Chapter 2

She sized me up for a bit before asking gently, “Hey, are you here alone? Where are your parents?”

When I heard her asking about my parents, I started to tear up. I suppressed the urge to cry and said in a hoarse voice, “Hello, I… I was forgotten by my parents. Can I borrow your phone to give them a call?”

When she heard that, she looked like she felt pity toward me. She immediately took out her phone from her pocket and said gently, “Quick, call your parents. Don’t catch a cold from such cold weather.”

I took her phone. My fingers were numbed from the cold, so I accidentally pressed the wrong number a few times until I finally managed to type in the right one. I took a deep breath and pressed the dial button.

While I waited and listened to the ringing tone for the call to get through, I was extremely nervous and hopeful.

However, no one answered the call. The hand that was holding the phone started to tremble lightly. The hope that I had in me started to die.

The lady looked at me and comforted me with a soft voice.

“Don’t worry, maybe the signal is bad. Let’s try again.”

I nodded and pressed the call button again. I pressed the phone tightly against my ear. I prayed that I would be able to hear my parents’ voices this time.

It was an excruciatingly long waiting time. My breathing hitched with every beep I heard. At the seventh, the call finally got through. I heard my mother’s blurred voice amid the wind and the car music. “Hello?”

I instantly felt relieved and teared up some more. My grief and fear formed a lump in my throat, and I tried my best to speak softly with my hoarse voice.

“Mom… I didn’t get back in the car. You left me at the rest stop.”

I had just said that when my mother refuted, sounding firm and impatient.

“Impossible! Before we left, I asked if everyone was in the car. Mandy and Matthew both said yes. How could you have been left behind?”

There was a slight pause. I could imagine my mother turning around and looking at the backseats. The few seconds of silence felt colder than the wind. I thought she would be anxious and guilty, but she started blaming me sharply.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you didn’t get into the car? Don’t you know how to yell and stop us? Why did you only call us when we’ve driven so far? You’re causing so much trouble!”

The accusation was an ice-cold needle that burst my bubble of hope.

I bit my lower lip forcefully and forced myself not to cry. My voice was shaking uncontrollably.

“I did… I was running behind and yelling after you. But you didn’t hear me, and the car just left.”

My mother was speechless when she heard my explanation. However, the silence was temporary. She then found another reason to scold me.

“It’s because you acted too slow! I asked you to be quick, but you’re always dilly-dallying! We’ve already passed the toll station, and we can’t simply turn around on the highway. How are we going to turn around to fetch you?”

At the same time, I heard Mandy’s smug voice.

“Who can she blame for being this slow? I was rushing her at the time, but she was still taking her own sweet time. Serves her right.”

I grabbed the phone tightly until my knuckles turned white. I felt as angry as I felt hurt.

She had cut the queue before me, so I had had no choice but to queue again to enter the washroom, but she was blaming me?

Immediately after, I heard Matthew’s childish yet cruel voice. He was spoiled rotten.

“Dad, Mom, I don’t want to turn around! I want to go back to Grandma’s house and have a feast!”

Just when I was about to cry, I heard my dad’s low voice. He sounded distant, and he started to make arrangements as though it were not a big deal to him.

“Alright, stop arguing. Uncle Darren is also driving back to our hometown today. He’s driving on the same road as us. Just wait at the rest station and don’t move. When he arrives there, you can hitch a ride back to our hometown.”

“But Dad, I don’t remember Uncle Darren’s car. How do I…”