Chapter Eleven

❀

The stress and pressure that I've been feeling since the false bomb dropped is immeasurable. That's why I'm grateful that I had a great time and laughed with NJ and Tom even though we failed to plan anything at all.

Both of them went home at past 6PM and as soon as they were gone, I decided to pamper myself, hoping that doing this self-care thingy would help me ease my mind. I needed to unload the worries and anxieties that I've been feeling and I believe that self-care would be the best way to save myself from drowning in these negative feelings and thoughts.

As a form of self-care, I've decided to go to the bathroom and soak myself into a bubble bath. I've got my own tub, but I rarely use it mainly because I'd like to conserve water. It's the least thing I could do to help myself and my entire family with saving money.

I only take a warm bath in the tub whenever I feel stressed out or pressured. As far as I recall, the last time I soaked in the tub was 6 years ago when I felt extremely lonely after losing my favorite bag.

Anyway, I grabbed my towel and went to the bathroom. As I went inside my bathroom and shut the door, I opened the sink in my tub to fill it with warm water. Once it was full of water, I poured a bubble bath soap that has a fragrance of lavender. I suddenly felt excited jumping inside the tub so as soon as it was all set, I removed all of my clothes and then slowly soaked in the water full of bubbles.

It made me smile because it felt really good, especially the gentle touch of the bubbles as well as the warm water. I stayed in the tub full of bubbles for a while and while I'm at it, memories of yesterday came running inside my mind. I really don't want to feel frustrated right now in the bath, so I've decided to switch my mind to a different scenario. I found myself creating the next chapter for the novel I've been writing.

Yes, this is my way of taking care of myself. Having a clean room would be nice too, but I'm a lazy bum when it comes to cleaning. The clothes were still lying down on the floor, maybe I'll just shove those clothes inside the wardrobe. It's not normal for other people to just shove their clothes in the closet but for me, it really is.

How I wish I'm like NJ, a clean-freak. I never imagined that he would clean my room just last week. It ended up getting messy, anyway.

After an hour, I decided to get out of the tub and shower myself until the bubbles took off from my head and body. Like the water in the tub, the shower's warm too and it felt oh-so-good.

After completing my self-care routine, I went out of the bathroom which led me to my bedroom. After all, I've got my own bathroom inside my room.

I removed my towel and threw it at the floor and walked to my wardrobe to choose my attire for the night. I didn't ponder about my outfit because I'm home and it's already night time. I pulled out the nearest pajama I spotted and wore it. It's just plain PJ's for both the top and the bottom, blue in color.

My bed doesn't have any stuff in it simply because I threw them all down the floor. Since my bed is empty, I plopped myself down the bed.

"This is the best!" I said to myself. "Now, I wonder what I should do next?" I looked at the alarm clock on the table just beside my bed and saw that it's still 8PM. Since it's still early, I've decided to open my laptop and draft my novel.

Being in the laptop reminds me of the article I've read. Tonight's my self-care time so I've decided not to open our school's website. It'll probably trigger my stress and anxiety. I don't want to ruin my self-care routine for tonight, you know?

I was about to start writing when I heard my phone rang like crazy. Who would call at this time of the night? I picked up my phone from the table where my alarm clock is located. As I opened it, I was surprised to see a group chat with NJ and Tom. It was the messenger ringing, video call. Why would they want to call at this time of the night?

I would normally ignore calls but I've got a feeling this is something important. I answered the video call invite. NJ and Tom's faces showed up on the screen.

"'Yo!" NJ greeted me as I answered the call.

"Hey, is there anything you'd like to talk about?" I asked. "And why call when you can just chat in our group chat?"

"Nothing much. We just want to see you, that's all." Tom said.

"Whatever," I simply answered but deep inside, it was touching that they bothered to call when they could have just sent their messages or whatever they wanted to talk about in my messenger. I know I said I don't want to ruin my self-care tonight by thinking of the false issue, but I'd like to end it right away.

That said, I brought up the topic while we're talking. "So, when are we going to plan on cleaning the mess?" I know that they already know what I was talking about. They could never play dumb with me because knowing them, so far, they would just ignore the issue and not fix it. It happened with NJ the first time we saw our photo and just yesterday, the two of them.

"It's not true, what is there to clean?" Tom stated.

"Agreed," NJ said. "Don't think about it too much."

"You don't understand! I'd like to finish this issue before another one comes up. See, I'd like to live a peaceful life here at school. Is that too much to ask? You two are involved, can't you at least cooperate with me?" I ranted, sounded frustrated.

"I thought you don't care about anything at all?" NJ said.

"Well, this is a different story!" I said. "Come on guys, don't make me beg on this one."

Both of them chuckled.

Do they think this is funny? Are they amused with what's going on?

"I refuse!" NJ said.

"Same here!" Tom added.

"Are you two ganging up on me?" I said. "You traitors! You said that you're gonna help me with this issue. You lied!"

"Oh come on, at least there are a few changes in your life now that you've got some quite reputation." NJ said.

"What kind of changes? Me, being the villain even though I am not doing anything wrong?" I said and sighed.

"Don't be like that, dummy. Have you forgotten the role I was given by our lovely schoolmates?" Tom reminded me.

Right. An affair.

"Why aren't you affected? Don't you think this issue has to be clarified and fixed?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Don't bother. No one would believe it anyway." he answered.

"I know!" I responded and sighed. "And that is the reason why I'd like to create a plan to fix this mess."

A moment of silence enveloped us for a while, but the silence was cut when NJ sighed.

"Fine. If you insist, let's fix it then." NJ said.

"Alright, after you." Tom agreed.

"Thank you, guys. I was hoping to live in a peaceful and truthful environment." I said, feeling relieved. Who would want to live in a messy and riotous environment?

"At least, there are no rumors about us buying you." Tom joked.

"That's the last thing I'd like to happen," I said. "I am not allowing anyone to buy me, you know? Who in their right mind will buy someone?"

NJ shrugged and responded, "Maybe someone who's interested with you with an unclear motive?"

"Then what, the buyer will get an affair? What would be the person sold left?" Tom.

"Nothing, I guess," I answered. Then, I've got an idea. "Hey, wanna play? Let's continue adding our own story. Sounds fun, right?" I suggested it excitedly. "NJ started, Tom followed and now, it's my turn." I said then I added a story of my own.

"Nothing's left for the one who was sold aside from herself or himself." I said.

"When a buyer buys you, you'll be doomed. After all, the buyer can control you and you're nothing but a slave." NJ continued.

"Let's say, the character weeped but became stronger day by day." Tom added.

"But despite the struggles, the character didn't lose hope and made a way to earn money of her own." I followed.

"A couple of years later, say, 2 years, their world turned upside-down," NJ started. "The character got the freedom he or she's been desiring."

"And now, he or she's still trying hard to become even more successful with the character's career." Tom said.

"After getting freed by that terrible human being, the character was able to have her own place and a family of her own too. Loyal-wedded character." I said.

"So, that's the ending." NJ said.

"Yep. But I wonder, of all the billions of people living on our planet, how rare are faithful partners?" I responded, curious. "In this world full of play dates, I hope I could find someone someday who's serious and faithful. I despise them, big time."

I looked at my alarm clock and said that I have to go because it was already 8 o'clock in the evening. It was fun talking to them, but it would be better if we were also able to plan something. I can wait until tomorrow, anyway.

But I've decided not to talk to any one of them whenever we are at school. I want to avoid the issue for a while and have a stress free life.

If ever this madness is over, I promise, I will really study hard and take life seriously.

❀