“Hi, How are you?” I didn't reply. “May I know your name, Miss?”
For a couple of minutes, I looked at him, without saying a word. He starts speaking.
“I'm Ian, our family was already transferred here yesterday,” he said with a genuine smile.
“Can you talk? Please respond to me,” he whispered. I'm still looking at him.
“Yeah, sorry, my voice is trembling, and I'm not good at socializing with the people,” I responded.
I spoke slowly and keeps my head looking down. “Can you walk with me? I will accompany you to your home, I promised.”
I nodded, his smiles became wide, and cheerfully. “Can I take a picture of you? Please, just a remembrance that I met you.”
He shows me his Polaroid, “Just look at the camera, and smile. Show your beautiful smile, okay?” he said.
He pinned my hair in my ear. I'm wearing a vintage peach dress, with extended flutter sleeves.
“That's good! Smile, okay?” He pointed the camera at me, and I began to smile.
“Perfect! Let's write a date on the back of this photo,” he said. I watched every single action of him.
“Hey! I found you! Let's go home, your mother is searching for you!” Sammy shouted from a short distance.
Ian looked at her and smiles. I noticed that Sammy was stunned, and she didn't speak for a few minutes.
“I think, that's all for now, see you!” I waved at him while waking away with Sammy.
“Who was that?” Sammy asked with an arched left eyebrow. “His name was Ian, do you want to know him?”
She immediately nodded. “I will tell him about you, and introduce you to Ian,” I said while staring at the ground.
“Is he a kind person?” I shrugged my shoulders as an answer to her question.
“Where does he live?” she added.
“He said, they live at the distance of 3rd streets from our house, so I assumed that he was a new here in our neighborhood,” I stated.
“Hey, there you are! I'm searching everywhere, because I can't find you, Zoe!”
“It feels like my heart is going to throw up from my chest!” Our babysitter said.
“Let's go home, it's already 4 in the afternoon, we should go to our house.”
After two years, our paths meet once again.
“Hey, where was your school? I want to transfer there, so I can be with you all the time,” Ian said. He looked into my eyes.
“Secret, I've been sent some invites to you for my birthday, but you didn't come,” I said in an airy voice.
“I'm sending my apologies to you, I'm not able to come that day, because my feet were numb, I can't feel anything that time—”
I cut him off. “No, it's okay, I understand you, but do your feet were already fine?”
“Yes, of course, I prepared myself for the consequences of life, and especially from the humans.”
With the help of the tree, I glimpse at him, while he's not looking at me.
“By the way, I had this friend of mine, but she wants to know you,” I said with a calm voice.
“Where is she?” he asked, but I told him something that can help him to ease the boredom.
“Hi! I'm Sammy Santiago, nice to meet you!”
All of a sudden, Sammy appears from out of nowhere.
“Nice to meet you too, Sammy.”
“Yay! We're already in high school, I'm hoping that this life will be fun,” he stated.
“However, the discipline is a must, and they need it to give some important knowledge to the students, whiles having a different topic.”
They are talking, while I keep quiet, and listen to them.
It seems like, the girl from underneath the tree looks like she wants to join us. I'm wondering if that was a real human, or not.
“Let's take a picture! But, for now, Sammy will join us at the picture taking.”
Sammy's face became to widen, and cheerfully.
However, I'm not comfortable in our position, so I asked Sammy that maybe we can exchange it.
I'm in between Sammy, and Ian.
Hence, he took a picture of Sammy, and I.
My tears start to fall.
“Sammy, you're the only one I trusted the most, I don't know if you're going to expose me in the near future, but I hope you're still keeping your promises to me.”
My tears were streaming down on my face, while she's just looking at me with a teary eye.
“I'm not their legitimate daughter, they just adopted me when I was 3 years old, after my legitimate mother died,” I start to narrate my story.
“But, my adoptive father is the older brother of my real father, he serves as my uncle, I can't take it anymore.”
“They keep molesting me, when I'm from school, I'm not emotionally stable, even my body was not stable,” I added.
She keeps silent, maybe she can't find a word that can help me to calm my mind.
“Do you think, I want that?”
She looked at me, and a tear falls.
“No, nobody will be going to like that kind of thing.”
“We're already in the middle school, but my life was a mess, from school until I came home, I just want a peaceful life.”
“Without bullies, struggles, and different levels of conflicts, my body can't maintain it, especially my mind.” I keep speaking out of my emotions.
My thoughts are going to convey my whole body and mind.
“I'm not happy, I'm not contented!” I exclaimed.
“Mom, why did you leave me all of a sudden? I thought you love me, and you care for me, so why? Why did you do this?” I'm still trying to hold back my tears.
I felt that someone hug me, and it's Sammy.
For an instance, I opened my eyes. I'm still here in the white, and empty room.
Why am I seeing that scenes? Why so sudden? It appears on my mind.
But, one thing that brought up to my mind.
Those are my memories from the past.