Alternate Change

Chapter 11

"Oh no! It's the weird man's battle machine..."

"She seems like a normal girl to me."

"Whatever you do, don't go near her."

"She could've wiped out each and one of us if there weren't barriers."

"Did you see how she looks at me? She's very creepy."

"Why did Max even bring her here?"

Whispers flooded the table. Mari was hungry and all she wanted was food, but their comments about her made her feel uncomfortable. 'What? Are they talking about me being a battle machine? So, Max wasn't kidding? I don't even remember anything and now, I feel like a threat.' Mari thought. She lost her appetite, but then Max came back.

"Why can't you just be quiet!?" Max shouted.

"Where did you go?" a girl asked.

"The kitchen. By the way everyone, meet Mari." Max said as Mari smiled awkwardly and waved. Just then, a boy from the kitchen shouted.

"Are you extras hungry!?"

"Yes! We are!" everyone shouted in unison, except for Mari and Max.

"Food is served!"

The boy then brought out a tray of cup noodles. Mari looked in dismay. 'Cup noodles? With no rice? I think they watch K-drama too much. Not that it's a bad thing, but still! It's not very Filipino!' Mari thought and bit her lower lip. Each of them grabbed chopsticks and their own cup noodles, except for Mari.

"Nova, you didn't include one for Mari?" Max said, disappointed at him.

"Tch!" Nova replied.

"Why you-" Max said as he tried to throw a punch at him.

"Well, bring it on!" Nova shouted.

Mari noticed the situation escalate, so she grabbed both of their fists.

"Please, do not fight guys. It's okay." Mari said as she tried to stop the fight while ignoring her hunger

Max just stayed silent and walked away.

"Hey Nova?" Mari tapped Nova on the shoulder.

"What do you want?!" Nova shouted.

'If I wasn't hungry, I could strangle him right here this instant!' she thought.

She calmed herself and asked him to point the kitchen, but he just rolled his eyes and proceeded to the table. Mari decided to locate the kitchen on her own. It was a big mansion, so it took time to find the kitchen. While walking, memories flashed in her head.

"Can you just get me out of this place?!" Mari grunted.

"Why yes, I could. If only you were more obedient than last time." he answered.

After the flashback, her vision darkened. She held her head and squinted her eyes. She just ignored the pain and continued walking towards the kitchen.

"Finally!" she said in relief.

She went out the backdoor to get some fresh air. Upon stepping out, what she saw surprised her.

"Oh my gosh! They have a really big orchard!" she squealed.

She picked up some baskets on her side. She breathed in the fresh morning air as she walked towards the plants. The sun rays showed after a while. As the sun's rays shone on her medium length wavy brown hair, it shined. It  looked like it was gold and her fair skin gave a gentle glow. She then harvested some herbs, spices, and leaves. When she saw the mango tree standing in all its glory, she dropped the basket filled with leaves and ran towards it. She then climbed the tree and picked the ripe fruits.

"Hello, my beautiful mango!" she said as she held the fruit in her hand.

She then started to peel it and took a bite. She had tears on her eyes while tasting the sweet fruit.

"This is so beautiful!"

After eating the fruit, she harvested more of it and placed it in another basket. She then picked other ripe fruits that were growing in the area. After selecting her ingredients, she went inside the kitchen to check the cupboards. She had a dismayed look when all she found were huge amounts of cup noodles. She sighed and went to the refrigerator. While opening the big fridge, cold air was felt on her skin. She then took a frozen raw chicken.

"Why is the stove burnt? Don't they know how to cook? Oh well. I guess I'll be their cook. And once they will taste my cooking, they will be very happy! Yeah!" she cheered herself as she started to cook.

When she noticed a sack of rice, her eyes went wide. She ran towards it and kissed it.

"Oh, how I missed you my darling sweet rice!" she said as she hugged the sack.

After hours of cooking, she finally finished, ready for lunch. She arranged the food and placed them in trays.

"Hmmpf! That bad, bad Fruit-Tray!" she huffed as she placed the trays in the cart.

"Lunch is served!" she called as she rang a little bell.

"Another day, another cup nood-" a person said as another person cut him off.

"Wow! A variety of food!" the person exclaimed.

Everyone showed up. All of them had their eyes on the table. Almost all of them sat down, except for three girls.

"What a show off!"

"Eww! Is that tinolang manok(chicken tinola)?"

"I don't want to eat! I might get fat!"

"I bet she poisoned the food. Just tell me if anyone dies, okay?"

The three insulted Mari as they all went and strutted towards who knows where. They didn't mind what the three girls have said, so they started to eat. But before they could do, Mari stopped them and let them say their prayers.

"Well, that's our student council officer Mari for you." a girl said.

Mari smiled, but her face went dull when she remembered what the three girls had said.

"Are you still thinking about them?"

Mari turned her head to see who spoke. As she saw the person to her side, it was a girl with unusual blue eyes.

"Don't mind them. They're insecure." she said.

"Yeah! They don't even know how to cook!" a boy said.

"Wow! This is the best! Can you like... cook everyday?" another boy said.

"Of course! As long as one of you gets to help me wash the dishes..." Mari joked.

"Whatever it takes taste food this good!"

"Anyways, what are your names?"