78 Predator

Stephanie was flabbergasted with her father's decision to move them to a rural place. Though she knew the reason, it was still hard for a kid to uproot their lives and start moving them from one place to another. Granted she did not have a lot of friends, or rather she did not have close friends, her father should have taken into consideration what William might feel if they move. However, upon seeing William's reaction, which was total indifference, she thought to herself that she was over-thinking things.

William was much worse than her, he preferred to do things on his own. He did not have any friends or club activities. He liked to keep things to himself, staying in his room and playing with his action figures and robots. Stephanie was actually blaming herself for letting her brother end up as a solitary child since she might have been too attached to her brother. Therefore, leaving him being ostracized by other children.

She thought that maybe, the change of location might be good for her younger brother. In the end, she agreed with her father's decision. The years she spent taking care of her brother was not in vain as she had learned to act and think maturely, not only for herself but for her brother as well.

Their company has started to grow during this time their father has spent less time with them. There are even times that he would not come back home for a couple of days which may be the reason why William became distant with their father.

A day before they were about to leave, their father decided to take them both to a barber shop. Although she was confused as to why she had to be with them as she was a girl, she decided to tag along as per her father's request. Little did she know that it was the start of her most memorable memory in her life.

It was the day her father decided to give her a boy's cut when she asked, "why?" her father's response was, "To avoid bad people trying to kidnap you due to your beautiful appearance."

The logic was not unfounded as this had happened in the past. A child predator was found stalking her but was attacked by their kind neighbor's. He was beaten black and blue and was given to the police in a battered state that even his mother might have difficulty identifying him.

Therefore, Stephanie gave in and let her father do what he wanted. However, this led to a series of more memorable events once she started studying at her new school. To make matters worse, her loving and doting father had made sure to give her "appropriate clothes" to wear for school.

It made her want to cry when she found out that her clothes and William's clothes were the same attire.

The first day of school, she stared at her reflection in front of the mirror and almost wanted to cry.

"I look like a boy." She said quietly afraid that her brother would hear her.

Although she wanted to cry, she did not want her brother to worry therefore she made a façade to hide her true emotions under a mask. She acted cold and aloof even though deep down inside she felt self-conscious.

She was only ten at the time, and at this age, girl's would start to have their own likes and dislikes about their clothing's. Her preference for clothing was way different than what she was wearing. However, once she stepped out of her room, her countenance changed into a cheerful one as she greeted her brother with enthusiasm. She even had the time to joke around about their allowance and how she would spend it.

Her brother looked at her peculiarly at the beginning but found that her attitude was the same as before. He thought it was his imagination that her sister would change because of a haircut.

At school

Once she introduced in front of the class, the young girls started to clamor and called her prince. A lot would follow her around the school and actively give her snacks and candies which made her happy. However, it was only for a while when she started dreading the young girls around her as they started to become possessive. They would not leave her alone which drive her crazy from time to time.

In the end, the only way to escape from the young girls was to accompany William and his friend at going home to avoid them. They finally gave up on the idea of going home together as they really don't have a reason to follow her around her house.

Stephanie's father was right when he said it was a good way to avoid male predators. However, there was one time when it was a female who looked around her mid 30's who started to follow her around while giving her snacks and candies. She was also taken away by the police as they found out the lady had ulterior motives for getting close to her. When asked what the reason was, the lady said, "She thought she was a young boy but never had she expected for him to be a girl."

Thankfully, nothing untoward happened to Stephanie, she was able to enjoy her stay in this rural area and found a friend in a young girl named Mia, her brother's first crush.

Original novel by Chuchuwachuwa.