11

"December? Are you alright? You don't look very well," Nala walked beside Her as she saw December drifted into her thoughts.

"Huh?! Yes, everything is great," she replied.

"Do you want to go to watch the football match? I mean you can refuse, you don't have to accompany me if you don't want to," Nala spoke.

"No! I would love to," December fixed her expressions and walked out the university gates.

"I am so glad I don't have to watch the match all alone!! You know before this I had no one to go with, and now that I have you I am sure it will be a lot more fun," Nala pulled her in excitement, Nala was a crazy fan of football and she had been cheating about the match that was going to be held in the other side of the city. They took a cab and drove all over the city to the stadium. They had already bought the tickets and moved through the crowd to sit in their seats. Nala was holding onto a blue flag and she even had a bottle of blue paint that she was about to apply to her face. December was not shocked at all for how much she loved football because she knew someone who loved it just like her and December had watched every single match just to impress him.

"She looked at the pitch and the match was about to start. The players ran after the ball and the crowd was on the hype. The Blue team had scored once but the red was not able to score none. Nala was hopping with joy and shouting. December smiled too as she saw her happy. Everything was going normally until December's ears caught the voice of the few men sitting behind her.

"How much was it on the blue team?" A man with white hair and a black suit spike to the men beside him. He had a cigar in between his lips as he spoke.

"You have the eye of an expert! I bet 5 thousand dollars…"

"Should we give them a call and tell them about our betting side?" Another man said, December kept on staring at the game with a puzzled gaze, she felt like something was off. She looked at the men and spoke out.

"Bet on the red! It's gonna win," She said.

The Men were caught off guard at December's words, the three of them looked at her with a mocking gaze.

"Little missy, I think you don't know how betting works you have t—"

"I am telling you the red will win!" She cut him in half and spoke. The three men took her for granted but the one on the far most left side started at her with a weird gaze.

"What if it loses?" He asked,

"Then I will return you the money you have lost," December spoke with confidence.

"What good does this bet do to you? Why are you telling this to us then?" He asked.

"Because I don't have money at hand that I can bet!" December smirked, "if you chose red you will win and then you can split the prize money 50/50 and if you lose I will give you back the money you have lost! How does that sound?"

"You sound like a tricky businessman! Okay, I bet 20 thousand dollars on Red," he spoke with a curious gaze.

"Hah! Paul, are you going for her words?" His friend asked.

"It's worth the chance," he replied and looked away, the other men had already placed their bets. Their eyes were glued to the game waiting for the blue to win, but slowly the map of the ground changed. The red team scored two scores one after another and was now neck to neck with the blue team. Paul glanced at December's figure as his lip twitched. He looked at his friend that was sitting on the edge of the seats waiting for blue to score but with each passing second their performance went from back to worst. December had a victorious expression on her face and as the match ended with the Red winning the match, she looked around at the men who had dropped their jaws.

"Was it Paul?" December asked the man that had listened to her. He was smiling and nodded,

"I will be waiting for my half of the money," December replied.

"I like you, little missy," he chuckled, " Give me your bank information I will transfer it right away-" he slowly stood up. "And I hope I see you in the next match."

They left the stadium,

"What did you just do!! I mean how did you know who was gonna win?" Nala was sad because her team had lost but she was more surprised by December's actions a while ago.

"You can say I had seen it before," December's face brightened up as she replied. They were just by the bus stop when December received a notification. It was a message from the bank, which said that 25 thousand dollars had been deposited in her bank account.

"He did send it to me, I thought he was kidding," December muttered.

"Wow! You got lucky!" Nala replied. "Wanna go shopping?" Nala gave out a creepy expression.

"Hm...sounds like a good idea," December looked down at her clothes and spoke. "I was thinking of going but I kept delaying it. Now that we are out already let's do it," she agreed.

The two took the bus to the biggest mall in the city. December and Nala walked in and December was unimpressed by the dazzling things and just as her past self walked into her usual shop where she used to buy her clothes. And it was one of the most expensive brands. Nala started in December who unknowingly did that. Nala felt like she didn't know anything about December. She quickened her pace and ran behind her.

Nala looked around for something for her and December looked for some dresses and picked up some simple shirts and dresses for her. Without even looking at the prices.

Nala looked at her with a deep gaze. 'Who is she?'

December paid for the clothes with her credit card and then looked at Nala.

"Aren't you putting those here?" She glanced at the counter.

"Oh! Yes, I am," She hurried back to the counter and pulled out a credit card from her pocket. It was a black card, she looked at December to get any sort of reaction but she acted as if it was something very normal.

"I have to buy some shoes as well, Are you coming?" She asked Nala.

"Sure I am," she picked the bags and walked with her.

"December?!" Nala asked,

"Hm?" She looked at her and asked,

"I just realized I don't know anything about your family," She blurred out.

"My family? What about them?" She pouted.

"I just wanted to know who is my only friend's parents and stuff," she shrugged.

"Hmm...I am an orphan!" December replied with a stoic face, "My parents are dead—" she uttered the last word with tears rolling into her eye.

Nala stood petrified as she felt guilty, Before Nala could say anything another voice came from behind December.

"So now I am dead for you?!" The voice had warmth yet it sounded like it had a touch of madness in it.

December's hands lost all their energy and the bags that she had been lifting in her hands slipped out of her grasp, she felt like her heart had stopped beating and the tear in her eye rolled out.

"Who?!" Nala who was face to face with December and the woman behind her asked with a confused face.

"No one! She might—might have mistaken me for someone, let's go!" December slowly crouched down and picked up the bags with her trembling hands before trying to run away.

"Runaway! Just like you ran away before—" the woman with a fair and gentle face spoke with a harsh tone.