Gianna was no doubt seated in the car a good five minutes before her parents came, contemplating the pencil case given to her earlier. After being molested, Gianna had returned to the spot she had left her friend to be met with an empty swing. Now, she had been tempted on several occasions to break the unfamiliar pencil case open just to make sure it really was one as it had a totally different pattern to a common pencil case plus, she didn't trust Sean with anything. But then, ignorance is bliss they say. In addition, she had been warned to not open it for her good, that which made it all the more suspicious and tempting. All she had to do was conceal it for just a week and she'll be free from whatever it was that was in it. She mentally prayed for it not to be dangerous by all heavens. "Did you hear me?" Her mother's voice fanned away her thoughts. A clueless expression from Gianna had Louisa repeating herself. "I asked how you enjoyed your stay. Secure yourself, hun." Gianna o

"You're awake." Louisa walked in with a tray of a bowl of soup in hand and Petra on her tail. The latter ran to her sister for a teddy hug and never left. "Easy, Petra, else, you might provoke mild itches." Petra gave no mind. Louisa deposited the tray on Gianna's study table. "How are you feeling?" "Better. Come on, Pet, you're strangling me." "Be happy. Because even though you look like a blowfish, I still choose to hug you," she giggled. "A blo—" she quickly ruffled off the bed to her dressing table mirror. The sight was so horrible that she teared up. "Oh my God, I really do look like one." "See?" "Petra, to your room and on your bed," Louisa ordered. The endless mass of energy acquiesced and hopped away after another blowfish stunt. Gianna returned her sad gaze to the mirror; parched and begrudgingly puckered were her lips, her skin decorated in red blotches gave her the impression of a koi fish. The cherry on the cake was her swo

"Thanks," She appreciated after Sean's uneasy exit. As eccentric as it was. Grateful, however, pessimistic about the incoming days ahead Gianna wished he never intervened. Adam was there now but he will not keep being there forever.  Adam smiled, an act that gave him an 80s movie star resemblance.  She blamed Venisa and her soap operas for the attribution and no, she wasn't an enthusiast. She just happened to accidentally peek during a routine or an aimless wander around the house. "But why?" She added. Adam adjusted his glasses further up his nose bridge and shrugged, "I guess I couldn't stand the victimization any longer." "You should not have done it. You don't know what you have gotten yourself into." "Ah, that phrase right there should be in the third person singular, I presume." Gianna squinted her eyes, clueless. "Never mind. It was an improvisational act. Shoot! Now that I think about it, I guess I'm now a participant

"Anna?" Gianna halted from proceeding further into the campus after shutting her mother's car. "Are you sure you did not see that envelope on your dad's study table?" Louisa asked for the third time that morning since she was sure and certain to have seen Mason leave the file there before hurrying to the McCoy's mansion. "Mum, again, I did not see it. You know it's not the first time dad is so forgetful." She defended. Gianna had switched its position and meticulously hid it amongst a pile of old files on a bookshelf she knew her dad seldom visited judging from its unkempt condition. And unless she had a say in the verdict or was part of it or at least, was told about it, only then will she unmask its hiding spot. She leaned forward so her arms were resting on the opened front seat window. "How very important is that envelope? Never seen either of you so worried sick about something of the sort before." "Never mind," Louisa waved as she started the engine causing Gianna to step bac

The long-anticipated weekend after a week of depression had arrived with the worst news of the century; there wasn't going to be a visit into the city due to the ongoing job at the McCoy's. Gianna damned.The most heinous part of the whole story was the late arrival of the news. Hadn't it been she'd caught her mother dressed in work clothing about to board her car, Gianna would've been the biggest fool hoping they'll return after one or two things done to embark on their journey. 'Don't expect us till four latest,' her mother had said. Now, besides apologizing to Seth and Julia, what else was she supposed to do till then? Seth. Their first date has been jeopardized. Gianna sighed and cursed the McCoy's project, her parent's career inclusive. "Come play with me, I'm bored," Petra abruptly dawdled into Gianna's room. "Hey, Magpie, don't you know the word knock?" Petra walked on after lashing a carefree excuse. "I'm busy by the way. Go play with Noah or watch a show or something."