Chapter 5: A fateful encounter

Sheira's POV

When I stepped into the house, I can feel the sadness that is seeping my senses. I pitied Rebecca. I understand her being miserable and I respect the coping mechanism she's showing. I always consider her for being a strong person and a trusted friend. I love her for being an "encourager" ever since I first met her. How it broke my heart to see her the first time being helpless and sad for the longest time. The drastic change happened after that car accident that caused the death of her mom.

The silence is really deafening. When I twisted the doorknob, its obviously being left unlocked because she's expecting me to come any time. I can say she's probably sleeping inside her mother's room again, tired and exhausted about everything.

I put two boxes of pizza on the dining table which is located just in front of her mom's room. When I look at her mom's room, she's standing in front of me.

I know she's only trying to force a smile for my sake. Her hair is messy as if she just woke up from her mom's bed. She greeted me with a smile. She noticed what I am wearing and she complimented me right away.

"Sorry but you don't look good today. Please take a bath first, at least." I insisted and she giggled. As I look at her, she seem to be ashamed of what she looked like right now.

"I will, Sheir."

I took the pizza boxes again from the dining table and presented it to her. "Look!" I excitedly exclaimed. She just nodded and tried to smile back at me.

"Yeah. I saw that as soon as you entered the door. Thank you." 

"You're always welcome!"

I noticed she's holding one of the books that we need to study for the exams next week. Is she trying to study this time? Some of the books are scattered on the floor. There are at least five books that were left open. 

"By the way, here are our notes for studying. Please do not miss any of them."

"Yeah."

"I'm happy that you're back again!"

It's more of a genuine compliment. Honestly speaking, I've been waiting for this day to happen...that she'll finally realize that there's more to life than secluding herself inside that lonely room.

I understand that her mom is gone but she also need to live her life this time. Being miserable is not healthy for her to do always. Even if she's trying to smile, I can still feel that she's having a hard time recovering on her own. 

We talked a lot about her mom, on how she still miss her. She's also telling me about how proud her mom is for her. Well, if there's someone proudest of her, it will be her mom. It crushed my heart to see her being like this. I hope her feelings of hurt will soon come to end.

We talked for more than an hour until an idea came to her out of nowhere. I agreed when she told me that she wanted to hang out days before the test. It was probably a terrible idea but if that is what's making her happy then, why not?

_____

"What?!" I can't believe where we just went. Imagine us, being compared to a burglar in the middle of the night. She parked her car parked a few meters away from her father's new house. She made sure we can't be easily seen to where we've parked. We're situated behind the thick, tall bushes near the many trees. Her father's house is just nearing the neighboring houses. There were many trees grow around it, too. The lampposts are not that bright that's why maybe Becca has a lot of courage in the world to go here. 

She grabbed a bottle of the wine that we drank from their house. I noticed that it is almost empty. She removed the cork from the bottle that's loosely inserted on it's mouth. She gulped all of its contents and after that, she grinned. She's holding the bottle as if she has something in mind.

"Do you think they are all asleep?"

"Hmm, I'm not really sure." I answered while looking at her reaction.

"Whatever you're thinking right now, you better stop."

"Be my best friend just for tonight, okay?" She said, even emphasized the last word. She looked drunk and funny at the same time.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm still thinking." She said, holding the neck of the bottle and turned it upside-down as she opened her mouth. It's as if she's trying to not miss even the last drop of her favorite wine. While doing these things, she's only looking at the direction of her father's house.

"How dare he? Her daughter is a wasted fuck and here he is, living peacefully." She uttered in a low voice. Even so, I didn't miss any single word that came out from her mouth. I can feel the bitterness from her tone.

"Don't leave the car. Just observe and enjoy..." She giggled mischievously as she opened the left door of her car in front. She tiptoed going to the front door of her father's house. She suddenly dropped the bottle which made it crushed into pieces. It made a loud noise. She hurriedly ran back to the car, gasping for air yet laughing for what she did.

She was able to get in the car and we observed from a distance of what might happen next. The owner of the house turned on their lights and obviously, being disturbed from their sweet sleep because of the crashing sound.

We saw her father went outside to checked what happened. They were dressed in a robe together with Rebecca's stepmother who also peeped her head through the door.

"Shit! Who made this?!" He angrily opened his led flashlight to check who's been there in the middle of the night. We can able to hear his cursing because his voice went higher and ranted too much. The stepmom was there to console Rebecca's father by hugging him from the back.

They saw bits of the broken bottle that was scattered in front of the main door of their house. Rebecca saw his father's reaction and she smiled as she folded her arms. 

"I enjoy looking at my dad's reaction. Isn't it great?"

"You should've not started it." Sheira answered as she folded her arms.

 She can see a revengeful smile coming from her best friend. Sheira can see how Rebecca hated her father. I guess that kind of hate is twice for her stepmother, as well. She can see that Rebecca can't accept that woman as her second mom. Never.

"They deserve it. They deserve no mercy in the first place."

"I am expecting a different hangout, Becca." I raised my eyebrow. Instead of a reply, she smiled back. We saw that the commotion was ended and the broken pieces of that wine were removed from the front door of their house. 

"Let's go? The night is still young." Rebecca said as she winked at her. We left the place and headed at the nearest opened cocktail lounge that night.

_______

Rebbeca's POV

It felt really good to piss my father. That man, rather.

I think everything that I did is something that he deserve to experience, even more than that. I wanted to do something to get even. I can feel that he deserve revenge coming from me for what he did to my mom. I will never forget it. Never will I ever forgive him either. I guess the wound will heal in my heart but it will never allow me to accept him anymore. 

From what I can always see, he never needed me. He has a new family. He's not vocally telling me that he doesn't love me as his daughter anymore but from his actions, he is rejecting every bit of me. I know he doesn't need me in his system and the hell I would care, too. We'd better be off this way.

I sit near Sheira who's enjoying her glass of vodka. I don't feel like drinking at that time. I just wanted to look at a different atmosphere. A place that I could consider lively. A place where I could somehow forget the reason why we are here in the first place.

"Do you need anything?" I shook my head as a sign that I am okay. 

"You're becoming boring all of a sudden." Sheira said, looking at me as she studies my facial expressions. She's like trying to know if I am just making an alibi. Finally, she became quiet. We enjoyed the rhythm of the background music from that lounge in that particular moment together until someone suddenly sat beside me.

"You?!" When I turned to my left to see who it was, I was too surprised that I could feel that my heartbeat is getting very fast I can almost hear it.

"I always believe it is a small world after all." He grinned as he faced me.