Chapter Thirty Three

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"Be good when you're with your grandma, alright? Say 'hi' to your grandma for me." My mom said before heading out to have a grandma-granddaughter moment with a little bit of ulterior motive.

"Of course, I'm not that mean," I said. "I'm off to go! See you tomorrow!"

With that, I set off. I commuted by taking a bus and another bus. I am trying to save my money so I've decided not to take a cab.

My grandma lives near the lakes surrounded by trees and flowers. Long story short, she's living with nature.

Her house is a minka, a traditional Japanese styled house. I went to that place a couple of times and that is the best place to have a break from the noise of the world and breath.

I got there in no time and when I got there, I saw my grandma sitting outside as if she's waiting for someone.

"Grandma!" I called. She looked at me and her eyes glimmered in happiness.

"Look how much you've grown, Beauty" she said and walked towards me slowly. I walked towards her and as soon as I got closer, she held my cheeks.

"How are you, grandma?"

"I'm getting older but I'm doing good," she responded. "Come, let's go inside and have a talk. I'm glad you made it."

We walked inside her house and my eyes instantly explored the area. I am impressed by how well-organized and clean her house is. I also loved the decorations they chose. It perfectly matched the aura of nature with all those plants and dried leaves framed on the wall.

We sat down and began talking.

"Anita?" My grandma, Janette called her helper. She's the one who's taking care of my grandma because she's alone. Her children settled on their own now that they are adults and her husband has already passed away.

"Yes, grandma Janette?" She responded as she walked up to us.

It's good to see that they are treating each other equally like they are blood-related.

"Can you give us a cup of tea and food?" She asked.

My grandma is getting weaker, that's why it's not safe for her to be left alone. She needs to have someone beside her and I'm glad that Anita has been sticking up with her. Bless her!

"Absolutely," she answered, then started preparing the food and the tea.

Anita returned with the food and tea on her hands placed on a tray.

"Let me help you out," I volunteered and placed the food and the tea on the table. "Care to join?"

Anita smiled and thanked me but declined because she said that today's my grandma and I's moment and she doesn't want to bother us.

"Alright then, but if ever you change your mind, feel free to join anytime" I said.

I almost forgot! I baked brownies. Baking reminds me of NJ because we attempted to bake twice but we always get distracted. I don't know how to bake a cake. That's why he was supposed to teach me how but it never happened.

"I baked brownies, grandma" I said.

That's when I realized that I shouldn't have baked brownies. It's sweet and I don't want something to happen to my grandma. Should have brought leafy salad instead.

"On second thought, I think this would be bad for your health," I said. "I'm leaving these for Anita instead. Sorry grandma."

"It's such a shame that I can no longer eat sweets. My doctor said that I must avoid sweets as much as possible. Guess that's life when you're getting old," She said then laughed. "So, how are you?"

"I'm fine grandma. I'm just getting fed up because of personal reasons" I responded.

"I don't have much to tell but I can listen to your story" she said.

"What exactly do you want to know, grandma?"

"Tell me about your school" She asked.

I thought for a while from the beginning of the semester up to the present day. Looking back, I may have made progress about myself. I wouldn't have made big changes if it weren't for the people I met — NJ, Tom, Audrey, Quila, cheerleaders and the kids at NJ's daycare center.

"A lot of interesting things happened and I'm pretty glad that it happened even though I hated it at first" I said.

"It's nice that you've been enjoying your school life" she said and sipped tea.

"Yes, I am enjoying it grandma starting off the moment I met Nicholas Johnson," I started. "After meeting him, I met more friends and acquaintances."

Then I told her about the complete story.

How I met Nicholas and Thomas, two popular guys at school.

How NJ became rude at me.

How NJ and I became buddy partners that led us into becoming friends.

How my grades have started dropping.

How I helped Thomas with their tradition as a fake girlfriend.

How NJ, Tom and I got involved in the false rumors about the three of us, having a love affair.

How I got bashers for getting close to the two populars.

How the cheerleader mistook me for Quila because we looked alike.

How I joined the cheerleading team and finally became a cheerleader.

How I experienced going out with the cheerleaders who live in a wealthy lifestyle.

How I had my welcoming party at Quila's big house.

How I got into trouble because of that creep, Brent and how Tom saved me.

How I became the storyteller of the kids at NJ's family's day center.

How I went with Tom, Audrey and NJ to have an overnight stay and got drunk.

How NJ confessed to me without even realizing that I am Beauty.

How I felt jealous about Audrey and NJ's closeness and became suspicious of them.

How I kissed Tom when we stayed in NJ's condo with Audrey.

And how I became an independent detective from an ordinary school girl.

Looking back, I've got a lot of experiences that I've enjoyed and am still enjoying. But I would probably be happy once I get my clarity — about NJ and I's past.

After telling the story of my life so far, my grandma gave me a smile. "I'm glad that you're enjoying your life. At least you no longer isolate yourself inside your room all the time. It's nice to know that you gained new friends."

"I'm pretty lucky, grandma and how I wish they wouldn't go away but that is not possible because after this semester, we won't be seeing each other again."

"Why is that?"

"This will be our last semester. We're going to graduate."

"Bittersweet moment. You had to part ways with the people you care for the most in exchange for a better life."

"Well, maybe we could still keep in touch with each other and catch up when we have our free time." I said. I used to ignore other people and disliked their presence but it all changed after meeting my amazing fave people.

"That's true," my grandma said. "And it's good to know that you met Nicholas out there. It's been a while since he last paid a visit. How's he?"

Wait — what?

"You know NJ? Has he been visiting you and how did he know about you?" I asked, surprised.

"Didn't your mother tell you?" She asked.

"Tell me what?"

"I guess they kept a secret from you," she said, then took a sip of her tea and heaved a silent sigh. "NJ and I have known each other since your twin sister and him met."

I blinked. "Twin sister? I never have a twin! The only sister I have is Lovely."

"Oh dear, I guess you totally have no idea about this. Your mom even promised me that she'll tell you," She said, sounding disappointed at my mother for lying to me the whole time. "You have a twin sister but she died in a car crash last 2008."

"I don't get it. If I have a twin sister who died 14 years ago, then I should know about her." I said.

"Both of you got into a car crash. You survived but went into a coma and your memories were lost. Your sister unfortunately failed to survive."

Silence enveloped the area.

Unbelievable. I am confused because even if I get amnesia after getting out of a coma, I would be aware of it! Did they tweak my memory or something? Did they hypnotize me? This is all making me freak out!

"I-I can't remember getting out of a coma" I said. "If I got into a coma, I should at least remember it by now, right?"

"Two years after you got out of a coma, you began forgetting things and events so your mom decided to take you to the doctor to check what's the problem," she started. "And you were diagnosed to have selective amnesia. It seems that the one you forgot was the car crash, how your twin died and how you got on a coma"

"Why didn't mom tell me about that?"

"Because she doesn't want you to remember your traumatic experience"

"It's not an excuse! She shouldn't have at least told me that I have a twin sister who died in a car crash." I said. Suddenly, I felt sadness and disappointment. How could they hide a very important secret from me?

"Please understand your mom"

"I'm trying ..." I answered and sighed.

"Grandma, can you remember when it happened?" I asked.

"It was when you and your twin traveled from the summer camp when you were in highschool. It was raining really hard that day and the driver slept late the night before so he's very sleepy. So when someone suddenly crossed the street, he tried to hit the brakes and maneuver but the road was slippery so the bus fell down the cliff. You're lucky that there are a lot of strong trees that caught the bus. It was broadcasted in the news too."

"Summer camp ... that was when I first met NJ!" I said. "We went to different schools back then so the roads we took aren't the same. Did he know about it?"

"He knew about the accident, but he didn't know that the one who died was your twin sister whom he dated for a while."

I was stunned. He mistook my twin sister for me?! All of his life, he's been following the wrong girl!

I don't know why but suddenly, I felt a pang of pain in my heart. All this time, I thought the one he liked was me. All this time, he was thinking that I was his high school first love, the one whom he wanted to be with forever.

It was never me.

Who was I? Who am I?

Why do I have these memories? Their memories? If I am not the one he dated for a while, then why do I keep having these memories?

I tried my best to recall but I received a massive headache.

"Are you okay?" My grandma asked worriedly.

Little did I know, I was bursting with tears because of different emotions. Mostly, tears of sadness.

"Can you tell me my twin sister's name?" I asked while wiping away the tears from my face.

"Beauty Autumn is her name"

"What is my real name?" I asked.

"Your name is Beauty. Just that" she responded.

"I saw a Beauty Autumn's birth certificate under my bed but we had a different birth date. If she's my twin, why do we have a different date?"

"That's not possible because your mom is the only one who's keeping your birth certificate. It was probably a fake birth certificate. Where did you find it?"

"It was in a box under my bed"

"She probably put you under on purpose because she knew that one day, you'll find out so she would need to mislead you into the wrong information."

My mom did a very bad move.

"Truth will eventually arise in the end. She shouldn't have done that!" I said.

"I hope you'd still recall everything one day" my grandma said.

She got up from her seat, walked towards me and sat next to me, pulling me closer for a hug.

"Everything will be alright"

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