Not like Us

Chapter 26

Bella was laying on her bed and was staring on her ceiling when  she heard a knock from the outside. She rolled and covered herself with a sheet. She did not answer the door.

"Ate Bella," a girl's voice called  it was Sofia.  Her half-sister from her mother. She was two years older than Dustin. She was already 8 years old. She joined her family two years after her mom and dad broke up so she could not still accept her back then and because of that they both drifted apart.

Bella did not know what her sister wanted to her right now, she never really talked to her unless needed.

"Are you coming?" The little girl asked but then she immediately shook her head which made Bella's eyebrow raised.

"No, get dress. You are required to join us this afternoon," she directed. "Or else, I am going to kick your ass," she added.

Both Bella's eyebrows were now raising and her forehead wrinkled. "Suit yourself," she said and close the door.

As she sat down on  her bed, she heard another knock but this time it was non-stop. Bella tried to did not mind it by covering herself under her sheet with a pillow covering her ears. But as the minutes goes by, the knock became louder and louder.

Bella sat up and grunted. "Fine! I am coming!" She shouted. The knocked from the other side stop. So she decided to lay her back again on her bed and closed her eyes.

Another minute had passed, Bella heard another unstoppable knocks from her door. She groaned and stood up. She changed into her pants and wore a jacket that she grabbed from her closet without looking.

“I am ready,” she said without any excitement as she opened her door. It was her little sister that greeted her that was in all dress.

Her little sister raised both of her eyebrows. “You are not going to look like that are you?” she said as she assessed Bella from head to toe. “You are a mess,” she added.

Bella tsked. “Then go without me. As simple as that.” She said and closed the door. However, her little sister block the door by her foot. “Mom and Dad is already in the car. We could not keep them waiting.”

Her little sister hold her wrist and dragged her out of the house. She pulled her hand away from her when they were almost near the car. Her sister did not mind and went inside the backseat. She entered as well. During the entire travel, she was hugging herself and hands hiding on her jackets pocket.

“Are you fine, Bella? You do not look so good.” Her mother said while looking both of her child. Lesly, her second daughter was just playing a game on her phone while Bella was just staring outside, quietly. Ever since she got home a week ago, she had been very quiet. She was quiet way back then but now, she just mostly do what they say.  She did not state the reason why she decided to go back but she was glad that her daughter still saw her as her home where she could always stay.

“I am fine.” Bella said as she shifted her body and leaned on the chair while still looking outside. They were now inside a parking lot from a mall.

Bella’s mother looked at her watch. “Since it is almost twelve. Let us eat first,” her mother suggested. They were now on an escalator that was heading to a food court. Bella did not know why were they here at the mall or what they were planning to do.  They do not usually do this or they were…without her. Her mom and her stepfather, Noah, were ahead of them. They were looking for a seat since the court was almost full because it was almost lunch time. She was with her little sister who did not do anything but play on her phone for the whole time.

“If you do not stop that, you will surely trip. I am not going to help you,” she said to her sister. Lesly looked at her sister. She looked up. “Oh, are you showing concern?” Her sister asked pretending to be shocked.

“I am not concerned,” she said as she moved forward leaving her sister behind. She sat on the seat that her parents found but both of them immediately left to order some food. It took a minute for Lesly to catch up. She immediately sat beside Bella as she arrived. They were just quiet as they waited for their parents. Bella just leaned on the chair just like earlier.

As their parents arrive, her mother slid a small cake on the table in front of her. “Belated happy birthday.” She said and and in front of her. It was a chocolate cake. It was Bella’s favorite. “I know I am very late could you still accept it?” Her mother said and placed a small rectangular box on the table. Bella opened it and it was a gold necklace with a heart pendant.

Bella placed it on her jacket’s pocket. “Thank you,” she replied blankly.

Her mother smiled. “That is good then,” she said. “Let us eat.”

They started eating.  Bella’s mother spaghetti, chicken and other food varieties. They were so full when they were finished.

Bella excused herself to go to the restroom. Her stomach was hurting and she wanted to puke. She entered a cubicle and let out the food that her stomach could not take. Her throat hurt and her tongue felt acidic after she let it  all out. Her stomach got upset for eating a lot. It looked like it had gotten surprised for the sudden food supply after a week of always skipping meals.

As she went out of the cubicle, she was thankful that no one was around despite of the abundance of people on the other parts of the mall. She leaned on the sink and gargled her mouth. It was the best remedy to removed the acidic taste on her tongue.

When she went out of the comfort room, she saw Lesly inside a book store. She did not know that her sister loves to read books or maybe this was just her first time taking interest in books. Bella went in to the book shop, too, without letting Lesly notice. She went into the urban-fantasy section and skimmed some books that took her interest. What caught her attention was a book about talking about some legends and mythical creatures in the Philippines.

“I will definitely announce you weird if you buy that. You have been staring at it for five minutes straight. It looks like you are very fond of that kind of topic.”

Bella looked at that person. She did not noticed that her sister were already beside her. Bella looked at what she saw holding. It was an academic book that teach third graders how to do the math. Her sister noticed that Bella was looking at the book that she picked.

“It is none of your business.” Lesly said and went to the cashier to pay for it.

Bella put the book she was holding back to the shelf. It was better for her to keep her distance away from that kind of subject and going back to her mother’s house was the best way to get away with it. Staying there at the province would not help. She would not know to herself that she could be more curious than she was before.