Chapter 11

Brielle's POV

It has been a few days since I last saw that nameless liar. He must be some privy boy because I don't think anyone is allowed to be absent from school for that many days. Wait, how the hell do I know that? I don't even know why I give him so much importance. For some reason, my thoughts wind up wandering to him. I am unable to understand how he makes me think about him when I don't even know who he is or even care. It's a strange feeling, but I think I dreamed of him last night, but I can't remember what it was about.

I tried my best to remember what the dream was about, but I felt like I blacked out. I shook my head and focused on the task at hand. It was Friday and my mother would be coming over for the weekend. She said we would have a girls' night with my grandmother. I was all for it since I never had anything better to do, so why not?

I was completing all my homework while others chatted away and the teacher was nowhere to be seen. This school is full of slackers. After I was done writing, I placed my nooks in my bag and just waited for the last bell to ring. I was hyped to see my mother after so long. I kept my eyes on the wall clock in class, counting down the minutes. In five seconds, the bell rang, and I practically flew out of my seat. I can go down the hallway before they get flooded. It would be difficult to move then.

I asked grandpa to fetch me, so seeing his car already packed at the gate was a relief. He is reliable. You must be wondering why the hell I was in a rush. Well, my grandmother and I were planning a surprise for my mother. Just like how she and grandmother surprised me with my favorite food, I was going to help grandmother prepare her favorite dishes to eat tonight. I don't want grandma to overwork herself even though she said she could do it.

I opened the door to the car and hopped inside the car.

" Hello grandpa. Thanks for coming to fetch me."

" No worries sweet. You know I could bring and fetch you. You don't need to walk all the way here every day," he says.

I smiled at him. " I know, but I just like walking. It's not that bad and I just want to get used to the neighborhood, so don't worry."

He drove us back home and found grandmother already busy. I threw my backpack on the floor and joined her. All I could do was chop all the vegetables she needed for the recipes. It was so much fun to do, but I was royally messing up. After multiple failures, I finally got the hang of it.

My grandmother started telling me how my mom loves helping her in the kitchen. They had so much fun together, and it was fun to be doing the same thing as me. I promised to help from time to time and make it our thing. We prepared all kinds of delicacies. I couldn't help but taste them even before we were done. My grandmother kept scolding me that I would finish the food by the time it was all over, so she kept a careful eye on me.

Fair enough. I probably would have eaten everything if not for her. I am totally a foodie. After a few hours, it was done. Everything was ready and we both left to freshen ourselves. I showed up quickly and got into comfortable clothes. From my room, I heard the doorbell ring and I wasted no time rushing over to open the door.

In front of me was my mother, who came bearing gifts. Her hands were already full, but when the happiness of seeing me overcome her, she dropped everything and pulled me into her arms. I melted into her warm embrace with a smile. As always, she smelled nice, and I have always loved how she smelled. I have missed it the most. She hugged me tighter, without words expressing how much she missed me.

" My darling, I missed you so much," she said. Her voice was muffled, her face was in the crook of my neck.

" I missed you too, mother," I replied as we finally pulled back from each other.

" Look at you. You have changed a lot since you came here," she says with a smile as her eyes inspected me.

" No. I think I look the same. What are you talking about?" She laughed while shaking her head at me.

" Oh, silly girl. What would you know? Only a mother can see the change in her child. Right mother?" She looked behind me and I turned to see grandmother behind us.

" Of course darling. Only a mother would see that. Come inside already. Are you planning to stand there all night?"

" No mother, but let me hug you first," she said, and went over to hug grandmother. I picked up the bags on the floor and went ahead, first leaving them to have their moment. I took her things to my room because we are going to be sharing the room while she stays over for the weekend. I took the liberty to peek into the bags to see what she got for us. As I was about to see what was inside, a hand stopped me.

My mother stopped me.

" What are you doing? You want to spoil the surprise?" She asked me teasingly, and I took my hand off the bag quickly.

" Oh, mother! You know I can't handle surprises. The suspense is killing me. I couldn't help but want to see what you got for me."

" Alright, alright. Stop whining. You are so impatient for your own good. Since you were about to, you can go to some areas and take a look," she urged me, and I wasted no time.

I took out the first thing I got hold of. I was holding a snow globe. My eyes widened, realizing that it was similar to the one I got when I was a child. Inside the globe was a cherry blooming tree. It was when I was about 7 years old. I happened to drop it, and it broke into pieces. My feet got cut by the scattered glass on the floor. It was never replaced.

" Mom, you still remember that I had one exactly like this? What made you decide to buy this for me again? "

She sat down beside me on the edge of the bed and looked in front thoughtfully.

" Well... I bought it because it reminded me of your childhood and happy days." She turned and smiled sadly.

" I know it's silly, but I wanted you to have something to remind you that you were once happy and it can happen again. I don't want the past to hold you back. I don't want whatever happened to your parents to be projected into your life and prevent you from trying new things and forming relationships. I want you to freely live your life and if you make mistakes, that's okay. You will learn from them and move on. Nothing in life is perfect, so we should try to make it so."

I heard her. I know she knows how reserved I am and I avoid social interaction. I did it because I was scared of leaving anyone close to me who I would eventually have to lose when something goes wrong. Not only from my parents, but I have also seen it all around. People betray, hurt, and lie to those they claim to love. All that just made me want to become like a snail and hide in an impenetrable shell that no one can reach or hurt me. That has always been my defense mechanism.

" Thank you mom for being so thoughtful. I promise that I will live my life and try to find meaning and happiness. I realize now that we can't live by worrying about how things will turn out if we take the next step. We have to take the step to move forward," I said to her.

" It will take some time, but I will live and love. I promise mom."