Her breakthrough

Father bonding time

As Anastasia walked to the library, she tried to empty her thoughts.

She no longer cried or called for help when she was bullied.

She knew no one would help and it only amused her bullies more when they saw her crying.

She entered the library, greeting the librarian who now recognized her as a frequent comer. The woman smiled as Anastasia walked in.

Anastasia bowed gently, trying to wear a fake smile but the librarian was already used to it. She knew she had been bullied again. She watched Anastasia disappear into the pillars of books before she continued with her system.

Anastasia went to her usual spot, the last row in the library, where no one ever bothers to go because of how far it was.

Another reason being the books there were mainly horror stories and documentaries.

She picked the book she had been reading the session before,sat on the ground with her back resting against the shelf before she continued.

The novel was based on a true life story about a girl who barely escaped from her fake parents. She had been kidnapped when she was a baby and raised to be a sacrifice when she was sixteen. Although she was able to escape a week before the sacrifice was to take place.

Anastasia had lost track of time as usual until she heard the bell indicating the break was over. She hurriedly placed the book back and went back to class.

Luckily for Anastasia, the rest of her classes were peaceful.

After school, Anastasia went to her work place where she worked part time to raise some money, which she was saving for college.

Even though she was working hard to get a scholarship, she wanted to be prepared in case it didn't go as planned.

She knew how hard it was to get a scholarship.

Anastasia worked in a restaurant and was paid handsomely.

She secretly saved every salary and tip she was given. She finished work at exactly 8pm.

She took her bag, signed out and left .

At that time, buses were no longer running in her area so she had no option but to trek.

She arrived at her home thirty minutes later and she saw the porch light on. Her dad was sitting outside waiting for her. She was so happy and rushed to hug him.

"Good evening dad," Anastasia said as she hugged her father. "Welcome my sweetheart, how was work today?" Frederick asked warmly.

"Hmm , just the usual , long and stressful as always but nothing out of the extraordinary." Anastasia added on further thought, "At least my school bullies haven't found out about that, so I'm not bullied there."

Anastasia shrugged and sat opposite her father on the couch outside, staring at the stars.

"Are you sure you don't want me to have a word with the principal?" Frederick asked calmly, hoping his daughter would have a different response this time around.

"No daddy, doing that only makes it worse. I have only a year left after this,I'm sure I'll survive. Don't worry about it, hmm."

Frederick looked at his daughter, worried but only nodded. He stood up stretching his hand to help Anastasia up as he said, "Let's go in then, I'll warm your food for you. I made your favorite spaghetti."

Anastasia smiled as she accepted his hand.

She and her father talked well into the late hours of nine before they both retired to bed.

Anastasia sat on the chair in the left corner of her room , placed her books on the table and read on the topics given in the day's class before finally going to sleep around eleven.

She woke up early the next day, not wanting to be late to school.

She got dressed, approved her look in her door length mirror before she stepped out of her room.

As she came out, she made eye contact with her sister who only rolled her eyes at her. Her sister was equally fully dressed except for her makeup.

Anastasia headed down to the kitchen for breakfast, greeted her parents but as expected, only her dad answered her.

She looked at her mother wanting desperately to ask her why she hated her so much but she knew, not only would she not get a reply, but she would also get an extra attitude the whole week .

Anastasia swallowed her urge, sat down and collected her food from her dad , who gave her a proud smile for her decision.

Anastasia finished her food, bade her dad farewell and headed to school.

Luckily her seat was free of garbage because she came early.

She sat down , plugged her earphones in , closed her eyes and allowed herself to float in her mind till the class started.

She heard students troop into the class but pretended to be asleep to avoid any communication with them.

She felt a few of them poke at her face a couple of times, but she acted like she felt only a bug and turned her face away.

After a while, Anastasia's alarm which she had set to when the class would start rang.

She removed her earphones, put off the alarm just in time as their teacher came in. The class proceeded with chemistry as the first subject.

During break, Anastasia didn't feel too hungry so she immediately went to the library to continue her book.

She survived the day without any bullying and went to work.

She finished work and got back home as usual and met her mother carrying a big box into the house. She hurriedly ran to help her mom but her mom, Isabel, violently pushed her away.

Anastasia fell hitting her head and back against the doorframe.

Frederick immediately helped Anastasia up before yelling at Isabel. "You could have politely declined her offer, you didn't need to push her that way, what if something terrible had happened and she would need to be rushed to the hospital!?"

"Well , hopefully, from there she will make her way into heaven," Isabel calmly retorted, not caring about the gravity of her words.

Anastasia, shocked, gasped on hearing her mother say such to her. "Why," Anastasia quietly asked. "Why do you dislike me so much? What did I ever do wrong?"

Isabel eyed Anastasia crudely before laughing mockingly. "Give me a reason why I should like you, pathetic waste of space," Isabel asked.

"Isabel!," Frederick shouted at her but she only walked away hissing. Anastasia who had painly stood up before, fell to the floor again, her heart in her belly.

She hugged herself ignoring the sharp pain in her back and cried.

Frederick immediately hugged his daughter trying to calm her down as he patted her gently.

"What did I do wrong dad? Have I done something to her before? Did she lose something because of me? Just why exactly can't she stand me? I'm also her daughter after all," Anastasia sobbed into her father's arms.

Frederick tried to contain his tears by blinking several times. "She loves you sweetheart, she's just having a hard time.."

Anastasia raised her to look at her dad and said, "A hard time all these years? I'm seventeen, dad and I don't remember a time she had ever loved me. She has always hated me . I might have done something while I was little, but it's not like I understood better. And I can't even remember anything I did wrong!"

At this point, Frederick knew he could no longer lie to his daughter about Isabel loving her. He knew Isabel didn't accept her as her child and he knew why but he couldn't bring himself to tell Anastasia the reason. He knew the reason would break Anastasia and would divide his family. He pulled Anastasia in for a hug telling her everything was going to be okay.

But Anastasia knew, nothing was ever going to be okay.

After some minutes, she stopped crying and Frederick fixed her dinner even after she insisted she had no appetite.

Frederick placed the plate in front of her and told her, "It's just sandwich love, please you need to eat something. Also I can tell you skipped lunch today."

Anastasia weakly smiled looking at the two sandwiches on her plate before she asked her father, "How did you know I skipped lunch?."

"I'm your father darling, I know these things just by looking at you."

Anastasia looked at her father, not sure where there it was gratitude that she still had a parent who loved her or happiness she felt .

But she knew at that moment , even though she and her mother just argued, her heart was warmed by her father.

She nodded and dug into her food, ensuring to finish every crumble. Her father watched her happily as she gulped her food.

" I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was." Anastasia giggled realizing her tummy had taken over her task of finishing her food. "Thanks dad, I really needed the food."

"Anything for you sugarplum."

"Thank you also for loving me. If you didn't, I doubt I would be able to live here."

Frederick smiled at her and nodded. "We should go to bed now, so we all get up early tomorrow."

"How are you sure I will get up early tomorrow dad," Anastasia asked, wanting to tease her father a little.

"Well in case you haven't realized,you only sleep in on the very first day of school. Like you're waiting for an extension on the holiday," Frederick proudly told her.

He understood his daughter well and it pleased him.

Anastasia smiled and nodded before admitting defeat.

She raised her hands mid way into the air saying, "Fine, let's go to sleep."

She kissed her father good night and headed to her room knowing it was going to be a painful long night for her as she would think about her mother all night till she slept.

As she laid in her bed, she wondered if she would ever find love.