The Magic Behind Her Eyes

Chapter 2: Empty Glass

Reina pushed Ana out of her bed and and covered herself with her blanket, trying to hide away her embarrassment. She couldn't believe how foolish she had been this morning. First, she managed to make a big fuss over a silly dream and then she completely forgot that there was no school, losing her mind during the process. She took a few deep breaths to cool her mind and soon, she came out of her blanket once she had calmed down. Ana was still standing by her side with her arms crossed on her chest.

"What?"

"I want an apology."

Reina rolled her eyes, "Get lost."

"What a stubborn creature you are," Ana sighed, sitting down next to her.

Reina got up and headed downstairs. She entered the kitchen and started making her breakfast. She opened a few cupboards and felt quite upset about the fact that her favourite chocolate cereal was finished. She also noticed that there was no more cheese either which was weird because she could have sworn she saw a full packet only yesterday. Her only option from the looks of things were a rotten banana from a week ago or a cheese-less sandwich. She took out the butter from her fridge and lazily spread the last bit of it on the bread and placed it on top of a plate.

"I should go grocery shopping today," Reina muttered to herself, taking a big bite out of her food.

"Can I come with you?" Ana sat down beside her, staring at her sandwich with her usual twinkling eyes.

"On second thoughts, I'll just starve," Reina replied.

"You're mean."

Reina sighed before taking a second bite. Her sandwich was already half finished.

"Did you eat up all the cheese?"

"The what?"

"The cheese."

"What cheese?"

"CHEESE!"

Ana burst into giggles again.

"What is it now?!" Reina groaned.

"Nothing."

Reina gave up with the interrogation and started to eat silently. She felt sick, the butter tasted disgusting.

"Ok fine you had food in your teeth."

The house was empty except for her and Ana. Her mother was hardly at home but when she was, the house always had the same atmosphere. The same feeling of emptiness. Her mother hardly looked at her, let alone talked to her. She often left early in the morning and came home late at night. 

As for her father, she didn't even know how he looked like. She didn't know what type of person he was before he died. It was as if he never existed. There was not a single picture of him in the house. Or her mother. Or herself, even. Her mother seemed to hate pictures in general. She never quite understood why. From what she knew, he seemed to have passed away from an unknown illness before she was born. Her mother never remarried or looked at another man since. She knew nothing more. But it did not matter to her, Reina had lost her curiosity long ago. She would hardly think about her father or her mother.

Now that Reina thought about it, her life seemed to have been the same for as long as she could remember. She had stayed in that same house since she was born, and she had never moved. She had hardly ever left outside her home. Every day had the same routine. There was the same place. The same people. Nothing had ever changed, and it was all slowly suffocating her inside. 

Looking outside, everything seemed so boring. So dull. Stuck in the same little world made her wonder whether that was all there was to it. Whether if there is anything more outside the world she had always known. For most of her childhood, Reina was sure there was nothing more. That's what her mother had always made her believe.

"What happened in your dream this time?" Ana asked, drinking a glass of water from the table.

"I don't want to talk about it."

There was a short moment of silence. Instead, the gentle noise of the wind filled the room, soon followed by a light chill.

"Was it that bad?"

Reina gave Ana an annoyed look. Ana didn't mention it again, it seemed that she noticed her discomfort on the topic.

"Where has she gone today?"

"How am I supposed to know? I hardly know what mum is up to these days."

Ana placed an empty glass on the table, ignoring some of the spilled water.

"Be careful, will you? I'm not cleaning that up!"

"You seem to be really sensitive today. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Ana said, with such a kind and an understanding face that a shot of guilt ran through her. Ana was always there. No matter where she went, she was always there. Her most trustworthy companion who grew through her loneliness.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you Ana. But I really want to be left alone right now," Reina told her. She averted her eyes towards the window. Was she really that embarrassed to apologise that she couldn't even meet her eyes?

"I really wish I knew what you were thinking," Ana gave out another sigh.

"You already know what I'm thinking. Stop pretending."

The atmosphere of the room suddenly changed. Maybe the wind grew colder. Reina was amazed at how cold the house was when all the windows were locked shut. Even when her mother turned the heater on, it all felt so cold and barren. It had always been like this. Maybe the heaters in her house weren't functioning properly but her mother never tried nor seemed interested in getting it fixed no matter how many times Reina tried bringing up the subject.

'A little cold will not kill you,' her mother would often say, without meeting her gaze. Reina would often feel like a burden. But it was during these moments when she realised that she meant very little to her mother. She couldn't be a burden because she held no importance to begin with. It was difficult to tell which was worse. 

Her mother couldn't care less what she did so long as she stayed within the house and didn't bother her. Reina couldn't particularly point out exactly what was wrong without sounding selfish. Her mother didn't particularly shower any sort of hatred but she often couldn't help feel neglected. Isolated. Yes, that would be the right word. Completely cast off from the rest of the world including from her own mother.

"Was I not created to comfort you?" Ana asked.

"I don't need comfort right now," Reina replied, unconvincingly.

"Was the fall very long?"

Reina shivered. There was another long, gush of wind.

"You're not even real."

Reina turned around to the table towards the empty chair and the glass full of sparkling water.