'We are here' Alex said and I looked up at the beautiful mansion house in front of us.
Wrong, rather a mansion. An enormous white palace-like place.
Oh yeah right.
It's the house he assumed was my home which I didn't deny.
'Yup. thank you for walking me back, see you tomorrow.' and I waved him goodbye, he said he wants to see me in but I told him I'll see him off first and he reluctantly went back to his own home.
When I don't see him anymore, I looked back again to the beautiful mansion in front of me.
My facade
My lies.
I turned and walked to the small alley beside the mansion and there, at the very back of it is a very small house, a house so old that it's near to its ruin.
This is the orphanage that the owner of that beautiful mansion owns.
On the outside, they are known for being kind-hearted and philanthropists but what the people do not know is that they are just disguised to deceive people.
They had hidden their thick skin very well. Even though I'm aware of my surroundings in the past. I wasn't able to know the lies of my old home until when I was already an adult.
I went inside the old building and I saw children running around.
Some are playing, crying, and being noisy.
No one paid attention to me as I'm just another unknown child in this orphanage.
No one bothered to look at me. I'm very used to this kind of treatment and I don't mind at all. I just walk to my assigned room. I am very tired.
>........<
I wake up early in the morning just before the sun rises.
Fixing my bed, getting the clothes that I readied last night, I got dressed before getting out of the room. I always make sure to do it carefully and quietly not to wake the people up. I don't have the luxury to have my own room. There are 2 bunk beds in this room so I share the room with the other three children.
Thankfully they sleep like a log. There was no one when I got out but I can hear the people from the kitchen doing their works downstairs. I went out through the back door and the cold air welcomed me. I inhaled the fresh air and started my daily run.
It's been 3 days since the time turned back for me. I must have been the luckiest person in the world to be able to get the chance to get back in time. Of course, I want to do it all differently. I rethink again and again and I realized.
Before I died, I said to myself that I wish I can go back to these happy memories where I'm with the love of my life, Alex.
In the unknown and miraculous way, I got my wish
So I decided to satisfy myself.
When my parents died, I have no one.
I was passed to my father's side of relatives since my mother's side don't want me. They even didn't come to my mother's funeral.
No one cares. If they couldn't care to attend mother's funeral, how so to her child who was left alone in this world.
With their heavy heart, my father's sister had no choice to take me in.
The first abuse started with her and her family. I am not allowed to open the fridge. I slept in the utility room. I was always the punching bag of their verbal stress in life.
When my father's sister got sick because of my existence, to be able to be free from the responsibility, she brought me to this orphanage that can even barely manage itself.
It was a different place but it was still the same, I was hated, even in the orphanage -
No one wanted me.
I grew up in this orphanage and no one wants to adopt me because of my history. A person with living relatives but not wanted, they all think I was defective. The people in the orphanage thought of me as useless, just another mouth to feed.
I'm jogging now as I remember the time when I got into the St. Catherine Academy. Not everyone can get into this school, only the capable ones.
I was able to get into this school because of charity.
The director of the school wants to show gratitude to the owner of the orphanage for a reason I do not know why but he offered a scholarship to three students from the orphanage.
Oddly enough, they selected me.
Fast Forward, I saw Alex at school, he was a popular one.
Every girl admired him, Every boy respected him. Even though he is from a well-known family, he is very humble and kind. Maybe that's why everyone likes him, he talks to everyone, even me who had no one, he befriended someone like me.
That's when I think I first lied.
I said I'm a scholar but not the type of scholar he thinks. He thinks I'm very clever when I'm just a normal person.
We became best of friends, his friends befriended me because they think I'm someone like them who was given everything but I was not. I was the very opposite of that.
I don't know how I pulled up all my lies but I did.
When Alex wanted to take me home, I didn't say that the white mansion is my house but he thought it was and the amazement in his face is something that I cannot deny so I didn't correct him either.
Knowing Alex is like living in a lie but it was the happiest moment in my life.
I stopped in front of the lake near the village. It was breathtakingly beautiful.I let out a bitter smile. I last saw this beautiful scenery when I sneakingly went out to meet Alex here. That's when we discovered how pretty it is during sunrise.In my past life, Alex was so innocent and kind that he forgave me with my lies. He said he loved me because of who I am and he forgives me before breaking up with me because he has to leave going abroad.His family knew of my relationship with Alex so they decided for him to live far away from me. He doesn't want me to suffer so he decided to separate and I think that was the time I offered him my all.He took my heart and soul away with him.
It's been a month and I had lots of fun.I was back in the days where it was just me and Alex and my friends. I'm trying to make the best out of it.We are in the classroom and the teacher announced that we are going to go hiking and everyone was so happy and excited. We have to ask permission because we are staying overnight in the mountains.I remembered this.In my last life, I nearly died here because I nearly fell down the cliff. Some girls that don't like me thought of an evil plan of scaring me that nearly made my life at risk. Good thing I have myknightsas I call them.
While I'm talking with Becky, someone knocked on the door and it opened. We were surprised to see Ms. Minchin. I saw how her brows met when she saw our positions.'What's happening here?' she asked and Becky quickly explained that something just caught her eye. hmm, what a clever young girl. Staying in the orphanage made all of them realize that Ms. Minchin doesn't care even there is bullying going on within the children.What she only cares about is having them get adopted.'I see, alright stand up, Becky go down and help cleaning, Elisia, I need to have a word with you.' Ms. Minchin said and Becky looked at me with worried eyes but she has no choice but to oblique Ms. Minchin's order.'Yes,
Keila's expression changed to fury.'What do you know? you know nothing!' She yelled.The Keila that I am seeing now is far from the Keila Alex described as Cheerful and kind. Far from what I remember before. My eyes switch to the girl beside her who's very fashionable with makeup. Hmm, I see, maybe she got a bad influence on her side?Are they the typical bad girls I'm hearing about? Those who bully the weak in stories?I looked back at Keila.'I know everything.' I smiled at her and she flinched.'I know that you like Alex that's why you hate me, Is this what they call jealousy?' I asked. Teasing the girl. I think reliving my life made me also turn back into a child.Making these silly tricks.I saw how her face turns red.'You!?' She yelled again.'Oh, you looked flustered, guess I'm correct.'I continuously teased
Everyone is assembled in front of a big wooden building. It was said that this was built centuries ago by the first people who climbed this mountain. It has a long history and this is the place we all be staying tonight. Everyone is excited. There are no other guests aside from the students of St. Catherine's. Every year, it was always reserved by the school for its students.They arrange two humongous rooms. All the boys will share in one room and all the girls in the other. Once we are all set in, the staff ask us to remove our shoes and they gave us wooden slippers. When we came in, They led us first to our room, I saw futons ready on the clean and shiny wooden floor.Our female teacher ask us to choose which bed we want and just like in the past, Mary chose the s
It was the most awkward dinner I ever had. The people at the table refuse to talk and it finished very quickly before I realized it. I tried to elevate the mood but my friends refused to cooperate. Especially Alex who looked at his food for the longest time.After dinner, All of us enjoyed the sauna, while having a bath, I noticed Keila alone in the corner. The friends she normally talked to are nowhere to be found. I wonder what happened.After the bath, we are given a Japanese Kimono. It was a very modern and floral kimono where it was designed to be worn easily and not like the others, It's just about knee level and has pants inside so that one can move freely and easily. One of the innovations of this Inn.The bath was wonderful.
'Tonight, I want everyone to take this seriously. What we are doing right now is part of our very long tradition.'Everyone looked at Sir Michael, we saw how he moved from his chair and put the blue cup facing down upwards.'The truth is I hate teaching children, I only loved the high salary they paid me to teach.' He said with a smirk on his face, as a devil reincarnate. This is Sir Michael's other personality. When we became seniors, we called him a two-eyed monster.He stood from his chair and someone came to take out the chair he sat on and he walked outside our circle. we can hear his footsteps.'Now it's your turn, I don't care who goes first but one of those cups needs turning, if you c
I can see everyone with our current position as we are forming a circle, They looked at me with questions in their eyes, I sighted and close my eyes. I continued on with what I'm gonna say.'There was this little girl who once had a wonderful family. A loving mother and a very kind father. But there was a tragedy and she lost them. She was passed relative to relatives and when they got tired of her, They left her in an orphanage.' I saidI looked at everyone and there was just silence, no one dared to talk so I continued my story.'It was a lie that I'm rich like everyone else in this room. Not that I said I was one but I didn't correct anyone whom I know that was the thought of me. I'm just scared and embarrassed to say the truth and it made my life a lie.'