Chapter 10

Adam woke up early, he still has homework to do that he didn't manage to finish last night. He decided to go to the kitchen and get some cold orange juice to wake him up.

He heard a boiling sound and a faint chopping sound, coming from the kitchen. He walked inside the kitchen and saw Sid, chopping some potatoes beside the boiling pot on top of the stove.

It's been almost a week since she arrived at their house. Since then, she has been tasked with cooking and mostly cleaning the house. He never said it loudly, but Adam really likes her cooking compared to his mom, Laney.

"Good morning."

"Heuk!"

She jolted in surprise, causing her to accidentally cut her forefinger.

"Are you okay?" He immediately ran toward her with a worried look on his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"I-it's okay," Sid smiled at him.

"Wait here. I'll go grab the first aid kit."

"N, no. You don't need to," She awkwardly said while trying to stop him. "It's okay, it's just a shallow cut, so don't worry."

"Are you sure?" She nods, "By the way, do you need something?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm here to get some juice."

"Okay. Let me just finish cutting this."

"No, it's okay. I'll go get it myself." Adam scratched his cheek while looking at the restless Sid.

"B-but..."

"It's fine. By the way, what are you cooking?" He asked, shifting the conversion.

"Potato soup and frittatas."

"Nice!" Adam happily exclaimed.

It was a blessing to have her live with them. Since Adam can now confidently say, that he's finally eating a delicious home-cooked meal.

"Hey, can you pack lunch for me?"

"Sure."

"Thanks!"

"Mn."

Adam saw a faint smile on Sid's face as she turned toward the stove.

'Pretty...she should smile more.'

Adam thought as he left the kitchen with his juice in his hand.

* * *

Sid was preparing to leave for school, when the door swung open, revealing a man in a gray suit. She also heard footsteps and saw Allyna rushing down the stairs.

"Dad! You're home!" Allyna excitedly jumped to his father's arm as soon as she saw him.

Gerard hugged his daughter and pat her head, "Haha, did you miss me?"

"Yes!" He smiled at Allyna's answer, "Here's your present. By the way, where is your brother?"

"Oh, thanks, dad," She murmured while opening the paper bag to see what was inside.

"I don't know, he's probably in the kitchen or upstairs."

"I see."

She felt a slight prick on her chest as she saw Allyna and Gerard. Sid won't deny that she's jealous of her half-sister since she received both of her parent's love, which is the complete opposite of her.

She doesn't understand why her mom hates her. She was jealous whenever she saw kids at her age getting along with their mothers because she never experienced any care from Laney.

Elknox was the only one who cared and loved her. He also filled the role of a mother, in the absence of Laney. Now that her father's gone, Sid feels unbearably empty.

Sid instinctively flinched a little when she felt Gerard's gaze. She anxiously clenched the side of her skirt as she mustered the courage to greet him.

"G-good morning."

"Who are you?"

"M-my name is Sid."

"She's mom's niece," Allyna butted nonchalantly, "mom said that she's living with us from now on because her parents are dead and has nowhere to go."

"Hm, don't cause any trouble."

Sid quickly nods her head, after hearing his indifferent voice warning her.

"I-I understand," She replied with her eyes on the floor.

* * *

They're currently inside the gymnasium for their P.E. class and her classmates are currently playing volleyball, with two separate teams made up of girls versus boys.

Sid is terrible at sports, and she's not used to moving her body too much because she easily gets tired. She remembered the time when Mathieu invited her for a jog, and she felt like her legs were gonna snap after barely finishing a single lap. Thankfully, participation is not mandatory, that's why Sid was free to sit around the corner and silently read a light novel.

She was reading, 'I'm an extra, but the villain became obsessed with me, which she got from Mathieu. It's really fun to read, especially how the main character tried to do everything just to shake the villain off of her shoulder. But all her plans immediately went downhill, because the villain was so persistent and always had a way to catch her.

A faint giggle came out from her lips, Mathieu truly has great taste when it comes to the historical–romance–fantasy genre.

They always like to exchange books since they were little. Mathieu is fond of romance, while Sid leans towards stories in fantasy–adventure genre.

"Hey!"

"Hey, mismatched! Are you ignoring us?"

Sid internally sighed, at Linda's annoyingly sharp voice. She's wondering how long will they continue picking on her. Aren't they tired of this recurrent routine?

I remember Linda telling me that I am an attention seeker, which is hard for me to understand. How the hell did I become an attention seeker? Was it because I was always with Mathieu? Between me and Linda, isn't she the attention seeker instead of me? I keep on trying to ignore her and her minions, but, they keep on pestering me.

Life is truly unfair, when you want to be alone people won't leave you alone. But when you need them, they leave without a word.

"This bitch!" Marianne tried to snatch the book in my hand, but thankfully my grip is a lot stronger than hers.

I can't let them take this because it isn't mine. I sighed in relief seeing that there were no torn pages on the book.

SPLASH!

"Huh?"

Cold water was poured on me, wetting the book that I borrowed from Mathieu. My eyes trembled at the sight of the ink slowly smudging the pages. I was angry, furious. Why are they so mean? What did I do for them to keep on pushing me?

I stood up in a flash and because I was blinded by my anger, I forcefully pushed Marianne who drenched me in water and slammed her to the floor.

THUD!!!

The whole gymnasium fell into silence at the loud sound of Marianne hitting the hard floor.

"Ugh! You–! How dare you!" She screamed. Marianne went back to her feet and furiously came into me. She grabbed my hair as we both fell to the floor and fought each other.

I have no recollection of what happened next...the next thing I knew it, I was standing in front of the principal with Marianne and her friends, inside the principal's office.

"But sir, it was her who started the fight. We were just trying to invite her to join us, but she began to lash out at us!"

"Marianne is right sir, Sid suddenly glared at us then the next thing we knew she pushed Marianne on the floor."

"I didn't start the fight! You were the one who's picking on me." I retorted.

"Hey, Sid, stop lying. How shameless of you." Linda said.

"No, sir, please listen to my story," I said to the principal hoping that he would take my side, unfortunately, I was wrong.

"Enough! Sid, I know that you're having difficulties because of your father's death, but don't take it out on your classmates. They're just trying to cheer you up, but you fought them instead."

I pursed my lips, 'ah... I knew it. No one listens to me. Why? Why wouldn't you listen to me? I am the victim here, they're the ones who started the fight. Why would you believe them when they are lying?'

She can hear Linda and her friends sneering behind her. They're enjoying the sight of her being scolded by the principal.

I bowed my head in defeat, I have no strength to deal with this any longer.

'I, I just want to disappear.'

The principal began to lecture me when the door of his office opened. I heard a familiar footstep coming toward me.

"M-Mathieu!" Linda gasped.

"Sid, what happened? Why are you looking like this?" A gentle voice full of worry spoke to me.

"I, I didn't start the fight."

"Hey! That's not true!" Marianne aggressively interrupted her.

"Will you please close your mouth for a moment and let her talk?" Mathieu politely said in contrast to his piercing eyes glaring at her.

"A, Ahem..."

"Now, it's okay to talk, Sid. You can tell me, I'll listen to you."

"Mn. They were lying...they tried to snatch the book that you, that you lent to me. Then, Marianne poured water on me that's why I pushed her." I slowly said, while trying to keep myself from crying.

"You heard her, Sir, Sid is the victim here, and they're ganging up on her." Mathieu said with a chilling voice, "Sid is not the type to start a fight. If you can't believe her, why don't we call their entire class and ask them what truly happened."

The principal sighed as he found this whole situation a bother.

"Fine, I will look into this."

"Thank you, sir, then we will take our leave." Mathieu politely said before taking me with him.