Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

1. Socialization APP

I could've done something to prevent it all since I had known that my mother was in an affair for some time prior to my father finding out. One day when I walked home from school after being pranked that it was a school day when it was still break, I saw it. My mother was on the couch, naked with some other man that isn't my father. I forced myself to remain silent as I looked in through the crack of the door before I slowly backed off and ran out crying.I had told her about going to school earlier that day, which is possibly the reason why the man was there at my house.

My father was the one who came looking for me after being told by one of our neighbors who was out walking his dog that I was crying while sitting on the swings of the local park. He had left work just to find me. He comforted me and asked me why I was crying, and I was unable to get myself to tell him the truth. I was afraid that if I spoke up, our family would be ruined. That's why I lied and told him that it was because I got pranked.

I could still remember clearly, that day when I got home, I could never look at my mother the same way as before. She was disgusting. I didn't even want to eat anything she gave me in fear that I would become tainted. That is why I suddenly distanced myself from her and became unwilling to socialize with others in fear that if I were to discover something about them, that would ruin our relationship.

That story is all of the past now and I've gotten over it already. I'm sad that my father died and I'm sorry that I was unable to prevent it, but I can do nothing about it. My father would probably want me to not dwell on it and move on with my life.

Now, I live with my aunt on my father's side. She's his step-sister, meaning that the two aren't related biologically, but she still took me in. She was quite young when she offered to take care of me since she didn't want to trust me into the hands of the relatives of the woman that had caused the death of my father. Therefore, she's quite inexperienced when it comes to taking care of kids for she's not married. However, the two of us still managed.

My daydreaming was interrupted by the sudden notification that popped up on my phone. It says that something was successfully installed, but I never downloaded anything. This peaked my interest, causing me to scroll through my phone in search for the mysterious application that was installed.

"What's this?" I murmured to myself as I stared at an unfamiliar icon that was never in my phone before.

"Socialization."I held down the icon with my thumb and deleted it. "Don't know how that got on my phone, but now it's gone."

I didn't give it much thought afterwards, attributing the incident to me possibly accidentally clicking download on an ad that I possibly clicked on. I went on with the rest of my day, which is go home, do my homework, prepare dinner, and wait for Loriana to return home from work, her occupation being a professor at one of the more prestigious universities in Palisia.

"Welcome home, Lori." I greeted her as I finished setting the table.

The woman with long, blonde hair yawned in response as she walked past me and placed her purse on the couch before walking over to the dinner table.

"How's work today?" I asked her as I sat down in my chair.

"Like always," she responded.

Despite both of us being not the most talkative type, that doesn't mean we don't care for each other. In fact, Loriana's care isn't expressed through words, but rather through action. For example, she was super patient with me when I first moved in to her house. In addition, when it's my birthday, she would always make sure to have the day off to spend with me and prepare a gift for me. That is why I feel comfortable around her, knowing that she cares about me.