Chapter 1

‎"Miss Lee, do you think life is unfair?"

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‎ I stared at my patient as she paid attention to the ceiling of my office, her eyes glazed over.

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‎ I was admitted into the orphanage after that night. None of my parent's relatives wanted me, but I didn't care. I worked my ass off to get a future for myself without needing their help, however few years into college, while majoring in psychology, I got into a hit-and-run accident.

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‎ As I laid on the hospital bed, lamenting my dreaded life, the doctor came to me with the news that I might have to resort to a walking stick for half of my lifetime.

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‎ It's been twenty years since I last saw my sister, the police couldn't get any leads in their investigation. It was pathetic, so I did believe that life was unfair, but as a therapist, I couldn't tell that to my patient.

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‎ "Would you like to share your thoughts on it, Sarah?" I replied with a smile.

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‎ "Miss Lee." My patient spoke carefully as she looked at me, her wrinkled eyes flagging down to my left leg every now and then. "Are you alright?"

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‎ Sarah was an elderly caregiver in a small clinic downtown. She was a widow with two middle-aged children who worked and lived very far away. Occasionally, she would drop by with the excuse of needing a therapy session. She believed that by being with me, I wouldn't feel lonely but we both knew that she was the one who needed that closure.

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‎ It was something I couldn't relate to.

‎ No matter how much I wanted, I wasn't alone.

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‎ Also, I mean, who didn't know about the Brawns incident years ago? It spread like wildfire in the state, and yet the perpetuators couldn't be captured.

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‎ I managed a smile. "You shouldn't worry yourself about my wellbeing, Sarah. Can't you see that I'm fine?"

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‎ Sarah took a long, diminishing look at me before she clicked her tongue slowly. "I see a beautiful, worried lady with sad, green eyes and auburn hair that looks like it needs to pay a quick visit to the salon, wrapped like a casket around a crying, little child who tries to put up a front on the outside." She slowly reached out a wrinkled hand to mine, and I allow it. "It'll be alright, Miss Lee. There's always an appearance of warm sunshine after the tempest."

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‎ However, the storm returns every single time, as though it never left.

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‎ I nodded and withdrew my hand gently. "Thank you, Sarah. You must be done talking."

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‎ She opened her mouth to speak, only to close it quickly. Then, she straightened to her feet, gave me a warm smile and flung her bag over her shoulder. "I'll come back after I close from work."

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‎ I returned the smile as I escorted her out. "I don't think you should bother. You're old, you don't need to keep moving around and listening to your legs. If you put that energy into resting, your days could be lengthened some more."

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‎ She let out a hearty laugh. "You sound like you're tired of my company, Miss Lee."

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‎ "I'm only worried about you."

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….

‎ When I returned from seeing Sarah off, I met a familiar short brunette wearing a creamy sundress and kicking at the porch. She looked sullen.

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‎ "What are you doing here, Adelle?" I approached her with narrowed eyes. "Did you fail the entrance examination?"

‎ A pair of happy brown eyes locked on mine before a joyful squeal pierced my eardrums and suddenly, I was captured into a tight embrace.

‎ "Cous!!"

‎ "I'm so confused, why do you sound so happy to see me like you didn't come to my workplace yourself?"

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‎ She quickly disengaged, all the while beaming into my face. "I did it! I finally did it!!!"

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‎ My eyes widened as they searched hers. Could it be that after three attempts to get accepted into one of the major universities in the state, Adelle Samuelson, the daughter of my maternal uncle, the one who calls herself my personal assistant, had finally succeeded in securing admission?

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‎ I ushered her in and closed the doors, laughing at her little jumps. She seemed super excited. "Which university did you...?"

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‎ "I finished the giant hamburger!"

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‎ I paused, took a slow turn around and gave her a confused look. "Ham... hamburger?"

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‎ She nodded innocently. "Hm!" Then, she led me to the couch and began to prepare tea. "My classmates had a bet with the other class about finishing a twenty foot hamburger, so I'd been practicing."

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‎ I didn't understand. Was this the kind of things kids did these days? "How.." I massaged my temples, "how does this correlate with... oh good Lord."

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‎ "Oh, the winner gets a full scholarship to Devin College."

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‎ I grew even more confused. "What? Put me in on the full gist. Now." I added, accepting the cup of tea she handed over to me.

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‎ "Well, that's the full gist. The college thought of an interesting way to give out scholarship with admissions, one that would benefit aspiring candidates, and they chose fun. Teens love fun." She pointed out with a matter-of-fact tone.

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‎ "I see that. But, no matter how much you look at it, it doesn't make sense. Why would they do something like that?"

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‎ Adelle shrugged as she snatched a biscuit off the plate on the center table. "Maybe they are in need of students."

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‎ My hands were quick to hit her across the head with the booklet on the table, to which I was rewarded with a shocked sneer on her face. "Does that make sense to you?"

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‎ "Cous, why does everything have to make sense to you? We live in an illogical world, wouldn't you be wasting your assets on things that don't need it? Besides, why does it matter? I'm finally going to college."

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‎ "Of course it matters, it might lead to a situation where your life could end up in danger, tch!" ‎

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‎ She went quiet for a while, and I too. I averted her gaze, finding the simple design of the table interesting instead.‎

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‎ "I'm not Chrysielle, cous, you shouldn't see me as her or treat me like you would've done with her." ‎

‎ I looked up at her with a slow shake of my head. "Adelle, I wasn't..."

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‎ Her voice rose suddenly as she got to her feet and started stretching. "Also, shouldn't you be happy for me? I just got admitted, geez cous."

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‎ As far as I wanted to, I was skeptical. Why would the top college of the state be in need of students when they had thousands already and possessed conducive faculties to contain them all?

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‎ As far as I was concerned, they'd never done this before. The Vice chancellor of five years was still serving his stay and there haven't been any new update from the college. A lot of the students who attended were my patients so I was always briefed on the latest.‎ ‎

‎ Or could someone else entirely be pulling the strings?

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‎ "Ah, ah.." A contorted look appeared on Adelle's face as she waved a hand infront of me. "Don't think, stop that. Just let it go. It's not going be a bomb in disguise, whatever you're suspecting." She added, eyeing me over.

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‎‎ "You shouldn't go all detective mode and start monitoring the school as if you're one." She paused and stared at me with a firm, decisive gaze. "Cous, what did I say?" Then she scoffed and threw her hands up. "Why aren't you listening?"

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‎ I frown at her with a tilt of my head. "What's wrong with having to look a little before you leap?"

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‎ ‎ "See, see that... that is what I'm talking about. You're not some undercover genius, stop that or you might really poke your nose in something that you might regret for the rest of your life." She let out an exasperated sigh and ended it with a cry.

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‎ "Dramatic much." I murmured, pulling out my phone from my jean pocket. "I'm ordering pizza."

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‎ "I want Chinese takeout!"

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‎ "Get out."

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