Cynthia's POV
"Good morning, Mum" I greeted while walking into the dining area in a haste.
"Good morning, honey" My mother replied before taking a sip of her tea.
"Good morning, Dad" I greeted while placing a kiss on his cheek before taking a seat on the vacant chair on his right.
"Morning, sweetheart" My father replied.
"And I'm so sorry that we won't be there for your performance today" He added apologetically.
"That's really not fair, Dad, you should have informed me sooner about it" I replied with a long face.
"Honey, we did inform you last night at dinner" My mother replied in her usual sweet voice.
"Mum, when I say sooner I mean much more sooner than that" I said recalling how my parents informed me last night that Dad would be leaving just the next morning for some business trip and my mother would be joining him too.
"I'm really sorry, Princess" My father said.
"It's okay, Dad" I replied half heartedly.
"But sweetie, you would still have your little brother watching and supporting your performance" My mother said.
"Who? Chase?" I questioned with a horrified look on my face.
"Mum, please don't refer to him as my little brother, I know you guys found him in the stinking garbage near the slums and just took pity upon the poor little thing" I added with a disgusted look on my face.
"Cynthia Miller!" My mother exclaimed while playfully glaring at me knowing that I was joking obviously.
But Chase is, in fact, her favourite boy.
"What? Mum, I have only one brother anyways and that's Austin..." I replied only to be abruptly cut off by my mother.
"Cynthia! Enough now" She exclaimed harshly as I was a little taken aback but I knew she didn't mean to be harsh towards me and it was my fault anyways, I shouldn't have uttered that name in the first place, so I kinda deserved that.
"Princess, I think you should get going. I don't want you running late for the fest" My father said softly after a moment of pin drop silence.
"Yes, Dad, I think I should leave now" I replied in a low voice.
"I'm sorry, Mum" I added while getting off the chair as my mother just looked at me with a much softer look on her face and I knew that she already regretted and felt guilty for yelling at me that like.
Passing her a small smile, I decided that it was best to leave already because if I didn't I would actually get late for the fest.
"Ashima. What was that?" I heard my father question as I started walking out of the dining area.
"Edward. I didn't mean to yell at her like that...but we all know who's name we are not suppose to utter in this home" My mother replied with a tired sigh.
"Whatever the reason may be, Ashima, I don't care, but I just don't like anybody yelling at my daughter like that" My father said as I stopped in my tracks so I could intervene just in case if they get into any argument.
"Anybody? Am I anybody? Edward. I'm her mother" My mother replied.
"And what did you just say? My daughter? Is she really just your daughter? Edward. Did you bring her into this world all by yourself?" She added as I heard my father letting out a tired sigh before speaking.
"I'm sorry, love. I just..." He trailed off with yet another sigh.
"I didn't mean it in that way, love" He said after a brief moment.
"She is my child too, Edward" My mother stated firmly.
"And so is he, love" My father replied in a rather low voice.
"So is he..." He continued, repeating his own words.
"He is your son, Ashima...our son" He said.
"Our first born" He added and I could feel my eyes getting moist sensing the nth of emotions in his voice and those three words of his.
"Your little favorite boy, Ashima" My father said further.
"He was..." My mother trailed off and even without looking at her I could tell that she was on the verge of crying already.
"He was, Edward...until he severed all ties with us" My mother added and with that being said I heard her fading footsteps as she walked away from the conversation.
And with that I slowly walked out of my home too, with a heavy heart and a lone tear sliding down my cheek.
"Miller! Where the heck were you? I almost thought you bailed on us and I would have to play Aurora" Steve yelled in his usual panicked tone as soon as I walked towards the back stage.
Yes please, Steve, just keep panicking and yelling at me...it'll at least help me divert my mind from my family drama.
"Steve! Stop yelling!" Bethany said covering her ears dramatically.
"My poor eardrums" She mumbled to herself softly.
"Cyn!" I heard a familiar voice right before I was attacked with a hug.
"Madi! You finally made it back to your friends" I teased while hugging her back as she pulled back and shot a playful glare at me.
I was just joking and she very obviously knew that as well.
"Madi, let's just wait and see how she acts after she finds 'the one'..." Sean commented dramatically.
"Shut up! Sean" Madison, Bethany and I said at the same time and looking at each other we burst out laughing.
"Anyways, Cyn, I just wanted to wish you luck before your performance" Madison said after we came down from the high of our laughter.
"Thanks, Madi" I replied smiling at her.
"Well...I don't know about Aurora but Cynthia Miller does needs all the luck she can get...for her relationship..." I heard an ear screechingly annoying voice and unfortunately I have heard that voice enough times to recognize it.
"With Damien" She added.
"Sean. Please tell me that's not your plastic girlfriend" I said extra sweetly, with a fake smile as Sean just smiled at me awkwardly, perfectly knowing that it was actually none other than Stella Winters, herself.
"Because I'm not in the mood to gouge anybody's eyes out today" I added.
"Oh stop harassing my poor boyfriend, sweetie..." Stella paused walking towards us.
"Rather why don't we talk about how your boyfriend harassed you...two days back" She continued while flashing her shining pearls at me.
"Boyfriend?" Madison, Sean and Steve questioned at the same time while Bethany just looked at me confused, not saying anything as she knows that one shouldn't believe anything that comes out of Stella Winters mouth straight away.
"What harassment are you talking about? Stella" Bethany questioned and I could sense the concern and worry laced in her voice.
"Yes. Tell us, babe" Sean said with the same level of concern in his voice.
"Stella. What are you up to now?" I asked with a tired sigh because honestly I have had it enough with her high-school games now.
"Oh you didn't tell them yet?" She asked innocently.
"Tell us what? Stella" Madison asked, sounding pretty annoyed with Stella's constant stalling now.
"You know the other day while I was just walking back home, I passed by this cafe where I witnessed..." Stella paused purposely as I couldn't help but roll my eyes after realizing what she was trying to get at.
I glanced at Steve and with one look I knew that he had realized it too.
"What? Baby" Sean asked impatiently.
"I witnessed...Damien pushing Cynthia away, so harshly and mercilessly and she fell straight on her face...she was a crying and bleeding mess" Stella said, obviously adding her own spices to the story.
"And he didn't even try to help her getting up, rather he just had an arrogant smirk on his face..." She paused before looking at Steve.
"But thank heavens, Steve was there to help poor Cynthia" She continued.
"What?" Madison exclaimed.
"Cynthia. I just don't get it...what were you even doing with him? Why do you even keep running after him? Even after knowing how strange he is...how abusive he can be" Sean said shaking his head slightly while I just looked at him in disbelief as Bethany just chose to remain silent, maybe because she knows if anything of that sort had actually happened, then I would have definitely told her if not anybody else.
"Sean! Just shut the fuck up!" I yelled at him unknowingly.
"Whatever Stella just said is her own made up story..." I paused.
"Nothing of that sort happened" I continued.
"I did fell...but it was purely an accident" I added a moment later, in a rather calm voice this time.
"So stop accusing and judging people for absolutely no reason" I said firmly, not mentioning Damien's name though because as decided last night, I'll just forget that a guy named Damien ever existed.
"Why are you defending him?" Sean asked, clearly not so happy that I took a stand for him.
"Sean, I'm not defending anybody over here. I just don't like falsely blaming someone" I replied.
"And you can even ask Steve, he was right there too" I added.
"No. I don't need to ask anybody, anything, all I know is that now you are down to insulting your own friends for some random guy who doesn't even spares you a glance" Sean said and the last of part of his sentence somehow did manage to hurt me, even though I tired not to let his words affect me, but they did anyway.
"Sean. Calm down and stop talking nonsense for once" Madison said.
"Yeah, Sean, you are taking it all in a wrong manner, Cynthia wasn't insulting you" Bethany said.
"Yes, baby, please calm down" Stella said gaining a deathly glare from all of us except Sean of course.
"It's my fault actually, I shouldn't have said anything in the first place because Cynthia clearly didn't want anybody to know about this" She added.
"No, Stella, it's not your fault" Sean replied.
"Yes it is..." Stella paused.
"I was the one who assumed that Damien and Cynthia were in a relationship" She continued before looking at me.
"But now it clearly doesn't seems so" She added with an evil smile on her face.
"Considering what I saw the other day, I'm hundred percent sure now that they were never together...but I was so happy for Cynthia, assuming that they both were together that in the process I somehow ignited the rumor of their relationship" She said.
"But now I feel so terrible for doing that" She continued, sadly, which was a facade obviously.
"Though one thing is clear now..." She paused as we all just silently glared at her.
"That Cynthia Miller has fallen for a guy who doesn't even spares her a glance...just as Sean said" She continued in her annoyingly, fake sweet voice while I was fuming red by now and I'm sure if we were in some cartoon, there would be steams rolling off from my ears.
"Poor Cynthia...the girl who used to reject every guy who approached her...got rejected herself" She added.
"Shut the fuck up! Stella. Or else I'll make you" I said.
"The more she chases her dream guy...the further he keeps getting out of her reach" She replied as if she didn't even hear what I just said.
"How sad" She mumbled with a small pout and that was the last straw, that was when I lost it all, because that was when she somehow managed to hurt my ego, that until now I didn't even know exist.
But it did exist...and it was hurt and so were my feelings...because Stella may be a bitch but whatever she just said wasn't a lie either.
It was true...so true and bitter as well.
And whatever I was about to say, I completely blame it on my ego and my feelings that were hurt...because I would have never uttered such lies otherwise.
"Oh that's where you are mistaken, sweetheart" I said with my hands folded over my chest.
"You were right from the very beginning...but now you are wrong" I added confidently.
"Damien and I are together..." I continued as I heard a few gasps from my friends. Well what kinda friends are they? Couldn't they figure out that I was straight out lying.
"And we are so in love...he loves me and I love him...everybody and everything fades away when we are together" I added as I caught Bethany and Steve staring at me blankly this time, maybe they did figure out that I was just bluffing.
"We are even planning a dreamy winter wedding by the beach side with white sand brushing against our feets" I said and it was then that Bethany's lips broke into a knowing smile as Steve just shook his head trying hard to hold back his laughter.
"And you are very obviously not invited, Stella" I finished off with a smirk as all the colour drained off her face.
"Bitch!" She mumbled before stumping away on her feet towards the exit with an annoyed look on her face as Sean just looked at me once with a sigh and a slight shake to his head before following her out.
"Well..." I mumbled with a satisfied sigh.
"I don't know if she believed it or not but it did feel good, putting her in her place" I continued.
"Heck! Even I believed it for most of the part" Madison said shaking her head.
"Whatever! It was nice to watch a good girl fight before the play" Steve said grinning.
"Now come on, it's time for you to go on stage" Bethany said before wishing me luck and leaving along with Madison while Steve stayed back at the back stage.
Soon enough the play started and everything was going smoothly just as planned and prepared and it was the climax scene when Ishaan, who was playing Prince Phillip, sat beside me as I lied there into a deep enchanted slumber.
But little did I know that in the next few seconds something was about to happen...something that I couldn't even imagine to ever happen and definately not in such way...something that changed my life forever.
For better? Or for worst? That I was yet to find out.
•••
Hey guys,
Any guesses? What's about to happen?
Anyways,
Please vote, comment and share.
Until next time.
Love,
Crystal ❤️