Chapter 3
1375 Words
Chapter 3
THE BITCHES OF MARCADEL
Mom, I want to go home.
Mom, I want to leave this place.
Mom, I’m scared.
I badly wanted to voice out every words in my head, but none came out of my mouth. I was frozen standing as I stood before the table. My hands trembled in my side. They were so cold when I clenched my fists. My fingernails sunk onto my palm. I felt numb.
My mom’s voice roared. “Who gave this cake?”
We all looked to the lady who brought this inside. She raised her hands defensively. “You all witnessed how I took it from your front door. It was placed there.”
“Then who left it there?”
I was too preoccupied to think who it was. My mom’s eyes went to Seth.
He shook his head. “I didn’t do it! I swear!”
“No one is blaming you, Seth,” mom calmly uttered. She crossed her arms. “Did you see anyone before you?”
I saw how he was relieved. He sighed. “There was no one, Maurice.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“It was not moving, Seah.”
“Ha?” I forgot that my camera was directed towards the skull. My friends caught back my attention. It was Rose who spoke. “What do you mean?”
“Look,” she said. “Look closer.”
“She’s right,” Andy agreed. “The worms should be moving because they are still decomposing the head.”
“And the leaves looked fake.”
Still scared from what happened, at least, I relaxed a little. I squinted my eyes and stared at the skull.
“Try to smell it. It should have a foul smell.”
I did what I was told.
“It smelled… sweet.” I got a fork placed on the table and poked the worms on the skull. I ran the tip of the fork on the skull, trying to figure out its texture when it created a line instead. There, I realized that this was a cake. I picked up a leaf. It was kind of oily, and the texture was rough. I placed it inside my mouth and chewed slowly, still careful if this might be a real leaf. Everyone waited for my reaction. I swallowed the food and smiled.
I breathed out the lump in my throat earlier. “Thank goodness.”
“Good grief,” someone whispered.
“Ah, I felt like I had an heart attack.”
I laughed. I hugged my mother. “Calm down. It was a false alarm.”
“Still, it was not good to send that kind of gift on your birthday,” she commented.
I understood that she was agitated, but we can probably enjoy this day despite what happened.
“Maurice looked hella worried,” my friends whispered to me on the other line. “Even I would feel that way.”
“Say hi to Maurice for us,” they added.
I faced the screen to mom. Rose and Andy waved at her.
“Hi, girls! How are you doing?”
I stood beside my mom. “They organized a party for me and invited our friends.”
“It’s more fun here, Maurice,” Rose said in a wild tone. The alcohol was taking over her system. “Wooh!”
“I can see that, sweetheart.” My mom turned to me. “I really love your friends. They do whatever they can for you. You should be thankful.”
“I know, mom.”
I left my mom on the living room and talked to my friends. I climbed up to the balcony with a tray of cookies in my hand. I went down again to grab some drinks to finish.
“His name was Seth.”
I chewed on the cookie. “Obviously.”
“Seth,” Andy commented.
I stilled and later on shrugged. “It was a surprise that mom knew his first name. I thought it was only Seth.”
“What do you expect from him?”
“Who?” I asked. “Seth?”
A friend of mine pushed herself to see me in the call. “Hi, Seah! Happy birthday, babe!”
“Thanks!”
She threw a flying kiss and left.
“Is that, Seah, dude?”
My eyes widened when I recognized the owner of the voice. “Was that John?”
I squealed upon seeing his face. “Oh, my gosh! I missed you!”
He grinned. “Happy birthday! You didn’t tell me you’re leaving.”
“Stupid! I lost contact with you, and you didn’t try answering my calls before, you, dramatic jerk!”
“Okay, my bad,” he apologized. “When you come back, I promise to treat you.”
“That’s a deal, eh?”
“Yeah, so make sure to tell me when you’re coming home. I have to save bucks for you, pig.”
“What?” I frowned. “That’s kind of offensive. Well, whatever. Don’t forget that.”
He kissed the screen like it was me and gave back the smart phone to Andy.
“Where’s Rose?”
“Enjoying her night with Rex.”
The two are just in one area, yet they used two different phones.
Rose joined our call again. Her lipstick was smudged. She fixed it in front of us. I drank from the bottle of beer before answering her interrupted question, “He seemed kind and outgoing. He must be popular with girls. He looked sporty. I wonder what sport he plays.”
“Maybe…”
Andy and I stared at Rose. “Maybe, what?”
“Maybe that fun game in bed?” She wiggled her eyebrows and giggled. “I wonder what does he like. Rough or not? Quick or slow?”
“If I am going to choose, I want a quick rough night.”
I can imagine Andy rolling her eyes because of us. Can’t help it. Rose and I shared the same wild imagination, but hers could be wilder.
While talking with them, I saw Seth having a chat with someone, a girl in particular. This girl had a long hair that’s almost the same length as mine. Seth was still taller than her. I stood and leaned on the balcony to see them better. They seemed having fun with their conversation. She was wearing a two piece, but Seth did not look at her boobs for once. I wished I have that size. Who am I fooling? Mine were bigger, pwe. I noticed how distracted she was with Seth being topless. Her eyes went down to his stomach. I laughed.
“Talk to you later, girls,” I said then hung up.
I went downstairs and headed towards the backyard. Some greeted me as I searched for Seth’s face. There is one thing I really miss―flirting.
“Hi!” My eyelids are getting heavy, but my energy is not going down. I extended my hand to him. “What’s your name again?”
“If you can see, we are talking,” an i***t exclaimed when I interrupted their conversation.
I smiled. “As you can see, I have two eyes, so I can clearly see what is going on.”
My smile did not leave my face. My friends used to tell me that I looked nice even when I am already talking harsh.
“It’s Seth. Seth Asier Thompson.”
I nodded and crossed my arms instead. “Won’t you ask what’s mine?”
“You’re Elysea, right?”
“Yeah, I am Elysea Alvarez, your future wife.”
“And I am Ayuna Jimenez.” I finally gave her the attention she is craving. “And this is Marcadel Village where bitches like you don’t fit.”
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- Writer
