13 The Promise(2)

Mia finally stopped crying when the sky turned dark, while the stars twinkled in the sky. She does not know how long they stood there and she has no idea what to do next.

William seemed unmoving even though he must have noticed Mia finally stopped crying.

Mia thought of something and acted quickly. She slowly moved her hands to William's side.

Mia suddenly stopped crying, but William does not know what to do next in this kind of situation. He would just wait for her next move.

Not long after, Mia moved her hands slowly to his sides. He got excited and his heartbeat became faster. It seems that Mia is going to hug him back.

He was anticipating Mia's next move when he couldn't help himself and yelp as he suddenly felt pain on his side.

Mia slowly moved her hands and pinched some skin from his side, then gave it one twist. It seems highly effective as William gave a yelp, and his hands that were hugging her are now touching his side.

"It hurts," William said.

Mia couldn't hold in her laughter as she saw his appearance. Her chest felt like a load was removed.

"Let's sit over there. I've prepared foods, snacks and some hot chocolate. Do you want any?" William led Mia near the viewing deck, there was a blanket laid out on the floor, a basket, cooler and a hot water container.

Mia sat down on the laid out blanket while William poured in the chocolate drink into two cups and handed Mia one while he sat beside Mia, holding his own cup.

They remained quiet for some time as if they were enjoying the view of the night sky.

A couple of minutes later Mia asked him, "Do you remember when we first met?"

William replied with a gentle smile, "I prefer the first time we talked."

[Williams point of view]

My father's business has started to boom and our lives were getting better. However, father suddenly made a decision for me and my sister to move to his old town. He told us that he would prefer that we experience a normal life as kids and not be spoiled by all the money that we had.

The decision was sudden but his actions were more amazing. We were then sent to our grandparents' old house, our admission to his old public school was all arranged but our things were not even packed.

Just like shipping a delivery, he came and went after a few instructions. First, we have to live by ourselves for the time being to learn to be more responsible. I, who was 8 at that time while my sister was 10, were dumbfounded by this instruction.

What did he expect from his two kids on our age? Second, we had to budget our allowance which he will give every week. He told us that he would not give us additional money if we overspend.

Lastly, we had to do the household chores and food preparations. We were both baffled and lost in what 2 kids like us do to survive.

Before that, he took us to get our haircut, me and my sister, but that's a different story.

I was in a different grade with my sister, I was suddenly in an unfamiliar place that made me felt insecure and alone.

I was looking at the floor while I was introducing myself. The school year has already started, so I had no friends whom I can talk to.

I was given a seat near the window on the last row but I was small for my age. The only comfort I had was the girl in front of me had the same height so I can just lean over and be able to see the board. I just needed to find the right angle.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday passed like any normal day, however, when Thursday came I was penniless. Our house was close to the local shopping district. There, I found my favorite action figure from my favorite anime and without thinking much I just bought it.

I got home and then realized my mistake so I asked my sister nicely if she could lend me some money. Unfortunately, she was in the same situation as me. Her only saving grace was, she was popular with the girls in her class and they give her free food since classes started. I, on the other hand, had no friends which I can ask for food.

The dreaded lunch break came and I did not know if I should stand up and go somewhere else as everyone was taking out their lunch boxes or getting up to buy food. I always bought food when the bell rings and would bolt out of the room as fast as lightning.

The line gets packed up with people really fast so you have to act faster to get the good stuff. As I was having this thought my stomach rumbled. I thought it was pretty loud as some of my classmates looked on me. I was embarrassed so I just looked at my desk.

As I was looking down there was a sudden shadow that cast above my head. I looked up and saw the girl in front was looking at me.

I thought she would ask me if I was the one whose stomach was rumbling, but instead, she asked me, "Did you forget your lunch?"

I could not answer her question, instead, I was just staring at her. I never did pay any attention to my classmates. The girl in front of me had her hair tied in a braid and wearing dorky glasses. Her dress was a shade of pastel that was decorated with frills and laces, while she was wearing doll shoes.

This was the first time she talked to me.

Original novel by Chuchuwachuwa

Editor -Chocolate Cake