Have You Ever Lived Before?

1-Mornin'

In a grey and dimly lit hall, whispers fill her small ears who is on the verge of tears. She is scared to even move.

Yet a weak hand amidst people dressed in black calls for her. It reaches out to her, to wipe away her tears. Still more tears spill.

"Lizzy." An old and trembling voice asks for her.

It starts to rain.

Water fills in the congested room as a crowd of people waver around the shaky body and disperse themselves.

The child flutters her thin hands as the water level reaches her chin trying to keep her head above the water.

Her grandmother lays peacefully on the hospital bed which is now submerged underwater. She says something but her voice doesn't reach the child as she fights against the water entering her lungs.

The people dressed in black as if it's a funeral circle around the child as she begins to drown.

Elizabeth wakes up feeling suffocated from the recurring dream that has been occurring to her ever since she was young.

She sits up straight on her makeshift bamboo mattress laid on cold stone ground and looks around.

There is no furniture in the room.

Is she a minimalist? No, she's just poor.

As she looks around more she finds a rift here and there in her substitute cardboard room.

She wonders why she still feels suffocated when she finds her mother smoking something.

"Mom, what are you doing in my room!" She asks in animosity.

"Smoking weed." Her mother rolls her eye at her disapproving attitude toward her mother.

"Early...in the morning..?" Liz lets out a sigh as she finds her breach of privacy in a cardboard room utterly disappointing.

"Get out!" Liz screams at her mother like any other embarrassed and introverted teenager, "I need to get ready for the first day of my school!"

As the realization hit her, she jumped to her feet.

"It's my first day of school!" She repeats that line slowly to herself.

Finally!

It's here!

The day she has been waiting for.

Lizbeth's life has been not so easy. From the moment she was aware, she has been working every day to earn. Her mother owns a bar that has 'not been doing well' for years now. Even when her mother disappears all night, sometimes for days at a length to work different jobs. By dawn, she returns home and passes out on her couch drunk or high on drugs. That's her daily routine and it has been the same for years now.

Even if Lizbeth has learned to accept her harsh reality because there is no other way, sometimes she wished for a normal family with a loving mother, a hardworking father and a cute young brother.

Instead, her parents divorced before she was even born. She has never seen her father

Until

Last summer.

Working her evening shift at the local beach cafe while watching kids her age enjoying their summer she remembered sighing out loud.

"I want to swim."

A sudden wave of loneliness and sadness had taken over her. She had no friends on her contact list to hang out with. Her mom was as usual 'busy'.

She didn't even have enough money to even afford a simple beach day.

She remembers that day clearly for that was the day when she encountered her father for the first time.

It wasn't dramatic or anything like she had expected it to be. She had always thought of going on a big journey to find her father and have an emotional reunion with a hug and tears except all she got was a call and in simple words,

"Apparently, I am your father."

Her heart dropped at those words. She didn't know what to say.

Her mother had mentioned he was a man of few words and with a serious countenance she never even have seen him smile.

However, she still couldn't believe how emotionless that phrase sounded.

"Daddy?"

Immediately she regretted and winced her eyes as she cringed hard.

Omg am I 10!? Why did I say that!!!

There was a small cough on the other end but he continued nonetheless.

They discussed how she has been living till now and in what condition she has been studying in.

At the end of the call, he declared he will take up all her academic costs starting next academic year. She will be provided with only the best of best institutes to study in.

She was shocked.

Is he rich?

"However you must prove yourself with your academic skills and then only I may invest in you for other purposes." He proposed.

The words seemed more like a contract from a businessman rather than a father.

Regardless, it didn't sadden Lizbeth.

"You mean all I need to do is the study?" She asked in awe.

Such a right she never thought she would ever have.

As long as I perform well I can study anything I want and that for free!

It was a wonderous opportunity to finally live a life she always wanted.

Without hesitation, she accepted the conditions.

"Would you like to move into a house?" He asked, "A real house." He repeated as he remembered the awful cardboard boxes he heard from reports about her.

"Uh...alone?" Lizbeth asked worriedly.

"Why, do you have friends you want to come with you?" He asked confused.

Of course, he won't ask about mom!

But...staying with him... Doesn't that mean leaving mom alone? How can I possibly leave her alone when she forgets to even cook for herself!?

"Nah I'd like my home. It's very comfy. Hahaha." Liz laughed nervously.

"Well, you can ask to move whenever you want to." He gave a casual reply.

And that's how Lizbeth Summers ended up going to the most prestigious high school in this area which conveniently also happens to be the best in the world.

"A new life."

She admired her soft and delicate uniform until she realised she was running late.

Oh shit!