Kaleidoscope

Chapter 4

A week have passed. From time to time, Luke talks to me about his siblings and my cousins. He told me that Seth and Sana will approach me, but I shouldn't be surprised if Yuna is cold or seems mean. I told him I didn't expect people to welcome me so openly anyway so i wouldn't mind it so much. I go to school with Cam, Nina and Carly. I got to know them better and slowly but surely, I feel like the new neighborhood is home, as things are changing but in the good way. It feels like I actually have a family to come home to, and friends to have fun with. 

Just yesterday Luke gave me a tour of the house. Its so big and difficult to navigate, and it came to me that this house (dare I say 'mansion') must be owned by an extremely wealthy person. "Do you know who owns this house?" I asked Luke. "My stepmom owns it, but I'm thoroughly clueless about its history" he said. 

That day, our conversation was exchanges of thank you's, awkward silences, and conversation starters that became dull.

"Hey, thank you for showing me around the mansion" i said to Luke.

Luke smiled at me then said "no problem."

*awkward silence*

"Do you like cheese?" he'd suddenly say.

Its infuriating and i can only hope it becomes deeper, but it just stayed on the surface. He seems to be doing what he did the first day we met. Talking about other things but actually having something that he really wants to talk about.

Very Mikaela. It's bad that i keep on putting them together, but Luke is just so similar to her.

Thinking about it, Cam mentioned Uncle Jo talking about a girl with messy blonde hair. I've been thinking of it and maybe, just maybe, thought she can be Mikaela. I know its a bit silly, but i guess i'm just really desperate to see her again.

"Have you ever heard of a girl with messy blonde hair in this neighborhood?" i asked Luke. Luke shook his head "no..." he said. "Hm.. okay" i said. "Why do you ask?" Luke said. I hesitated "I had a friend who matches that description and.. gah. Its silly" I said. Exactly, its silly. What are the chances of the person Cam talked about being Mikaela? Close to none.

Luke said "well, its not exactly silly. You must've liked her a lot."

I nodded "she was special."

I find it hard to talk about Mikaela so openly, but even after knowing the chances of meeting Mikaela again is so low, knowing that it's not 100% certain the "Esther girl" isn't Mikaela gives me hope.

The part of the house that stands out to me the most is the library. I think nobody can believe how majestic it is until they explore the library themselves. The collection of books are complete, and it is almost like a maze because there were so many bookshelves which leaves a path in between them. There is an abundance of old books, but not so much of new ones. In fact, the only new books are books on physics, math, literature, biology, etc. The library smelt like an interesting blend of nature and ink, making me feel like I just turned back time.

When I asked Luke again about the house's history, he said he doesn't know much except its old and historical. "It made me think too much at one point, until... I simply decided it's best for me to be unconcerned about it" he said.

I remember Nina said she wanted to tell me about the house's history, so I made a mental note to ask her about it. 

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I was walking to my room when the grandfather clock striked 3 and the front door opened. My cousin Sana, with Luke's siblings Seth and Yuna have arrived home. The first person to open the door had long, dark brown hair with neat bangs. Her eyes were dark, just like Luke's and she was also tall and looked quite muscular. This must be Yuna. Behind her is a boy who looks a little taller than Luke, sharing his features but has bigger eyes and a mischievous look. Yuna and Seth are twins and seeing them for the first time was quite amazing, because they look so alike.