Feather After

Chapter 12

Feather After // Chapter 12 // Little Girl and Fates

Aria's POV

I was at home and thankfully everything had been going alright. Everything did not include my non-existent relationship with Ignatius. But I was actually happy that our English teacher had taken ten working days off because her child was not well.

I was moreover happy because he was only in my English class and I didn't have to face him for ten English class now. Life couldn't get any better. I was at my house and all I had been doing was lying on my bed with my legs and arms wide open. Like a starfish. Actually better than a starfish.

But sometimes I actually wondered how could, someone just make you feel happy and the other moment make you feel so bad. It had never happened to me before. I wasn't exactly that kind of person who would cry for someone like that.

I always thought that I was kind of a person who could stand up for themselves and I didn't need anyone to survive. On evaluating my process and behavior lately one could see that I never believed in romances. I was the kind of girl who was just happy by looking at guys and then mentally applauding them, for their beauty. No heartbreaks and no tears. Just 'aw', 'oh my god, he has a fine ass', 'damn your mamma has some nice pair of chromosomes'.

That's it.

The idea of coming into a relationship just because you felt attracted towards the other person was definitely a no for me. After reading so many romance novel written by the authors over the ages. I wanted something better. I liked the idea of the romance where the guy respected the woman, where he knew exactly what she wanted and that he loved her endlessly even if he was left for nowhere.

The position in our society had changed. The status of the word romance had changed. People these days don't count the number of years the romance happened for but the number of romances in a given period of time.

I sometimes felt like I should have been born in that era where living with the one meant everything. For instance my parents, they have not been around much, but I know that my father loves my mom. I have seen it in his actions and the way he behaved around her. I know my dad is a natural. Nanna told me that he loved her and I still believed in her.

I took a deep breath and then realized that thinking about stuff like that did not really help me at all. Thinking about love was depressing and almost hopeless knowing those things weren't really going to happen with me any time soon. I didn't have time, neither the damn time to be with somebody nor the time to then gush about it. Then finally when the guy broke your heart you sit on the toilet seat calling him sparkling poop because you hated him and loved him all at the same time. Then all the other things which I don't really want to keep talking about it.

I stood up looked around and realized what a huge mess I was and then praised Nanna's guts for taking care of a person like me. I walked to my closet and grabbed a pair of a black shirt which says think only and wear my favorite black pair of shoes. I needed to go for a walk.

I climbed down the stairs thinking about what I should exactly do. There was no way I wanted my parents to say no about it. When I was on the last stair I peaked through the wall and looked on the left and then on the right to see if my way was clear. I walked to my right and opposite to the room where I heard my mother and father talking about something which really did not interest me until I heard my name. They keep talking in a hushed voice and I changed my direction.

I tip-toed and silently walked down the corridor towards our dining table. The faint voices were not faint anymore. I could see my father and my mother sitting there. My dad was sitting on the head's seat and my mother next to him.

I did not know why but my mother looked very angry, her face was far too pretty for it. I could see my dad trying to convince her and then she suddenly burst out, "we can't do this to her!" She stood up and put her palm on the table. I jumped too.

My mother was an epitome of grace and beauty. She was one of those people who would get the work done without insulting or degrading anyone. I turned to my left and my foot collided with the wooden desk there and produced a strange sound. My father and mother both looked in my direction and before they could catch me eavesdropping, I ran towards the door as fast as I could.

I kept running without looking back until I was far away from the house. I stopped running because my seventeen-year-old lungs needed oxygen supply. I bent and put my palms on my knees. After waiting for a few minutes I started walking towards the school library. One of my favorite places in Seattle, there was another library there which served coffee and muffin but it couldn't go there because it was in the opposite part of the city. And I nowhere had the energy or the time to travel there.

I walked through the roadside and saw the small houses. It was very different from the place where I lived. The houses there were small and almost untouched by the richness and the fake glamour which the rich people were surrounded with. These houses looked like homes, one after the other. Same designs but different color.

Home is a place where your soul resides not your body.

I turned my head in the opposite direction and saw a little girl sitting on a green bench sobbing. I could see that she was red and I was pretty sure she had been crying for a long time now. I looked to my left and then to my right. I walked down the road to the other side. She saw me approaching and didn't do anything. She would have probably run away but her legs were not big enough to do that. She looked like one of those little kids who weren't capable of doing anything bad.

"Hey hey hey, Are you fine. Why are you crying?" I asked her but when she heard me she looked away. She wiggled her little butt trying to be as far from me as possible.

"I promise, I will not hurt you. I have nothing," I reassured her and raised my hand up in the sky to show her that. She looked at me and inspected me, "I promise," I whispered again.

She nodded her head as if giving me permission to go near her. I sat at the other end on the bench trying to maintain as much gap as possible. I looked at her. She was well dressed. She had a yellow dress on, paired with little brown boots and a white plain sweater.

"Why were you crying?" I asked her and patiently waited for her to reply. I noticed that her expression drastically and her eyebrows crunched upwards and in no time tears started flowing down her face.

"It's alright. Come here," I said and stood up. I opened up arms and saw her stand up. She walked towards me and didn't hesitate to rest her forehead on my shoulder blade. She cried and I let her. I started rubbing her back and waited for her to stop.

"It's okay," I said and pushed her shoulder in front of me. She looked at me and I asked her again, "what happened?"

"My parents-"

"Your parents?" I encouraged her to continue.

"They lose me."

"It's alright. See. We can call them? Please stop crying. I'm going to school and you could come with me. Sounds good?" I said and wiped her face. Her eyes were red and puffy.

I picked her up in my lap and started carrying her towards my school. The plan was perfect. I wanted to help her and couldn't see her crying like that.

I looked in front and pointed up toward the school building. "Look it's here."

She smiled at me and nodded. I walked inside and the main corridor and took a short cut. There was a gym where almost all the soccer players from our school worked out. It was almost next to the reception and to be very honest, that little girl in my arms was not exactly light. She was heavy.

"I don't like them much," I told her.

She scrunched her nose upwards and said, "I want to walk."

I bent down and put her down. As soon as I put her down and she started running towards the gym. I followed her and then I saw her coming out with someone. And that someone was no other than Ignatius, himself.

"Meet, Nat. He is my brother." And I cursed the fates.