Of the Twisted and the Lost

Chapter 16:

"How can I help you?" the nurse asks, as Cami and Sera walk into the office. 

Sera is about to respond when someone cuts her off first. 

"Tackled someone, I'm presuming?" Junjie remarks. "If you look at her knees — it has grit on it, though the person she tackled certainly didn't fight back, otherwise you would have more scratches than that." 

Sera blinks. 

"The dirt gave it away," Junjie explains. 

"How'd you know?" Sera manages to ask. 

"Small details," he says with a dismissive shrug. "It's not at all remarkable. All people have to do is pay attention." 

"Oh." 

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Sera thinks. Try not to act stupid around him! 

"So," Sera says, trying to find something actually clever to say. "You weren't in school for the past few days. Do you need help with catching up or anything?" 

"I already finished the work today," Junjie replies. "So there's no need." 

"Oh. Okay." 

Sera tries to pretend his words don't hurt. 

"Why were you gone?" Sera asks. 

"Unimportant matters," he replies. 

There's an awkward pause before Junjie finally looks away. "Aren't you hurt?" he asks, giving the nurse a pointed look. "Shouldn't you be examined right now?" 

"Oh, yeah." An uncertain laugh escapes Sera. "I almost forgot." 

Junjie cocks his head to the side. "You forgot you were hurt?" he questions. "Interesting." 

"What's so interesting about that?" Sera challenges, ignoring the look Cami is shooting her — the one that clearly tells her, shut the freak up right now before you completely embarrass yourself! 

Junjie shrugs again. 

"Well, I'd better—" Sera makes motions with her hands as if that would make all the explanations. 

He lets out a soft laugh, so quiet Sera almost misses it. But it's there, the slight hint of a smile playing across his lips. 

"Go ahead," he says. 

Sera starts to smile back, when the nurse bustles through the door again. "Sweetie, you can come right through here!" the nurse, Mrs. Smith, says, as she opens a small swinging gate. 

Sera follows the nurse, greatly aware that Junjie's eyes are watching her every move. 

Then they move to the wall and his line of vision is blocked. Sera lets out a relieved exhale, exhilaration thrumming through her blood. 

"You took quite a fall," Ms. Smith exclaims, as she gently guides Sera onto a white bed. 

"Yeah," Sera mumbles, still distracted about what happened just a few minutes ago. "I guess so." 

Ms. Smith continues to fuss over Sera until finally, she decides to tune out the nurse's voice. 

* * * * 

The first time Sera learned her father was a cheater, she had run to her room and slammed her door, hard. 

This was an understandable reaction, considering the fact that Sera always admired her father, always saw him as a good person, and always looked up to him. 

Sera was coming home from school when she heard yelling. 

"Ironic, isn't it?" her mother, Kaelin, laughed. "You always thought I was the crazy one when really, it's you who should be ashamed of yourself." 

What are they talking about? Sera thought, edging closer. Are they fighting? 

Her parents rarely fought and when they did, it was about tedious things like how to clean the pots or where to arrange the shampoos in the shower. 

"You thought I wouldn't catch you?" Kaelin continued, her mouth curling. "I saw you and that woman together." 

Chen inclined his head. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said. 

"Oh, for God's sake!" she spat. "You're still going to continue lying in my face, huh?" 

"I'm not lying. Calm down, Kaelin, and let's talk about this in the living room in a reasonable tone." 

"So I'm not being reasonable now? You were the one who decided to be that bloody cheating bastard, who brought her into the hotel room! You didn't think I would find out, did you?" 

"She has a name, you know," Chen shot back. "It's Nyleve." 

A laugh escaped Kaelin, one that was harsh and bitter. "You do admit that you were caught cheating, right?" Sera's mother demanded. 

Move. 

Sera couldn't move, though. She stared at the window, unsure if she should barge in and interrupt. 

"I saw with my own eyes," Kaelin said, her gestures becoming wilder. "You know what? If you don't like me that much, if you think I'm a psychopath and want to get away from me so badly, then fine! Maybe we should have a divorce! How does that sound, huh?" 

Sera finally moved, flinging open the front door. 

"Dad? Mom?" Sera whispered, unable to shake the feeling of dread that was creeping through her body. "What's going on?" 

Chen looked up. His eyes were bloodshot and that's when Sera realized that something was wrong. Really wrong. 

"What happened?" Sera forced the words to escape her lips. "Why are you arguing?" 

Chen let out a heavy sigh. 

"Perhaps we should talk about this in the living room," he suggested. 

Sera followed them to the room next door, her steps heavy and uncertain. 

"I don't know where to start," Chen said. 

"The beginning's fine," Kaelin spat back. "Where you cheated on your wife." 

Sera gasped, shock erupting within her, like blinding fireworks exploding. 

"Sit down, Sera," Chen ordered. 

Sera didn't even realize she had even stood up. She forced herself to sit back on the couch. 

"You cheated?" Sera asked, voice soft. "I don't understand." 

"Her name is Nyleve," Chen continued. "It was never supposed to turn out like this. She was just my co-worker." 

"So you did cheat?" Sera demanded, eyes stinging. 

"Yes." 

It took only one word to shatter Sera's world.