she felt sort of ashamed to be asking for it.

"W-What do you mean cancer?" She asked hesitantly, sitting down trying to give herself time to understand.

Her father reached her out, grabbed her shoulders to have her stand up, trying to guide her outside the room to disclose everything to her and let his daughter go back to resting.

Aurora broke into tears as soon as they both left regretting over the fact that she let her mother know so easily. It took one single day for her condition to worsen, and for her to disclose everything so easily. Her head ached sitting upright, so, she lied down again contemplating about everything. Putting the blanket on her face violently, she cried herself into it.

Lucy's grandmother was laid to rest, with Aurora being absent at the funeral. Of course, Lucy was curious and confused as to why Aurora didn't arrive. Being the closest to her grandmother, Aurora should've arrived. However, she had no energy to think about it.

Maybe later, after calming out from the overwhelming situation that fell upon her, she would call Aurora herself and ask her. Not that she was upset with her absence, rather she was worried about her. She knew Aurora adored her grandmother. They were the same, behavior-wise. They got along pretty well, better than any other of her friends. That's why it was strange for her to not attend the funeral. At least, the others were present.

"I remember playing video games with her. She was one terrific Granny." Ethan said reminiscing about the old times as they sat outside, in the garden on the green, fluffy grass.

"Yeah, she was a gamer of her time." Lucy said with a smile. "Aurora didn't show up. Is she alright? Yesterday, things were hectic so I didn't notice but she returned as soon as she arrived at the hospital." She asked, not being able to not worry.

"She-"

"She's sick." Sean cut of Ethan instantly.

Ethan looked down with frowned eyebrows. The more he wanted to comfort Lucy for her loss, he wanted to visit Aurora as soon as possible to see if she's alright. He could feel his veins, literally bursting out of concern. He couldn't believe how Sean knew about everything yet he was calmer than ever.

"Again?" Lucy sighed.

"Yeah, she never takes care of herself anyway." Giselle said.

"She must be sad. Probably more than me. I should go check on her." Lucy said slowly.

"No." Sean swiftly replied, without waiting a second. "It's better if you don't… I mean. You're in mourning. And…" He was out of words.

"So?" Lucy asked. "Granny would be more than glad if I stopped crying and actually went off to check up on a friend. And that's exactly what I will do." She sternly replied before swiftly standing up.

"It's better if you don't go." Sean repeated, being out of words.

Lucy scoffed before shaking her head.

"L-Lucy! She has one of those viral things… Uh, flu or something." Ethan tried to cover it up for Sean.

Sean instantly stared at him, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh." Lucy murmured. "Then her mom won't let us see her, right? Sean you should've just said that."

At least, Ethan was able to keep her from going. Sean eyed Ethan to have a chat, away from the girls, before going to a corner. Ethan followed him there, with a desperate look as he was trying to avoid conversation about the matter.

"… What was that about?" Sean said while looking around, making sure no one was near enough to hear them.

"Is this what you meant?" Ethan said hesitantly. "Is this what you meant by that? She's going somewhere?" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "She's dying?!" He shouted, not being able to hold it in.

Sean stuttered, being speechless. He let out a huge sigh, furrowing his brows in concern.

"Why are you not worried?!" Ethan loudly asked, breaking heavily. "I thought you liked her… Then why are you not worried? Why are you not freaking out?" He swiftly added. "It's only been a day since I found out… A-And I can't get it out of my head. I can't stop worrying. I can't even imagine how painful it would be for her!" He shouted from the top of his lungs.

"We're in a mourning house!" Sean whispered loudly, before patting his shoulder. "I know you're worried. I am just as worried. But this is the reason why she didn't tell anyone… Because she knew you were going to be so concerned. It's better if we keep our worries to ourselves for her sake, isn't it?" He calmly explained.

Ethan inhaled a bunch of air before pouting, filling his mouth full of air, trying not to cry.

"How did you find out?"

Ethan exhaled loudly, giving himself time before speaking up.

"I overheard Granny encourage her for surgery." Ethan said, then suddenly widened his eyes. "Wait." Narrowing them back, he started to think. "Will getting a surgery help her?" Ethan asked, sincerely.

Sean narrowed his eyes before looking away, passing out a light sigh.

"I wish it could." He uttered.

Ethan sat down on the fluffy grass, feeling it by the palm of his hand. Though it looked fluffy, it felt piercing to his skin. The thought of losing a close friend sent shivers down his spine making him restless. Sean sat down alongside him, sharing the same concerns but unable to put them aside by burying them with further concerns. How they hoped it was just nightmare, and that they would wake up eventually was terrifying even to themselves.

Aurora grabbed her phone, though it was hard to hold it straight with the extreme headache. She had woken up to a ring, a text perhaps.

"Hey, Aurora. Don't worry about not being able to visit Granny today. Ethan told me you had flu. Don't worry about me either." Lucy's text was as brightly written as ever, as if she never had any concerns. Would be cruel to break it down to her. "Just take care of yourself and don't cry in bed alone. We want a healthy Aurora."

The choice of words was nice. Aurora wanted to hear that after disclosing everything to her mother. 'Healthy Aurora' was rather impossible in her thoughts. But she was still glad that her friend texted her even though she didn't show up at the funeral. She fell back to bed to recover.

That way, at least she would be able to visit her father's memorial gathering. She felt rather calm now. A text from a friend who doesn't know the truth could emerge such bliss in her, she wasn't aware of that.

[November 30th, 2020]

"It would be great if I could just forget about everything… But I can't." Ethan murmured, sitting on the bench at the library, accompanying Hefty Uncle who had been searching for a philosophy book to read.

"Life is about hardships, kid." Hefty Uncle was straightforward, yet always speaking the truth.

Ethan stood up and started searching for the designated 'philosophy' book. Not that he knew what to look for.

"Do you blame your father for the way your life turned out?" Hefty Uncle asked as he opened a book titled, 'The Gen-Z way'

"I thought you were looking for philosophy, Uncle?" Ethan asked looking at the utterly hilarious book.

"Knowing you kids better is my philosophy." He chuckled like an old man, "So, your answer?"

"I know I shouldn't be blaming him. It wasn't his fault we got bankrupted." Ethan sighed. "But I feel like if I won't blame him, I won't be able to move on." He added.

"You know, yet you complain." Hefty Uncle laughed loudly.

The librarian hissed at him from a distance for being loud. He looked at her, and looked away and stuck out his tongue a little.

"Uncle, you're not a kid." Ethan reminded him.

Uncle chuckled, and began to search for books after putting the one in his hand back to the shelf. He ran his fingers across the clean, old books.

"They could've called me back to my home-town." Ethan complained. "Not that I want to leave my friends. I just don't want to live alone."

"I understand, kid." Hefty Uncle assured him. "Sean lived alone for most of his life. Locked in room, or a cell to be precise. With no water, no food, for days… Even weeks. That's how we all were born. For his sake." He added. "Not that I'm saying you should develop a disorder."

They both chuckled lightly at the slight humor in Hefty Uncle's voice.

"Just know that," Uncle continued, "Your friends are there for you when you're alone. Even if it is hard. I suggest you try to withhold the pressure with all your might." He tapped his shoulders lightly. "Even the slightest discomfort will be rewarded."

Maybe it was only right to take advice from an experienced old man. They both continued their hunt for the book.

Aurora was still locked in her room. Her sprained ankle wasn't going to let her walk around anyway. She looked at her to-do list with droopy eyes.

1. First thing after semester break starts, grocery shopping with mom : Check.

2. Sleep-over with Giselle : Check.

3. Helping Ethan with a part-time job : Check.

4. Visiting Lucy's Dad's grave on his death anniversary :

5. Talking things out with Sean and his alters :

6. Taking piano classes : NEVER!

Neither had she talked things out with Sean and his alters i.e. get to know them more closely nor was she going to visit Lucy's dad's grave because of her sprained ankle. However, she didn't stress over it too much for she had a long life ahead of her for these events to reoccur.

She quietly just lied down on her bed and thought about what she would do after her ankle was healed. She could imagine all her friends taking her out to different places.

Sometimes she came across the thought that they were too generous towards her. And that she really had to start taking care of herself for their sake. And for her sake. Not even a single day would pass by, without her friends at least texting her a thousand of times to check up on her. She also hated being sick.

Except taking care of herself was still off-limits. The entire day, even when everyone had texted her and went on over to their own tasks, she re-read the conversations multiple times and giggled at the memes and humor they all shared. What an everlasting pleasure! The funniest parts for her, were Lucy and Ethan's fights. They fought over video games all the time. Placing bets too.

"The one with the most kills wins. The loser will treat the whole squad to dinner." Lucy was cruel towards Ethan's wallet over texts sent in the group chat.

However, Ethan didn't mind at all. The emptier the wallet, more chances of Hefty Uncle treating them to dinner! His brain only worked in these scenarios.

"Deal!" He was confident.

Triggering Hefty Uncle later in the library admitting his defeat, they later bought dinner at a fast-food place and went to Aurora's house calling everyone else over as well.

"You're such a cheater!" Lucy complained. "This is not fair. He's a cheater."

"Nah, Sean was with me and when I opened my empty wallet, Hefty Uncle just appeared and insisted on buying dinner, right Uncle?" Ethan explained himself.

"Huh? I don't know." Sean being back denied the charges. "He probably did do that."

Ethan shrugged at the slight agreement. They all laughed it off as a usual fight and ate dinner together. No way Aurora was going to take such friends for granted.