A Different Descendant: Freshman Year 1

Chapter 10

     My dark colored eyes met her mesmerizing brown ones. Her eyes were really beautiful and I felt myself get trapped inside of them. Freya was really beautiful. She gave off a sweet scent of rose petals. In her eyes was a whole new world entirely.
    “Here,” she said, stretching her arms out.
    She obviously wanted a hug, but my body just wouldn’t move. I could feel my cheek flush as I stared at her.
    “Handshakes aren’t suited for these kinds of situations. This is where two people hug,” she said, misinterpreting my silence for cluelessness.
    ‘I know that,’ I said to myself.
    Just as I was about to go in for the hug, she rushed into it and made it easier for me.
    I almost never hugged people besides family members. It was the first time in forever I was hugging someone my age who wasn’t family.
    I inhaled her sweet scent. Her body felt so soft and small in mine. Her warmth was comforting. It easily entered my top ten best feelings.
    “I’m sorry too,” she whispered.
    ‘Wow, she’s a hugger,’ I said to myself, feeling as she was squeezing me gradually.
    “Um- Freya, I’m not exactly a hugger.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry about that,” she said and finally released me.
    We were staring at each other again. The flush on her cheeks were completely visible. Her smile made it more obvious. I wasn’t smiling, but I could feel my cheek tingle a little bit. I was a little scared that the tingly feeling on my cheek was not visible for her to see.
    “That was one hell of a beautiful moment,” Erica said from behind. I didn’t exactly expect her not to watch or listen to what had happened.
    “Erica, you better not tell anyone about this!” Freya threatened.
    “Relax. I won’t tell anyone,” she said reassuringly.
    She had changed out of the hospital clothes. She was now in a grey T-shirt and blue jean shorts that were way above her knee. She had a gym bag over her shoulders.
    “You two girls ready to go,” a man called from the left side of the hall.
    A man together with two women, one of which my mother was among were walking towards us.
    “Yes dad,” said Erica as he ran up to hug her parents. My mother stopped to say a few words to Erica, and then walked up to where Freya and I stood.
    “Good evening Dr. Collins,” Freya greeted.
    “Good evening Freya darling. How are you?”
    “Fine thank you ma’am”
    “Did you want to tell me something mom?” I asked.
    “Yes. Something came up. And I will be leaving here really late. Alexis and Heather are the only ones at home so you have to get home early if you want to meet dinner”.
    “Where’s Mr. Gudjohnsen?” I asked.
    “He’s also working late. Do you have cab fare or-”
    “It’s okay. We can drive him home,” Erica’s mother offered
    ‘So this is where Erica got her looks,’ I said to myself, seeing the intense resemblance.
    Erica looked just like her mother. One could see Asian written on their faces.
    “Mitsuha darling, it’s quite the distance from your place. Henry can take a cab home,” said mom.
    “With all you’ve done for us Hayden, it’s the least we could do,” she debated.
    “Thank you.”
She gave me a few other instructions and little money and finally headed back to work.
    “So are we ready?” Erica’s father asked.
    Erica’s father was clearly not Asian. Let alone Japanese. His hands were quite hairy and he was taller than all of us there. He looked like someone whose face should be at a barber’s shop for a goatee ad.
    “Oh darling, we have to drive young Collins here home,” said Erica’s mom.
    “I see. How are you kid?” he greeted, offering me a handshake.
    “Fine sir,” I said as we shook hands’.
    He had a firm grip. His hands almost completely swallowed mine.
    “It’s like looking at teenage Jake,” said Erica’s mom with a smile on my face.
    “You knew my dad?” I asked. I was always interested in anything that involved him. They weren’t the first ones to emphasize about how much I resembled my late father. It was something I was proud of.
    “Henry, our parents went to high school here in Mystery Falls together. Same goes for Freya and the others,” Erica explained.
    “Ohh?”
    “That expressionless reply?! You’re just like he was back in the day!” her dad exclaimed.
    “We have to get him home in time darling. Come on now,” said Erica’s mom.
    “Come on Henry, I’ll show you to the car,” said Erica, dragging me by the hand.
    We got to the stairs before her parents. Freya was right behind us. She constantly scolded Erica to let me go. I protested, but she was a hard nut to crack.
    We got to the parking lot about two minutes before her parents. The vehicle was a Toyota Rav4. I wanted to sit at the side of the car closest to the window, but Erica wouldn’t agree. She had me sit in between herself and Freya. Freya showed obvious signs that she wasn’t all happy with Erica hogging me.
        **********
    After about seven minutes of driving, we finally arrived at my house.
    “Thank you Mrs. Yamanaka,” I said.
    “Anytime,” she replied as they drove off.
    I hurried into the house so I would get enough food. Leaving Alexis and Heather with food for three of us would be one of the biggest mistakes one could make in the Collins family.
    “Please tell me there’s still food left for me,” I said, closing the front door behind me.
    “You’re in luck. The food just arrived few minutes ago,” said Alexis, sitting down at the side of the table where she always sat.
We were supposed to have lasagna, but there were packs of Chinese food on the table.
    “What happened to lasagna?” I asked, walking towards the dining.
    “We didn’t feel like it,” Heather replied.
They were obviously lying. Alexis never went against the food for each day, except if mom asked her to go against it.
    “You burned it didn’t you,” I said.
    “It was Alexis’ fault,” Heather said hurriedly.
    “You dirty snitch!” Alexis yelled playfully, and threw a table cloth at Heather.
    “You didn’t expect me to take the blame now did you?” Heather laughed, triggering both mine and Alexis’ laughter.
        *****************
      As we ate, I flashed back to all that had happened. Freya, Erica and I were on good terms with each other, but I just didn’t feel comfortable.
There was still one more person to make up with, and that was none other than my mom’s husband, Mr. Eric GudjohnsenThe fact that I was on good terms with them and not him troubled me greatly.
    ‘If I’m going to know how to get on good terms with Mr. Gudjohnsen, I would need to talk to the ones who relate with him perfectly.’
    “How do you two do it?” I asked.
    “Do what?” Alexis asked, swallowing a few noodles.
    “Relate with Mr. Gudjohnsen.”
    Even with my eyes fixed on the tale, I could still feel my sisters staring at me. They stared at me as though I had said something really strange. It was indeed strange for me to ask something like that.
    “Why don’t you start by calling him Dad?” Alexis suggested.
I lifted my eyes to see my older sister smiling. Heather’s mouth was filled with noodles so I barely paid any attention to her.
    “Call him dad for once first. Then see what happens.”
    ********
After dinner, Alexis let us slack off a bit in the living room before sending us off to bed.
    While I was in the hospital in the evening, I missed a basketball game played by my favorite basketball team; Mystery Falls’ Spurs. The sports channel always showed it again, but at past midnight.
    That night, I set an alarm on my phone to 2:50 am so it would give me about ten minutes to get myself ready to watch the game.
*****************
The vibrations on my bed caused by my phone kicked my body into gear. I got up from my bed, jumped about three times on my toes and wiped sleep from my eyes.
    ‘Let’s do this,’ I said to myself.
    Using a breathing control method I learnt from Taioui classes, I steadied my inhale-exhale rate and opened my room door slowly. If there was any reason I loved the doors to the bedrooms of my house, it’s for the fact that they barely make any sounds when you opened them.
     I crept down the stairs, minding each step. I had not done it in a long time. I wasn’t scared that Alexis would tell mom if I got caught. I was scared about what mom would do to me if she learned that I stayed up late.
    I was halfway down the stairs, I heard a voice downstairs. I stopped and crouched very low to avoid being seen. I looked through the railings of the stairs to see who it was. It was Mr. Gudjohhnsen.
    “I just don’t know how to bond with him,” he said.
    He was on the phone.
    “You keep saying that. You’ve seen the way he looks at me sometimes. He hates me.”
    ‘He’s probably talking to mom,’ I said to myself.
    “I don’t know what to try. I’ve tried basketball, school stuff. You know how much I’ve tried.”
    My heart felt heavy. Guilt and heartbreak filled up my emotion tank. Those to feelings mixed inside of me that I didn’t know which one to feel.
    “Fine, I’ll keep trying. Good luck at work. Love you.”
    Holding a bowl of popcorn, he walked towards the couch, sat down and turned on the television.
     “If only I could watch the game with him,” he said with a heavy sigh.
    “Who says you can’t?” I asked
The words just slipped out. Usually I was always so conscious of the things I said at different points in time. But this time, it was different.
    “Wh-what are you doing up this late?” he stuttered.
    “Yo-you know how your mother would react if she found out.”
    “Relax,” I said, walking down the stairs.
    “You said it yourself. You want to watch the game with me. Meaning, you won’t even let mom know.”
    By then I was just a few steps from him.
    We stood and stared at each other in the poorly lighted living room. All that could be heard was the faint soundtrack of the sport channel coming from the television.