Chapter 4.2: I didn't know it was you

Belinda decided to visit Ivy with Laura and Lance to tell her about their birthday plan and were trying to avoid meeting Andrew and Sandra. It's been ages since they ever went to Ivy's house that they vaguely remembered where she lived and had forgotten Sandra was staying nearby. Lance tried to recall as he led the way to a rooftop house with a horrendous scary looking teddy bear overlooking from on top of the roof.

"Lan… ce… Are you sure this is the house?" Laura was stuttering in fear as the wind blew past them and a wind chime tingled at the corridor of the main house.

"Yes… If not mistaken, Sandra lives down there in that house." Lance pointed to a unit on the right at the lower ground.

Sandra instantly recognised their voices as she tried to stay quiet and watch their movements while waiting for the phone call to end.

"Perfect! Hey Ivy, you haven't replied to our messages." Andrew lamented over the phone as Sandra rolled her eyes at him trying to drag the phone call.

"I said I would email you both later right?" Ivy was starting to get annoyed with Andrew.

"Not that. My algebra questions." Andrew whined.

"Stop being a baby. There isn't any algebra this week. History is more important!" Sandra scolded in a low voice.

"But... But I want to conclude it today..." Andrew lamented.

A beep sounded from Ivy's phone indicating there was an incoming call.

"Lance is on the other line. Do you both want to conference with him too?" Ivy teased while hungrily slurping her noodles.

"No, no! Bye princess! Please don't forget to reply to my algebra questions!" Andrew reminded her as he hung up.

"Stop being a baby Andrew! Bye Sandra!" Ivy hung up without waiting for her to reply but noticed how quiet she was. She shrugged it off thinking Sandra must be busy with her assignments too as she slurped down the last bit of soup in the bowl before answering Lance's call.

Sandra was paying more attention to the three of them outside and could tell both girls were retreating closer to the stairs as Lance still stood in front of the main door. Sandra giggled softly as she thought of mischievous ideas to scare them.

Ivy's front house has not been lived in ever since the roof was leaking many years back when she was still in high school. There was once Ivy who won a giant Teddy bear from one of the fun fair games but she didn't like the bear so decided to stuffed the beard's head on top of the roof. Her grandma told her she would only make the hole even larger as during rainy days the bear would soak and its weight would pull on the roof tiles to crack even more.

However, Ivy was a curious cat when she was a teenager that she decided to put it up and ever since the bear has been an iconic landmark to tell others where she lives. Not many knew there was a back house and a glass house at the corner of the main house. Her grandma decided the back house was more convenient to live in as she got older and didn't need to manage cleaning a huge place. Besides, the back house was closer to a not very well known side hilly road where she parked her vintage car.

Eventually the front house became an abandoned hall which Andrew and Sandra would gather with Ivy for board games whenever they were free.

"Hello?" Lance said in a very weary voice.

"This is the voicemail box of the number you have dialed. Please leave a message after the tone. Beep!" Ivy imitated the voice machine. Sandra nearly laughed out loud from hearing Ivy's imitation in the kitchen as she held her hand over her mouth and controlled herself from laughing.

Lance fell for it as he stuttered to speak his mind. Ivy too was trying hard not to giggle or make any sound.

"Ivy, I was wondering if…" Lance knew both girls were far behind him and might not hear him. Hence, he decided to muster up his courage to make Ivy a secret offer. "You might want… Some help with studies such as Science…" Ivy rolled her eyes knowing he could still recall her poor grades for Science in high school. At the back of her mind, she was worried too as she took a last sip of her noodles' soup, trying hard not to make a sound.

"And you could join me and the girls for a study group. But perhaps if you want a smaller group I could come to your place to tutor you… Erm, just let me know tomorrow in college. Bye!" He quickly hung up as Ivy laughed. She knew Lance was up to something with his offer as she pondered on the possibilities. The rich kids always stayed together but he would offer an one on one tutor, something was suspicious, Ivy thought.

Occasionally, her fake friends, especially Belinda knowing Ivy would not rebel much to their request, would take advantage of her by making her pay for each of their birthday party expenses. In fact, one of their birthdays, Laura's, was coming up soon. Andrew and Sandra were always uninvited. Ivy pouted at the thought and wondered if she should take up her previous part time jobs again to cover the expenses instead of using her allowances. She wondered if he was calling about the birthday party but shrugged the idea off as she went to do the dishes.

Auntie Soh was supposed to manage her pocket money and monthly allowance but instead, she let Ivy manage on her own; three thousand a month which was easily a fresh graduate's salary per month. However, she refused to touch the money and stuck to the tiny allowance her grandma used to give her; two hundred a month. Instead of using the monthly allowance she had, she chose to take up part time jobs to pay for the parties instead back then in high school. Hence, Andrew and Sandra had failed to find out about this little secret she kept away from them.

There were times where she wished she had someone to vent to face to face in the house. Her grandma would surely love to hear her ranting about her day, she thought as her mind wandered back to her dream which was the only place she could vividly see her grandma in. She wanted so badly to head to bed as early as she could to dream of her but sometimes the reality took too much time and she often found herself struggling to balance her time for both worlds.

On the bright side, she was more independent without her grandma too. She cleaned, tendered to the garden and cooked for herself while juggling with her studies. She wanted to even help out Auntie Soh with the two branches of the spicy noodles business but she refused Ivy's help and sternly said it was grandma's wish. She was only allowed to take over the business or help out once she had finished her studies; which means when she finishes university.

In return, since her birthday is on the last day of January, she decided to sit for a driving license so that she could drive herself to school with Sandra and Andrew. Even then, Auntie Soh was worried she would easily get into accidents and only allowed her to drive her grandma's cool vintage car once a while resulting in them taking the bus to college like when they were in high school.

Despite all the warmth of love and care from people who loved her, it was not enough to fill the hollow emptiness in her because being an orphan without any family members was a bitter reality she was learning to accept ever since her grandma passed away. It was not something she could adapt to overnight either; only time will tell.

Her mind slowly drifted to the afternoon encounter on the questionnaire to distract her thoughts from becoming depressed while she cleaned the kitchen. She realised she never knew who was the person who handed her the questionnaire but hoped the person would figure a better set.

Sandra, who was still in Ivy's main house, decided to lit a candle on the side table where Ivy left them there for emergency in case a blackout occurred. The three of them were startled at the sudden light coming from inside the main house. Being on a rooftop, it was often windy and it sent chills down their spine the moment they felt another round of breeze blew by and the light earlier went off right when the breeze blew by. Sandra could hear the howl of the wind outside and timed it to ensure the candle's light went off the moment the breeze blew by.

"I think…. We should just leave and tell her tomorrow in college…" Belinda suggested as both girls quickly ran down the fleet of stairs while Lance noticed a side house and the glass house at the corner but the girls were rushing too fast for him to explore as he felt an eerie feeling crept up on him too. He quickly rushed to catch up with the girls instead.

Sandra then left the main house from the side door again moments later after she ensured there were no more footsteps outside. Feeling satisfied with her mischief, she walked home triumphantly as she chuckled at their reactions earlier.